It is time for me to come clean and admit my obsession with everything #Bridgerton I have
tried long enough to fight off the Bridgerton fever, but I caught it, and I do not think I will be recovering anytime soon.
I should have seen the signs. Like when I spent the first two months of college playing Bridgerton 24/7 in the background while I did homework. Or when I stayed up until four in the morning to catch #Netflix drop season two. Or when I watched a fanmade #Kanthony video and teared up while I ate my scrambled eggs in the cafeteria. The books and the Netflix series have a chokehold on me and I can not figure out why.
Potentially it is because the Netflix casting is spot-on and #JuliaQuinn's writing is dry enough that I do not have to think too hard when I read her books. I might go as far to say that the romance of Quinn's books is addictive, but I often find myself cackling whenever I reach an ‘intimate’ scene—the writing is just so unhinged. Honestly, Quinn’s writing gives ‘Wattpad circa 2013.’
I would not even say that the plot lines of either the book series or the Netflix adaptation are particularly revolutionary, either. The Netflix adaptation does do a lot of work to subjugate stereotypical tropes (like the 'love triangle' or 'lovers to enemies' cliches) by featuring an inclusive cast that would normally not be included in a regency type drama (e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Jane Eyre, et cetera). Still, despite the series teetering on the edge of cliche, it seems that the eldest of the Bridgerton brothers have the strongest hold of my attention.
Anthony
What I think both the book series and the show does well, is establishing #AnthonyBridgerton as an overburdened eldest sibling. The show developed this aspect of his character the most in the second season, whereas the first one depicted him more as an irresponsible pretty-boy/play-boy. We saw him trying to make better decisions by the end of season one, as he temporarily cut off contact with Sienna (though he ultimately went crawling back to her and was even willing to leave his family for her). However, it wasn’t until season two we actually saw the extent to which Anthony was overburdened with the responsibilities of being Viscount and also trying to be a stable father figure for his younger siblings. I also liked how the show was able to make his character more complex by introducing Sienna into the mix more prominently than Anthony’s book did. Though I did not like them as a couple, nor did I ever wish for them to be ‘end-game,’ it did show how deeply that Anthony can love. This really gave a good foundation for the show writers to transition over to his and Kate’s story for season two.
Benedict
I believe that show #BenedictBridgerton has true, capital ‘H,’ husband material potential. The caveat being that he surely likes to partake in all the pleasures that London society has to offer a well-bred gentleman. Still, he has a poet’s heart and an artist’s disposition, which the show leans into. I truly hope that #Shondaland avoids Benedict’s stalker-ish behavior when he basically coerces and blackmails Sophie to go work for his mother (not mentioning that he repeatedly asks Sophie to be his mistress—weird to say the least). However, his crooked smile is endearing, both in the book and in the show series, so he could most definitely give Lord Byron a run for his money. Let's hope he treats #SophieBeckett better in #bridgertonseason4.
I do think the book series did Benedict dirty, overall, as he kind of fades into the background (as do a lot of the siblings as the series progresses). His story is more or less inconsequential to the rest of his siblings' stories, whereas Colin and Penelope’s story, for example, initiates Eloise’s meeting with Sir Phillip. Granted, I have only read books one through seven, though I imagine the same will be true for Benedict.
Colin
Colin. Hm. I actually have mixed feelings about this dude. I really liked #RomancingMisterBridgerton but I felt that the way #ColinBridgerton handled Pen being #LadyWhistledown was weird. He was super angry with her about it, but he was also supportive? I also still don’t understand why he thought it would be a good idea to announce to the whole Ton that Pen was Whistledown. (I also rushed through that book so I might have to go back and give the audiobook a second listen.) Why couldn’t they have kept it a secret? And why couldn’t Pen continue to write, but not as Whistledown? She could have done a 'Mary Shelley' and published under a different pseudonym. And why does Colin get to pursue his writing, but not Pen? However, I did think it was cute that Pen helped Colin edit his journals, as it mirrors many famous authors whose works were edited by their wives (e.g. Leo Tolstoy and Sophia Tolstoya; Mikhail Bulgakov and Yelena Bulgakova).
I would like the show to do some more work on repairing the relationship between Pen and Colin, though. I think they introduced Colin’s infamous line, “I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington,” way too late, as they have a lot of work to do to rebuild that relationship. At least in the book, Quinn has the ability to suspend a reader’s belief, in that we aren’t supposed to take her stories seriously. She writes in a genre that allows for miraculous, almost impossibly, improbable happy endings, so it is expected that Colin and Pen’s relationship comes to fruition. The show offers viewers that as well; however, the amount of development they put into Colin and Pen’s relationship up to this point requires for their season to offer a falling action that matches with the past two seasons. Of course, these stories are meant to have #HEA endings, but it would be nice for them to put in a little more work to make them a little more believable.
Honestly, I like ‘Show Colin’ better than ‘Book Colin.’ Book Colin is kind of a flat character for me. I liked how ‘Show Colin’ pined for Marina before Penelope, because it gave his character a chance to learn more about himself and what it actually means to be in love.
As a side note, Colin’s whole conflict in the series lends itself to the overall thematic setup of all the characters, in that they all seem to struggle to define their own identities apart from being Bridgertons. All of the characters (in the two seasons and the first seven books that I have read) complicate their lives in order to find meaning and purpose. I think this is why people dislike ‘Show Eloise’ because they find her ‘immature’ and ‘spoiled.’ Well, she definitely is and she is clearly struggling with the fact that she has no real means to give meaning to her life. This alludes back to ‘Show Marina’s’ comment to Colin about becoming a realist and how he needs to be grateful for what he has. In a way, I think ‘Show Theo’ did the same for ‘Show Eloise.’
Still, the writing is predictable in both the show and the books, and as someone who spent enough time in literature and creative writing classes, I feel like I am committing blasphemy by dedicating so much of my time on this series. However, I find it difficult to describe Bridgerton as just a 'series,' per say. I think one could even go as far to describe it as a cultural phenomenon. And my neurodivergent brain is having a great time hyperfixating on this series that has multiple intertwining stories to map out and dissect.
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