Bridgerton TV Show Review: A Jane Austen Soap Opera
Bridgerton is a romantic period drama that has a Jane Austen aesthetic + trashy romance novel vibe. This show is super addicting to watch because it has all of the stereotypical character tropes that most people know and love. Super attractive and desirable main female character meets broody and hot main male character and falls in love. There’s also a character named Lady Whistledown who is basically the mysterious Gossip Girl spilling the tea on all of the characters through printed articles. Bridgerton can be a big hit for those of us who love period dramas, as long as you’re also into soapy dramas.
What really sets this show apart from other regency dramas is the diversity of its cast/characters and the more modern tone it takes toward topics like marriage, love, and sex. First of all, this show is super diverse! There’s a moment around the midpoint that helps explain how Black families received the opportunity to assume roles in high society. I liked this because it’s not like the writers made the cast super diverse just to make a statement - there is actually narrative reasoning and character motivations attached to it. And second of all, this show is also interesting in how it mixes the prim and the proper with steamy love scenes. Towards the latter half of this show, I was a little uncomfortable with the amount of sex scenes that were included, as well as how long they were. I would never want to watch this show with my parents (or anyone else for that matter) because it would be extremely awkward and yes, we are prudes. But other than that, I thought the romantic plot-lines were super cute. Predictable, yes, but still 100% entertaining. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Daphne and Simon, especially in the beginning when they were still figuring each other out. I appreciated that the show really kept them as a focus from beginning to end and closed it out in a satisfying way. I watched mostly in anticipation for scenes between Daphne and Simon and the other characters took more a backseat for me in terms of interest level. I also recognize the internet’s case about how toxic their relationship got at certain points. In retrospect, I definitely see it and if there are subsequent seasons, I feel like they will be further addressed.
This show is also gorgeous to look at - the settings, the costume design, and of course, the actors. I loved the ballroom and party scenes specifically. Every time it showed the carriages outside of a grand house and the instrumental music starting, I would feel a thrill that something exciting was going to happen. Speaking of music, almost everyone I know who watched this show commented on how funny it is to hear the orchestras playing instrumental versions of modern day pop songs. I feel that some of the outdoor scenes looked like they were green-screened or very obviously limited in budget - for instance, that one scene in the “slums” where Lady Featherington took Marina out to that looked kind of weird. But in contrast, the indoor ballroom scenes were really gorgeous.
In conclusion…
Loved this show for how addictively entertaining it was! Bridgerton is a twist on the regency romance drama and the world is living for it! I feel like the ending definitely sets this show up for more seasons to further explore the characters in the Bridgerton family, so I am definitely looking forward to Season 2 whenever that’s out!