About a week ago, a series of promotional stills for the second season of Netflix’s Bridgerton dropped, and if it is possible to squeal in “Dearest Reader,” then that’s effectively what I did. Also, if you read that in Julie Andrew’s voice, we just might be able to be friends. Regency romances are one of my guilty pleasures I refuse to feel guilty about, so when Bridgerton first dropped on Christmas 2020, I had to check it out. I also couldn’t entirely wait for the rest of the Bridgerton siblings’ stories to hit the screen, so I started sneaking ahead by reading the books they’re adapted from, which is why I now have a fun list of things to look extra forward to.
WARNING: The rest of this article may contain spoilers from season one of Bridgerton and Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me, the Bridgerton book being used as the basis of season two.
- The Introduction of Kate: Kate Sharma (Sheffield in the books) is a fun romantic heroine who absolutely cannot stand Anthony Bridgerton at first. In fact, his goal is to marry her younger sister. When Kate is aware that Anthony is not looking for a love match, she’s determined to thwart him because she feels her sister deserves better. Watching these two realize that they’re an actual love match and seeing Anthony deal with why he’s been so wary to marry as happily as his parents did is thoroughly enjoyable for any fan of the genre. As a bonus, Netflix has released a scene with the two of them.
- Newton: The scene-stealing Corgi has already turned up in promotional pictures and dog lovers everywhere should be pleased with his addition.
Newton with Edwina and Kate. Image via Netflix. - Pall Mall: Known to most people as croquet, the Bridgerton siblings are intensely and ridiculously competitive when it comes to a game of Pall Mall. There’s a great Pall Mall game in the book that features Anthony and Kate that fans are clamoring to see come to life.
- The Sibling Shenanigans: With eight Bridgerton siblings, there is always something going on. One of the benefits of the tv series is we get a peek at what is going on with the siblings as they await their stories (or in the case of Daphne, as they find their next chapter). Some of the most delightful moments from last season involved Eloise and her quest to uncover Lady Whistledown, and a clueless Colin not realizing how Penelope feels about him. Since these are additional plotlines, they still offer up something the book readers haven’t seen yet, but the first season did a great job using those plotlines to introduce characters that will be significant later or setting up the Bridgerton siblings for their own stories in ways that made sense. The internet has been lamenting the idea that the Duke of Hastings won’t be in this season, but in all truth, after the first book, his appearances were much more cameo-like in nature because it was someone else’s turn to take the spotlight.
The older Bridgerton brothers. Image via Netflix. - The Featheringtons: Things got far more interesting when the season one finale dropped the reveal that overlooked Penelope Featherington is in fact Lady Whistledown. The series added another major plotline, though, with the dramatic nature of Lord Featherington’s death. Lord Featherington was already gone by the first book, but his heir being introduced should be interesting. Since Lady Featherington has to be told who the heir was, the implication is that he’s a more distant family member. A nephew or first cousin would have been more familiar to the family. If you’re getting a Downton Abbey minus the Titanic sinking vibe off the situation, you’re on the right track. I would not be surprised if Lady Featherington tries to marry a daughter off to this distant relative either (at this point you should get both Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice vibes).
The Featherington ladies. Image via Netflix. - Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte: While Lady Danbury was a delightful force in the books and on screen, Queen Charlotte was not a book character but became a scene-stealer in her own right. As both were featured in the video clip announcing when the next season drops, I anticipate both returning.
- Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown: I don’t know who made this magical casting happen, but Julie Andrews doing the voiceovers for Lady Whistledown was absolutely inspired, and whenever Lady Whistledown has something to say, you find yourself hanging on every word. The “Dearest Reader” is about to intensify over here.
Bridgerton season two drops on Netflix on March 25th.
