It’s Time Bridgerton Was Put In The Ground

I had the great honour of inhaling Bridgerton like secondhand smoke as my wife blasted through every single season in the leadup to the latest episodes that dropped a few months ago.
Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. I’m not going to pretend that I’m above budget bin Jane Austen.

The first season was a sensation. The actors had chemistry. Everyone was enamoured with the complete irreverence for the past. It pushed the fictionalised Austin fuelled fetishisation of it to new, unbridled heights. It was sordid and buttoned up in equal measure. Season 2 took the brave step of following the biggest dork from Season 1, but managed to cruise along on goodwill alone.

Season 3 lacked the steaminess of the first season, trading in sexual tension for teens groping each other in a carriage. Overall it seemed to be written with emotive beats in mind at the cost of the actual stories being told. It trundled into a bittersweet final episode that suddenly inexplicably wallpapered over all the conflicts so it could end on a positive note.

On the other hand Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story showed that there are still plenty of cool stories that can be done within the Bridgerton universe, and it stands as perhaps the best story outside of Season 1 so far. Either way, if Netflix decided to do an uh Netflix, and surprise cancel Bridgerton now then I wouldn’t be disappointed. Unfortunately with the gangbusters numbers it’s doing we can be looking forward to the Marriage Wetmarket Groundhog Day for years to come.