The Shondaland series trades steamy sex scenes for furtive glances in its second outing.
Bridgerton's first season was undeniably, unapologetically sexy. The raucous Regency drama based on the novels of Julia Quinn exploded on Netflix in December of 2020 and immediately became a sensation for the streaming platform. Created by Chris Van Dusen and executive produced by television maven Shonda Rhimes, Bridgerton leads the delicately balanced Sacred, British courtesan reggae-Jean Page and Phoebe Dievers with wild and often graphic depictions of the lust shared between the series. Bridgerton season one well-worn Maxim was the period piece expression of "a woman in the streets, but a freak in the sheets". Yet Bridgeton's second season, which hits Netflix today, has almost completely done away with the sex that defined the first season—much to its detriment.
This is, in part, by design. Following Quinn's novels, Bridgeton's second season has dropped reggae-jean Page's rakish Duke of Hastings in favor of focusing on the love story between Jonathan Bailey's Lord Anthony Bridgeton and newcomer Simone Ashley's Kate Sharma. After initially flirting on horseback, Anthony and Kate's relationship becomes thorny and competitive. They trade barbs in polo matches and spar verbally while playing croquet, both swearing to find the other completely rebellious while secretly shopping for the other. Their relationship does not differ from that of Kate and Petruchio in Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew – an arrogant and over-arrogant man who is constantly at odds with an intelligent and obstinate young woman, also known as Kate, who Men have sworn. Quinn acknowledged the similarities between her Kate and Shakespeare's Kate, telling Glamour that "a lesser actress would have allowed Kate to develop into a Taming of the Crew caricature."
In such a situation, it takes some time for their relationship to flourish. It doesn't help that Kate has a perfect little sister, Edwina (character Chandran), who is in everyone's eyes and has many lovers, like Kate's sister in Shakespeare's play. But Bridgeton departs from the Shakespearean story to become Anthony's fiancée to Edwina - not Kate. While this creates a very real barrier that keeps Anthony and Kate's obsession with each other at bay, it destroys any chance for the lovebirds to physically engage.
And as a result, Season One's three-minute-long sex montages have been traded for quiet whispers in the gardens. The ingenuity of stairs in libraries has almost been replaced with kisses. It's all taboo in humble Regency society but, let's be honest: one of these ways is more exciting than the other.
A Sexless Bridgerton goes against the grain of the current TV landscape, trending in the opposite direction. Shows like HBO's Euphoria, Hulu's Pam and Tommy, and HBO Max's Minx lean heavily in melodramatic displays of sexuality, particularly that center displays of the male form. Bridgeton's first season more clearly fits into this narrative, with Bustle going so far as to rank the show's sex scenes by how much we can see off Page's butt at any given time. But you'd be hard pressed to compile a similar list for Bailey's buttocks in season two, as Anthony spends most of his time thinking about the family business.
Eventually, Anthony and Kate end their love affair under a pergola, in a scene straight out of a Fabio-covered romance novel. But after seven episodes of waiting, the moment seems anti-climatic. Delayed gratification can be sexy — but wait too long, and you're in the dangerous zone of losing interest. We can only see Anthony and Kate ignoring their true feelings for each other for so long, repeating the same conversation about choosing "family duty" and "respect" over their affection for each other, Before we want to shout "go with it already" on our television screens or just switch to something else.
The magic of Bridgerton's first season was in its mastery of balancing the outlandish sanity of the Regency era with its raucous underbelly. At the end of the season two finale, the show seems to have lost its balance; It throws in a scene of Anthony and Kate, newlyweds, canoodling on gorgeous white sheets. When the newlyweds go downstairs to greet their family members who are waiting for them, they make jokes about their procrastination, and even consider going upstairs to visit. do where they left off. Looking at these scenes, you can't imagine that the producers of Bridgerton are trying to have as much fun as possible in the final moments of the season, realizing they've been playing Anthony and Kate's Taming of the Shrew for too long. Must have leaned too much into the dynamic. ,
Surely, filming season two during COVID made it more difficult to film intimate scenes, with most actors and crew having to stay six feet apart. But by design, this season was always more about the sexiness of restraint than the sexiness of, well, sex. While some may appreciate the purity and prudity of season two, many will find that Bridgerton didn’t turn up the heat until the bitter end. And unfortunately, this makes for a rather boring Bridgerton—which, as Lady Whistledown will tell you, is the biggest sin of them all.