Bridgerton

The costumes, settings, music are all beautiful, but we've seen them before. This season lacks the substance and intrigue that led so many to bingewatch the first. A gaping hole is left with the resolution of Simon and Daphne's romance. The love triangle between Anthony, Kate and Edwina feels forced, with none of the actors particularly charismatic. The heightened focus on Eloise is detrimental, with the actress' eyerolls, overreaction, and unrealistic conduct reminiscent of Anna Chlumsky as Vivian in Inventing Anna. The other subplots are so redundant that they could have been crafted from film left on the editing floor in Season 1 and weren't enthralling on the first go-round (e.g., Penelope's unrequited infatuation with Colin).

My rating of 6 is the average of a 7 for Season 1 and a 5 for Season 2.

Let me just start that I am a fan of the books so I am watching this as I did when I watched all the live actions of Pride and Prejudice, with eyes finally getting my wish of seeing my fave books come to life, and I was not disappointed. Is it a masterpiece? NOT AT ALL. Is it accurate to the books? Not so much but they did get the heart of it. There's a lot of issue I find with it but somehow I still find myself watching it because I love the genre.

To note: If you are into the ACCURATE retelling of history then I'm telling you right now SKIP THIS. This isn't about the accurate retelling of history. So if the "diversity" and "wokeness", the designs of their costumes, the way they acted takes you away from the story because of inaccuracy then you will have a bad time. This isn't a documentary. This isn't a biography. This isn't a true story.

Now first of, the books star different siblings so each season will focus on different Bridgerton with splice inserts of side stories. S1 is more steamy and shoves a more lustful play on their romance it's a fake love turned real love trope. S2 is a slow burn and might be boring for some as it is less steamy, it's an enemies to lovers trope.

Now. If you're into the book series do give this a try! Of course it wouldn't be 100% accurate but I did feel that it was very true in how romance book genre goes. It's like a whimsical romance. Glazed over. Or whatever term. Something like those Hallmark Christmas romance movies but with more mature scenes. Modern music made classical. They really brought to life the family dynamic of the Bridgertons. I love how they interact with one another as a family.

Finally. If you're just looking for a Pride and Prejudice or historical setting romance show then do give this a try! You might just like it.

Fun for those who enjoy the frothy visual thrust, light story and modern casual take on costume drama. It's a trashy soap opera in a dream version of Regency. I do like the diversity in casting and experimentation in costume. Casting is strong. However I can't seem to appreciate this production as much as I wanted. I find the direction and delivery of lines tends to self conscious, loud, stagey and over the top. Also the soundtrack is the same thing again and again, pizzicato strings, not creative, boring that flattens depth of emotion or drama. Otherwise a heady trip with lots of short scenes whipping from one character to another. It's good, just not totally my cuppa. A pleasant pretty distraction.

Can we have the old showrunner back? Please.

There were only a handful of exciting episodes for season 3 and they didn't really make up for the others being so dull.

The plot structure they went for would have worked over at least 12 episodes instead of just 8. They clearly didn't want to give the romantic leads their time to shine which meant we didn't get time to fall in love with their love.

I think the assumption was that their friendship in was enough in previous seasons that we wouldn't need any time to buy their love. I need more time to see why after years they'd finally go for it. It was so awkward.

I absolutely love love Bridgerton, but what on earth happened this season? Polin didn't feel like the main characters AT ALL; they seemed more like secondary characters, with their screen time limited to just a few minutes per scene. Also, why was the season divided into two parts? It felt unnecessary, and by the time I got to the second part, my interest had waned and I felt disconnected from the plot, character development, and storyline.

Finally, the drastic changes they FORCED on the characters were abysmal. While it's normal for a movie or series based on a book to have some differences, changing the ENTIRE story is way too much. It loses the original purpose the author intended. This isn't an adaptation from the books; it's a completely new story. Not bad if they want to go that route and be inclusive but they shouldn't use the book titles, doesn't make sense.