Bridgerton S2: Final Thoughts
Kate and Anthony deserved so much more.
Virtually every single scene of theirs is far too brief, and many of them feel incomplete or cut-off. These scenes needed more room to breathe, to come to a natural end. For one reason or another, they all feel so rushed. The constant start/stop of all their scenes really hinders any momentum they have going. Kate, in particular, deserved as much time, care, focus, and attention as the other leads. More than the love triangle, the fact that we never explore Kate’s past and interior life is the most damaging thing for both Kate as an individual character and the love story as a whole. Kate’s background, growth, and point of view deserved to be given equal weight and importance as Anthony’s. To be clear, I still love them, even the versions of themselves they are on the show. But to be frank, a lot of the choices made here were confusing at best and inexplicable at worst, and, at times, render the story and the characters incoherent. That being said Johnny and Simone are the true MVPs of the season and they are the main reason it worked.
If Bridgerton has anything to say about love, it’s that, in essence, romantic love is this all-consuming, undeniable, uncontrollable, irrepressible, near instantaneous thing that just happens when you meet the right person.
Of course, Kate and Anthony being drawn to one another and desiring one another is an important part of their dynamic, but it isn’t everything. Not to me. It should go beyond that. Their love grows from understanding one another and gradually happens over time. The show really tries to sell this idea that Kate and Anthony just *belong* together, full-stop. And as a result, the show doesn't expend any extra effort to forge a bond between the characters because the bond just *exists* as this incontrovertible thing. There is no reason for Kate and Anthony to come to any sort of understanding or realization about each because the power of “love” ,as it's defined by the show, means they magically already do. I understand the appeal of this concept of love, but it isn’t necessarily what I believe, and fundamentally not what I think this story, in particular, was about. This obviously is a personal thing, so I understand why people would disagree, but to me building a real connection between them on top of their attraction was absolutely necessary.
~FIN~
This is Part 3 of my Rewriting Bridgerton S2 Posts.
If you’re interested: Part 1 | Part 2
