TV

"Bridgerton" 2 tries very hard to make up for what she lost, and that's her big problem

The absence of the undisputed star of the first season is not supposed to affect "Bridgerton" so much, but somehow he seems to be.

Not only because his presence is required in quite a few scenes, but because the balances in the new season have gone completely wrong.

Thus, although the second season is not terrible, it is far from the charm of its predecessor

Ido Yeshayahu

25/03/2022

Friday, March 25, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

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Teaser for the second season of "Bridgerton" (Netflix)

When the first season of "Bridgerton" arrived in December 2020, the world was spread out at its feet.

Or rather - the world was closed at its feet.

The combination of Corona's third wave and its subsequent closure and the refined and wonderful escapism that the series of murmurs gave it, made it Netflix's biggest hit to date.

She even produced a big star who left the series immediately afterwards - Raga-Jean Page.

At the start of her second season, "Bridgerton" is aware of her condition.

"Every time I walk into a ballroom, I know I'm being compared to Daphne," says in the opening episode Eloise (Claudia Jesse) about her older sister, the protagonist of the first season.

"I can never equal it. I do not want to equal it, but it does not make it easy to know that you are constantly disappointing people just by entering your room."

Indeed, it is doubtful whether "Bridgerton" will be able to recreate the huge success this time as well.

Escapism will still be welcomed, God willing, but at this point the world is not tucked away in its home to eliminate the eight new episodes in two days.

Also, the second season is much less good.

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Good chemistry being eroded.

Jonathan Bailey and Simon Ashley, "Bridgerton" Season 2 (Photo: Liam Daniel / Netflix)

"Bridgerton" is based on Julia Quinn's book series set in early 19th century England, and each of its volumes focuses on a different brother in the Bridgerton family on his way to finding love.

The first season dealt with Daphne, who went out to the company and won the heart of Simon, Duke of Hastings (Page).

The new season focuses on the older brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), while Gomer says to find him a bride for the most practical reasons and with nothing to do with love.

One happens to be in his face when the Queen (Golda Rochobel) announces the new diamond of the season - Edwina Charma (Charitra Chandran), who has returned to England with her mother Mary (Shelly Cone) and her sister Kate (Simon Ashley) after years in India.

Anthony tries to conquer the girl, but finds that her older sister is vetoing the matter.

Thus, in parallel with the bond formed between him and Edwina, a more intense connection ignited between him and Kate, one that originated in a fierce stigma.

You know, the familiar romantic comedy cliché of enemies becoming lovers.

To the credit of the second season it can be said that she complicates this story well.

She does not allow her protagonists to get out of the tangle easily, but uses it to peel off the layers of their personality and soul.

Not an obvious interest in a series based on fancy soap.

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Responsible for much of the fun, until not.

Claudia Jesse and Nicola Koklen, "Bridgerton" Season 2 (Photo: Liam Daniel / Netflix)

There are a few more degrees for the second season, especially in the first part.

This time too it is abundant and blooming, this time too there are quite a few captivating moments.

The revelation about Lady Whistledown's identity - Penelope Petterington (Nicola Koklen, "Derry Girls") at the end of the first season adds to "Bridgerton" - now we know it's someone we care about and that if anyone finds out she's going to get involved.

The fact that at the same time her good friend Eloise is trying desperately to understand who it is, contributes to much of the fun.

However, as the season progresses, it is evident that she is unable to stabilize herself.

Page's absence is not supposed to have such an effect, he is not at the forefront of the current story anyway.

But his absence is very noticeable.

When Daphne (Phoebe Dinbor) arrives for the first time at a family reunion without him it's okay, it happens.

When she does it one more time and then over and over again, it's already ridiculous.

There is great symbolism in the fact that the series feels shaky and swaying after the big star of the series has left it, and "Bridgerton's" attempts to cover it up are in vain.

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Intolerable in high doses.

Ajoa Endo as Lady Denver alongside Ashley, "Bridgerton" Season 2 (Photo: Liam Daniel / Netflix)

The most representative example of this is perhaps the character of Lady Denberry (Ajua Ando).

The stinging and omniscient widow was a small and successful element in the first season, so it is understandable why "Bridgerton" wanted to significantly increase her screen time.

Therefore, this time she becomes the sponsor of the girls of the Sharma family - she houses them with her and speaks in their praise to the queen.

But at these doses it turns out that Lady Danbury - mostly because of the way Endo embodies her - is pretty unbearable.

A spice that took over the taste of the whole dish.

The case of Eloise, who was one of the cutest characters in the series, is even more unfortunate.

Her story spreads in many directions, and in the process gradually turns her into a faded version of herself.

In her quest for the identity of the mysterious gossip she arrives at a printing house that includes a young worker who catches her eye, and there are also feminist stains she is exposed to, and at some point she begins to loathe Lady Whistledown for her own good reasons.

A plot as if fleshy but in practice written in a sloppy and hurried way, as if to have time to put in everything that is needed and mark V.

The main story, on the other hand, Anthony and Kate, is stretched in a way that eventually begins to wear off, and the breadth of the canvas he gains makes everything around him seem temporary and marginal.

To some extent this is understandable, Anthony is the protagonist of the current volume and the rest are ostensibly standing out in his story, but "Bridgerton" is not constructed in this way.

Also in the first season she presented side stories, and it worked well and in precise balances.

This time she is just trying to catch too much, and most of the time she does not catch, which also hurts the couple at the heart of the season.

There is good chemistry between Bailey and Ashley, but the forced script and forced bumps gradually erode it, until it is already easy to forget what was actually between them in the first place.

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Total effects.

Colin Firth after the immersion in the lake in a 1995 adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" (Photo: screenshot, BBC)

"Bridgerton" never bothered to hide her total influences, combining Jane Austen's witty charm and optimism with erotic novels.

The new episodes even feature a tribute to their ultimate meeting point - a (lovable) scene during which it is impossible not to recall the nineties television adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice," when Colin Firth swam in the lake with the white shirt on.

If the first season was a respectable offspring of this dynasty, this time, in a season that is admittedly not a disaster but far from the joy of its predecessor, the comparison to Austen only underscores its inferiority.

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