Bridgerton Season 2: Supporting Jonathan Bailey, our fave queer hero right now

Bridgerton, Netflix’s Record-Breaking Regency-era romance, is back with its sophomore season, so as huge fans of period romances, we watched it and have many, many thoughts about it.

We know you’re probably wondering why we’re reviewing a show that, so far, isn’t queer (our eyes are set on this one particular character though). But let us remind you that here at Q+, we don’t discriminate. We love supporting content with queer characters and storylines in it, but also general content where queer folks are involved and get a chance to shine, be it in acting, writing, directing, or whatever.

And Bridgerton has, since its very first season, an openly gay actor as one of its main characters: Jonathan Bailey. So yes, this review is to support our man. Who, by the way, since the new episodes of the acclaimed series dropped on the streaming platform, has become the new internet’s boyfriend. Mr. Darcy, who? We’ve moved on and our new period beau is none other than Anthony Bridgerton!

But why did it take the world to fall in love with this man until the second season of this show? Well, that’s because much like in the novels by Julia Quinn, from which the show is adapted, this new season of Bridgerton, focuses entirely on Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton son, on his quest to find the perfect future Viscountess Bridgerton. And let us tell you this, after watching this new season, there’s no way you won’t fall in love with him too. There’s simply no way.

Anthony Bridgerton’s quest for a wife

Anthony Bridgerton has been a Viscount ever since his father died of a bee sting when he was 18. He spent most of the show’s first season guiding his sister Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor) through the marriage market while avoiding settling down himself. But as we already anticipated, in this new season, Anthony decides that he’s finally ready to do his duty to his family and find himself a wife.

However, his quest isn’t an easy one. For reasons that this season goes on to explore at length, Anthony is set on finding someone with whom he shares no deep connection of any kind. Love isn’t part of the deal for him, so of course, he approaches the situation in a particularly cold manner, entering the courtship season as if looking to hire an employee and not to find a life partner.

Unfortunately for him, his standards are quite high, and most eligible ladies in town are either looking for love, fortune-hunting to climb the ever-changing social ladder (those mamas are insatiable), or they simply aren’t equipped enough to take on the great responsibility of running the Bridgerton household.

That’s it until he meets the Sharmas. 

The Enemies-to-Lovers you didn’t know you needed 

Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), her older step-sister Kate (Simone Ashley), and their mother Lady Mary (Shelley Conn) are in town for the Season. Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) is acting as their sponsor. Although they are both eligible to find a spouse, Kate insists that she is too old to marry and that Edwina should be the one to secure a good match since she is younger. As a favor to Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte (Golda Roushevel) names Edwina the Diamond of the Season, making her the new sensation in town.

After meeting and interviewing her (yes, you read that right, interviewing her – our Anthony had been doing that with all his prospects *face palms*), Anthony decides that Miss Edwina Sharma should be his wife. She’s intelligent, refined, beautiful, and kind, and seems to fit perfectly with what he expects from an employee… a wife.

But there’s a major obstacle to his plan. Kate, the sister, doesn’t like Anthony. During their first ball of the season, she overhears the man telling his friends outside the dance that a love match isn’t what he wants. All he really wants, in fact, is “a pleasing face, an acceptable wit, and genteel manners enough to credit a viscountess.” Unsurprisingly, Kate isn’t interested in seeing her beloved sister get involved with a man like him, and so, a rivalry between the two begins.

Unfortunately for Kate, there’s something about Anthony that keeps drawing her to him, and sooner rather than later, that disdain turns into desire, and eventually the two fall for each other.

The Viscount who Loved Me

If you’re a die-hard fan of Julia Quinn’s books, especially The Viscount Who Loved Me (the second book in the series), you’re probably really attached to “Kanthony” (Kate and Anthony’s ship name) and their canon story-line, and you may not be entirely satisfied with the changes made in the Netflix’s Bridgerton adaptation. But that’s what happens with most adaptations.

In the words of the author of the books herself, “I’ve always said that you could do a masterclass on how to adapt a novel with what they’re doing, because there’s almost nothing that’s word for word or even scene by scene, and yet the characters are absolutely true to who they are in the books and the overall story arc is absolutely true to it,” she said to Metro.co.uk. and added that she couldn’t be happier with the end result.

And we agree, in our opinion, this new season of Bridgerton successfully translated the material from the novel to the screen with necessary adjustments for better visual storytelling and ease of understanding for a more general audience. Of course, it isn’t perfect, and key scenes could have been included to enrich the romance, but overall we think they got it right.

Anthony and Kate’s love story this season is sweet, romantic, funny, and really departs from the raunchy love story we got in Bridgerton’s first season. Enemies-to-lovers is always a recipe for success in romance stories, and we’re happy to report that this one doesn’t disappoint.

Bridgerton is a period drama-romance franchise that’s here to stay for the foreseeable future (it’s already been renewed for seasons 3 and 4). Season 2 proves that the series can successfully expand the ensemble cast and shift focus without losing the core of what made its first season such a worldwide success.

With the departure of one of its lead actors, Regé-Jean Page, after the first season, all eyes were on how Bridgerton was gonna solve the matter, and they did pretty well. Last season’s plotlines often softened or downplayed the lives of the other Bridgertons to emphasize Daphne and Simon’s storyline. With the shift from a character-driven story to an ensemble this season, it allowed the audience to get to know those who will go from supporting to main characters in future seasons. And we believe that leaves the foundation ready for the coming seasons.

So congratulations to everyone involved in this show, but especially to Jonathan Bailey who managed to capture all of our hearts, we can’t wait to see what Anthony has in store for us in future seasons of Bridgerton.

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Season 2 of Bridgerton is available to stream exclusively on Netflix. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!