During the first half of this year I plan on doing a series of posts connected with each season as I complete a rewatch of all three seasons, these posts will cover aspects of the show - both serious and lighthearted - as well as other things connected to the production, including historical context (the first of these posts is available here), promotion, representation and storytelling. Before I begin with the season 1 specific posts this post will look at the initial messaging provided on what the show would be about, and whether, after three seasons, Shondaland have maintained this vision.
Image Credit: Netflix
In July 2018 Shondaland announced they were developing a series for Netflix based on the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn. In an official announcement via Deadline Bridgerton was listed among other planned Shondaland projects for Netflix. The original blurb about the show read:
" Based on Julia Quinn's best-selling series of novels, this smart feminist take on Regency England romance unveils the glittering, wealthy, sexual, painful, funny and sometimes lonely lives of the women and men in London's high society marriage mart as told through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family."
Following the initial announcement that the show was in development the next major news on Bridgerton was in June 2019 when it was announced that Julie Andrews would be voicing Lady Whistledown. In the announcement of Julie Andrews's casting in Backstage magazine, the outline of the Bridgerton series was given as "...following the twists and turns of high society, the series follows the powerful Bridgerton family over a story lasting eight novels". This article also stated that they were in the process of casting for the show, suggesting that Julie Andrews was the first actor cast for the series, which was confirmed in an article from Variety on the casting of Julie Andrews. The Variety article goes on to provide more information about the series as detailed below:
"The Bridgerton series is set in the world of Regency London high society. From the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair to the aristocratic palaces of Park Lane and beyond, the series unveils a seductive, sumptuous world replete with intricate rules and dramatic power struggles, where no one is truly ever on steady ground. At the heart of the show is the powerful Bridgerton family. Comprised of eight close-knit siblings, this funny, witty, daring and clever group must navigate the upper ten thousand’s marriage mart in search of romance, adventure and love."
Based on these announcements the original vision for Bridgerton was to have the Bridgerton family at the heart of the series with all the stories coming back to them in some form. So what happened to this vision of a Regency romance with the titular Bridgerton family at its heart? It could be that when Rege Jean Page did not sign on for more seasons the writers were left with a gap in their storylines in season 2 so tried to fill them a bit with unrelated storylines, and of course when Jess Brownell took over and changed the protagonists of season 3 from Benedict and Sophie to Colin and Penelope this vision appears to have completely derailed.
Image Credit: Netflix
We saw the return of Daphne in season 2, albeit without Simon, allowing for some Bridgerton family scenes, the storylines outside of the main story for Kate and Anthony (and the adjacent storyline with Edwina) there were very little storylines that connected back into the Bridgerton family, with the main Featherington storyline of the fraud and Ruby mine scam wholly unconnected. This contrasted with the main Featherington storyline in season 1 that connected back to the Bridgertons via the Marina and Colin relationship. Moving on to season 3 it appears the writers really aren't interested in developing the Bridgerton family or their relationships. Despite setting much of Colin's story in Bridgerton House there was a noticeable absence of many of the family members, especially The Viscount and Viscountess Bridgerton as well as Daphne with her two children, reducing the number of Bridgerton family scenes to the detriment of the season.
Recently we have learned that Jonathan Bailey has only been on set for a week or two for season 4, with only a scene with the Bridgerton brothers mentioned (though which brothers is unknown as Luke Newton has been filming in Rome). Meanwhile Simone Ashley has not been confirmed as being on set, leading some to speculate that The Viscount and Viscountess may not even appear onscreen together, with others speculating The Viscountess won't be in the season at all. Adding to the lack of information regarding filming for Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley we have had it confirmed that Phoebe Dynevor was not asked back for season 4, despite her being keen to return for some scenes with the family, making it clear that the vision for the show is markedly different to what was promoted in the beginning.
Image Credit: Netflix
Bridgerton is no longer a show that centres on the titular family, but rather is clogged with secondary and original characters that serve very little, if any, purpose in the storyline of the Bridgerton siblings, often at the expense of good character development for the Bridgerton family and their spouses, such as with the little character development for both Colin and Penelope during season 3. Further, the focus on melodrama, as opposed to telling a good romance story, has some fans questioning if the writers, showrunner or any of the producers have read and understood the source material.
With very little Kate and Anthony in season 3 Bridgerton felt as if it had lost its heart, and this will only continue to worsen as Jess Brownell works to remove the Bridgerton siblings one by one once they have had their season.
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