It’s a universally recognized truth that, to succeed, a romantic comedy set in the British Regency must be fun, romantic, flirtatious, and not take itself too seriously. And ‘ The Bridgertons ‘ pass with flying colors in all those areas. And by the way, raise the stakes (and the temperature). The new Netflix series is also the first to be born from his collaboration with Shondaland, the producer of Shonda Rhimes (‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Scandal’), and in it we see all those elements of drama, sex and diversity to which She has us used to it, whether in a hospital, a courthouse or in the Queen of England’s tea room.
Based on the famous novels by Julia Quinn , ‘The Bridgertons’ tells the story of a wealthy London family made up of a widowed mother and seven sons and daughters, named in alphabetical order: Anthony ( Jonathan Bailey ), the first-born who must occupy the role of his late father, Benedict ( Luke Thompson ), who wants to find his own way in the art world, Colin ( Luke Newton ), who is a hopeless romantic who wants to travel the world, Daphne ( Phoebe Dynevor ), the eldest daughter who bears the responsibility of getting married soon and well, Eloise ( Claudia Jessie), who rejects the definition of femininity of the time in which she lived, and the little ones of the house Francesca ( Ruby Stokes ), Gregory ( Will Tilston ) and Hyacinth ( Florence Hunt ).
This first season of the series focuses on Daphne, who faces not only the arduous task of finding a suitable husband, but also a whole world she does not know because, as a woman, her mother has put decorum before fundamental information . Although her entry into society starts off well, even with the blessing of Queen Charlotte ( Golda Rosheuvel ), she will soon face a series of obstacles fueled by the gazette of the mysterious Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews ) and where a The man who carries a complicated oath and refuses marriage, Duke Simon Basset ( Regé-Jean Page ), will be his great ally.
The new Netflix series is a mix between the cinema of cups and ‘Gossip Girl’ . The series of romances, revelations, sex and comedy with which you will want to end the year.
Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank you, next’ plays to the rhythm of the violin, Julie Andrews narrates the most succulent scandals in the British capital and love is in the air between gala parties and ‘afternoon tea’ in the open air. ‘The Bridgertons’ is a fantasy for those who enjoy period comedies, from the adaptations of Jane Austen (the series would make a good double session with the recent and also fun and multi-colored ‘Emma’ of Autumn de Wilde ) to series like ‘Downton Abbey’. But from the beginning it is clear to us that its creator, Chris Van Dusen , rejects the limits of the period portrait to enter his own universe.
‘The Bridgertons’ does not claim to be rigorously historical, because it understands something important: this era has been so idealized through the arts that it has become a parody of itself . And there you find enjoyment. It does not care about anachronisms, because the reality in which the history of its protagonists is framed is a hybrid between what is documented and what is dreamed of, a limbo where we learn from the rules that governed society two centuries ago and, at the same time, where the codes of contemporaneity creep in at every opportunity.
With those coordinates, the series plunges where propriety prevented Austen . We see passionate sex inside and outside of marriage, revealing masturbations, sexual orientations outside the norms, unwanted pregnancies, nudity, fights and, above all, sincere conversations that would scandalize any good gentleman. ‘The Bridgertons’ rip off their corset to reach where few portraits of the Regency have gone before , but without ever losing sight of their classic romanticism (with ‘troupes’ like ‘fake dating’, always infallible), the touches comedy and the fantasy essence of his proposal.
Now, among all that fun and lightness inherited from the ‘rom-com’ there is also room for the aspect most explored in this type of story: the place of women in society . And here too he finds new paths, thanks not only to Quinn’s original material, but also to a team of female directors and screenwriters ( Abby McDonald, Janet Lim, Sarah Dollard, Joy C Mitchell ) who make us feel that the two centuries that we separate from the story are not that comprehensive.
