BridgertonSeason 2 is an adaption ofJulia Quinn’s novel,The Viscount Who Loved Me,set to follow the eldest of the siblings, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, in his dutiful search for a wife. For the most part, the Netflix adaptation gets plenty right, first and foremost being its casting of Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma (Sheffield in the books). The changes in the character’s ethnicity work exceptionally well as they not onlyadd South Asian representation, but do so witha multi-faced heroinewhose journey many could relate to. As far as Kate and Anthony’s sizzling, intimately slow-burn chemistry and the brilliant on-screen partnership between Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley go, there could never be complaints.
ButBridgertonseason 2 comes with a tremendous flaw where, though months have passed, the execution still makes little to no sense. Understandably, book-to-screen adaptations cannot be word for word. As with different mediums, changes are inevitable, especially when delivering a character’s internal monologue, which needs to be shown on screens. That said, in Season 2, Episode 4, “Victory,” the library scene which takes place in the Bridgertons' ancestral home at Aubrey Hall would’ve benefited far more had it been kept closer to the books. In the books, the library scene is where Kate and Anthony’s incessant bickering shifts into a comfortable exchange that reveals the similarities which make them kindred spirits. Additionally, it’s the one scene in the book that allows readers to know their heroine on a profoundly intimate level.
It’s One of the Most Vulnerable Scenes in the Books
The novel’s library scene reveals that Kate suffers from paralyzing nightmares at the sight of a storm that involves lightning and thunder. While she isn’t sure why, readers later learn that it’s because she lived through a post-traumatic experience where she watched an illness take her mother while there was a storm outside. In that quiet moment of vulnerability shared strictly between Kate and Anthony, the two characters learn that they’re a lot like in the grief they carry. They talk about their parents and what it means to miss someone, which results in a moment in the book where, for the first time, Kate understands that Anthony is much gentler than the roguish behavior she’s read about in Lady Whistledown’s column.
InBridgertonseason 2, the scene begins similarly, but it’s cut before there’s any progress made in cracking through their layers. Viewers watch Kate rise from her bed as thunder and lightning wrestle outside, and then we see her in the library. There, Anthony finds her, and she tells him that she’s always found storms unsettling. She states that her father used to read to her during the monsoons in India to ease her. Anthony tells her that this was his father’s library, and Kate asks how he died, to which he divulges the detail that the late viscount was stung by a bee, allowing Kate to understand why he panicked at the sight of one stinging her in the previous episode.Simone Ashley and Jonathan Baileydo such a mesmerizing job of conveying their emotions that viewers can evidently see that in the serene moments of this brief scene, the two are seeing a whole new side of the other. However, more is needed to reveal key details that only words can convey.
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It Could’ve Shown More Sides to Kate
By the end ofBridgerton’s second season, everything that the audience knows about Kate is entirely due to Ashley showing us a plethora of vulnerability without words revealing facts we could use. For starters, we don’t know how or when Kate’s mother died — we don’t even know her name. We don’t know her father’s either, and we don’t know anything about him other than that he was the secretary for a royal family in India. Season 1, Episode 2 centered carefully around flashbacks of Simon Basset’s (Regé-Jean Page) life as a young boy as a means of letting the audience get to know him better. We also have verbal confirmation of his father’s behavior throughout the season from characters like Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh).
InBridgertonSeason 2, the library scene could’ve allowed viewers to get to know their heroine more, but instead, the screen time went toward catering to a love triangle that’s essentially nonexistent in the books. Suppose, at the very least, there was a moment or two where Anthony asked about her parents. In that case, it could’ve at least revealed whether she’s afraid of storms or, more intimately, why she feels like she needs to conceal her grief to take care of her stepmother, Mary (Shelley Conn), and her sister,Edwina (Charithra Chandran). When it comes to all other characters, we get all sorts of background information, but where the heroine is concerned, we have to settle with crumbs.
For viewers who are older siblings themselves, it’s easier to understand the pressure Kate puts on herself as well as why she charges headfirst to protect those around her. But not every viewer is in that boat, and the library scene could’ve at least given her a moment to grieve with the man she’s supposed to marry. While we could argue that it isn’t relevant here because Anthony isn’t pursuing her at this point, the purpose of the library scene in the book is to showcase that the comfort Kate and Anthony feel together cannot be replicated elsewhere. Where conversations with Edwina are forced and surface level, they’re profoundly healing and cathartic with Kate. During her panic attack in the books, Kate sees that Anthony is not only gentle through a person’s struggles, but also understands her heartaches because he lives with such anxieties. Bailey confirmed this character detail in an interview withBlack Girl Nerdsafter the first season aired.
Still, throughoutBridgertonSeason 2, while we get plenty of information about Anthony and why he puts so much pressure on himself, we’re meant to guess and fish for said information about Kate. In the hands of a lesser-skilled actress, we’d barely know anything about Kate and her vulnerabilities. This scene would’ve been the moment where divulging information wouldn’t have been forced but rather an incredibly organic way to showcase why they’re drawn to each other beyond the physical longing. And while Kate doesn’t need to be afraid of storms as she is in the books, the scene could’ve still been a moment to dig into the grief she undoubtedly carries after losing two parents. However, as one ofBritish Vogue’s December cover girls, Ashley revealed, “Even though she (Kate) comes across as fierce, people like that are sometimes the softest on the inside. They develop that skin because they’re vulnerable. You see her insecurities and fears. She’s f**king nervous, and I think there’s strength in admitting that.” While we don’t yet know if we’ll see any of these fears or heartaches verbalized aloud or shown as intimately, it could be a beautiful step for the show to take to allow viewers to get to know the new viscountess more and more.
