In fairness to Bridgerton, which was created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, this is technically the point. Though the women appear to be subservient to the men, they’re the ones with the power to shift the narrative.
This half of the season was a little less chaste than the first, finally revealing a sexual side of Pen we all knew was within her.
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It also treats its side characters with more respect. Cressida Cowper goes from being a two-dimensional bully to a woman determined to escape the suffocating life her parents have planned for her. Meanwhile, Francesca Bridgerton’s engagement to the Earl of Kilmartin, which is largely based on companionable silence, is a refreshing departure from the melodramatic trysts synonymous with the Bridgerton name.
The second half of the season is packed with everything but the kitchen sink – pregnancies, multiple engagements, a fake Lady Whistledown, revealed secrets and, of course, more outrageous wigs than you can count. But all of that fails to distract us from the fact that it’s missing the thing Bridgerton does best: the chase. Without that, we’re just back to the same old secret and some sweaty, yet tasteful, sex.
