What a second season of Bridgerton might look like
Maureen Lee Lenker Introduces ‘Bridgerton’, a Risqué Regency Romance from Shonda Rhimes
EW Digital Writer, Maureen Lee Lenker, discusses the new Netflix series, 'Bridgerton,' applauds the show's diversity, and praises the series' standout performances including those from Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, and Nicola Coughlan.
UPDATE: It's now official! Bridgerton will be returning for a second season. Read all about it here.
EARLIER: A little bit obsessed with Anthony Bridgerton? We are too.
While Netflix's Bridgerton has yet to be officially renewed for a second season, we already have a pretty good idea of where a new season would go, and it would likely follow the love story of Daphne's (Phoebe Dyvenor) taciturn eldest brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey).
"The show was always set out to be primarily one book per season," showrunner Chris Van Dusen tells EW. With season 1 largely hewing to the plot of Julia Quinn's first Bridgerton novel, The Duke and I, it stands to reason that season 2 would draw from the events of book 2, The Viscount Who Loved Me.
The viscount in question is, of course, Anthony Bridgerton, who finally meets his match in Kate Sheffield. The problem is that Kate is the older sister of the woman he has decided to wed. As Kate works to prevent the betrothal, believing that reformed rakes make poor husbands, sparks fly between her and Anthony.
NICK BRIGGS/NETFLIX
Bridgerton viewers who are already familiar with the novels might have been dismayed to see Anthony deeply in love with someone other than Kate in season 1 — namely, opera singer Siena Rosso (Sabrina Bartlett).
The unhappy ending to that tryst seems likely to complicate Anthony's story on screen. In the novels his past affair with an opera singer does get a vague mention, but for Van Dusen, fleshing out this type of backstory was essential to setting up potential future seasons.
"If we're going to tell Anthony's story in a later season, I always found it interesting to figure out what would have happened to Anthony before he came in the book," he says. "Exploring his background and giving him real texture and backstory."
Van Dusen says it's "too early to say" whether Siena might play a bigger role in Anthony's story going forward. He adds, "There's always going to be differences from source material, but the fans of the books are going to see that the elements they love of the books on screen too: the way the siblings banter, the way Violet loves her children, and the love stories at the hearts of each book — these moving, sweeping romances with all the twists and turns, and their steaminess."
While we wait for official word that the Shondaland series will be bringing us back to the ballroom for another season, it would seem to be a good time to start dream-casting Kate Sheffield, given the show's strong reviews and viewership numbers. And we might as well start envisioning one of the highlights of the entire Bridgerton book series from Viscount: a sibling-rivalry-fueled pall-mall game that is truly the stuff of legend.
In the novels, we continue to see more of the rich array of characters, including the Bridgerton and Featherington families and hints at the wedded bliss of Daphne and Simon (played by Regé-Jean Page in the series). Bridgerton on television is already far more of an ensemble piece than the individual books, and we expect that the familiar faces we've come to love will continue to have interesting stories of their own (until it's time for them to come center stage, should the show run a full eight seasons and get to each of the books).
And while audiences now know the identity of the gossip-monger Lady Whistledown, we imagine Julie Andrews will continue as the show's delicious narrator while we wait for her unmasking to come in the storytelling.
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