‘Bridgerton’ Review: Netflix’s Regency Romance will Leave You Hot, Bothered, and Begging for More

There’s a moment early on in the first episode of Netflix’s new Regency romance series Bridgerton that sums up the show’s charms completely. As young heiress Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) enters her first ball of the season, flanked by her loving mother Violet (Ruth Gemmell) and overprotective eldest brother Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), the crowd parts for them. The beautiful debutante surveys the scores of suitors with stars in her eyes and the band plays…a string rendition of Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next.” It’s a perfect collision of period drama fantasy and contemporary romantic angst, and it’s what Netflix and Shondaland’s Bridgerton is all about.

Bridgerton is not a pious or historically accurate period drama. It is hardly a match in gravitas for any BBC Dickens, Austen, or Brontë adaptation. But that’s not what Bridgerton is. As an adaptation of romance author Julia Quinn’s beloved Bridgerton novels, the show is pitch perfection. Creator Chris Van Dusen has brought Quinn’s first novel in the series, The Duke and I, to soapy, sexy, and scathingly funny life all while teasing out future heartaches and rival happily ever afters. Bridgerton is a deceptively genius show that will seduce viewers as easily as any rake in any romance novel steals his lady’s heart. It is that damn fun and that damn good. Bridgerton is historic romance gold.

Bridgerton opens on the social season of 1813. All eyes in “the ton” are focused on the sparkling Daphne Bridgerton, the eldest daughter in the massive (and massively popular) Bridgerton clan. After Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuval) names the teen as the season’s incomparable, it’s expected that the suitors will come rushing. However her oldest brother Anthony essentially cockblocks every possible match. No one is a match for his dear sister, least of all his rakish best friend from Oxford, the new Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page).

Both Daphne and the Duke soon find themselves in a bit of a pickle. The ton has found itself in the enthrall of a mysterious gossip columnist named Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews). She not only names names, but editorializes on society in general, thereby manipulating public opinion. As suitors flee Daphne (out of fear of Anthony), Whistledown declares her desperate and undesirable. Meanwhile she labels the handsome, rich, and single Duke as society’s most eligible bachelor, setting every maiden after him. The Duke never wants to marry, for dramatic personal reasons, and Daphne is terrified of being cornered into a particularly odious match.

So the Duke suggests they work together to stymy Whistledown’s narrative. They will pretend to court! It’s a classic romance gambit that plays out this time in the lush London setting of Bridgerton.

But Bridgerton is more than just that. While Quinn’s first novel focuses squarely on Daphne and Simon, Bridgerton Season 1 captures the enchanting, and hugely populated, world of the series at large. We get to know all the older Bridgerton siblings intimately. There’s would-be artist Benedict (Luke Thompson), rascally charming Colin (Luke Newton), and completely frustrated Eloise (Claudia Jessie) all having their own minor adventures while Daphne masquerades a romance with the Duke.

We also get to know other members of the ton. Fan favorite character Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) is a key character, offering a kind foil to her ridiculous family’s antics. We get a glimpse at the inner life of Anthony’s opera singer mistress Siena (Sabrina Bartlett), and, most intriguingly, a huge subplot starring Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker). Marina is a character plucked from the prologue of one of Quinn’s later Bridgerton novels. Here, though, Van Dusen fleshes out her backstory, making her torn between her popularity with the ton and her love for a young nobleman from her country home. It’s a fascinating choice that sets up more drama, more heartache, and more commentary on the world of 1813 London than a strict adaptation of Quinn’s books would allow.

Bridgerton‘s progressive look at Regency era romance includes a diverse cast inspired by the historical suggestion that the real Queen Charlotte was biracial. But Bridgerton isn’t only challenging the period drama genre’s traditional approach to race. The show also upends what we think about sexuality. Bridgerton celebrates sensuality like few other shows set in the same time period. While all the noble ladies of the ton must give off the appearance of virginal innocence, here they are allowed to indulge in sexual fantasy. Indeed, the whole show is a celebration of the straight female gaze, making the men the objects of sexual desire on screen and prioritizing feminine pleasure. It’s a choice that not only puts Bridgerton‘s sex scenes in league with the likes of Outlander but honors the tone of Julia Quinn’s world.

Ultimately what makes Bridgerton such a gem is its adoration of the historic romance genre. The attention to detail in this show doesn’t cater to fussy historic accuracy, but the way the romance genre drowns readers in fantasy.

Bridgerton is a swoon-inducing treat that will leave you hot, bothered, and begging for more.

Bridgerton premieres on Netflix Friday, December 25, Christmas Day.

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