simone ashley and johnathan bailey really played their characters so well in this season, it’s exactly how i pictured the characters when reading the book
the new season of bridgerton used the book as a sort of guidelines and that’s not a bad thing. the first season was not entirely true to the first book and i loved it all the same, this season was just like that. it was perfect in its own way and i hope that kanthony will be back next season.
absolutely obsessed with the start of the season making you feel the heaviness and how exhausting it is for anthony to wrestle with perfectly running what his father left him but also finding a wife and treating that process so robotically
and then the season ends with that heaviness gone, he’s happy and in love with someone who challenges him but can also take care of him in a way he’s never had the opportunity to have ever since his father passed away
But you know Edwina was sitting there the night before Kate’s wedding in If the shoe fits like,
“Do you ever think about the fact that you were the fuckboi with you and Anthony?”
And Kate startled like, “What?! No I wasn’t! I was the victim!”
And Edwina just raised her eyebrow like “Okay, but you were the one that kept referring to it as casual sex while you were in a relationship and he’d met you family and you’d met his. He thought you were together, then you tried to end it because it was just casual.”
And Kate just blinks for a long minute “… I have to make a call.”
And Edwina can heart her down the hall on the phone to Anthony like “So apparently I was a fuckboi!”
Okay but if the shoe fits Kate definitely wrote an opinion piece for a newspaper entitled
I married a fuckboi, here’s why you shouldn’t
And everyone thinks it’s going to be a scathing list of reasons her husband is a lunatic. But it’s actually a very nice piece about How Anthony offered her more than she was asking for, and that’s why they’re together. Telling women they shouldn’t settle for less than they want.
Has anyone written a fic of Kate and Anthony having a wedding incorporating some more of her traditions, like getting bridal henna and Anthony doing the tradition of looking for his name in the design
I really like the story telling they did with Kate’s costumes, her hair is a great example of this. Her hair was pulled back extremely tight when she was at her most guarded in the first few episodes, then as she grew more comfortable and less restrained curls started to frame her face showing she was more open and slightly softer, her hair is then completely free in the library and proposal scenes to emphasise her vulnerability in those moments. I feel like the final scene in the last episode shows she’s found a healthy balance and is more comfortable with herself, she doesn’t have to protect her family or herself as fiercely anymore and she’s free to love Anthony
I’ve been thinking about this and it’s been making me sad, so I’m writing it down to get it off my chest.
Violet:She’s conflicted because she knows Anthony does love Siena and that’s all she wanted for her children. But, she worries love won’t be enough. She knows her son better than anyone and can see he’s distracted and that the inevitable fighting is wearing him down. Just because he loves her doesn’t mean he’s happy.
Benedict:He saw what their fighting did to Anthony when she was only his mistress. He has had mistresses himself, and struggles to understand how a relationship founded on loneliness and financial gain can become a healthy marriage.
Colin:Is desperately trying to be happy for his brother. But when he meets Kate, it becomes so much harder to not wish his brother was still single.
Daphne:Put’s on a brave face in public, but is decidedly cold to Siena in private. Siena doesn’t help the situation. They are the complete opposite of each other, and Daphne can’t help but wonder why Anthony would want to marry her, former mistress or not.
Eloise:Their marriage only puts her off marriage more than she already was.
Francesca:Tries to be welcoming, but struggles with the rest of her family. Similarly to Daphne, they are just too different.
Gregory:Can sense the change in Anthony. Loves Kate when he does meet her, and has similar thoughts to Colin.
Hyacinth:Anthony is the only father she has ever known, so she always expects that his wife would be more maternal around her than another older sister. Siena is abrasive and quick to anger, which is only heightened by her dislike of Anthony’s family. The first time she makes Hyacinth cry is only weeks after the wedding. Anthony and Siena had been fighting all morning, and it had spilled into the drawing room, where Hyacinth was stealing biscuits as usual. When Siena made a particularly rude remark towards Anthony, she was quick to step up and defend her brother. Siena then turned on her and Anthony couldn’t stop the words which left her mouth. They actually didn’t stop until Hyacinth had left the room in tears.
Anthony:He quickly realises that as romantic as falling in love with your mistress is, trying to continue that relationship while married, is something different altogether. He agrees with Benedict. It was a mistake to think a relationship founded on loneliness and economic gain could morph into a healthy and fulfilling marriage. He doesn’t want children with Siena, especially after the incident with Hyacinth.
Siena:She comes to understand that the financial stability of being married to a Viscount, is nothing compared to actually being a Viscountess. Marriage doesn’t sit well with her. She knows Anthony needs an heir, but doesn’t want to be a mother. She can’t stand to see him with his family because it makes her jealous, as she had always been alone. She likes the dancing and the pretty dresses, but she doesn’t like the social season. This society wasn’t built for people like her, with her perspective on life, and she can sense it. It makes her miserable, which only leads to more fighting with Anthony.
Kate:Anthony still meets Kate, and without him trying to marry Edwina, they are much quicker to like each other. They still argue, but there is no menace behind the words. During the Bridgerton musicale, Kate hides in the hallway and later the study, as she realises she can’t keep her eyes off Anthony and that her heart races when he looks at her. She hides under his desk as Siena and Anthony enter, trying to hide their argument from the crowd gathered in the ballroom. Anthony and Kate still kiss that day. They still flirt during Pall Mall, and he still comforts her during the storm. But at the end of the season, Kate returns to Somerset, but leaves her heart with Anthony in Aubrey Hall.
Actually, this hasn’t helped. It’s just made me sadder.
One day, Violet Bridgerton gets her dates mixed up and organises a garden party on the same day as the annual game of Pall Mall. She does not realise what she has done, until she gets angry letters from her children demanding she change the date of her party. She is unable to do so as the invitations have already been sent, and Anthony point blank refuses to push the game back by even an hour.
That is the day the entirety of the ton witnesses the Bridgerton brood put all family allegiances aside, as they play the most violent game of Pall Mall ever seen.
