Last year, Bridgerton became one of Netflix's biggest hits yet. Season 1 of the Regency romance was based on a book -- The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, and thankfully for fans of the series and for the streamer, there are seven more books in the series...one for each remaining Bridgerton child. A teaser for Season 2, released as part of Netflix's TUDUM event, depicted an exchange between eldest Bridgerton, Anthony, and new character Kate Sharma. This confirms that Season 2 of Bridgerton will closely follow the second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me.
The plot of The Viscount Who Loved Me and, by extension, Bridgerton Season 2, will feel exceedingly familiar to readers of Jane Austen and to rom-com connoisseurs in general. While the outcome of Season 1 was somewhat predictable, the plot was fairly original by historical romance standards. Simon, Duke of Hastings and Daphne Bridgerton fake a courtship out of mutual convenience in order to avoid having to spend time with undesirable suitors, and inevitably, they fall in love. This time around, Anthony's on the market, and so are the Sharma sisters. The older one is clever but prickly, the younger one is as sweet as she is beautiful.
Anyone who's ever read or seen Pride and Prejudice (or Bridget Jones's Diary or 10 Things I Hate About You or Beauty and the Beast; the list goes on and on) will be able to guess what happens next. In book form, Anthony decides that if he must marry, he'll claim that year's belle of the ball, Edwina Sheffield. Edwina is, however, very close with her older sister Kate. Kate knows Edwina is a hot commodity and wants to make sure she marries for love, or at least ends up with someone who respects her.
In Kate's opinion, that's anybody but Anthony Bridgerton. For much of the book's page count, Kate Sheffield is actively trying to sabotage Edwina and Anthony's betrothal because she believes him to be an untrustworthy cad. And she's right. Anthony's not interested in Edwina as a person. He just wants to marry a pretty girl who will produce some heirs and be done with it.
The TV series has swapped out the Sheffields for the Sharmas. Simone Ashley (of Netflix's Sex Education) will play Kate and Charithra Chandran will portray Edwina. Bridgerton is produced by Shonda Rhimes and the show makes a point of having a diverse cast, despite its very white source material. But the enemies-to-lovers trope remains the same. Season 2 will see Anthony and Kate spending considerably more time together than Anthony and Edwina, as the Bridgerton bachelor slowly realizes he'd rather have a woman who challenges his intelligence and expects something of out of their relationship.
This oft deployed plot device is, from some romance fans' points of view, an oldie but a goodie. There's something satisfying for certain viewers about watching a smart, sensible woman tame a selfish rogue. Not everyone enjoys it when the admirable heroine wins over the handsome rake, though. Some readers and viewers well-versed in the genre find the trope a little toxic.
The gender dynamics don't always play out exactly this way, but usually such stories involve a man being pretty terrible to a woman before he decides he can't live without her, at which point the female character typically sort of just gives in. If Bridgerton Season 2 is anything like The Viscount Who Loved Me, Anthony's behavior -- toward Edwina, Kate and women in general -- will be a frequent topic of his and Kate's heated conversations. Whether fans ship these enemies-to-lovers as hard as they swooned over Simon and Daphne will depend on how convincingly Viscount Anthony changes his Season 1 ways.
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