02B02: Period Indulgences

Wednesday Eggs
 
Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 746

I'm just going to talk about Bridgerton today.

I won't go as far as saying I'm a big fan of the show in the same way I consider shows like Star Trek or The Expanse. But I do recognize that it's a very delightful distraction and one that I'm enjoying thoroughly. And it's rather fascinating trying to figure out why.

I get why I got into Downton Abbey. That's a more straight-up drama that explores the fascinating differences between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" worlds of the time period and weaves together various plotlines in the same way a soap opera would. I also really enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth mini-series for similar reasons, plus a surprising performance by Edie Redmayne. So I know there's a part of me that loves a good period drama as much as I enjoy a lot of science fiction shows.

But Bridgerton is not quite a straight-up drama. The story is certainly that of the period, but the styling and depiction of the show are also rich with one can only refer to as modern sensibilities. It features a richly diverse cast and even includes a lot of modern songs remixed to fit the period. But at the same time, it's not quite as liberal things like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet either. It's somewhere in-between I guess.

Maybe our enjoyment is similar to why we're enjoying exploring K-dramas together. There's a lot of interesting writing that fuels these shows but things don't get overly complicated to require a lot more thought. And that makes such shows great entertainment at the end of a long workday when you don't necessarily want to dissect.

We're not quite done with the second season, but it is certainly an interesting exploration of another branch of the Bridgerton family. It has a very different tone from the first that makes it feel like less a wild romance and more a deeper yet perhaps even more intense one. We only have a few more episodes to go, then this distraction will come to an end. And, coincidentally, we only have one more episode of Strong Girl Bong-soon, and then we'll need to figure out our next K-Drama to explore.

It certainly makes for more fun times with Tobie. 


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