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For Bridgerton fans, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is perhaps the long-awaited gem that was always meant to shine brighter. For those who did not hold the original series in such high regard, this romantic trip down the memory lane of British aristocracy may change their perspective a little bit.
Helmed by the great Shonda Rhimes, this prequel series, which is sprinkled with moments from the present, is an absolute treat that handles the love affair between Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and George III (Corey Mylchreest) with extreme panache.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, in its six-episode run, is a more composed version of the original series, with the familiar charm of the original that gave it such a vast fan following. Moreover, it is also a treat to any fan of romance novels or shows.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story has all the good parts of Bridgerton, but has managed to avoid all the bad
Adapted from the novels by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton tells the story of Queen Charlotte in her old age as she struggles with her lucid husband’s mental health, alongside the stories of the eight siblings who attempt to find love in the Regency era in England.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story kicks off with the story of the young Queen Charlotte, whose marriage is fixed with King George by her brother. Despite the unhappy and reluctant beginning, the story soon moves forward to the wedding and the subsequent happiness the young girl finds in the weirdly race-divided England.
Interestingly, Queen Charlotte is very well placed between the earlier timeline that explores the formation of the society as viewers know it in Bridgerton and the present timeline of the original series, making Queen Charlotte filled with a lot of plotlines. To its credit, this Shonda Rhimes series balances the plotlines well over its six-hour runtime without ever overstepping or under-exposing.
The very likable characters also add a nice layer to the story, something that Shonda Rhimes has perfected in her writing over the years. It makes it quite easy to root for young Charlotte and feel for King George. The secondary plots in the show are also well-weaved into the main plot, making them very coherent. This is one of the main reasons that the prequel is able to hold on to its pace so well, something that the original series often struggled with.
While the sequel managed to do away with most of the problems in the original series, it could not handle Bridgerton’s weird approach to race properly in its six-episode run. While there are some vague attempts at explaining this mixed-race English society, it never quite fully materializes.
As a fantasy, this is not a problem for the series. It never tries to address the racism, and it does not need to. Its main focus is always on love, and, it pulls that off excellently. Over the six episodes, there is barely a dull moment. The colorful swoon-worthy moments would capture the Birdgerton viewers and the tightly paced drama is enough for others.
All the episodes of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story are now streaming on Netflix.
