The Alternative Bridgerton Ending

Make even the tiniest comment about the glory of the second season of Bridgerton anywhere on the internet, and you are very likely to see dissenters coming out of the woodwork to tell you why you’re wrong.

I’ll be honest. This was not something I anticipated when we shut off Netflix after that final perfect Pall Mall moment in the sun. I had seen the complaints about the marketing department’s seemingly unnecessary focus on making the season a love triangle, but I was sure – damn sure – that once those fans saw the real thing (and by real thing I mean the PALPABLE chemistry between Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley) that all those fears would come to rest somewhere between the “bane of my existence” speech and the “I need to hold your hand while you do that to me” scene. 

But fool me once; the sentiment persists. Among these comments I see two main dissensions:

1. The love triangle went too far (Edwina caught feelings, there was a whole ass wedding, and Kate lost the love and respect of her sister). AND
2. Kate and Anthony did not have enough time on screen to be happy.

And I just have one question:

What’s Your Alternative Bridgerton Ending Then? 

Had Anthony and Kate gotten together a little bit earlier and had Edwina not been upset about them getting together, what’s happening the last two episodes? Where does the narrative go? 

What’s pulling these two characters apart? 

In the book, it’s Anthony’s internal feeling that he cannot fall in love bc he feels he’s going to die. Not only does that not translate well on screen, but we’ve already been there with him in his conversations with Violet. We’ve seen that Kate’s accident and subsequent insistence on moving back to India is barely enough to fill a finale episode.

So what happens? What happens if they’d gotten together, say, in episode 6, and then in episodes 7 and 8, they’re what? Chummy with Edwina? Marrying her off to Lumley together? Just straight boning for 50 minutes? Another wedding scene? How long do you people want your denoument anyway? 

So, what’s the story there? Without that angst? Without the issues that have been teed up for us all season and culminate so well in the final episode?

No one that I’ve seen has been able to give me a good alternative story arc for the ending of Bridgerton season 2.

And they don’t need to. The most-watched Netflix show almost ever is doing just fine. 

But I don’t know everything, so give us your best go in the comments. What would you have done for an alternative Bridgerton ending? 

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Until then, watch the latest Bingerton here: