Bridgerton season 2 follows Anthony instead of Daphne and Simon, and brings several new characters into the scandalous world of the London ton.
The hit Netflix series Bridgerton is returning for a second season in March of 2022. The series follows a Regency-era family of siblings, the Bridgertons, who are navigating high society London’s “season” and vying to make promising matches with other members of the ton. Created by Chris van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, the Netflix series is based on the Bridgertons book series by Julia Quinn. The first season, which was a runaway hit for the streamer in December of 2020, followed Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest daughter of the family, as she became a debutante to be presented as marriageable to Society. Her romance with Simon, the Duke of Hastings, played by Regé-Jean Page, helped to popularize the show.
In the second season, the series won’t be following Daphne and the Duke, and will instead focus on the romantic endeavors of the oldest Bridgerton sibling, Viscount Anthony. The decision not to bring the Duke back for season 2 was a controversial one, however, Bridgerton season 2 will follow the plot of the second book in the Bridgertons series, entitled The Viscount Who Loved Me, which also focuses on Anthony. In the book, Anthony seeks out a wife who is intelligent and will give him heirs, but he doesn’t want to actually fall in love with them. He initially courts a young debutante named Edwina Sheffield, who will only marry someone if her older stepsister Kate approves of them. Kate doesn’t approve of Anthony because she takes issue with his refusal to fall in love. However, just as with Daphne and Simon in the first book, an accident puts Anthony and Kate in a compromising situation that forces them to marry each other, instead.
Bridgerton season 2 will be bringing some new faces to the cast of characters in Regency London, including some characters who were created just for the Netflix series rather than being adapted from the books. One of the biggest changes from the book series is the Netflix series's commitment to their diverse reimagining of Regency London, in which people of color are active participants in high society and some even have titles, similar to the Duke of Hastings. The sisters at the center of Anthony Bridgerton's romantic endeavors, Kate and Edwina Sheffield, are reimagined as Sharmas in the show and are South Asian. Along with the Sharmas, what new characters can be expected to appear in Bridgerton season 2?
Played by British-Indian actress Simone Ashley, Kate Sharma is the oldest daughter of the Sharma family. She is unmarried, despite the fact that her younger sister Edwina is set to make her debut into society. In the novel, she is a protective older sister who wants to ensure that any man who courts her sister is the right fit for the innocent and sweet Edwina. She disapproves of Anthony, but only because she overhears his desire to marry a woman only so that he can have well-bred children. Kate ends up having to marry Anthony herself after she is stung by a bee and she and Anthony are caught in a compromising position together. The first look clip released by Netflix shows that Kate is similarly disapproving of Anthony, which suggests that this version of Kate is likely to have a similar storyline.
Edwina, Kate's younger sister, is played by British-Indian actress Charithra Chandran. In the novel, Edwina is deemed the "diamond of the season," meaning she is the most desirable debutante and the young woman that the most eligible men of the ton will be courting for marriage. Anthony becomes determined to marry Edwina, not because he is interested in her romantically, but because he believes she will be a good wife and will give him smart, attractive children. Edwina, however, will not marry anyone who does not meet Kate's approval, which makes her difficult for Anthony to court. Anthony's decision to court her comes entirely from his desire to uphold the Bridgerton family name by marrying well and producing heirs. He will likely have a similar approach in the second season, as the first look teaser shows Kate telling him off for treating women like breeding stock.
Played by Shelley Conn, who previously appeared in the short-lived Fox series Terra Nova, Lady Mary is Edwina’s mother and Kate's stepmother. She is the daughter of an Earl who is returning to London years after her marriage caused a family scandal. Her husband, Kate's father, is deceased, and she is determined to have her daughter Edwina find a suitable match. Her motivations are likely to be similar to her counterpart in the book, Mary Sheffield.
Calam Lynch, best known for playing John Paul in Derry Girls, will be playing Theo Sharpe in the second season. A new character, Theo is described as a working-class printer’s assistant. Theo is also an intellectual who will fight for the rights of everyone, which is likely to challenge the strict London class distinctions that are prominent.
Edmund is the Bridgerton family patriarch who is currently deceased. Rupert Evans, who was previously the star of the Amazon Prime series The Man in the High Castle, will be playing Edmund. In the novel, Edmund died suddenly at the age of 38 after being stung by a bee. Unfortunately, his son Anthony witnessed the death and developed a fear of bees and a belief that he, too, would only live to the age of 38. The bee sting becomes a catalyst for Anthony's eventual marriage to Kate. When she is stung by a bee on her chest, he leaps into action to save her, afraid that the bee sting might kill her. Because Edmund is dead, he will only appear in flashbacks that will hopefully provide some interesting insight into the Bridgerton family's backstory.
Played by Merlin's Rupert Young, Jack is another entirely new character who doesn't appear in the books. He is described as a new member of the ton “with a connection to one of its most notable families." The addition of this new character, as well as Theo Sharpe, suggests that the returning Bridgerton may be gearing up to tell a different story from the original romance novels. Both Theo and Jack seem primed to shake up the ton in new ways. The choice to promote this character without providing his surname suggests that the family he's related to might be a big bombshell. If Bridgerton is choosing to tell a story different from the ones from the novels, that leaves the Netflix series open to bring back favorite characters and expand the Bridgerton world even beyond the ton.
