Red how Kate and Anthony’s love story takes a backseat as Bridgerton stretches Edwina’s role, trading sizzling tension for unnecessary plot distractions.
Dearest gentle reader, the Viscount and Viscountess Bridgerton — yes, Anthony and Kate — are set to grace our screens once more, and I, for one, am positively beside myself. But there’s one relic from Season 2 I shan’t be pining for. What is you ask, gentlest reader?
Miss Edwina Sharma. After countless rewatches and many months of soul-searching (read: dramatic sighing and pausing at every Kanthony eye contact), I’ve finally come to a most unladylike conclusion.
I do not like her. Not even a little. Not even a whisper of affection remains.
How season 2 delayed Kanthony’s spark — and Bridgerton suffered
The first three episodes of Bridgerton Season 2 begin with the grace of a well-rehearsed waltz — each character stepping smartly into place, promising a season ripe with romantic tension and scandal. But alas, as the story unfolds, the central triangle of Kate, Anthony, and Edwina begins to falter — not for lack of chemistry, but because their tale is repeatedly interrupted by side plots vying for attention.
Indeed, just as our hearts begin to flutter at a stolen glance or sharp retort between Kate and the Viscount, we are whisked away to the Featheringtons and their scheming cousin Jack, whose dubious dealings with the ton feel less like drama and more like distraction. Instead of enriching the narrative, the B-plot lumbers in like an uninvited guest at a ball, stalling the emotional crescendo we so eagerly await.
As for the Sharma sisters and our tormented Viscount, let us be clear: Anthony bears the lion’s share of the blame — a rake blinded by duty and indecision. Edwina, bless her earnest heart, is not entirely at fault. But to claim she was wronged by her sister? That would be most unkind to Kate, whose internal battle between loyalty and longing was heartbreakingly real. Still, we cannot deny Edwina never quite found her rhythm with the Bridgertons — she was a guest, never quite family.
Take, for example, the beloved Pall Mall scene at Aubrey Hall in Episode 3, A Bee in Your Bonnet. While Edwina falters amidst the chaos, Kate flourishes — competitive, confident, and utterly at home among the Bridgertons. The game, symbolic in more ways than one, shows us what Edwina herself never seems to realize: that Kate is Anthony’s true equal.
This could have been a turning point for Edwina — a chance to question her place in this mismatched courtship. But alas, the next episode offers no such growth, and the moment passes like a breeze through the hedgerows.
Why Edwina Sharma felt like a guest star in her own love story
Apart from this, she drifts from scene to scene. The middle episodes should not serve just as filler or solely plot-driven, but represent an opportunity to enrich the audience’s understanding of these characters.
One cannot help but observe that Miss Edwina Sharma, despite her beauty and grace, drifts through the middle episodes like a guest who’s overstayed her welcome at a country estate. Rather than deepening our understanding of the characters, these episodes feel more like a parade of plot mechanics — charming in spots, but hollow where it matters most.
And just when a thread of warmth between the Sharma sisters dares to blossom, it’s swiftly cast aside the moment Edwina drops the venomous “half-sister” line. It is a moment that chills, not just for its cruelty, but because it signals the loss of anything tender or meaningful between them. One might argue Edwina is simply too young and too swept up in the idea of marrying a Viscount to see the forest for the trees. But even so, the show fails her.
If the season’s goal was to chart a grand romance — a tale of true love and kindred souls — then Edwina becomes little more than a narrative pawn, a casualty of undercooked writing and missed potential.
The love triangle may have served its dramatic purpose, poking at hearts and egos with sharp little jabs, but it also stalled the inevitable unveiling of Kanthony — the pairing we all tuned in for. In its place? Meandering subplots and unnecessary diversions that neither served love nor honour, and most certainly not entertainment.
What a pity — when one could have had a love story fit for the Queen.
