Bridgerton is back in all its splendour, giving viewers a burst of springtime colour and verve. In its second season, the smash-hit Netflix period drama delivers all of the pomp and circumstance that fans adore, while swivelling to focus our gaze on a new set of intriguing characters—as it is set to do continuously in adapting the eight novels of the Bridgerton Series by historical romance novelist Julia Quinn.

Truly one of the cleverest aspects of the Shondaland production is how, in reinventing its Austenian context, Bridgerton is poised to have each series span the London social season of the early 19th century. The ‘season’, as it were, saw the gathering of British gentry and nobility for lavish parties, dinners, promenades, hunts and balls—to see and be seen consorting amongst the nation’s social elite in the city and country.

In this way, each Bridgerton series presents a new ‘season’—and a chance for viewers to become engrossed in a new romance involving one of the eight Bridgerton siblings. In the first series, based on The Duke and I (2000), Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor)—the eldest Bridgerton sister and the Queen’s ‘diamond’—through trials and tribulations, finds love with Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), becoming his Duchess. This season—based on The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000)—Anthony, the eldest brother and Viscount Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), seeks a viscountess to secure the fortune and status of his family. Shouldering the burdens of his role after his father’s death, Anthony means to avert the emotional risks of falling in love—an ordinance sure to fail in the romantic world of Bridgerton. For fans bereft at the departure of Page—wondering who could ever smoulder to that degree—Bailey more than manages to do the job, opposite the sensational Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma, who steals Anthony’s heart and the show.

As such, Bridgerton promises fans six more sumptuous ‘seasons’ to relish, with the comfort granted by the genre that they are sure to witness a full and varied set of happily-ever-afters. The repeated anticipation of guaranteed satisfaction is what the series offers the world—a generous gift lavished upon us all.

And, dearest reader, should you wish to hear more, link here and here for further Bridgerton musings.