Bridgerton Season 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 if you can’t suspend your disbelief, you will hate the show. It isn’t attempting to be historically accurate it’s basically just the aesthetic vibe and mating style of the regency era put into a modern show. You have multiple interracial marriages between nobility in the show, that is already killing the historical accuracy of the show. Just have fun with it.

You have to suspend disbelief but the show does actually assume you have some idea of Regency tropes. What's going on with the king, why does everyone wear high waisted dresses, What's up with the social strata.

They assume you have some base knowledge from watching or reading Jane Austen.

Ok, sure, but the show does not assume knowledge if Admiral Nelson's mistress. Even the costumes are anachronistic -- the queen dresses like Marie Antoinette because it's fun, it has nothing to do with historical accuracy. And they play fast and loose with high society as it suits them, especially on the race stuff. For instance the embrace of the Mondrichs. Which is fun, those are good characters and really charismatic actors. But totally absurd in terms of historical accuracy.

They don't want you thinking too hard about what Regency England was actually like.

Probably not but it's a fun jumping off point, particularly if you read some of the over the top sentimentalist stuff (I took a whole class on it in college).

Pamela, she's a maid whose wealthy employer (Mr. B) wants to make her his mistress (he's really quite terrible) and she holds out, ends up married and joining upper society. And to be clear, this book is ridiculously over the top and moralistic, but it's kind of on point and was written a solid 70 years before Bridgerton takes place. I'm betting the author who wrote Bridgerton had probably read those novels.

Who the hell is Pamela??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 no doubt it was a man yapping about Nelson…and probably a man saying she didn’t need to be lubricated. lol.

I was the one who first brought up Nelson and I’m a woman. The sexy stuff is all well and good but I find it so much more interesting to think about what’s true to the purported historical context and what’s different — it’s like how sci fi is interesting because it makes you think about what’s different from our current reality. My point was mainly that being a rich man’s mistress in that time frame was not a bad gig and better than most other options for non rich women, os we can’t really slam Benedict for offering it. I mean, think about a world in which you can’t marry the person you love unless they happen to be from the right family, have not been previously married, etc etc. So of course you will have a ton of people setting up long term relationships outside of marriage, because the heat wants what th heart wants, even 200+ years ago. If you think about it that way, the mistress thing is often kind of sweet. And they often had a sort of acknowledged place in society. (Let’s all remember too that the current Queen of England was once the long term mistress who was considered inappropriate for marriage just 50 years ago ….)

And for those who want to know more about admiral horatio Nelson’s great love of his life and mistress:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk_eoZDYERY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 no doubt it was a man yapping about Nelson…and probably a man saying she didn’t need to be lubricated. lol.

I was the one who first brought up Nelson and I’m a woman. The sexy stuff is all well and good but I find it so much more interesting to think about what’s true to the purported historical context and what’s different — it’s like how sci fi is interesting because it makes you think about what’s different from our current reality. My point was mainly that being a rich man’s mistress in that time frame was not a bad gig and better than most other options for non rich women, os we can’t really slam Benedict for offering it. I mean, think about a world in which you can’t marry the person you love unless they happen to be from the right family, have not been previously married, etc etc. So of course you will have a ton of people setting up long term relationships outside of marriage, because the heat wants what th heart wants, even 200+ years ago. If you think about it that way, the mistress thing is often kind of sweet. And they often had a sort of acknowledged place in society. (Let’s all remember too that the current Queen of England was once the long term mistress who was considered inappropriate for marriage just 50 years ago ….)

And for those who want to know more about admiral horatio Nelson’s great love of his life and mistress:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk_eoZDYERY

I get that. I think people are viewing it from the modern day lens though. And in that hot steamy scene it sort of ruined the moment. In fact, the music even stopped in that scene at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SPOILERS


****EVEN IF YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THE EPISODES***..............


*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you can say this show is not performative box checking, when they are setting up Francesca to fall in love with her husband's FEMALE cousin when in the books it's a male cousin.

That whole thing pisses me off anyway because taking bisexuality out of it-- Francesca is married and shouldn't be crushing on anyone at the moment.

More SPOILERS





I agree performative and yes they are setting up the storyline for Francesca’s second chapter. We’ll see if she gets a whole season like she gets a whole book (no, she does not cheat on her husband, at least in the books).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 no doubt it was a man yapping about Nelson…and probably a man saying she didn’t need to be lubricated. lol.

I was the one who first brought up Nelson and I’m a woman. The sexy stuff is all well and good but I find it so much more interesting to think about what’s true to the purported historical context and what’s different — it’s like how sci fi is interesting because it makes you think about what’s different from our current reality. My point was mainly that being a rich man’s mistress in that time frame was not a bad gig and better than most other options for non rich women, os we can’t really slam Benedict for offering it. I mean, think about a world in which you can’t marry the person you love unless they happen to be from the right family, have not been previously married, etc etc. So of course you will have a ton of people setting up long term relationships outside of marriage, because the heat wants what th heart wants, even 200+ years ago. If you think about it that way, the mistress thing is often kind of sweet. And they often had a sort of acknowledged place in society. (Let’s all remember too that the current Queen of England was once the long term mistress who was considered inappropriate for marriage just 50 years ago ….)

And for those who want to know more about admiral horatio Nelson’s great love of his life and mistress:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk_eoZDYERY

I get that. I think people are viewing it from the modern day lens though. And in that hot steamy scene it sort of ruined the moment. In fact, the music even stopped in that scene at that point.

The thing to also know with historical context is some of the artist/free love types ruined the lives of every woman who got involved with them. Shelley and Byron most spectacularly. So being a mistress could be a very fraught endeavor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penelope is too big for Colin, sorry. It’s so cringe!

IRL that's not true -- Luke Newton is 6' and when he and Nicola Coughlan did promotional appearances I think they looked well suited to each other. But on screen I agree she overpowered him. I think it has to do with how photogenic Nicola is on camera, and with this round face and lots of hair and the way the costumes tend to display her boobs in a really prominent way -- Newton just kind of faded into the background in their love scenes. I don't think she's literally too big for him, I just think it would have been better to pair her with someone who would look more balanced on screen, especially in close up. Like the guy who plays Will Mondrich (Marins Inhangbe) would have been great.

The problem was that they were going by the books, and Pen is supposed to be with Colin, who was already cast and they prioritized casting the Bridgerton men to look like brothers more than to look good with their partners. They got lucky with Jonathan Bailey, who I thought looked perfect with Simone Ashley -- they are both long and lean and have these angular faces that were very complimentary. But Colin and Penelope weren't as good of a visual match, they should have thought about that when casting Colin.

This is also going to be problem if they ever do the Gregory season, which would be season 8 if they matched the books. Because the kid playing Gregory has even less presence on screen than Luke Newton and if they cast really great actresses for his love triangle, he's going to look so lost.

Colin just didn't come across as appealing in his season, especially since he spent half the season being sulky and then making things worse. It just wasn't attractive and you felt bad for Penelope. Coughlan is a more charismatic actress.

I actually liked the man who was courting Penelope in the last season before she hooked up with Colin. He was larger and visually seemed to fit with Penelope better.

It’s not the height difference that is the problem. Colin is very thin and Penelope is thicker. I can’t help it but I cringe when they have love scenes - it looks like she could crush him.

I did too!

They had chemistry and were a mire believable match than Pen and Colin.

They gave a dancing with your brother vibe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciated the lesson in power imbalance that Benedict got from the cottage caretaker. Curious if they’re going to revisit that so directly again in the rest of the season.

I like Benedict well enough this season, but then that dolt went ahead and pissed me right off. Ooooo, I wanted to throw something at my TV with that mistress line. Make him crawl, Sophie.

It's realistic though, the most she could hope for due to the limitations of class. It was a different time. However, she'd of course be better off with a stable job for life versus a temporarily-more-luxurious mistress position that could end at any moment.

If you go back to the time period, being the mistress of a powerful man could actually be a pretty good power play and set you up pretty well for life. It depended very much on the couple — sometimes it was a true love situation where the man really did want to take care of her for life. Nelson’s mistress “lady hamilton” was born in poverty but did quite well for herself and his dying wish was that she be taken care of.

I’m not sure there was such a thing as a stable job for life in the 18th century — a housekeeper at a manor house is probably the closest you would get, but even that would depend on the family caring enough to provide for you in old age, as you wouldn’t be able to put much by.

Nelson's wishes were ignored and Lady Hamilton and her and Nelson's daughter were left begging. She died at 49 in massive debt. And this was after Nelson died a national hero.

Who is Nelson and who is Lady Hamilton? This is a thread about Bridgerton.

A) You should definitely know who Nelson is (Battle of Trafalgar?). B) Lady Hamilton was a famous mistress who died right around the time Bridgerton is set, so it is relevant for "what kind of life would a mistress in the Regency era have."

I doubt that battle or nelson person matters to anyone outside of brittain.

Finding out people didn't learn about Napoleon in school is WILD.

Lol and you'd think Bridgerton-watching people might have heard of Nelson from Regency romances. He's in the background like Beau Brummell and Almacks and Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SPOILERS


****EVEN IF YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THE EPISODES***..............


*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you can say this show is not performative box checking, when they are setting up Francesca to fall in love with her husband's FEMALE cousin when in the books it's a male cousin.

That whole thing pisses me off anyway because taking bisexuality out of it-- Francesca is married and shouldn't be crushing on anyone at the moment.

More SPOILERS





I agree performative and yes they are setting up the storyline for Francesca’s second chapter. We’ll see if she gets a whole season like she gets a whole book (no, she does not cheat on her husband, at least in the books).

I'm dreading that she's going to be thinking of the cousin when she reaches her pinnacle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 if you can’t suspend your disbelief, you will hate the show. It isn’t attempting to be historically accurate it’s basically just the aesthetic vibe and mating style of the regency era put into a modern show. You have multiple interracial marriages between nobility in the show, that is already killing the historical accuracy of the show. Just have fun with it.

You have to suspend disbelief but the show does actually assume you have some idea of Regency tropes. What's going on with the king, why does everyone wear high waisted dresses, What's up with the social strata.

They assume you have some base knowledge from watching or reading Jane Austen.

Ok, sure, but the show does not assume knowledge if Admiral Nelson's mistress. Even the costumes are anachronistic -- the queen dresses like Marie Antoinette because it's fun, it has nothing to do with historical accuracy. And they play fast and loose with high society as it suits them, especially on the race stuff. For instance the embrace of the Mondrichs. Which is fun, those are good characters and really charismatic actors. But totally absurd in terms of historical accuracy.

They don't want you thinking too hard about what Regency England was actually like.

Probably not but it's a fun jumping off point, particularly if you read some of the over the top sentimentalist stuff (I took a whole class on it in college).

Pamela, she's a maid whose wealthy employer (Mr. B) wants to make her his mistress (he's really quite terrible) and she holds out, ends up married and joining upper society. And to be clear, this book is ridiculously over the top and moralistic, but it's kind of on point and was written a solid 70 years before Bridgerton takes place. I'm betting the author who wrote Bridgerton had probably read those novels.

Who the hell is Pamela??

A character in a popular book from the period.

PP studied Pamela in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SPOILERS


****EVEN IF YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THE EPISODES***..............


*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you can say this show is not performative box checking, when they are setting up Francesca to fall in love with her husband's FEMALE cousin when in the books it's a male cousin.

That whole thing pisses me off anyway because taking bisexuality out of it-- Francesca is married and shouldn't be crushing on anyone at the moment.

More SPOILERS





I agree performative and yes they are setting up the storyline for Francesca’s second chapter. We’ll see if she gets a whole season like she gets a whole book (no, she does not cheat on her husband, at least in the books).

I'm dreading that she's going to be thinking of the cousin when she reaches her pinnacle.

I hate the word pinnacle!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

It was incredibly hot and agree he was all about pleasing her. But how would he know she’s a virgin? How do we know she’s a virgin-are we just assuming since she’s not married yet?

I'm sorry, I really don't think a quarter teaspoon of spit is relevant to her virginity. It's not like finger banging your employee on the stairs is bad but not if you lick your fingers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 if you can’t suspend your disbelief, you will hate the show. It isn’t attempting to be historically accurate it’s basically just the aesthetic vibe and mating style of the regency era put into a modern show. You have multiple interracial marriages between nobility in the show, that is already killing the historical accuracy of the show. Just have fun with it.

You have to suspend disbelief but the show does actually assume you have some idea of Regency tropes. What's going on with the king, why does everyone wear high waisted dresses, What's up with the social strata.

They assume you have some base knowledge from watching or reading Jane Austen.

Ok, sure, but the show does not assume knowledge if Admiral Nelson's mistress. Even the costumes are anachronistic -- the queen dresses like Marie Antoinette because it's fun, it has nothing to do with historical accuracy. And they play fast and loose with high society as it suits them, especially on the race stuff. For instance the embrace of the Mondrichs. Which is fun, those are good characters and really charismatic actors. But totally absurd in terms of historical accuracy.

They don't want you thinking too hard about what Regency England was actually like.

Probably not but it's a fun jumping off point, particularly if you read some of the over the top sentimentalist stuff (I took a whole class on it in college).

Pamela, she's a maid whose wealthy employer (Mr. B) wants to make her his mistress (he's really quite terrible) and she holds out, ends up married and joining upper society. And to be clear, this book is ridiculously over the top and moralistic, but it's kind of on point and was written a solid 70 years before Bridgerton takes place. I'm betting the author who wrote Bridgerton had probably read those novels.

Who the hell is Pamela??

Oh come on, I'm barely literate and even I know who Pamela is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SPOILERS


****EVEN IF YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THE EPISODES***..............


*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you can say this show is not performative box checking, when they are setting up Francesca to fall in love with her husband's FEMALE cousin when in the books it's a male cousin.

That whole thing pisses me off anyway because taking bisexuality out of it-- Francesca is married and shouldn't be crushing on anyone at the moment.

More SPOILERS





I agree performative and yes they are setting up the storyline for Francesca’s second chapter. We’ll see if she gets a whole season like she gets a whole book (no, she does not cheat on her husband, at least in the books).

Well, I definitely feel like they're setting me up to be not sad when he dies.

[Anonymous]

Violet in her bedroom is the hottest person on the show. She made the hot dude who came to have tea disappointing by comparison, and I'm a straight woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished episode 4. Goddamn. This is way better than Season 2 or 3. It might even top Season 1. The scene with Benedict and Sophie in the stairwell was so hot…he licked two of his fingers….omg! I need a cold shower. Of course it was totally ruined with the whole “Be my mistress” line.

Violet was a trip with the whole inviting Lady Danbury’s brother over for tea.

Omg really?? I didn’t get the finger licking at all. If she’s really going to come in 45 seconds or whatever, she’s already lubricated. And if she wasn’t, licking your fingers like that wouldn’t help. He barely moistened them. It was just kind of icky.

Totally disagree. He was making sure he wouldn’t hurt her. He doesn’t know if she’s lubricated enough. Plus she’s a virgin!

See, this is the kind of dialogue I enjoy about Bridgerton. Napoleon—who the heck cares? Talk to me about a man who understands proper lubrication!

To be fair, Bridgerton is about sex, not about history. It is a fantasy. People who are trying to relate it to real history do not get the point of the show.

+1 if you can’t suspend your disbelief, you will hate the show. It isn’t attempting to be historically accurate it’s basically just the aesthetic vibe and mating style of the regency era put into a modern show. You have multiple interracial marriages between nobility in the show, that is already killing the historical accuracy of the show. Just have fun with it.

You have to suspend disbelief but the show does actually assume you have some idea of Regency tropes. What's going on with the king, why does everyone wear high waisted dresses, What's up with the social strata.

They assume you have some base knowledge from watching or reading Jane Austen.

Ok, sure, but the show does not assume knowledge if Admiral Nelson's mistress. Even the costumes are anachronistic -- the queen dresses like Marie Antoinette because it's fun, it has nothing to do with historical accuracy. And they play fast and loose with high society as it suits them, especially on the race stuff. For instance the embrace of the Mondrichs. Which is fun, those are good characters and really charismatic actors. But totally absurd in terms of historical accuracy.

They don't want you thinking too hard about what Regency England was actually like.

Probably not but it's a fun jumping off point, particularly if you read some of the over the top sentimentalist stuff (I took a whole class on it in college).

Pamela, she's a maid whose wealthy employer (Mr. B) wants to make her his mistress (he's really quite terrible) and she holds out, ends up married and joining upper society. And to be clear, this book is ridiculously over the top and moralistic, but it's kind of on point and was written a solid 70 years before Bridgerton takes place. I'm betting the author who wrote Bridgerton had probably read those novels.

Who the hell is Pamela??

Oh come on, I'm barely literate and even I know who Pamela is.

There is no Pamela in Bridgerton, Season 4, the topic of this thread.