She gives us instruction and, perhaps, permission to accept that the story we are about to enter is drawn from history, without fretting too much about the details. The first voice we hear as the season opens is the Bridgerton universe’s gossip columnist, Lady Whistledown (played by Julie Andrews). In explaining this universe, the new prequel answers some of these questions-while, inevitably, raising a few new ones. Queen Charlotte is a prequel story for a quasi-historical fictional universe in which Britain’s aristocracy is multiracial-a fact that prompted a fair amount of confused conversation about “color-blind” casting and adaptations of historical fiction when the first two Bridgerton seasons came out. The season’s brilliance lies not just in what happens over the course of the six episodes, but in the questions it prompts about race, regency, and representation in popular culture as a whole. On top of all this, India Amarteifio, as the young Charlotte, turns gracefully from girlish anger to fierce determination, and generates all the chemistry we want in such a show-not just with Corey Mylchreest, who plays her husband, King George III, but with Arsema Thomas, the young Lady Danbury, as well. Their work tells a story as rich and interesting as the script. The costumes are dazzling, and deserve their own viewing in order to appreciate the care and brilliance of costume designers Lyn Elizabeth Paolo and Laura Frecon.
The dialogue is quick and clever, and where Season 2 of Bridgerton was an amusement park of storylines and subplots, Queen Charlotte is focused, sharp, and smart. Free from the strictures of Julia Quinn’s original series of Bridgerton novels, Rhimes has woven a rich tale about the young queen, her marriage to King George, her early friendship with a young Lady Danbury, and her relationship with her loyal servant Brinsley. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story has everything you love about a drama with Shonda Rhimes at the helm.
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