Review: “Queen Charlotte” finds its rhythm when it realizes it can be the flip side of the show it’s riffing on. For every happy ending “Bridgerton” supplies, the prequel features a marriage rooted in suffering, revulsion or endurance.
The wildly popular Shonda Rhimes series offers sumptuous escapism set in a moderately post-racial version of Regency London. There are usually some halfhearted critiques of the “marriage market” and how a shadowy gossip columnist who goes by “Mrs. Whistledown” can tank or elevate certain people’s marital prospects, but these are more gestural than substantive.
I’m pleased and surprised to report that while “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” isn’t perfect, the limited spinoff premiering Thursday on Netflix is more interesting — and less derivative — than I expected. The setup is simple and not very different from the “Bridgerton” plots: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, an eligible lady, is informed by her brother Adolphus that he is marrying her off to the king. Charlotte is unhappy about the arrangement and senses that something is off. “There is reason they wanted me, a stranger,” she says. “And it cannot be a good reason.” She finally agrees to do her duty to her family , arrives mere hours before her wedding is supposed to take place and freaks out.
“Queen Charlotte” solves this by reintroducing us to those characters when they are still young, beautiful and hoping for romance. The series also dips into the Regency timeline we know .
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