Bridgerton season one spoilers follow.
Now that Bridgerton's first season has dropped in full, the gates of Shondaland are swinging wide open on Netflix, bringing Shonda Rhimes' vision to life in all of its decadent glory.
Based on the bestselling Julia Quinn novels, Bridgerton reimagines England's Regency era as one of inclusivity, a society where racial divides are no more. Unfortunately, people are still separated by class, and that's not the only prejudice that remains in this world of corsets and scandal.
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As the season progresses, it's soon suggested that Benedict Bridgerton, of the renowned Bridgerton household, might not be entirely straight. His interest in exploring sex outside of convention leads him to an "alternative" party where those who feel like they don't belong can explore their desires free of moral constraints.
Of course, this being a Shondaland show, the debauchery is still pretty tame, but it's in this scene that we witness the show's sole moment of queer intimacy.
While navigating the party, Benedict stumbles upon a room where two men are locked in a passionate — and semi-naked — embrace. Benedict quickly closes the door, but not out of disgust. Instead, he chooses to give the men their privacy, implying that this sight didn't bother him in the same way that it might have impacted others at the time. Benedict then joins in the fun too, initiating a threesome with two women.
Although the show quickly moves on from this encounter, there's clearly some sexual tension between Benedict and the party's host. However, no reference is made to queerness again until near the end, when Bridgerton's newfound friend openly discusses his desire for men, and why it's vital that he hides this within a straight sham marriage.
This is the kind of poignant queer moment that Shonda Rhimes fans would come to expect from a show that carries her name. In the past, other Shondaland shows like Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder have all pushed LGBTQ+ representation forward, providing queer audiences with the love stories they've always yearned for on mainstream TV.
With this pedigree, queer fans were understandably excited for Bridgerton too. So when the first trailer teased a gay sex scene back in October, a wide range of LGBTQ+ publications jumped on this moment, assuming that Bridgerton would be just as queer as other shows from Shonda Rhimes. Attitude, Pride and Out were just some of the outlets who praised what they assumed would be a very inclusive show in the queer sense too.
Netflix
What they couldn't have known was that this would be the only queer sex scene that happens throughout the entire season.
Now, it could be argued that this is still a step forward. After all, Quinn's original series didn't include any same-sex romances of note until the final book, On the Way to the Wedding, which follows the youngest Bridgerton boy. Long story short, Gregory falls for his best friend, Lady Lucinda 'Lucy' Abernathy, but she's essentially engaged to Lord Haselby, who secretly harbours romantic feelings for men.
By weaving queer themes into Netflix's adaptation early on, this version of Bridgerton has already surpassed the book when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusivity. However, that's an extremely low bar to begin with, and on a show where sex scenes regularly take centre stage, it would have been easy to include more diversity on that front.
After all, in the episode that follows Bridgerton's one and only gay sex scene, Daphne and Simon spend half of the runtime boinking all over their honeymoon home. While that particular lovefest sets up an important arc for them both, Bridgerton as a whole is hornier than every other Shonda Rimes show combined — but only when it comes to the straight characters.
Some may argue that this is because of the era in which Bridgerton is set. Queer people still aren't treated equally in 2020, so it's understandable that those who aren't straight might have hidden themselves away in circa 1820.
That's not entirely true though. Sexuality is far more complicated than that, and so too is the way society perceives it. To deny the existence of queer people in centuries past, or to presume that everyone was queerphobic is inaccurate — not to mention a handy excuse for those who wish to erase LGBTQ+ themes in historical fiction (and fact).
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
Plenty of academics remain adamant that famous historical figures who were particularly close to members of the same sex were just "very close friends" or "confidantes", and without a time machine, it can be hard to disprove these often prejudiced assumptions.
At the very least, historical fiction can start to amend this erasure by prioritising LGBTQ+ characters and storylines. The likes of Black Sails, Harlots and Gentleman Jack have all attempted this (with varying degrees of success), so it seems odd that Bridgerton wouldn't do the same given that it already revolves around a revised version of history.
Not only does Bridgerton fail to do that, but by including a queer sex scene in the very first trailer, it could be argued that Netflix's adaptation is also guilty of queer-baiting viewers who then expected the show to follow up on this promise with more meaningful LGBTQ+ storylines.
Season one of Bridgerton commendably breaks down barriers between race and aristocracy in a wonderfully sex-positive way, but for now, the gates of Shondaland remain pretty much closed to queer characters. Let's just hope season two progresses to a point where LGBTQ+ inclusion is no longer a cause for scandal. There's already more than enough of that going around for Lady Whistledown to gossip about.
Bridgerton season one is now available to watch on Netflix.
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