Bridgerton Season 2 Episodes RANKED
#8 2.06 The Choice
There was a lot to love in this episode, definitely. The ending alone cements this as a strong Kanthony episode, with their shared looks on the altar and their exchange in the closet being the perfect moments to underline just how much these two belong together. The personal best moment of the episode for me was actually when Anthony grabs her wrist to keep her from going for just a moment, as if he has to touch her to be able to draw the strength to go on with what he has to do. What brings this to the bottom of the barrel is basically two things: the pacing, and Edwina’s character. Let’s hit the pacing first. The episode is just too long, by about fifteen minutes, which is no small margin. Some of the subplots needed some cutting, but primarily, the time it took for Edwina to choose was a bit exhausting. That leads me directly into her character evolution here, which really doesn’t make a lot of sense. I am not in the camp of Edwina-haters; honestly, if I had to stop my wedding because my groom and my sister were making “fuck me” eyes, I would have done far, far worse. Her calling Kate “half sister” I think was poorly done, and I can only imagine it was there to make sure we still sympathized with Kate. But we didn’t need that. And Edwina’s speech about running her own life, about borrowing Kate’s dreams, was a bit flat. I hadn’t seen that before, that Edwina dreamt of other things, and it would have been easy to insert that. But since they didn’t, it fell flat. This episode wasn’t terrible by any means, but it was definitely the weakest of the season.
#7 2.02 Off to the Races
The highlight of this episode is definitely the exchange between Anthony and Kate at the races. They bicker and are wildly competitive, but they are passionate about the same things. They cheer together and leave their partners to literally talk about them behind their backs and worry that they need to be separated. The little scheme Anthony concocts with Mr. Dorset is such good writing as it’s enough to anger Kate but not enough to make him seem like a bad guy. The soiree where Anthony tears up the lie and goes with the truth has so much in it, especially since it’s looking at Kate that makes him falter. The emotional heart of the episode comes with Kate and Lady Danbury’s conversation, and I love that we are allowed to have a complex, flawed Kate. She is arrogant and stubborn, but it’s born of love for her family and fear of being hurt (sound like someone else we know?) As for the subplots, they really get into full swing in this episode, with Eloise’s investigation ramping up and the arrival of Jack Featherington, one of my favorite characters this season. These are the two strongest side storylines of the season for me, so kicking them off was great in this episode. There was a lot of banter between our leads, but no truly spectacular moments, which is understandable for where it’s at in the series, but makes for a slightly lackluster feeling by the end compared to some other true triumphs of episodes coming.
#6 2.01 Capital R Rake
The premiere episode was a strong one, and it introduced the season well, though it didn’t have quite so much to offer as some other episodes did. Still, it made quite the impression. It was absolutely gorgeous, from the costumes to the scenery to the actors. The montage of Anthony was a perfect thematic setup for his character arc this season. He has a category for everything in his life, especially the women. It shows that he thinks of the debutantes as candidates for viscountess, and other women he will take to bed as he needs and desires. All that comes to a crashing halt when he meets Kate. It heats his blood like nothing has, maybe ever, and it does doubly well in showing the rapport between them. Even when Kate and Anthony have no idea who the other is, they bicker, they laugh, and they enjoy each other’s company. It shows just how perfectly compatible they are from minute one. It introduces the Sharma family well, and sets up Kate as a perfect parallel for Anthony, behaving just as the Viscount did about Daphne last season. When she overhears him in the garden, the ensuing sparring is delightful. Finally, when Edwina is named the diamond and Anthony fixes on her, it’s so clearly that their duties, their roles, line up. It’s a strong first episode that makes clear whose love story this is, and kicks off the themes that run through the whole season very well.
#5 2.04 Victory
This episode is definitely propped up by the big Kanthony moments. This is the beginning of the “oh poor Edwina” moments for me. She pushes them together again and again, and it makes for some explosive chemistry. The scenes of them hunting force Anthony to confront some feelings of physical desire for her, while the library is much more of an emotional jolt that couples with the bodily need and pushes Anthony to blur his lines about what category a woman like Kate belongs in. Portia’s scheming makes for an interesting enough backdrop, but of course, the big moment is at the ball. The first Kate and Anthony dance puts everything between Edwina and Anthony to shame. The way they touch each other, hold each other, talk to each other, is unmatched. It is so clear that Anthony is rapidly becoming aware that he can’t keep courting Edwina if Kate is around as she’s already driving him to distraction. He wants to change course, clearly, and when he discovers she’s going to India, he panics. Anthony, afraid of his feelings but unable to deny them, pushes and pushes until they are about to combust. And my goodness does that scene have heat. Obviously it’s going to go further until Daphne interrupts, and in the conversation they have after, she says the worst possible thing to Anthony: love. So he panics and doubles down on the safe option. That proposal is a gut punch, and it makes this episode a standout for the emotional roller coaster Anthony, and the audience, has to ride.
#4 2.03 A Bee in Your Bonnet
The minute it opened with a flashback, I knew this episode was going to be special. Getting that window into all of Anthony’s trauma was a revelation that underlined so well why he is the way he is. The conversation he has with Violet is so powerful, especially as he makes clear to her how he had to carry everything for their family on his own after his father’s death. It also does an amazing job of breaking up that seriousness with wonderful humor, including Benedict getting high and the wonderful Pall Mall game. The Pall Mall scene is actually a masterpiece as it underlines all the reasons why Kate and Anthony are perfect together, especially when they fall into the muck together and finally get real. It’s no accident that when Anthony finally accepts Kate as the head of her family and levels with her with full respect that things really start to change between them. And when both those threads come together, it is, of course, the bee scene. This is the single best change from the books as it becomes a deep, intense, intimate moment of trauma and connection. Anthony having a panic attack and Kate being able to help him through shows not only his trauma and how burying it never works, but also how much Kate means to him as well as how well she understands him. This episode is a turning point for them, and this moment forces them to feel all the intensity they didn’t really know was there.
#3 2.05 An Unthinkable Fate
This is maybe the horniest of all the episodes, reminding me a bit of 1.04. Starting with an overheated Kate fanning herself, filling the middle with charged exchanges between the pair including a jealous Anthony getting dumped in the drink and coming out in a truly transparent white shirt, and ending with a tearful and intense exchange in the woods, this episode is a powerhouse. And, of course, there is the speech to end all speeches that Anthony gives after the dinner with the Sheffields. That one left me breathless. Everything about it was perfect, and the breathless sensation only increased. It was a masterclass in delayed gratification, that every time Anthony and Kate take anohter step forward, so does Edwina, making it harder for Kate to tell the truth, making it impossible for things to end in one way and start in the other. This episode was heartbreaking and so powerful it knocked me over. Kate and Anthony are doing everything they can to do their duty, to behave properly, but just by existing, they are driving each other mad. It shows just how powerful their connection is, and just how undeniable.
#2 2.08 The Viscount Who Loved Me
The finale, and what a finale it is! The emotional power of Anthony’s fear and grief over Kate, his relief when he discovers she is all right, nearly broke me. The first proposal, for all the guilt and fear, the vulnerability and guilt, the two of them still carried, so underlined all the themes and character choices of the season. This was the episode of the biggest growth, especially for Anthony, as he was finally forced to change. The reality of losing Kate, the thought of what it would mean to be without her, is finally too much. They say to hell with duty, with reputation and scandal. They come in, if you’ll forgive me, like a wrecking ball and shatter what is supposed to be. When at last we get the real proposal, it is a declaration of love that is reciprocated. The two of them love each other because of their connection, but they are choosing each other, to build a life with each other. And when we finally get a glimpse into the life they lead together, it is the culmination of all that desire and intensity settled into complete joy. This is the Kate and Anthony we see when everything is stripped down, when they are just themselves together, when they are the people they can only be with one another, the person that understands them best. And it is a perfect ending.
#1 2.07 Harmony
Deciding which episode took the top spot was exceptionally difficult, but in the end, I couldn’t pick anything other than this one. The episode absolutely sparks with chemistry, from their longing looks to Anthony literally smelling the air around her after she leaves, these two are simply dying for it. They are reaching a fever pitch they were always headed toward even though the scandal around them is threatening to tear everything down. This is the greatest test for the two of them, for how they have changed and grown emotionally, that they are ready to push aside the reputation of themselves and even their families to seize something they not only want but that they need. When their schemes to bring back respectability finally and truly fail, Anthony lets go. He brings his family together as their true leader at last, and when he meets Kate in the garden, well, it’s magic. That scene made all the waiting worth it, and the beautiful, female-centered, erotic riot of pleasure that ensues is truly a revelation. And after those heights, for the ending to hit us with such a gut-punch as Kate’s accident brings it all home, cementing the power of both their feelings, and the beauty and the danger of love.