“Queen Charlotte” Lands the Big Moments Beautifully

I’ve had a lot of discussion about “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” already, and in those talks, a few things have become clear. The show is resting in a solid like don’t love category for me overall, but one thing it does not skimp on is the big, romantic moments. If we just track those watershed moments for George and Charlotte, it delivers some of the most well done, purely romantic fare we’ve seen. I’m going to highlight three of those big moments here.

Obviously, spoilers ahead…

Moment the first is George and Charlotte’s meet-cute in the garden. This was the first glimpse we got of the pair, and we got it months ago all the way back at Tudum. But we only got half of it. Already it was a dream, with George being this unknown figure for most of the episode where Charlotte is worried he’s “a beast or a troll.” Then of course there’s the charming bit where he won’t help her over the wall, then finally reveals himself. But they saved the best for what we actually see in the episode, where George tells her all about himself and admits to being nervous, where they are Charlotte and “Just George” to each other. And, perhaps most importantly, where he gives the choice to Charlotte about whether or not to marry him. This is the stuff romantic dreams are made of. There’s a reason arranged marriages are such a popular trope, that a nightmare could turn into a dream with the right man. That we wouldn’t have to do anything except be ourselves, and a gorgeous, rich, powerful, kind, and charming man will fall madly in love. This is peak romantic fantasy, and this scene delivers that in spades.

The next moment that delivers in such a spectacular way is the love declaration. George believing that he isn’t good enough for or could be harmful to Charlotte is certainly sympathetic, and while I think that side of him and his mental health issues could have been explored better as a set up, this moment delivers unfailingly. Charlotte has rescued George from his doctor, and he’s finally getting back to himself. But those fears and insecurities are taking over, and George is still trying to push Charlotte away. It’s an amazing callback to the first time they were in that observatory, where Charlotte asked him to fight with and fight for her, but he didn’t. That time, she listened to his words and left. This time, she’s much stronger and more sure. Charlotte pushes, demanding that he deny his love, which of course George can’t do. It’s tear-jerking, cheer-inducing, and gloriously written, as well as spectacularly performed. Corey’s shouted delivery of that I love you is everything. The need, the devotion, that fills this moment is a perfect crescendo for this couple who have been through so much.

Finally, the final scene of the series gives us everything we could ever want in a bittersweet, romantic ending. In speaking to a friend, she said that the ending “saved the series” for her, and I couldn’t agree more. Some of the character development, structure, theme, etc, fell apart in the middle, but when push comes to shove, this show executes. It gives us exactly what we asked for from this prequel. We know who Charlotte and George are in the Regency, but seeing how they got there makes all their interactions more poignant. So when they call back such intense moments of the series, as we see Charlotte come in to find George drawing on the walls, as she climbs under the bed to “hide from the heavens,” it gives us all the love and nostalgia she feels. We are at the same moment, both Charlotte and George. We’re Charlotte, crying because we remember all they have been to each other and knowing the struggles they’ve faced. And we’re George, smiling because we see them as the young lovers finally finding each other, because their life is as fresh to us as it is to George. That’s what delivers the bittersweet so powerfully, that we can inhabit these two perspectives simultaneously and feel what they feel. So when he says “our line,” that she didn’t go over the wall, when he grabs her hand, we feel it as both a connection to all they’ve shared, and entirely new again through the eyes of the man saying it as truly and as earnestly as he did the first time. That ending is everything.

I will never sugar coat my opinion on things, and I do think that this show needed some big rewrites. But what it does unflinchingly well, and what makes this show worthwhile and a valuable addition in the pantheon of great romances, are the big moments. It does not shy away from what it knows the viewers want and need from the main couple. It delivers in such meaningful language and such beautiful prose, such stellar acting and fantastic direction, those touchstones of romance that are why we all watch. In the end, a romance is about that, the romance. The other things are valuable, too, and they can elevate something from good to great. But if a show does what Queen Charlotte did and gives us three such iconic, beautiful, powerful moments, it is not a show to overlook. So bravo to these moments and the people that created them.