I’m starting to see ads for the third season of Bridgerton and I’m not sure if I’m excited or not. I very much enjoyed Season One but struggled with the choices made in Season Two. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton is my favorite in the series and, thus far, the chemistry between Colin and Penelope has been underwhelming.

Additionally, I have another concern: I’m a teeny weeny bit worried that Bridgerton’s world, one invented by Shonda Rhimes and Julia Quinn, won’t make sense to me. It might–it did in the first season. But, in the second season, its viability began to dim and I’ve been thinking about why.

In today’s storytelling–we talk about this in historical romance endlessly–there’s a definite trend: history improved with diversity, worlds that didn’t quite exist in real life. Bridgerton encompasses this perfectly–it’s a wonderful Regency realm with a gorgeous, riveting Black queen who brilliantly rules Regency England, a nation with a kalidescope of faces.

In Bridgerton, every race, in general, lives side by side harmoniously, regardless of historical accuracy.On the surface, that’s a lovely, lovely visage. But, when I think too hard about it–and, yes, I really don’t need to but I just can’t help myself–it makes me uneasy.

The show, for example, acknowledges slavery but doesn’t explain what that means for its multiracial world. I’m happy to live in a fantasy but I’d like to understand what its rules are. And yes, I understand that the lack of historical accuracy is in no small part the point of TV’s Bridgerton, but I don’t quite understand what what the show is trying to imply. Is it upgrading the past? Ignoring it? Are we supposed to think race matters hugely and that by validating a world without racism we are doing the right thing? Is it showing a world with messy world-building because humanity is inherently messy? Or, as will discomfit me, is it inconsistently limned?

I’m not sure.

I’ll be watching the first episode when it drops on May 16th. I do love Nicola Coughlan and I need smart escapism in my life. But, if the world building makes me think I shouldn’t think, I’m not sure I’ll enjoy it as much as I’d like.

Are you excited? Do you think it will work for you?