arrival at Netflix of ‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’ has served for the platform to recover one of its great crown jewels. It is evident that what the public really wants is to be able to see season 3 of ‘The Bridgertons’ -whose filming recently ended, so it will still take time to arrive-, but it never hurts to have a new story that expands a little more this universe based on the novels of Julia Quinn. Especially if it is a notable prequel like the one that concerns us now and that on its own merits is already one of the best series of the platform of the year.
Of course, ‘La reina Carlota’ has a significant handicap, since shonda rimes He has no choice but to try to create emotion through some plots whose outcome we already know. This is something that can put some viewers back, since it is one thing to smell how something is going to end and for that to happen, but another to be absolutely certain, but it is not so important if the series knows how to play with it and not drag on more than necessary, because in the end there are only six episodes.
Quite a few virtues with one major drawback
As the series itself does not remember, ‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’ is a historical series but also pure fiction. Of course, it is a bit surprising that one of the key aspects of the series is the arrival of a colored queen at a British court in which that is conspicuous by its absence. It is evident that Rhimes wanted to take advantage of that to influence more on a subject that interests him a lot, but it is somewhat strange that they little less than convey the idea that this is something completely normal in the Germany of this universe and then it shocks so much there.
Luckily, that is something that in the end is used to influence more the tensions that arise between the characters played by India Amarteifio and Michelle Fairley, something that is not abused in the series, allowing both actresses to shine alone and become two of the great successes of ‘Queen Charlotte’. The first of her showing her determination so that they do not leave her aside and become little less than a vase woman destined solely to give children to her husband, while the second is revealing her true intentions in a way gradual.
Between both is corey mylchreest as an atypical gallant fruit of the particularities that his character goes through. It is there where ‘Queen Charlotte’ exhibits a greater dramatic force, not shying away when it comes to showing the horrible methods that doctors used at that time to deal with the disease that she suffered from. Not a fault to put her work, both when she shows her most charming and confident face and when she is on the brink of the abyss.
The main drawback that could be put to all this is that spending an entire episode showing the other side of the coin of what we have seen so far is perhaps too daring a decision in such a short series. Nothing bad works and Shonda knows how to play very well with the contrast between what we thought we knew and what was really happening, but that does not mean that it is not a controversial decision that will not be to everyone’s taste.
In addition, there arises another uncomfortable reality for the series: it may love you and mylchreest They are very inspired, but the stories that arise around them are more interesting than the one they star in and even the moments located in the present day of ‘The Bridgertons’, where the character that evolves the most is Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), talking a little more about those needs that he has been neglecting for a long time.
On the other hand, Lady Danbury is always going to be a much juicier character than Queen Charlotte and Thomas Thomas she squeezes the young years of it very well, even though she is perhaps the one that suffers the most from the problem that we already know what is going to happen to her. Of course, where it is most noticeable that its two protagonists are the least interesting characters is when the series pays more attention to the servants of the king and queen, being there where Rhimes has more room to create at ease to develop a story arc that It works beautifully mixing comedy and drama in almost equal parts.
So is it worth watching or not?
If you don’t like ‘The Bridgertons’, don’t expect to find anything here that will make you change your mind, because it’s still a continuist miniseries in the style of that one, although with the additional incentive that here Shonda Rhimes prints her stamp much more, since she writes all the chapters when in the other she barely worked as a producer. Luxury, love affairs, historical licenses, fun, a good dose of drama -in the end the main romance is marked by an inevitable tragedy and that is why the emotional wins out over its predictability-, a great technical finish and a well-chosen cast They serve to shape a miniseries that may not be essential in general terms, but it is in case this universe had already seduced you previously.
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