Netflix's Bridgerton ends not quite where you'd imagine, with the birth of Simon and Daphne's first child, but with the shot of a lone bumblebee on their windowsill, seemingly witnessing the birth. It's also not the first time a bee appears in the first season and the camera lingers on the small invader in such a way that it seems to carry a particularly loaded symbolism. Quite what that is is not immediately explained within the show, but there is an answer out there.
Bridgerton's attempt to update Regency-era drama tropes ultimately didn't quite succeed - even with the Netflix show's repeated use of modern music - but that didn't impact the overall quality of it. Wrapped around the central mystery of Lady Whistledown's identity, the show is a sexually charged, provocative take on the Pride & Prejudice paradigm with a far more diverse cast than you'd typically see of shows set in the era. Given the show's fascination with the importance of image and interpretation, there is a lot of room for the latter in Bridgerton, even with a fairly straightforward plot: lots of events and decisions mean more than they may even seem to.
The most interesting image of the entire first season is the final one, because it seems to have very little context. The image of the bee on the sill of Daphne's window as she gives birth is a curious one precisely because it feels so meaningful without an anchor. But there are levels at work here that link back to a key moment in the Bridgerton family's recent history prior to the events of the show as well as holding a more traditional symbolic relevance to the wider ideas in Netflix's major Regency flagpole. In terms of the former, Daphne's father, Lord Bridgerton was killed by a bee sting, prompting a deathly fear of bees (at least in the books) in Anthony Bridgerton, so the choice to end on a bee is particularly interesting.
In the books, it is revealed that the Bridgertons' father was killed by a bee sting, which makes that final moment (and an earlier lingering shot of a bee) particularly loaded for book readers. But it's more than just an Easter egg, because it reframes why Anthony acts the way he does all the way through the season, offering a belated explanation for his behavior: fear. And not just fear of bees themselves, but of mortality and also his duty, as sharpened by the vacuum of power following his father's death. Anthony is trapped and the bee is actually a nod back to his predicament even as Daphne and Simon get their happy ending.
It should also be a hint to what the second season of Bridgerton will focus on, particularly after Anthony and Siena's ill-fated romance fell apart. That follow-up should focus on the vents of "The Viscount Who Loved Me", the second novel in Quinn's series, which reveals the truth of Lord Bridgerton's death and Anthony's morbid fear that he too will die young. If the season follows the events of the novel, a bee will play a crucial role in continuing Anthony's story, as one plays a surprisingly relevant part in his quest to find a wife, which was hinted at at the end of Bridgerton season one. Considering Anthony's (and Benedict's) conviction to escape their destinies and break traditions, the bee is also a reminder to Anthony at least that fate has a way of correcting itself and happening regardless.
There's also a symbolism at work here too: bees are the icon of community spirit and Bridgerton is very much a hive-like system, with not Queen Charlotte but Lady Whistledown at the center as the queen bee. She may be seeking unity and obedience, primarily, but the reality of the ton is perfectly captured by the idea of a hive: nobody is free and absolutely everyone is at the mercy of Bridgerton's true queen. Even as she seeks change for the better (or deludes herself into believing she is in the name of moral integrity), Penelope as Lady Whistledown is upholding the very system of repression the ton's sub-culture rails against. As season 2 focuses on Anthony, that conflict will no doubt continue even further.