Warning: Spoilers ahead for all of Bridgerton season 2.
Bridgerton season 2 made a lot of changes from Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me — and the differences from the book improved Anthony and Kate’s story in the series adaptation. Like Bridgerton season 1, show creator Chris Van Dusen and his team of writers altered certain story elements and moments from the book when bringing the second book to the screen.
Bridgerton season 2 sees Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) in search of a wife. He’s decided to remove love from the equation entirely, courting Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) with a checklist that will surely fulfill his duty as viscount and eldest son. Of course, his world is thrown completely off its axis when he meets Kate (Simone Ashley), Edwina’s older sister who wishes for the younger Sharma to find a love match. Kate and Anthony verbally spar, exchange longing looks, and ultimately fall for each other over the course of the season.
Bridgerton certainly took some creative liberties to craft Anthony and Kate’s love story in season 2. Most of them worked in the show’s favor, especially as the series maintains the spirit of the couple’s romance despite the alterations. Here is every major change from Quinn’s second book and why Bridgerton’s changes made Kate and Anthony’s relationship all the better overall.
Kate & Anthony Meet At A Ball, Not While Riding Horses
This change may not seem like a big deal, but it is. In Bridgerton season 2, Kate and Anthony are both on a morning horse rise when they meet, race each other, and informally meet for the first time. In Quinn’s novel, Kate doesn’t meet Anthony until Colin introduces her to his older brother. The pair dance and, by this point, Kate has already formed her opinion of Anthony through Lady Whistledown’s assessment of him being a rake. In season 2, Kate actually overhears Anthony’s requirements for a wife before deciding that he should come nowhere near her sister and the two go from there.
Bridgerton’s Bee Scene Is Altered & A Key Book Component Removed
The first time Kate and Anthony get super close in Bridgerton season 2 — a steamy scene involving Kate being stung by a bee and Anthony having a panic attack because of his dad dying from one — is also a crucial one in Quinn’s book. The biggest change here is that Anthony, still freaking out over the idea of Kate potentially dying in the same way his father did, decides to use his mouth to, uh, suck the venom out from Kate’s chest where she was stung. It’s a major turning point for the not-yet couple because they are then caught in the compromising position by their mothers Violet and Mary and forced to marry to protect Kate’s honor. Since that particular story element would have mirrored Daphne and Simon’s love story from Bridgerton season 1, the writers changed it so that Kate and Anthony are alone when she is stung. However, the bee sting scene itself remains a major moment for the couple in both the book and the TV series, altering their future in distinct ways.
Anthony Courts Edwina, But They Don’t Make It To The Altar
Bridgerton season 2 carries the same essence as The Viscount Who Loved Me, with Anthony deciding he will court Edwina because she will make a suitable wife and mother to fulfill his own duty as the eldest Bridgerton and discount. However, the book's version of Edwina has a much smaller role in all the proceedings. Crucially, Bridgerton season 2 sees Anthony, spurred on by Kate asking him not to break the engagement so as not to break Edwina's heart, and Edwina making it all the way down the altar. It was all very dramatic, a turning point for all three characters in realizing how far they were about to go to maintain the status quo.
For Kate and Anthony, it was also a way to deny themselves happiness, continuing to put their families and duties ahead of personal desires. In season 2, it's Edwina who has the agency to finally put two and two together about Kate and Anthony's feelings for each other. What’s more, Quinn’s book sees Anthony and Kate kissing in Anthony’s study before the bee sting moment, whereas Bridgerton season 2 sees their first kiss happen shortly after Anthony and Edwina’s wedding is called off, now able to let their passions flow more freely without the burden of duty.
Anthony & Kate’s Personal Stories Were Different In The Book
Yes, Anthony still wanted to marry, in part, because of duty in The Viscount Who Loved Me and couldn’t bring himself to admit to loving Kate because he’d closed himself off after his father’s death. However, the book is far more focused on Anthony’s fear of dying young, at the age of 38, which is the age Edmund Bridgerton died after being stung by a bee. The fear for his own mortality grips him so fully that he is unable to admit his feelings to Kate, believing an early demise prevents him from succumbing fully to the depth of his emotions. Whereas in Bridgerton season 2, his primary reason for preventing himself from loving is because of his father’s death rather than his own potentially short life. Anthony didn’t want to love someone or be loved so deeply that it would leave his future spouse as devastated as Violet was when she lost Edmund.
Meanwhile, Kate’s story in the book is less about her familial duty to her family and taking on the responsibility from her mother to find Edwina a suitor of means. Rather, book Kate is insecure about her looks, believing herself to be less attractive than Edwina, whose beauty draws people to her like a moth to a flame. Kate also doesn’t make a deal with her grandparents for Edwina’s dowry since Mary isn’t on the outs with them or Queen Charlotte after marrying Kate’s father. Kate’s feelings of being unworthy of love (to some extent) and not allowing herself to be loved out of duty to her family first and foremost is far more poignant. Granted, Kate is still very confident in The Viscount Who Loved Me, but her personal journey in Bridgerton season 2 is more emotionally effective overall.
Anthony Doesn’t Tell Kate He Loves Her Until After They’re Married
Kate is involved in a carriage accident with Edwina in the books when Anthony finds her to tell her he loves her. By this point, they’re already married, but it’s the final step for their relationship to be more fully realized. Bridgerton season 2 changes that, with Anthony and Kate not declaring their love for each other until the end, but before they're married. Anthony’s emotional wall finally caves after he realizes he could have almost lost Kate, who discovers that he does want to marry her, not out of duty, but because he genuinely loves her.
Anthony and Kate had to grow separately and together for them to come to the conclusion they couldn’t live without each other. Anthony declaring he loves Kate is a gentle moment in the show that underscores the depth of his feelings. It’s good in the book, too, though it is indeed under slightly different circumstances. In Quinn's book, Anthony is also a bit more aggressive, with toxic masculinity traits that are toned down in season 2, to the betterment of his character, which shows more of his vulnerable side. This is especially true in the moment he tells Kate he loves her in Bridgerton season 2.
Bridgerton Season 2 Improved Anthony & Kate's Romance From The Books
There may have been quite a few changes made from Anthony and Kate’s love story from the book, but Bridgerton season 2 elevates what is already on the page and makes it all the better. Anthony and Kate have richer character growth as individuals, often paralleling each other’s journeys throughout the season. As the eldest siblings, they are protective, caught between the responsibility of leading their families and what they clearly want for themselves personally. And while The Viscount Who Loved Me delivers a sweet, steamy romance between the pair that is filled with quips, banter, and competition, Bridgerton season 2 uplifts both of their characters, deepening intriguing moments that are more intense and lovely. And while there are less sex scenes in season 2, Anthony and Kate's moments are still exceptionally sexy — more heated than the book because of the way they're portrayed by Bailey and Ashley.
The bee scene change, in particular, is much improved from the novel. In the aftermath of the scene from Bridgerton season 2, Kate and Anthony are not forced to marry because they have to, bound by societal standards and honor. Rather, Anthony and Kate get to the point where they get to choose themselves and each other in an authentic, humbling manner. They decide to finally do something for themselves, for their own happiness, and their individual character arcs blend together nicely with the way their story ends. Bridgerton season 2 elevates the drama of Kate and Anthony’s romance, giving them higher stakes and juicy tension before they finally allow themselves to be happy. The push-pull dynamic that occurs throughout season 2 makes everything more tantalizing, and putting off their first kiss until after Anthony and Edwina’s almost wedding imbued Kate and Anthony’s previous near-kisses with more sexual tension and desire than in the book. At the end of it all, Bridgerton season 2 allowed Kate and Anthony to choose their life’s path and in their own time. And it was definitely worth it.