Netflix doesn't understand why people watched Bridgerton if the latest announcements surrounding Lady Chatterley's Lover are any indication to go by. The Regency-Era Bridgerton, adapted from the Julia Quinn novel of the same name, found swathes of fans with its Pride and Prejudice sensibilities. This romanticization of debutante culture coupled with riveting melodrama that belies its steamy origins has already seen Bridgerton renewed by the streaming giant for an additional three seasons.

In addition to their long-term Bridgerton series and spinoff commitments, Netflix is pressing on with an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, with the project greenlit and casting completed. The streaming giant tweeted that Lady Chatterley's Lover will be "about a married woman who engages in a torrid affair with the estate gamekeeper" before adding that they plan for the series to be "even raunchier than Bridgerton."

Related: Why Bridgerton Needs Regé-Jean Page In Future Seasons

Yet Netflix has clearly missed the mark on their latest project if they feel Bridgerton was so highly rated due to the sexual nature of the show alone. While Bridgerton serves up admittedly generous helpings of sex, its romantic narrative and its successful marriage of history and fantasy are what ultimately create a dazzling spectacle. There is also valid criticism aimed at episode 6 of Bridgerton, "Swish," which offered roundly bland sex scenes and slowed the series' pace considerably.

bridgerton netflix daphne phoebe dynevor

Netflix's insistence on topping Bridgerton's overt glossary of sexuality in Lady Chatterley's Lover undermines the elements that made Bridgerton such a success. Its sumptuous presentation evokes memories of vintage Downton Abbey or Sense and Sensibility, while its melodrama added a tinge of 90210 to proceedings. This potent mix of heady historical design coupled with genuinely compelling character drama, rather than its sex scenes, is what caused Bridgerton to exceed its viewership prediction by 20 million households and make it Netflix's most-watched original show to date.

While sexuality is certainly present in D.H. Lawrence's original novel, and Netflix is right to stay faithful to the author's classic work, they would do well to remember the critical backlash that accompanied episode 6 of Bridgerton's season 1 story. Charges leveled at the episode were numerous, with the most prominent being the lack of substance that the sex scenes actually added to the episode. Of course, audiences were rightfully keen to see the passion boil over between Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) after the tension between the pair established across the season. Still, the delivery of this relationship's climax left a lot to be desired, with many critics noting how much the exorbitant amount of sex in "Swish" actually slowed the season's narrative down. While there were some individuals clamoring for the sex scenes themselves to be less vanilla, the bigger problem between Daphne and Simon, Duke of Hastings' consistent embraces was that they had no actual agency within the plot. This led to episode 6 of Bridgerton being the worst-rated of the season, which is unsurprising given the lack of narrative progression it allows. Lady Chatterley's Lover is still likely to be a huge success for Netflix, with names such as The Crown's Emma Corrin already cast. Yet in order for the adaptation to garner a fanbase with longevity, Lady Chatterley's Lover will need to focus less on fleeting pleasures and more on the romanticism of unrequited love that made season 1 of Bridgerton such a compelling watch.

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