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After a very long wait, we finally returned to London during the fictional 19th century Regency period in “Bridgerton”.

And after a close call, Lady Whistledown is back and making moves to bring her business to new heights.

The second season of “Bridgerton” was plagued with production issues due to constant coronavirus cases, which added to the long wait for its return. However, it looks like they had no impact on the end product.

We pick up the following year with the next social season with the high society still recovering from all the fall out of Lady Whistledown/Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) spilling all the insider tea.

Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) is determined to outsmart the noisy columnist and regain her control over the high society which she feels is getting out of her reach, When “Bridgerton” season one dropped in late 2020, we were still in the depths of lockdown hell.

Specifically, in Mzansi, we had the news of raised lockdown levels that occurred a week after the show debuted.

And since we were, yet again, locked inside with very few outdoor activities possible, the show not only offered an opportunity for some escapist fun but also something we hadn’t seen before with a regency period based show.

We gobbled up the modern-day songs rearranged for the period, the anticipation of trying to figure out who Lady Whistledown is and of course the burning love story with Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings(Regé-Jean Page) and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor).

The show became an instant hit, both internationally and locally, with TikTok FYPs, Twitter and Instagram time-lines filled with user-created content based on it.

Now, we’re close to the pandemic turning into an endemic, with many of the restrictions that made many of us homebodies gone, season 2 doesn’t quite scratch the same itch.

The show is still beautifully shot, the acting is great, figuring out what pop song is playing at the various social events is fun, seeing what kind of wig Queen Charlotte is going to wear is exciting, but when it comes to our two leads, there doesn’t seem to be much of fire. — Sowetan