So We're All Horny for King George, Right?

If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a shot of him in the bath in episode three…God bless this show’s intimacy coordinators, and God bless the props person who poured that water to just the right level. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Besides the physical, though (the Bridgerton-verse is nothing if not full of good-looking humans), there’s also the character and the love story, both of which I found immensely appealing. Obviously, the Netflix series takes a lot of liberties with history, but as the prologue tells us in so many words, it’s fiction—get over it.

In this version of the era, George’s “madness” takes the form of fits, during which he fixates on astronomy and loses his grip on reality. It’s a secret challenge he tries desperately to hide from his new wife, with whom he is smitten, and attempts to overcome through a series of brutal, let’s call them proto-therapies. None of it works, not even the power of love, and George eventually confesses that he can offer his wife only “half a husband.” To which Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) responds, “We shall make it the very best half.” My dumb heart melted! That’s touching as fuck!

If there’s one thing Bridgerton does better than any other show, it’s a fight that ends in a confession of love. Daphne and Simon had theirs on their honeymoon, Anthony and Kate outside the family dinner. From these scenes, we got each season’s most famous phrase: “I burn for you” and “You are the bane of my existence—and the object of all of my desires.” Charlotte and George have an “I love you, let’s fight about it” scene too, in the observatory. It’s good! But since getting together isn’t their problem, madness is, those aren’t the lines that stuck with me.

Queen Charlotte’s finale, scripted by Shonda Rhimes, tries to sell us hard on “you and me” as the takeaway quote, and again, it’s good. But for me, “We shall make it the very best half” is the line to hang your tiara on. Love is a choice to make the best of what life throws at you. Charlotte is not resigned but resolute. She loves him, in sickness and in health.