Don't get a bee in your bonnet Bridgerton fans, but Season 2 makes a major change to one of the most famous scenes from the Julia Quinn book series. If you've read The Viscount Who Loved Me, then you most certainly remember the rather unconventional way an encounter with a bee leads to Anthony and Kate getting married. Well, I'm sorry to say Bridgerton Season 2 alters the bee scene just enough to keep the central couple from being forced down the aisle midway through the season ala Simon and Daphne.
For those not in the know, the Bridgerton patriarch Edmund died after being stung by a bee — a tragic event that Anthony is a witness to on the show. As a result, the eldest Bridgerton is no fan of bees, so when Kate is stung right in front of him, he panics. Up until this point, the show and the book are on the same page, but after Kate is stung, Quinn makes the bold choice of having Anthony attempt to suck the poison from her wound, which happens to be on her collarbone.
Quinn tells The Dipp the scene was at least partially inspired by a wild true story involving her mom and a very grateful hot dog vendor. Her mother, who was a school nurse, happened to be buying a hot dog from a local vendor when he began having a reaction to a bee sting. Thankfully, her mom noted the signs of an allergic reaction and was able to rush him to the doctor (which led to a promise of free hot dogs for life). This incident coupled with the author's fascination with medicine led to her crafting the now famous Anthony and Kate bee scene.
"I've always been interested in the history of medicine," Quinn explains. "And somehow I thought to myself, I wonder was this connection made at all that people died of bee stings then? I don't know. I mean, because I'm sure a lot of people would die of bee stings when nobody realized the connection or saw them get stung and they just find them dead in the field and didn't know what happened. Yeah, so it's just kind of built into this great moment."
That great moment included Kate and Anthony being caught in a compromising position by their mamas and Lady Featherington, which in turn, left the pair with no choice but to get married or risk Kate's reputation being ruined forever. The show takes a different path. While Anthony still panics when Kate is stung, she places his hand over her heart to help ease his panic.
It's a deeply romantic moment, but since it's not witnessed by anyone else, it doesn't lead to another forced marriage arrangement like the one Daphne and Simon found themselves in when Anthony discovered them in a compromising situation. Ultimately, the decision to change the scene likely stemmed from the fact that the forced marriage plot device had already been deployed in Season 1. Plus, this season's official trope is hate-to-love which benefits from the simmering slow burn between the couple.
So while the bee scene doesn't play out in quite as dramatic a fashion as it does in the pages of the book, it's still a pivotal moment for Anthony and Kate onscreen even if it doesn't send them marching down the aisle right away.
Images: Liam Daniel/Netflix; Netflix