Queen Charlotte, the prequel to the Bridgerton series of historical romances, announces its #BoreMatKarYaar agenda from line one: “This is not a history lesson—it is fiction inspired by fact. All liberties taken by the author are quite intentional. Enjoy.” Thand pao it seems to be telling all prim critics. Let pleasure, stories and emotion lead the way to understanding. Also, let the bodices rip!

And rip they do. Snappy banter, amazing wigs, sexual heat, romantic drama—Queen Charlotte sacrifices not a bubble of its froth. Midway through the show, the older Lady Danbury tells Lady Violet, “We are full of gossip and story. Yet we spend our time matchmaking for those who know nothing of love. What it is to not have it. What it is to lose it.” In essence, this is a show about women’s journeys into adulthood—their reckoning with power, love and self-definition.  What is beautiful is that it defines adulthood not as cynicism, but as experience. And it is through the journeys of these women that the show gives us rich understandings of love and politics.