There are obviously massive spoilers ahead for Bridgerton Season 2 and The Viscount Who Loved Me.
1. First, the main title sequence changed between Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2. The Season 2 credits are now Anthony-centric and feature writing about Anthony, Edmund's watch that Anthony carries, and items from the iconic Pall Mall game in Episode 3.
2. And in the opening credits, there's a moment where you can spot a carriage being pulled by horses. In The Viscount Who Loved Me, Kate is crushed by a carriage toward the end of the book, and it's the moment that allows Anthony to finally realize how much he truly loves her. This moment replaces Kate falling off her horse in Season 2.
3. In the book The Viscount Who Loved Me, Anthony believes that he will die at the same time his father did, so he has an obsession with running out of time, and he's always checking his father's watch. While Anthony does it a few times during Season 2, it's not as big of a theme in the show as it was in the book.
4. When Lady Whistledown introduced Edwina and Kate Sharma and talks about how someone will also have to "tame" Kate, it's likely a subtle nod to William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, which is about two sisters who live in Padua. In the play, Katherina, aka Kate, the older sister, is an obstacle for her sister Bianca's suitors, similar to the dynamic between Edwina and Kate. And yes, The Taming of the Shrew also inspired 10 Things I Hate About You.
5. During Season 2, Episode 1, you can see Anthony looking at a list of potential women he might want to marry. One of the people listed is Lady Julia, who is a romantic, and the other is Miss Quinn, who is apparently an "exceptional writer." This is a nod to Julia Quinn, who wrote the Bridgerton novels.
6. In Bridgerton Season 1, Anthony noticeably had sideburns, but in Season 2 he has a much more clean-shaven look. According to lead hair and makeup designer Erika Ökvist, that was intentional and used to show that he's less of a party boy this season, and more like the head of the Bridgerton family.
7. And you'll notice once we see Edmund in a flashback that Anthony's sideburns in Season 1 resemble his, meaning Anthony groomed them that way as a nod to his father.
8. In the beginning of Season 2, Eloise talks about Wollstonecraft and how she's been reading her work since Lady Whistledown has been silent. Mary Wollstonecraft was a writer, philosopher, and women's rights activist. She's often seen as one of the founding feminist philosophers.
9. Kate mentions to Lady Danbury how much she hates English tea, but she taught Edwina how to make it anyway. Then, later on, you can spot Kate making her own masala chai — a traditional Indian tea — while visiting the Bridgertons at Aubrey Hall.
10. When we get a flashback of Edmund's heartbreaking death in front of Anthony, you'll notice he's picking hyacinths for Violet, which in the books are his favorite flower, when he's stung by a bee. Of course, after his death, Violet gives birth to their youngest daughter, who she names "Hyacinth."
11. When Anthony begins to panic after Kate is stung by a bee, he starts to say, "Do not leave...," which is similar to the last thing Violet said to Edmund before he died after being stung.
12. While staying at Aubrey Hall, Kate briefly mentions to Anthony that she can't sleep during a thunderstorm. This is a nod to The Viscount Who Loved Me, where we learn that Kate has a horrible fear of thunderstorms because her mother died during one.
13. If you look closely, you can see that Benedict's wardrobe incorporates several bee patterns. He wore a bee-patterned shirt in Season 1, and in Season 2 he has a vest that is embroidered with bees.
14. When Anthony and Kate's pinkies longingly reach out to each other, this is a reference to a South Indian wedding ritual. An important Indian wedding ritual called saptapadi involves seven rounds around a sacred fire, with each round or step signifying the seven vows that a couple will make to each other.
15. Anthony and Kate's pinky moment is also a callback to Simon and Daphne, who shared a similar longing hand touch moment back in Season 1.
16. There are quite a few references to Pride & Prejudice, with the first being when Kate and Anthony hold hands for the first time, and it flusters Anthony. This is probably a nod to the iconic "hand flex" scene from 2005's Pride & Prejudice, which features Mr. Darcy flexing his hand after helping Elizabeth into a carriage.
17. And when Anthony falls into the lake and Kate can't help but stare at him as he gets out is a nod to the lake scene from 1995's Pride & Prejudice starring Colin Firth. Bridgerton showrunner Chris Van Dusen said that the Pride & Prejudice films and miniseries are "the gold standards" for yearning romances.
18. When Kate gives Edwina her mother's green bangles before her wedding to Anthony, green bangles traditionally symbolize luck and fertility in South India.
19. When Kate and Anthony finally have sex during Episode 7, Anthony tells Kate that he will stop if she wants, and this wasn't scripted. Jonathan Bailey explained the moment, saying, "It wasn’t scripted, [the line where] Anthony is saying to her, 'I will stop, I will stop.' And that’s something that we put in the sex scene, because I think it's really important that he is respectful and is understanding of the female, and there's never going to be a moment where that isn't the most important narrative point."
20. Another likely Pride & Prejudice nod is when Anthony goes out into the rain to propose to Kate and finally express his true feelings to her. This is similar to when Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth his true feelings while it's pouring rain in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film.
21. In Season 1, Lady Bridgerton tells Anthony that tulips "symbolize passion," and in Season 2, after Kate's horseback riding accident, Anthony brings her a bouquet of tulips after she wakes up.
22. In Episode 8, Kate first tells Mary that she couldn't allow herself to marry Anthony, and then when Anthony tells Kate he loves her at the very end, he also uses the phrase "allow it."
23. At the end of Season 2, Queen Charlotte mentions that her nephew, who is a prince, might be interested in Edwina. Now, in case you forgot, Queen Charlotte's grandnephew is Prince Frederick of Prussia, who tried to sweep Daphne off her feet in Season 1.
24. In Season 2, Episode 8, when Anthony holds up his fingers and asks Kate how many she sees, he switches from holding up three to four fingers. In the books, we learn that Anthony and Kate end up having four children, with the oldest being named Edmund after Lord Bridgerton.
25. And finally, when Kate and Anthony are finally married and in bed together, you'll notice that Anthony kisses exactly where Kate was stung by a bee during Episode 3.
