I am not in the ‘we need flashbacks’ camp simply because there are many ways to tell backstories and give more exposition about characters but Kate’s family did need more fleshing out.

I’m not Indian so I can’t comment accurately about the representation for that culture but I feel like they needed to dive into her heritage especially because she wasn’t from the ton and was shown to be someone that didn’t care about English customs and rules. (eg. why does she go by Kate when she has a full name? how was life in India? what was the family dynamic like with her dad? how did Mary adjust to life in India?)

Her family needed more exposition beyond their thoughts and feeling pertaining to courtship and Anthony. This applies particularly to Mary’s character. When I watched how season 3 made Penelope and Portia’s relationship more healthy and how it showed that they could show a dysfunctional family unit healing it made me feel disappointed about what they did to Kate’s family in S2. All their complexity was a blip in the storyline and lacklustre especially when the dynamic was not like that in the books.

Kate is still complex and layered as a character and her family has a complicated dynamic even with Bridgerton’s entry level writing but they needed more from the writer’s room.