‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 reinvents a classic fairy tale with a heartbreaking twist
This review contains spoilers.
Dearest gentle reader,
The time has come: welcome back to the ton. As hungry mamas prepare for the first balls of the season and young ladies ready themselves for a night of wonder, these authors wonder what new diamonds walk amongst us. Perhaps that title belongs to the newest family in town.
In the newest season of Bridgerton, beloved characters return to the screen alongside fresh faces to set the scene for everyone’s favorite fairy tale: Cinderella — but with a twist. Every season of this show follows the love story of one of the Bridgerton siblings, whose names alphabetically follow their birth orders in a fictional Regency era. The fourth season follows Benedict (Luke Thompson), the second son.
Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) lives in Mayfair, the romanticized London high society filled with color and endless gossip, with her stepmother, Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung), and two stepsisters, Posy Li (Isabella Wei) and Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao). Ever since her father passed away, Sophie has served as the family’s maid in Penwood House.
To escape the constraints of her household, Sophie dresses up to attend the Bridgertons’ ball, becoming the “Lady in Silver.” It is there she captures the heart of eligible bachelor Benedict, launching us into this season’s love story.
With their class difference and Sophie’s determination to keep her identity as the Lady in Silver a secret, Benedict begins searching for the young woman who caught his eye.
After the last season’s predictability and rushed plotlines, season four of Bridgerton was a refreshing glimpse back into longing, slow-burning romances. Predictable is the last word we’d use to describe this season.
Originally, after watching the trailer and discovering it was a Cinderella story, we were a bit skeptical. This story has been done many times before. However, Bridgerton put its own spin on the good bits of the OG story, leaving us wondering what would happen next throughout the season.
The will-they or won’t-they had us rooting for their love story to work out, despite the occasional frustration with Benedict’s inability to recognize Sophie as his Lady in Silver. At one point, we thought they’d finally get together, and the last words spoken in the fourth episode were Benedict’s, “Will you be my mistress?” I mean, come on, Benedict — the glass slipper was shattered immediately right then and there.
Our hearts were further shattered by Francesca Bridgerton’s (Hannah Dodd) sorrowful storyline. Francesca returns to Mayfair with her husband, John Stirling (Victor Alli), after spending their honeymoon in Scotland. Their love for each other is infectious and one of the highlights of the season — it is short-lived, however, as John passes away in his sleep. Dodd’s acting in the scenes that followed was nothing short of phenomenal, and her devastating grief felt like an absolute gut-punch. After the seemingly irrelevant side character storylines of past seasons, Francesca’s bittersweet love story was a breath of fresh air.
After death, confusion, growth and frustration, love finally conquers all. With the show’s heavy emphasis on societal expectations, we were racking our brains trying to think how the writers could make Sophie and Benedict end up together in an acceptable fashion. True to gossip, wit and humor being the driving forces of all things in the ton, Violet (Ruth Gemmell) and Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) come up with a tale even Lady Whistledown, the ton’s local gossip columnist, would tip her hat off to.
Sophie is introduced as “Miss Sophie Gun,” a distant noble relative of the late Lord Penwood. Benedict and Sophie are now free to return to My Cottage and dance the night away under as many gazebos as they wish.
Overall, we thought this season was a much more creative and improved watch than its predecessor. Let us hope future seasons leave us with as many overwhelming emotions as this one.