‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 gives a historical, real-world twist to its Cinderella story

Dearest gentle reader, have you ever read a fairy tale in which a gentleman offers a lady to be his mistress? 

When such an offer brings the first half of Bridgerton Season 4 to an abrupt end at its climax, this author can’t wait to unravel how this Cinderella story finds its way to a happily-ever-after in part 2 in a few weeks.

Inspired by the third book of Julia Quinn’s series, the first four episodes premiered on January 29. The second half of the episodes are set to air on February 26. 

The main romance of the new season centers around Benedict, the Bridgerton brother many deem the least likely to marry. The season also introduces his love interest, Sophie Baek, whom Benedict falls for at first sight at a masquerade ball.

Although the pre‑coverage all flagged the Cinderella‑like plot of this season, it is still both shocking and dull to find the first two episodes mirroring the tale with 99% similarity (this author doesn’t count leaving a glove instead of a shoe as an innovative point). The sparkling Jimmy Choo heel, instead, serves as a clue that exposes Sophie’s ball attendance to her sharp‑eyed stepmother, before Benedict finishes scanning the lips of every debutante in the ton. 

Courtesy of Netflix

The main antagonist for the season comes in the form of Sophie’s stepmother, Lady Araminta.

The third episode is where the season starts to hit its stride. Here it weaves a storyline where Benedict falls for Sophie without realizing she is the very lady he’s searching for. By setting their growing affection against the restraint demanded by rigid class boundaries, the season builds a compelling tension.

Rather than dividing Benedict into fantasy and Sophie into reality, the show intertwines both dimensions within each character. The freedom Benedict has long chased by deviating from social norms only masks his lack of commitment to love, duty and even his art. Sophie’s status doesn’t fall because of an unfriendly stepmother, but is instead rooted in her parents’ relationship across classes. This class-divided relationship is something she and Benedict face themselves. 

Their ball encounter projects a vague, beautiful image of Sophie in Benedict’s mind. One that is very similar to the life he pursues without any real sense of direction. In turn, Sophie refuses to reveal her identity, believing that Benedict has only fallen in love with a fantasy. She knows just as clearly that Benedict himself is a fantasy she can never reach from her place in society. 

Part 1 stages the two’s first true meeting, set in a countryside Bridgerton cottage that evokes a quiet intimacy. In this isolated space, Benedict and Sophie get to know each other without the masks they wear in society. 

Courtesy of Netflix

Sophie and Benedict began to get to know each other in the setting of the countryside Bridgerton cottage.

The Bridgerton series has always dazzled audiences with beautifully reimagined period costumes each season. This season, the designs effectively articulate the characters’ inner worlds. Benedict dresses in a proper cravat and high collar on occasions when he tries to find the lady in silver. However, he shifts into a Shakespearean‑poet look reflecting his free spirit whenever he’s alone with Sophie.

His mother, Violet’s gowns become more mellow and feminine as she develops a romance with Lord Anderson. In the scene where she and Lady Danbury speak about pursuing one’s happiness, her pastel pink spencer jacket, becomes a visual echo of her emotional reawakening. 

While members of the Ton enter Violet’s ball in masks, the costumes reveal their true characteristics. Examples include Lady Danbury as Zeus, Eloise as Joan of Arc and Penelope and Colin coupled in their pirate gear.

With the newly introduced Penwood family’s Asian background, the design team subtly threads cultural and aesthetic elements into their costumes. This is exemplified by Sophie’s stepsister Rosamund Li, who appears as Marie Antoinette in a chinoiserie‑patterned robe à la française at the masquerade.

The showrunners seem to know that another Cinderella story cannot carry a full season. This leads them to introduce puzzles and build multiple storylines in an effort to keep audiences entertained. It is intriguing to speculate about any early ties between the Bridgertons and the Penwoods (Sophie’s late father’s family). However, the constant jumps among too many relationships ultimately dilute the narrative centered on the main couple. 

After her identity came to light at the end of Season 3, it was foreseeable that Lady Whistledown’s letters would lose some of their bite. However, it is rather intolerable for this author that her grandest task in this season so far is to post a notice for Benedict’s elusive lady in silver.