Bridgerton Season 4 Review

The show's season 4 poster, from Netflix.

Netflix’s “Bridgerton” released one of its most anticipated seasons this past month, centering on the crowd-favorite sibling Benedict Bridgerton. While Bridgerton started out as a smashing success, it recently faced harsh criticism from fans over season three, which the audience claimed didn’t seem to hold the same magical romance of the first two seasons.

“I stopped watching ‘Bridgerton’ halfway through season three. Penelope and Colin just felt like bland chicken,” said senior Caitlin Mochan.

However, while season three may have flopped, Bellevue seems to have a different opinion on season four.

“Season four is my favorite season yet. It even beat the iconic season 2,” said senior Megan Hang.

Season four starts at a magical masquerade ball, where our lead, Benedict Bridgerton, meets a mysterious masked lady in silver and falls in love. Right off the bat, intrigue creates a new sense of mystery. This feeling is reinforced by how we initially know very little about the season’s leading lady, Sophie Baek, until she is revealed to be a maid in the final minutes of the first episode. Unlike season three, where the female lead, Penelope, is well-known to viewers, the mystery of Sophie’s identity and why she’s at a ball creates a sense of mystery and allure that draws fans who haven’t read the book into the show.

“I really liked getting to know Sophie. The whole time, she refuses to compromise her own independence for love which was so cool,” said senior Jacqueline Hsaio.

As the viewers learn more about Sophie, the show takes a different direction than in the past.  Unlike previous seasons where servants have stood as extras, this season gives an inside look into the kitchen. I think this direction adds a new perspective to the season that is really refreshing. Instead of watching another frivolous conversation about out-of-season dresses, we get an examination of the barriers between the high-class “ton” and lower-class characters.  For example, Varley, the Featherington’s housekeeper and a character since season one, felt so much more real when her character was finally explored this season.

“I really liked the class differences that were shown. While it was hard to watch Sophie and Benedict struggle, it really highlighted that if a man really wanted to, he would put in the work to love you properly despite social circumstances,” said senior Jessica Herr.

One complaint about season three was the unnecessary number of subplots. The timelines of each book overlap with each other, making it difficult to structure releases of seasons around rapidly developing plotlines, which is why the buildup of Colin, Francesca, and Eloise’s arcs happen in the other seasons. Season four faced this exact same dilemma.

“It was really nice to see the Mondrich storyline finally develop.  It felt like they actually had plot relevance this time, unlike season three,” said Hsaio.

The subplots this time were extremely centered around emotional exchanges, such as when Benedict’s younger sister Francesca lost her husband John, after trying hard the whole season to adjust to married life and start a family together. It seemed like the emotional quality of the subplots added instead of detracted from the magic of the season.

“In my opinion, my favorite part of this season was the subplots.  I was so devastated for Francesca,” said Hang.

While the season delivered in many aspects, there is one place in my opinion where it fell short.  The finale, which starts with an intense scene with Sophie in prison, didn’t seem to carry along the same dramatic confrontations that the previous seasons had. The prison dispute is quickly resolved, and Sophie rescued in the first five minutes.  The rest of the episode is a buildup to an eventual conflict between the Bridgertons, the Queen and Sophie’s evil stepmother, Araminta, over the illegitimacy of Sophie’s birth. 

However, this conflict is saved until the last fifteen minutes of the episode, and by the time the queen enters the room, Araminta and Violet (Benedict’s headstrong mother) have already come into an agreement. The queen, who usually loves making a spectacle as shown in past seasons, is willing to accept a lie about Sophie’s birth immediately. Unlike season two, where we see Queen Charlotte closely observe Anthony and Kate’s relationship closely from afar and eventually decides to approve, this confrontation is the first time she ever meets Sophie, whom she already knows is a maid. She never sees Benedict and Sophie’s passion for each other, so her reaction feels like a snap judgement and therefore inconsistent. There didn’t seem to be any consequences for Araminta either, despite how harshly she treated Sophie (and trust me, I was waiting to see her get punished).

With the season itself ending at Benedict and Sophie’s wedding, readers and watchers are both left wondering where Bridgerton will go next. It’s still unclear whether Eloise or Francesca will star in season five, but one fact remains: while the magic of the show risks faltering sometimes, it’s clear that it’s still an entertaining, fantastical must-watch on Netflix.