Dearest gentle reader, Shonda Rhimes and the other writers of “Bridgerton” have done it again.
Season four of the show aired in two parts, nearly a month apart — a growing theme with Netflix. Not one I particularly
enjoy, I will say.
Oftentimes, when a book is adapted into a show, it’s easy to know what’s coming next. However, “Bridgerton” does so in a way that still allows viewers to be surprised.
Dare I say this was also the most emotional of the four seasons? Everyone’s acting was in its A-game.
It was highly anticipated that Francesca’s (Hannah Dodd) husband, Lord Kilmartin aka John Stirling (Victor Alli), would die within the next couple of seasons. Because we don’t know which “Bridgerton” story will come next, whether or not John would die this season was still up in the air. Well, spoiler, he’s dead dead.
The parallels between Francesca and her mother, Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), now two widows, are heartwrenching. As we saw in season two, Edmund (Rupert Evans), Violet’s husband and Francesca’s father, was killed by a bee sting. So, when John died of “just a headache,” it heartbreakingly parallels what Kate (Simone Ashley) says to Anthony (Jonathon Bailey), “It was just a bee.”
Dodd acted her heart out in episode seven, where she finally broke down while mourning. Violet, having lost her husband herself, tried to comfort her. The difference is that Francesca and John didn’t have children, while Violet and Edmund had eight, something Francesca wanted so badly.
John’s death was just one of the many, but important, side-plots. Violet Birdgerton, mommy is all sense of the word, was getting it on with Lady Danbury’s (Adjoa Andoh) younger brother Lord Anderson (Daniel Francis). And you know what? Society may not have accepted it, but my eyes did because that was one of the hottest couples I’ve ever seen in my life.
I really saw myself in Violet when Lord Anderson told her he would be happy to actually have a relationship with her, besides just hooking up. I, too, get scared when my situationships tell me they want more. She deserves the world. I was so happy when I thought they were getting married, so when she was left heartbroken at the end of the season, I was ready to riot.
The actual main point of this season was to tell the story of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). It was a Cinderella story. The season started with a masquerade ball, and certified man-whore Benedict was being pushed to find a wife by his mother. After three prior seasons of him seemingly “finding himself” (and finding himself on other people), he found love that night.
He danced with a “lady in silver,” and spent the rest of the season trying to find her. Funny enough, she was right in front of him the whole time.
Sophie was a maid for her stepmother and stepsisters following the death of her nobleman father, Lord Penwood (Arthur Lee). She was a result of the Lord having an affair with a maid, his mistress.
She worked for her abusive stepmother until she went to the countryside, where Benedict found her. He didn’t recognize her, and yet, they still fell in love anyway despite the class difference.
Not only did he love her as a Lady, but also as a maid. Everyone was so messy this season. I, with the rest of the ton, loved every second of it.
This was not the Benedict we had grown to know over the years. Thompson did an amazing job at portraying his character development. I have never seen anything like it.
I was shocked to find out that the new Lady Penwood was none other than the mean girl from the past three seasons, Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen). This season was also full of goodbyes. Lady Danbury said goodbye to the Queen, and Penelope said goodbye to being Lady Whistledown. None of which I was expecting.
I also was not expecting a post-credit scene, thank goodness Marvel trained me well. I was so happy that I had waited.
While every show nowadays seems to either have bad writing or bad actors, this season was perfect all-around.
