Bridgerton Season 4: Upstairs Downstairs, but make it hot
Whoever runs the Little Free Library around the corner from my house has been on a Julia Quinn tear. Which means I'm on a Julia Quinn tear, because I can't resist the allure of a Little Free Library. In the past couple of months, I've read two of the Bridgerton prequels, one of the side Smith-Smythe novels, and the two novels that form the core of the newest Bridgerton series: An Offer From a Gentleman (Benedict's story) and When He Was Wicked (Francesca's story). So I knew generally what was going to happen in this season of Bridgerton, but the plot, Dear Reader, is not why we watch Bridgerton.
We watch Bridgerton for the top-notch eye candy, the casual race-blind casting and disability representation ... and also for those parts where sexy people get naked and rub all over each other. And after my disappointment with the heat level of last season, I'm happy to say that season four of Bridgerton has all the passion and yearning I want from this series.
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Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) is struggling to find his purpose. As the "spare" part of "heir and a spare," he's recently been made obsolete by his brother Anthony's child. He's never been able to follow through on anything other than drinking, partying, and being the handsomest guy in town. When his mother insists he come to a masquerade ball, he's not expecting to meet a mysterious woman in white who captures his heart before disappearing at the stroke of midnight. Months later, he's at a party in the country where he finds some of his peers harassing one of the maids. Benedict rescues her and invites her to shelter in his nearby cottage, not knowing that the maid is the mysterious woman he's been looking for all along.
Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) is the daughter of a nobleman who has been forced to work for her step-family after her father passes. After one night of rebellion and romance, she's cruelly dismissed from her position and struggles to find work without references. She's determined to keep Benedict from knowing about her illicit night pretending to be a noblewoman, but she can't forget the way she came alive when they danced. A relationship between them is impossible, but neither can resist the pull of attraction between them.
Meanwhile, other Bridgertons are struggling with their own romantic lives. Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) has proclaimed herself "on the shelf," so her mother gives her a taste of spinsterhood by making her chaperone young Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), who inadvertently demonstrates that an unmarried woman has no purpose in society. Francesca (Hannah Dodd) is struggling to conceive, and a mid-season shocker leaves her questioning everything. And matriarch Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is falling in love again after years of devoted widowhood, and terrified that her children will hate her for it. Add in some Whistledown drama, several scenes where Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) and the Queen (Goldie Rosheuvel) go at each other like linguistic swordfighters, and a bunch of pretty dances, and you've got great television baby!
Thompson has been a great Benedict for several seasons now, with just the right level of roguish charm. He proved he could bring the heat in season three, where he had a bisexual threesome that was way hotter than anything between Colin and Penelope. Ya is new this season, and she's a standout. She does a great job of capturing Sophie's tortured dignity, but she's also capable of bringing the steam when Benedict and Sophie stop fighting the attraction between them. The show uses her hair and clothing as obvious signifiers of her rank, and Ha dials her charisma to match the role she's playing in society. Her wicked stepmother (Katie Leung, aka Cho Chang) is deliciously evil in her all-black outfits.
Speaking of outfits, we get some doozies this season. Sophie's step-sisters are clothed in a series of flower-inspired gowns that made me want to pause so I could understand how they were constructed. Queen Charlotte is doing some next level hair work, including an incredible birdcage wig that she wears to the masquerade ball. And the ball itself is a glorious fantasia that will likely inspire wedding Pinterest boards for years to come.
Bridgerton season five likely won't be out for at least a year, but season four ends with some hints as to who will come next. Eloise is the eldest Bridgerton sibling yet unmarried. I read her book a million years ago, but I don't remember how it turns out. Here's hoping that my neighbor with the Little Free Library decides to find out.
What's your favorite Bridgerton Season? Let me know!