Press Play: Did you finally finish watching ‘Bridgerton’? Here are my thoughts (Spoilers ahead)
Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2, was released on Thursday, so fans of the show finally got to finish the season and form their thoughts.
This season is based on Julia Quinn’s third novel, An Offer from a Gentleman, where you will meet a new character, Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), who appears to be Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) next love match. After being on the sidelines for the first three seasons, it is finally Benedict’s turn to take the spotlight!
You can also expect some more new characters to join the mix: Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung… yes, the actress who played Cho Chang in Harry Potter), Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao) and Posy Li (Isabella Wei). Lady Araminta Gun is a twice-widowed single mother looking to get at least one of her daughters married. It’s a very Cinderella-coded story.
My thoughts on Season 4 (Spoilers ahead)
After finishing the season last night, I have to say it has to be the most adorable romance trope of all of the seasons. My favourite scene was in the first episode, when Benedict teaches Sophie how to dance. Just from the eye contact, you can feel the romance begin to blossom.
Benedict has always been an intriguing character: never able to commit to one thing or see it through, whether that’s pursuing his art or finding his life partner. It all changes when he meets Sophie. I like how even after he discovers that she is a maid, he continues to pursue her. Despite the difficult circumstance, he learns what he truly wants after years of not knowing what love is. Sophie has shown him.
He does make a big mistake along the way, asking Sophie to be his mistress, but thankfully in Part 2, Benedict is able to redeem himself.
He has to make a lot of difficult choices; courting Sophie could cause scandal for the entire Bridgerton family and bring on new challenges for Hyacinth who one day wishes to find her match. After a discussion with Anthony, who knows about his involvement with Sophie and heavily disagrees with pursuing her, Violet (their mother) accepts their fate and tells Benedict to choose love if that’s what he desires (I love Violet for this; she has always wanted only the best for her children).
Luckily, they were able to bring down Araminta after she had Sophie jailed for “stealing her shoe clips.” As it turns out, Araminta has been hiding Sophie’s dowry for years, which is a far worse crime. She, Violet and Benedict formed a scheme to present Sophie as a noble ward so she and Benedict could live a peaceful life together, away from social scandal.
In the final scene, the pair get married and it just makes me so happy. Even though it’s a fictional story, how can you not be? They’re such likeable characters. And especially after what Sophie endured living with Araminta, who saw her only as a burden, she has finally found a life worth living: a life full of love and desire.
Bridgerton seasons ranking
After watching every single Bridgerton season, including the series Queen Charlotte, here is my ranking of best to worst:
- Season 2: Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma’s enemies-to-lover trope
- Season 4: Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek’s forbidden love trope
- Queen Charlotte: Prince George and Queen Charlotte’s arranged marriage trope
- Season 1: Daphne Bridgerton and Duke of Hastings’ fake courtship trope
- Season 3: Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s friends-to-lovers trope
If you had to give your final ranking, what would it look like?
