The long-awaited Season 4 of “Bridgerton” dropped on Jan. 29.
The season is based on Julia Quinn’s third Bridgerton book, “An Offer from a Gentleman.” It follows the second-born son, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) in a Cinderella-style cross-class romance.
After a shaky third season that seemed to spend more time on cul-de-sac side character plots, I was cautiously optimistic about the fourth season, as “An Offer from a Gentleman.”
1. “The Waltz”
The season gets off to a shaky start, attempting to wrap up everything from last season and update us on where the characters are now, though two glaring omissions seem to be Season 2’s leads, Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Bridgerton née Sharma (Simone Ashley). While I can understand Anthony’s omission (perhaps “Wicked” and “Bridgerton” had conflicting schedules), Ashley seems to want to come back. Yet the show bends over backwards to justify the exclusion of the new matriarch of the family.
The masked ball gives the production team a chance to flex its muscles, showcasing the costumes worn by characters from Mark Antony and Cleopatra to Marie Antoinette. These gowns are gorgeous, and I want to wear one of them someday.
I thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry between Benedict and Sophie in their first meeting, and their banter has an almost electric quality. I also enjoyed the change of perspective in accordance with the book, where we follow Benedict’s point of view and, like him, first meet Sophie in disguise as ‘The Lady in Silver.’
2. “Time Transfixed”
This episode takes us back to Sophie’s point of view, telling us her backstory and intercutting it with Benedict’s search for ‘The Lady in Silver,’ which I don’t think needed as much time as it did since we, as the audience, already know his quest is going to be fruitless.
Ha does an excellent job acting out the anguish of watching her love search for her backstory, which is heartbreaking. Her stepsisters are also incredible actors. Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao) is an incredible evil stepsister, and Posy Li (Isabella Wei), the ditzier of the two, has some great moments of physical comedy that did make me laugh out loud.
3. ‘’The Field Next to the Other Road”
Luckily, we get more chemistry between our leads in this episode, and there is plenty of that to go around. The relationship grows in a very organic way, making every moment matter. Thankfully, the writers have the restraint to limit the number of subplots to four of the most interesting ones — all of which I do genuinely enjoy. The storytelling overall this season is incredibly tight.
4. “An Offer from a Gentleman”
This episode features my favorite instance of instrumental pop in the show. Who knew Olivia Rodrigo’s “bad idea, right?” could sound incredible on the violin?
Unfortunately, this episode begins with one of the worst instances of green screen in the show. Luckily, that’s not the norm, but it makes it stand out even more glaringly as very bad. However, that is not enough to put me off it. It lasts all of two minutes and, in my opinion, is worth suffering through.
This episode ends on a series of compelling cliffhangers that do feel like a natural place to pause, but left me wanting more.
Overall, this season feels very much like a return to form for the series. Our leads are given plenty of time to fall in love, while still focusing enough on the Bridgerton family.
The second half of the season will drop on Netflix on Feb. 26. I will be waiting with bated breath.
