Club Benefits
For anyone worried about whether the onscreen chemistry between the "Bridgerton" season 4 leads could compare to the spoon-tonguing tension of season one's Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor or the gazebo-rattling randiness of season 2 stars Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley, we've got good news: There's more than enough heat between Luke Thompson's Benedict Bridgerton and Yerin Ha's Sophie Baek to power the season's final four installments.
Season 4 part 2 arrived on Netflix today (Feb. 26) and have enough vigorous tub-splashing to give the horny "Heated Rivalry" a run for its Canadian money. Beyond satisfying the passionate cravings of "Bridgerton" fans — both of the beloved streaming adaptation as well as the popular Julia Quinn novel series upon which the show is based — the rags-to-riches romance between Benedict and Sophia continues to be the drama's most interesting couple yet.
Sophie and Benedict's knotty romance deserved a more sophisticated end
Last we caught up with the Bridgerton bachelor and the humble housemaid in the Volume I finale, the former was offering up a less-than-desirable proposal to Sophie — for her hand not in marriage but in mistressdom, an extramarital arrangement popularized by some of the Ton's less moral men and covered scandalously in the Lady Whistledown pages of Penelope Benedict (Nicola Coughlan).
Ha's Sophie Baek is warm, bright and endearing throughout but also, refreshingly, not so quick to swoon at the mere sight of a handsome Bridgerton. She rightly challenges Benedict about the overt power imbalance between their stations and the casual, carefree privilege with which he navigates society as a wealthy nobleman.
"You are asking me to relinquish my virtue, my dignity, my self-respect...I may not be as high as a lady, but I refuse to be that low," she tells him in one memorable confrontation. As the illegitimate daughter of an earl and a lowly maid, she knows all too well the cost of such a sidepiece existence and the dangers of Benedict's impractical desires.
It's a more textured and, at times, uneasy dynamic than we're used to from the dreamy Regency-era romance, one amplified by the well-meaning concerns of Benedict's family, especially Bridgerton matriarch Violet (Ruth Gemmell) and returning older bro Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). That relationship conflict is far more engrossing than the inevitable, Cinderella-lite reveal that Sophie is both the Lady in Silver and of noble blood.
It's a shame, then, that "Bridgerton" does what "Bridgerton" always does and wraps up the couple's realistically messy season-long struggle in a too-tidy bow that has even the Ton's most over-the-top character — gossip-loving monarch Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) — mocking just how easily Benedict and Sophie's predicament rights itself. ("Was that not absurd?!")
"Bridgerton's" relentless requirement of a fairytale ending (speaking of, be sure to stick around for a giddy post-credits scene) also diminishes several of the season's similarly thorny side plots, the most notable being the marital difficulties between Bridgerton sister Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and her husband John Stirling (Victor Alli) and, later, her confused feelings for his cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza). Book readers already know the outcome of that sad situation, so we won't be spoiling it here, but do know that it allows Dodd to flex her dramatic skills as the usually cautious and reserved Francesca roils with grief, guilt and uncertainty.
The season also has some interesting things to say about the sacrifices and loneliness of widowhood, seen both in Violet's sweet but pointedly secret courtship with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) and the shady but clearly grief-stricken dealings of Sophie's stepmother Lady Penwood (Katie Leung, a worthy villain).
But those things don't get a whole lot of room to develop because of the show's continued insistence on padding out its already considerable ensemble until it's bursting at its corset seams. Along with several high-profile cameos — including Bailey and Ashley, largely wasted here, plus other surprising arrivals that we won't spoil — the season has to follow Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Hyacinth's (Florence Hunt) sisterly squabbles over finishing lessons; Penelope's growing reluctance to continue her Lady Whistledown reportage; Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) disappointing Queen Charlotte with her wishes to resign from her lady-in-waiting post; and Alice Mondrich's (Emma Naomi) training as Agatha's protégée and potential replacement. And that's only the upstairs crew; the downstairs staff has their own share of screentime-sharing subplots.
After four seasons, some of these appearances read more as fan service than narratively necessary, a problem that's only going to continue as the series continues. If Sophie and Benedict's story proves anything, it's that "Bridgerton' can rely on its romantic leads and dial back some of the more far-fetched fluff and filler without losing any of its swoon.
"Bridgerton" season 4 part 2 is available to stream on Netflix beginning Thursday, February 26 at 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT
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