It’s nearly time to return to the ton and usher in a new diamond of the season. Bridgerton Season 4 Part 1 will come out at the end of January, this time focusing on Benedict’s (Luke Thompson) meant-to-be romance with Sophie Baek, played by series newcomer, Yerin Ha. Although Benedict’s story is told in the third installment of Julia Quinn’s book series, the Netflix adaptation shifted gears for Season 3, giving Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton) their much-anticipated friends-to-lovers development.
In advance of the latest season, we’ve narrowed down some of the key moments between Benedict and Sophie in An Offer From a Gentleman that deserve to be brought to the screen as close to the source material as possible. The pair’s love story is deemed a Cinderella retelling, with Sophie working for her stepmother and sneaking out at night for a masquerade ball where she meets Benedict. Filled with romantic sequences and dramatic twists, below are some of the memorable book instances that we can’t wait to see unfold in Season 4.
1. Benedict Teaching Sophie To Dance at the Ball
Benedict and Sophie have one of the most enchanting meet-cutes in the Bridgerton books, crossing paths at a ball where their identities are essentially hidden behind masks. Benedict is captivated by Sophie at first glance, even though he doesn’t recognize her. As they interact at the ball, he invites her to dance with him in a gazebo outside, and this instance feels straight out of A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray.
The key thing here is that Sophie doesn’t know how to dance. After all, she’s been working as a servant for Araminta (Katie Leung) ever since her father died. There is something so romantic about him walking her through the steps, as they dance by themselves outside the ballroom. This fairy-tale moment almost makes her forget that when the clock strikes midnight, she must leave the ball immediately, so that she isn’t caught by her evil stepmother and stepsisters (one of them more redeemable than the other). Of course, she leaves behind her white satin glove after their dance, which allows for their love story to unfold.
2. Benedict Rescues Sophie From Being Attacked
After Sophie leaves the ball, Benedict is determined to find the woman he met at the masquerade. The glove that she left behind hints at her connection to the Countess of Penwood. When he visits her and recognizes that neither of Araminta’s daughters was the lady who took his breath away during that eventful night, he leaves, not knowing that Sophie was indeed living with them. Once Araminta finds out that Sophie was at the ball, she forces her to leave the house immediately. Sophie begins to work at other households, eventually reconnecting with Benedict during a dire situation that happens a year later.
In the book, the pair see each other again when Sophie is about to be assaulted. Benedict is the one who comes to her rescue, and this pivotal instance marks his first encounter with her unmasked. He is still enamored by the Lady in Silver, whom he hasn’t associated with Sophie at this point. Although it could be tricky to bring the assault plotline to the screen, it would be interesting to see the Netflix series craft Benedict and Sophie’s reunion in just as much of a climactic manner as the book.
3. Sophie and Benedict’s Steamy Lake Scene
When Benedict takes Sophie in, and they spend time together at the cottage, their relationship slowly evolves. Sophie ends up taking care of him after Benedict falls ill, and it’s heartwarming to see them start to have feelings for each other. The lake scene in the book is a perfect example of drawing anticipation for these characters’ eventual romance without them sleeping together right away. In this given instance, Benedict is fully recuperated and decides to take a bath in the lake near My Cottage. Sophie finds him and notices that he is naked, and she’s compelled to continue to watch him from afar.
That female gaze aspect to the scene is exciting when it comes to a period romance series like Bridgerton. Her ability to observe him and desire to be with him builds the tension necessary for when they do get intimate. Benedict eventually does notice that she’s hiding behind a tree and watching him bathe. Startled and embarrassed, Sophie almost runs away, but Benedict tells her to stay. Fans of the book have long awaited this scene to be transported to the screen, and according to the cast, it will indeed make the cut in Season 4.
4. Benedict Asks Sophie To Be His Mistress
After the lake scene, Benedict makes Sophie a proposition that catches her off guard. Given her social standing and the fact that Benedict is still searching for the Lady in Silver at this point, he asks Sophie to be his mistress. Although many people who have read the book feel somewhat conflicted by the offer, considering Benedict’s characterization in the series thus far, enjoying a bon vivant lifestyle, it wouldn’t be too far off for him to ask this of Sophie.
Of course, she rejects the proposition. As an illegitimate daughter herself, she could never live with the possibility of one day having a child of her own who would have the same hardships she’s had to endure. A child born out of wedlock would never engage in society freely. Sophie’s resistance to Benedict’s request shows a lot about her character and her autonomy.
5. Sophie Begins To Work for the Bridgertons
Once Benedict doesn’t get the response he was hoping for from Sophie, he ends up blackmailing her into working as a maid for his family. Although his actions here are quite messy and unwarranted, Sophie does work for the Bridgertons. What makes the series so endearing is how the Bridgerton family dynamic is just as important as the romance unfolding in each season. Sometimes, a conversation between siblings or a word of advice from Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is all that it takes for each season to get its happy ending.
Having Sophie work at the Bridgerton household, much like the book, would allow Violet to clue into her son’s noticeable affection for Sophie. In Julia Quinn’s novel, Violet gives Benedict her stamp of approval to pursue a relationship with Sophie despite her social standing. Even though she warns him about Queen Charlotte’s (Golda Rosheuvel) possible disapproval, as his mother, all that Lady Bridgerton wants is to see her son find a true love match.
6. Sophie Gets Arrested for Theft
Before Sophie and Benedict get to live happily ever after, Sophie ends up in prison after she crosses paths with Araminta. The latter reports Sophie to the authorities, wrongfully accusing her of stealing a shoe clip. While Sophie awaits her fate in jail, Benedict realizes that Sophie is indeed the woman he has been falling for all along. Benedict and his family help to get her out of prison, revealing Araminta’s cruelty and making way for Sophie to get closer to the truth. Violet has an integral role in convincing Araminta to stop sabotaging Sophie’s life and set her free.
If it weren’t for Sophie being wrongfully accused of theft, it would be hard for the characters to uncover that Araminta was stealing from Sophie. The earl left a sizable dowry aside for Sophie, and Araminta knew about it all along. When Posy (Isabella Wei), one of Sophie’s stepsisters, comes to her rescue, admitting to stealing the shoe clip, Sophie is not only set free but gets to connect with Posy in a way she never could before. The hope is that the series gets to explore more of the bond between the two.
7. Sophie Learns That the Earl Left Her a Dowry
The revelation about the dowry is the biggest plot twist from the third book of the Bridgerton series, and it is bound to be an important development in Season 4. After all, Sophie is finally able to claim her inheritance and get her chance at true happiness alongside the man that she loves. It allows her to wish into reality a different fate for herself than she thought possible. When Sophie leaves jail, she and Benedict confess their love for each other.
After learning about the dowry, she and Benedict finally get married and later have four children together, raising them at the cottage where their love story began. This fairytale-like ending is exactly what is expected to occur in the final episode of Season 4, with maybe even more screen time given that Penelope no longer has to reveal her identity as Lady Whistledown. In the third book, she decides to let go of her pseudonym, but in the series, she’s already confessed to writing the gossip column. This means that we will probably see a wedding between Sophie and Benedict, before we see them years later at the cottage with their children.
