Part two “absolutely ramps up the conflict” between Benedict and Sophie.
After a passionate moment in the stairwell of Bridgerton house, Benedict (Luke Thompson) asks Sophie (Yerin Ha) to be his mistress. Instead of replying, she runs away, clearly disheartened by his question.
While Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell didn’t know if Netflix was going to split the season into two drops, she felt pretty certain they would. “I felt like it was pretty likely because it seems like it worked well for season three for Netflix, but we didn’t think about it [or] talk about it that much in the [writer’s] room. We always try to build to a big moment at the end of episode four regardless of whether it’s batched.”
Benedict asking Sophie to be his mistress, then, felt like the place to end episode four. “Part one is very much about Benedict and Sophie finding each other, and so it felt like we needed to build to a shift in their relationship and ending on that cliffhanger of ‘Will you be my mistress?’ sends us into the back half with a new conflict,” says Brownell. “I would say part two absolutely ramps up the conflict between our lovers. You watch Sophie really have to grapple with the decision of whether to be practical or to chase love. And for Benedict, you watch whether he really can be capable of real commitment and what that looks like for him.”
Actor Luke Thompson views the ending of episode four as “almost like a magic trick.” He explains, “You know escapology? I feel like we created this really complicated knot. Part of the fun is, how are they going to get out of there?” He adds, “I do think this season really does stretch how far apart they come, and that’s the pleasure of storytelling. You know that it’s going to end up alright, but how the fuck is it going to end up alright?”
Part two premieres on February 26, 2026.
