Dearest Gentle Readers, Happy Christmas to those who celebrate. The time has come to finally gaze upon the beginnings of the love story between Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). The trailer for Bridgerton Season 4 is officially here, released by Netflix during the NFL programming on Christmas Day. Season 4 adapts the third book in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn, An Offer from a Gentleman, where fans get the opportunity to see the second Bridgerton son, Benedict, fall in love. The trailer includes moments that fans have been long-awaiting, such as the Masquerade Ball where it all starts and the lake scene (YES, THE LAKE SCENE). Fans will also get to see the continuation of other love stories, such as Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin’s (Luke Newton).
Bridgerton showrunner Jess Bronwell explained in a recent interview that Season 4 will be “going downstairs.” That, of course, refers to exploring the world of the lower class in Regency England. In the book, as the illegitimate child of an Earl taken in and passed off as his ward, Sophie is forced to become a maid after her father’s death and work for her stepmother, Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung). Sophie’s position as a maid thereafter is pivotal to her later crossing paths with Benedict. Eventually, her securing a position at Bridgerton House allows the show to peel back the curtain on the lives of the less affluent. Bronwell explains: “We start with a character trope that we’ve seen a million times before, which is a maid who falls for someone above her station.”
However, Season 4 and, by extension, Sophie, will be unlike some other Cinderella stories. Bronwell adds, “I think a lot of times in these classic Cinderella-like stories, Cinderella is a bit of a damsel in distress. And, in the case of Sophie Baek, she is no such thing. We get to watch a very headstrong young woman try to decide her fate for herself and pick up the courage to believe in and dream for a life greater than the one she currently has.” In addition to Sophie’s character arc, the show is called Bridgerton after all, and Bronwell explains what’s in store for Benedict after what we’ve seen since the start of the series. “We’ve watched three seasons of Benedict having a very good time and being good at everything, but unable to commit to any one thing,” Brownell says. “And I think, at the top of season 4, that’s worn a little thin for him. I think he senses that something is missing in his life — even if he isn’t ready to accept it — but once he meets the masked woman in the first episode, everything will change for him.”
