Bridgerton Season 4 Breaks the Romance Trend With Benedict & Sophie & Is Extremely Important for Netflix’s Regency Series
Bridgerton season 4 will break the romance trend marking a pivotal moment in Benedict’s story. Since the Netflix phenomenon first hit screens, Bridgerton has introduced its version of the Regency era by highlighting the love story of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings each season. Bridgerton season 1 showed the love story of Daphne and Simon Basset, season 2 focused on Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma, and Bridgerton season 3 recently showed the love story between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington.
Shortly after Bridgerton season 3 was released, it was announced that Benedict Bridgerton would be the romantic lead in season 4, alongside newcomer Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek. This season will likely follow the events of Julia Quinn’s book An Offer From a Gentleman, similar to how the first three seasons followed the plots of their respective books. While some things will change as the books are adapted, it will be interesting to see how Bridgerton season 4 handles an aspect of Sophie’s story.
Throughout the three seasons of Bridgerton, all of the siblings have fallen in love with someone in high society and generally the same social class. Bridgerton season 4 will be the first time the main love story focuses on people from two different social classes. There have been relationships between people from different social classes before, but it will be a major factor in Benedict and Sophie’s love story.
In Bridgerton season 1, Anthony fell in love with Sienna, an opera singer who is not from the upper class despite performing and interacting with them regularly. This caused a rift between the two and eventually led to Sienna breaking up with Anthony despite his plans to propose. A similar thing happened in Bridgerton season 2 with Eloise and Theo, although their relationship never progressed far enough to become a real issue.
In Benedict’s book, An Offer From a Gentleman, Violet Bridgerton had Sophie’s stepmother declare her a distant relative, which elevated her status from servant and illegitimate child to that of a member of the upper class. Because of the social stigma, Benedict and Sophie would have been looked down upon if they had married, but Sophie’s high status allowed them to marry without issue. In the books, before Sophie’s rise to power, the best Benedict can do for her is offer to make her his mistress, an element of the books that many don’t believe should be included in Bridgerton season 4. So far, very few people who aren’t upper-class have been seen on the show (…) This could be something the couple will have to deal with in the series as well. It’s been confirmed that audiences will get to know Sophie, her stepmother, and her half-sister, but it’s unclear how Bridgerton will address the social status aspect of the couple’s story. So far, very few people have appeared on the show who aren’t upper-class, and with Sophie essentially being a servant to her stepmother and half-sister, Bridgerton will have a very different look if the show sticks to the books.
