Benedict’s story finally comes to life in Bridgerton season 4, and if a certain trend continues, it could very well become the show’s most successful and beloved episode. The Netflix historical romance series, created by Chris Van Dusen, follows the Bridgerton family, an upper-class, prestigious family living in London, England, during the Regency era. Each season follows the epic love story of one Bridgerton sibling (there are eight in total), and Bridgerton season 4 will be Benedict’s time to shine.
Bridgerton is based on the book series of the same name by Julia Quinn, and like the show, each of her eight novels deals with one of the Bridgerton siblings’ romances. For its first two seasons, the series followed the order of the books, with season 1 focusing on Daphne and season 2 focusing on Anthony. For season 3, however, the writers skipped Benedict’s story to adapt Colin’s book, which is the fourth in Quinn’s collection, while Benedict’s is the third. Netflix is getting back on track for season 4, and one Bridgerton fact suggests it will be its best season yet.
All seasons of Bridgerton have had great scores on Rotten Tomatoes, both on the Tomatometer and Audience Score (now called the Popcornmeter). However, while most shows tend to decline in quality and viewership ratings over the years, Netflix’s historical romance series has only improved. As of this writing, Bridgerton season 1 has a 70 percent score on Popcornmeter, season 2 has a 73 percent score, and season 3 has a 78 percent score. This trend even holds true when including Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. The prequel, released between seasons 2 and 3, has an Audience Score of 74 percent.
With each season of Bridgerton outperforming the previous season in terms of Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, expectations are high for season 4. If Benedict’s Bridgerton story is to maintain this admirable trend, it should receive a score higher than 78 percent. However, it will be a while before audiences can watch and critique season 4. Bridgerton’s ever-increasing Rotten Tomatoes score speaks to its quality, which continues to rise with each passing season. Even without the shocking numbers, it’s arguable that Netflix’s historical romance series has only gotten better with time. Daphne and Simon’s story from Bridgerton season 1 was pretty forgettable (probably for the best). Anthony and Kate’s enemies-to-lovers romance from season 2 is one of the best romances of all time. Then there’s Colin and Penelope’s ending in Bridgerton season 3, which was three years in the making, and the slow burn pairings are arguably one of the best fictional romances.
Bridgerton season 4 needs to fully capture Benedict and Sophie’s story from the book, including Sophie’s unique personality, to be a best-seller.
Plus, as the show has continued, more interesting characters (like Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma, Calam Lynch’s Theo Sharpe, and Daniel Francis’ Lord Marcus Anderson) have been added to the Bridgerton cast. Many of the new characters add something different or interesting to the Netflix series. As the fictional world has expanded, so has the quality of Bridgerton, and hopefully that trend continues with the season 4 adaptation of An Offer from a Gentleman. To be a best-seller, Bridgerton season 4 needs to successfully adapt Benedict’s book, An Offer from a Gentleman. For the episodes to succeed, they have to perfectly capture the essence of Benedict and Sophie’s rags-to-riches love story, and Yerin Ha, who plays Sophie, has to be great in her role. The richness of the Bridgerton seasons partly accounts for how the central love interest is received, which is why seasons 2 and 3 are so great. Sophie is a beloved Bridgerton wife in the books, so a lot depends on Ha getting her portrayal of Sophie right.
