Content Warning: Spoilers for “Bridgerton” ahead.
A show like “Bridgerton” (2020-2026) isn’t usually my cup of tea.
In all honesty, you’d more likely find me watching “Shadow and Bone” (2021-2023), a fantasy series based on a book series of the same name by Leigh Bardugo, or a silly cartoon I used to love, like “The Amazing World of Gumball” (2011-2019).
But when I find myself scouring the Netflix homepage for the fifth time in a week to find something I’m actually interested in, sometimes I like to take a look at what’s most popular to see what all the excitement is about.
“Bridgerton” is a series about eight siblings who each take a turn at the “marriage mart” in Regency-era London to find what their mother, Violet Bridgerton, calls a “love match.” The siblings are named in alphabetical order according to age, a fact that I only discovered after a friend told me: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth.
Season four is Benedict’s story, where he becomes infatuated with a girl he meets at a masquerade ball. The girl turns out to be Sophie Baek, a maid who snuck out of her evil stepmother’s house to finally enjoy herself. Sound familiar?
The main romance follows a “Cinderella” plot, but Sophie leaves behind a glove instead of a shoe. Benedict spends considerable time and energy looking for her, only to eventually find out who Sophie really is and marry her despite the societal restrictions around a gentleman marrying a maid.
Unfortunately, this storyline was not my favorite. There were, however, stronger bonds between supporting characters throughout the season that made me feel emotions beyond annoyance and surprise.
Loss and True Friendship
My main goal with watching a show like “Bridgerton” is to escape into a world of flowery romance and frivolous drama, so I was caught off guard when deeper themes were explored.
My favorite storyline occurred between Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury. Their friendship has been a staple of the series so far, and Lady Danbury’s request to leave the ton, or the upper-class world, to visit her home country only strengthens their bond in the end.
Queen Charlotte struggles with letting Lady Danbury go this season. We get to watch the most powerful woman in the show reveal more about who she is and how she deals with life not going her way after growing up as a princess.
Charlotte learns the valuable lesson that even when you’re the queen, you have to be okay with not having complete control over everything in your life. We get to see her acting more like a human than a member of royalty, especially when she and Lady Danbury share sweet moments laughing together. These two quickly became the best characters in the season for me, and I will be very upset if Lady Danbury isn’t in the next season.
The last thing I expected from “Bridgerton” was for someone to die, but this season, Francesca lost her husband, John Stirling, after he went to bed with “only a headache.” Francesca is distraught and tries to plan the most traditional, rigid English funeral in the hopes that she’ll be able to cope with her loss.
However, her sister-in-law Michaela, who is from Scotland, helps her see that it’s okay to bend the rules and celebrate John’s life in the traditional Scottish way instead of only mourning it. As someone who is a rule follower like Francesca, seeing her let loose really warmed my heart. If it’s okay for someone in a society with even stricter rules than mine to feel how she wants to feel, maybe I can too.
The Music Infuriated Me
I love the flowery setting and fancy clothing in “Bridgerton” as much as the next person, but the music is one thing I can’t tolerate. It’s hard to escape into the past when the sounds of the present lurk around every corner.
I found the violin covers this season to be particularly heinous, as they included songs like “360” by Charli XCX, “bad idea right” by Olivia Rodrigo and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” by Usher. How am I supposed to focus on a scene when all I can hear in my head are the lyrics to songs I heard at my high school dances?
Something about these covers makes me viscerally angry, and I end up just laughing and complaining through the song because I can’t focus.
There’s nothing wrong with the covers themselves; they’re actually impressive and musically engaging. “Bridgerton” just isn’t the show they belong in. I would happily go to a theater to watch a performance of these songs; then I won’t be expected to believe these covers are what people were actually listening to in the early 1800s.
The worst offender was the cover of Charli XCX’s song. It is the music the younger characters dance to at a recital, and all I could think about was how this song is from an album called “Brat,” and the “Brat Summer” trend from 2024.
The only cover that I could maybe, just maybe, give a pass to is “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron. It plays when Benedict and Sophie make their first public appearance in front of society and Queen Charlotte, and the song itself actually manages to fit the scene and quite possibly the time period.
The Main Romance
I will admit there is a part of me that was invested in the romance between Benedict and Sophie, but there was a bigger part that was frustrated with all the chances Sophie has to reveal her identity that she doesn’t take.
The couple has so much alone time with no prying ears or eyes, and unfortunately they spend it making out instead of addressing their problems. They’re very cute in the end, but I think the season could’ve been half as long if they cut scenes where they essentially have the same conversation over and over.
It goes something like this: Benedict professes his love for Sophie, Sophie says they can never be together, Benedict asks her to be his mistress or be with him in some discreet way, Sophie resents being hidden and leaves.
The first time, I was all for it, but eventually I got tired of the same song and dance and was ready for them to just get together.
That’s not to say I hated the show; I was invested enough to be on the edge of my seat for the finale, which finally delivered everything I was waiting for. I will absolutely be tuning in for the next season, even though I’ll probably have to wait a couple of years.
I think it’s worth it – after all, rich people’s problems will always be entertaining.
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