Everyone’s favorite period-piece drama romance is back and better than ever. I have been so excited to watch season four of Bridgerton. Since season one, I have been the biggest Bridgerton fan (yes, I am the girl who has read the books as well as watched the entire show). I know this might be a controversial opinion, but I think this is one of the best seasons yet. Of course, season one still has my heart.
Let’s start off with the plot of season four, because it was one of my favorite parts of the season. This season of Bridgerton had a unique twist, following a Cinderella story inspired theme. Even though this theme has been so overused in the past, I loved the way it was portrayed in Bridgerton, and despite its overuse, they pulled it off perfectly. We start the season with the main focus being Benedict Bridgerton, the famous bachelor of the family, meeting a mysterious masked woman at the ball. Along with Benedict, we are introduced to Sophie Baek, a maid from a different house, who, under circumstances that I cannot reveal without spoiling, finds herself working at Bridgerton house and is enamored with Benedict.
The second praise I have is one from the previous seasons as well. The acting in Bridgerton is truly amazing. Bridgerton is the type of show where, at times, you forget that it is a TV show, and you genuinely get emotionally invested in the characters and their lives. This is not unique to season four; all the previous seasons had superb acting as well, with performances from actors such as Johnathan Bailey, Hannah Dodd, and Luke Thompson. The casting director of Bridgerton needs a raise, because every single character has embodied their role so well. Another thing I appreciated about the show was the diversity within the cast. In Bridgerton, we see disability representation, as well as racial diversity, which is so important. In the past, I feel like there has been little to no diversity in television, and I appreciated how Bridgerton is trying to be as inclusive as possible.
Another thing I loved about this season was how we got to know several characters on a deeper level. I always like learning more about characters and their backstories. This season did a fantastic job at giving us a better understanding of the characters and answering questions that we all had from the last season. Characters such as Franchesca Bridgerton, who is one of the Bridgerton siblings, are highlighted as well, even though in the previous season she was not given much time.
Now I know that Bridgeton is not necessarily supposed to be historically accurate, but as a history major, I just had to point out several major historical inaccuracies throughout this season. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do think that there could have been more historically accurate scenes. Things such as the fashion and makeup within the show were not historically correct. Believe it or not, they did not have acrylic nails during this era. However, at the same time, I loved the fashion in the show, despite the inaccuracies.
Another negative to this season is that there are only eight episodes. Personally, I think TV shows need to bring back the 20 episode seasons where each episode is 45 minutes — that was truly peak television. If they had added more episodes, they would have been able to draw out the story more and go into more detail about the love story we watch unfold. Most seasons of Bridgerton have felt rushed because of how short the seasons are. In the future, I would love to see longer seasons so we can see the details from the books in the show as well.
I am happy to say my hopes were fulfilled this season. I had high expectations coming from previous seasons, and season four has quickly become one of the best seasons in my opinion. I would definitely recommend binge watching this season; you won’t want to miss it.