THEto embargo list disclosures of Bridgerton 4 it’s so long that the only sensible review would be the one limited to “Look at it and judge for yourself.” However, we are allowed the possibility of «Spoiler alert», some attempt at a plot and relationships between the characters can therefore be hypothesized. Meanwhile, like the previous seasons, Jess Brownell’s series (from an idea by Shonda Rhimes), a fourth chapter divided into two parts (4 episodes streaming on Netflix from today January 29; the last 4 from February 26th), maintains the sensation of watching whipped cream being shot onto plastic. Like the wisteria that covers the facade of the Bridgerton housethe same one found in fake flower shops, no matter how well lit.
If nothing else, however, it is a precise aesthetic. Not a trashy attempt at lofty language achieved through trivial means: Bridgerton we wallow in inconsistency, and thrive on the cardboard charm of the pastry shop Ladurée reconstructed in Milan (not that the one in Paris does not have within itself the whole tourist idea of the city). But, between scenes in which you stay in the rain for hours without catching pneumonia and embarrassing CGI reconstructions, the series – a sugary nineteenth century of fake sexual liberation – always guarantees some stability. This time aiming straight for the fairy tale with a poor maid who, on a Cinderella night, makes the prince fall in love (languishing prisoner of a glove instead of a slipper).
Bridgerton 4 first part streaming on Netflix, plot of the first episodes, review
Who is this “prince”? AND the second son Benedict (Luke Thompson), caught by his mother at the beginning of the series in a slaughterhouse with two women. It’s time for Benedict to get married, and for him to learn to go to balls to choose the right girl, in short. Obvious, he dreams of someone different from everyone else, a free thinkercertainly not a parrot of high society. Reluctantly, he therefore goes to the first ball of the season, the masquerade one organized by Lady Violet Bridgerton (until midnight everyone is incognito, then masks off).
Spoilers, the patrons can be recognized perfectly under the feathers and beadsbut everyone seems to have ham-lined eyes. Especially Benedict, who doesn’t recognize him for four episodes Sophie Baek there Lady in Silver of the dance, the mysterious girl whose enthusiasm for lights, sets and music led him to meet her. The director, after her escape, frames lips on lips but nothing to do, the beautiful Bridgerton is unable to match memory and anatomical data.
Narrow the field of candidates by focusing on the eyes, clearly Asian even under the mask – Sophie is played by Yerin HaAustralian of South Korean origin – would move the series towards Miss Marple. And that’s not good (in Bridgerton – as we know – there are no ethnic groups, everyone is equal except the poor forced to work for the rich).
Yerin Ha (Sophie Baek). (Netflix)
Will The Maid and Benedict Bridgerton live happily ever after?
Like Sophie, who is difficult to track down because she is a waitress who went to the ball in secret. Dance in which at a certain point she bumps into her stepmother (Araminta Gun/Katie Leung) and her daughters (who don’t recognize her, of course). Having discovered the servant girl’s Cinderella-style escape later on, with the use of her mistress’s shoes (she won’t notice anyway, like no/2), Sophie is shown the door. Events will later lead her to cross paths with Benedict in a double rescue that will become an excuse for privileged knowledge far from everyone.
And from here on in the plot, the trouble begins, since it’s all a spoiler. Therefore, be careful. Let’s say that the possibility for Sophie and Benedict to unite comes from a social ritual which, although, at least in this first part, appears to be the only solution, debases the poor waitress in a role which – in terms of character – does not seem to suit her at all. The solution – bringing together an aristocrat and a maid – arises from Benedict’s observation of the environment. And while Sophie, despite the fatwa issued by Araminta, hired in the Bridgerton house as Eloise’s maid and Hyacinth lives next to him.
The girl, however, is not a simple servant, there is a rather compromising detail concerning her, and which will explode flagrantly in the second part of the series. Meanwhile, among the plans of Benedict ed Eloise the intellectual who dotes on her (Sophie is in fact very cultured, but how is this possible?), the narrative lines of the other characters fit together gracefully. (See also that slender and careful look at the domestic car of the Bridgerton residence, distantly and for a second it seems Gosford Park filtered by Downton Abbey – which in comparison seem like two volumes of Proust).
Yerin Ha (Sophie Baek) and Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton). (Netflix)
Lady Whistledown inevitably weakened
Penelope/Lady Whistledown (Nicola Coughlan), the gossip girl, in the game discovered by a former deepthroat in which she now finds herself doing romance journalism, she is in trouble acting as a reporter directed to the queen. Not a good future, despite the quickies with Colin in the carriage. Then there is Lady Danbury’s restlessness at court. The desire to live fully – after 8 children and a buried husband – by Violet Bridgerton (already present in the previous season: but in this mother Violet puts the fifth). Finally, but not quite as a conclusion to all events, a daughter, Francesca, as in the first season, is dealing with a problem of sexual ignorance.
A known mix, but even frothier than usual (assuming you want to read the story between the two protagonists as an attack on classism). Now unstoppable – it is one of the most watched Netflix series ever; there are already a fifth and sixth season scheduled – Bridgerton it’s a romance machine with sexy tips (yes, Benedict’s butt pops out at some point) which surrounds the crime.
It does not change the connotations of seriality. He resells us the hot covers of newsstand stories with handsome men in muscular suits and shirts. And how a more or less annual event has the light weight of the return of the swallows in springbetween exhilaration and carelessness. But the world today is so bad that perhaps it has its own true sociological utility.
Yerin Ha and Luke Thompson at the “Bridgerton 4” premiere in Paris. (Getty Images)
The cast, who is Yerin Ha and Luke Thompson
Known to the public of Bridgerton since its debut, Luke Thompson (born 1988) is a British actor with professional experience mostly in theatre. The leading role in this fourth season does not seem to have the charisma, we will see later in the second part to transform him into a medium-sized star like his colleague – they are the same age – Jonathan Bailey (Duke of Bridgerton immediately kidnapped by Hollywood).
The novelty of the series is Yerin Ha as Sophieten years younger than Luke. Born in Sydney, she is an actress of South Korean origins with a CV of TV participations in cool projects such as Dune: Prophecy, Halo And Shadows in the watersci fi and survivor territories distant from the Regency of Bridgerton. The Netflix series is the first in which Ha is in all respects a top billing star.
