To misquote Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Netflix will continue making Bridgerton series until the sun dies and we all fall into a black hole.
And right on cue, here comes another series for us to binge-watch in big, hearty gulps. The format is the same as ever – we follow the implausibly gorgeous Bridgerton family on their search for spouses around the ‘ton’ – and this time around, our hero is second brother, Benedict, played by Luke Thompson.
Unfortunately for the plot, it seems he has no intention of settling down any time soon, because he’s a philanderer, or, scandalously, a “rake”, who enjoys bedding men just as much as women. “The eligible ladies of the ton, many of them are lovely, but they all have the same dream of marriage,” he tells his mother grandly at one point. “They display no true animation, no zest for life, no personality.”
In short, he explains to the appalled Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), “it is unlikely I will ever marry.” Oh wait: soon enough, he manages to catch the eye of a mysterious masked lady at a ball and is head-over-heels smitten. Wow, that was easy! Did AI write this?
Because we’ve seen this play out about ten times already, albeit in different formats, the producers have had to shake things up slightly. This time, the masked lady isn’t actually a lady, but a maid called Sophie Baek. Don’t worry, though: her dad was actually a Lord, so she isn’t as common as all that.
Alone in the world since her father died, Sophie acts as a sort of Cinderella figure, cleaning and tending to her wicked stepmother (Katie Leung, on top sneering form) and stepsisters without any hope of making a decent match.
Actually, it’s very Cinderella: she does go to the ball (in disguise) and after a heady night of romance with Benedict, flees, leaving behind her glove for him to find. The rest… well, you can guess how the rest of the story goes. Will he get the girl? Um, is the sky blue?
It’s classic Bridgerton, by which I mean it’s stuffed full of the same romantic tropes: misunderstandings, people conveniently stumbling across each other at just the right moment (or, indeed, just missing each other), men behaving like rakes and women as faux-feminists who nevertheless yearn only for marriage.
The plot has developed in other ways, though. Bridgerton sibling Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and her new husband John Stirling (Victor Alli) aren’t as sexually compatible as perhaps they first thought. The star of last season, Nicola Coughlan, has been wheeled out once more to play Penelope Featherington, who was unmasked in season three as Lady Whistledown (god help them if Coughlan decides she doesn’t want to come back for season five).
This time, the whole ton knows who Whistledown is – including the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel, as imperious as ever). This means that, far from being an independent operator, Penelope is now beholden to the queen’s whims, sourcing her gossip in a fruitless attempt to keep her entertained, and facing her displeasure when she doesn’t.
It’s an interesting direction to take the Whistledown drama. Unfortunately, that particular storyline never really gets the attention it deserves – nor does the truncated falling-out between the Queen and her confidante, Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh).
Instead, we’re force-fed double and triple helpings of yearning and romance until our livers start to curdle. Yes, it’s samey. But at least this time, we’re spared the agonisingly awkward scenes that dominated season three, and both Thompson and Ha have believable chemistry.
It’s an easy, brainless watch... but there’s only so many times you can rehash the same story without it starting to feel stale.
Bridgerton Season 4, Part 1 is streaming now on Netflix
