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It’s wild to remember that, when it launched, Bridgerton was considered provocative and edgy.
At the height of the corny Hallmark romance takeover of pop culture, here was a bodice-ripper in which bodices were actually ripped. There were butts and boobs! The camera didn’t cut away after a kiss, but actually showed the sex scenes. The casting was racially blind in a cool, unfussy way.
I remember the hilarious cheekiness of Bridgerton’s premiere date: Christmas Day in 2020. I was assigned to cover the series and recall giggling at the absurdity of being at my parents’ house for the holiday, dashing between wholesome family activities and my childhood bedroom to watch Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor strip down and get it on.
I was reminded of that time when I found myself at my parents’ house again this Christmas, seeing all of the memes of people joking about sneaking away to a basement TV to watch the season finale of the steamy gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry. Nothing says the holidays like watching Hudson Williams ride Connor Storrie at the cottage.
It’s almost nostalgic, at this point, to remember that “naughtiness” of Bridgerton Season 1, now that Season 4 is here and streaming on Netflix. The series has ditched any pretense of raunchiness, following the lead of countless shows that made headlines for their sex and nudity in early seasons, only to retreat to a nunnery as the years go by. Make Television Sexy Again! The people (me) are demanding it!
So what Bridgerton is in now is its comfort-viewing phase. That’s somewhat of a bummer, but it’s good context for watching the new episodes. If you think of the series as a comfort watch, the way we think about revisiting an episode of Grey’s Anatomy or still tuning in each week for new offerings of Law & Order: SVU, it unlocks a different pleasure center. You’re not expecting creative miracles, just something cozy and easy.
Each season of Bridgerton has focused on a different member of the titular family and their star-crossed journey with a romantic prospect. That’s had mixed results: Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley were so electric and goddamned hot that I needed to take a cold shower after that season; the Colin Bridgerton season, led by Luke Newton, was such a damp blanket that co-star Nicola Coughlan deserves a raise and maybe sainthood for rescuing it on her charisma alone.
These new episodes are extremely watchable, thanks to leads Luke Thompson as the romantic sacrifice of the season, Benedict Bridgerton, and the object of his affection, Sophie, played by newcomer Yerin Ha in one of those thrilling star-is-born kind of performances.
Benedict, a pansexual cad whose first kiss in the season is with a man at some sort of debaucherous rich-people soiree, is a perfect fit for a romance like the ones trodded out in Bridgerton: an untameable bachelor falls so head-over-heels that he leaves his rowdy ways behind. And making this even more of an easy, satisfying watch is the woman he swoons over: a maid who sneaks into a masquerade ball and sparks with him, before disappearing back to her servant life.
Yes, Bridgerton Season 4 is basically just Cinderella. Have we seen this story before? Of course. Hell, Sophie even has a dead dad, wicked stepmother, and two stepsisters. Is it satisfying to watch anyway? Yes. It’s Cinderella! When is that not entertaining? It’s the easiest story in the world to root for, and so you’re instantly on board with this season, yearning for Benedict to find the wearer of the missing glove—this version of the glass slipper.
The production value on Bridgerton remains second-to-none, and you bet I still lose my mind every time I recognize a pop song rearranged in strings during one of the many balls. I kid you not, one of the songs this season is “I’ll Never Let You Go” by Third Eye Blind, and I just about screamed.
The show has been going on so long that there are now over a dozen characters who pop up occasionally to remind you they exist, which is kind of busy and distracting if you don’t take my advice and, again, think of this season as a comfort watch. Rather than think of these divergences as underdeveloped or unnecessary, think of them as, hey, how fun to see an old friend! And it is nice to see Penelope, even if you miss her having a juicy storyline, or the Queen and Lady Danbury, even if you couldn’t care less about their tedious friendship drama.
Bridgerton might be unrecognizable from what it was in Season 1, but it has also dutifully branded itself. There may be fewer bums, but there’s way more familiarity—if that’s a good thing.
