Bridgerton is back: season four so far
Photo of a the bridgerton trailer surrounded by roses (The Puma Prensa / Sloane Crocker)
Sloane Crocker, Executive Editor
With the first part of season four of Bridgerton released on Jan. 29, 2026, and the remainder of the season soon to follow on Feb. 26, the hit Netflix show is certainly the talk of the town. So, how does the first part of the new season compare? Let’s dive in.
In terms of plot, the season’s main love interest is the second Bridgerton brother, Benedict, who finds himself enthralled with a mystery woman he encounters at a masquerade ball. Benedict, who in previous seasons has been what the show dubs a “rake,” unwilling to settle down and start a family, is suddenly possessed by the need to find this so-called “Lady in Silver.” This is where the show takes a highly Cinderella-esque turn, as the unnamed woman from the ball is soon revealed to be Sophie Baek, a ladies’ maid of the high-ranking Penwood family. As in Cinderella, Sophie’s father remarried her ‘evil stepmother,’ Lady Araminta Gun, and following her father’s death, Sophie was given the position of maid and denied any claim to his property or wealth due to her status as an illegitimate child. Eventually, Sophie and Benedict do meet, but, to the great frustration of viewers, Benedict does not realize that she is one and the same as the woman from the ball. And, the show ends with a tantalizing cliffhanger as Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, to which she refuses and flees the season, leaving viewers with so many questions going unanswered until the release of the second installment.
Several more minor characters also receive some time in the spotlight in the first four episodes, including Benedict’s sister Francesca, as the show devotes some time to exploring the relationship between her and her husband John. Francesca and Benedict’s widowed mother Violet also gets some romance for herself, as she and Lord Marcus Anderson are engaged in what seems to be the start of a new relationship. Additionally, the show features insight into the dynamic between Queen Charlotte and her longtime friend Lady Danbury as well as a peek into the sisterly bond between two other Bridgerton women, the independent Eloise and the marriage-minded Hyacinth.
Ratings so far for the show have been highly positive. It has scored an 82% on the Tomatometer and a 67% on the Popcornmeter so far, according to Rotten Tomatoes (percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive vs percentage of general audience member reviews that are positive, respectively) and a 65 Metacritic score (weighted average of professional critic reviews). The season debuted at the top spot on Netflix with 39.7 million views in the first four days following release, Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, and 23.4 million views from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8. This is about 10% lower than the debut viewership of the show’s third season but still counts as a huge success.
In my own opinion, this latest season ranks below the show’s first and second seasons but is superior to season three. A high point of the season so far is the continuation of the show’s commitment to diversity; the female lead, Sophie Baek, is portrayed by Korean actress Yerin Ha, while her stepmother Lady Araminta Gun is played by Chinese Katie Leung. I appreciate that these captivating women of color are given their time in the spotlight and also like that the show created distinction between Sophie, whose family is of Korean descent, and Araminta and her daughters (of Chinese heritage) rather than simply lumping all of these women into the ‘Asian’ category. The show also leans into the idea of racial inclusion when Benedict is searching for his mystery woman, as when he looks about the ton for women who would fit the profile, he interviews a mix of Black, white, and Asian women in hopes of finding her. Though this is perhaps a bit unrealistic, as he did see most of Sophie’s face at the ball despite her mask, I appreciate that it helps further the idea of a lack of discrimination based on race. In the words of another Maria Carrillo High School student, senior Nell Krombholz, “I like how Benedict is race blind.”
On the other hand, Benedict’s failure to recognize Sophie as the woman from the ball even later on when he meets her again is somewhat of a low point of the show, as it casts him as a kind of simpleton unable to see what is right in front of him and therefore dumbs down his formerly more complex character. Another way in which I feel the season has fallen short so far is its heavy reliance upon the Cinderella storyline. Although this may be a controversial opinion, and although it does in theory sound like a good idea, the show follows the storyline too closely and therefore feels a bit predictable and overdone. There are just so many similarities— Sophie is a servant, like Cinderella; they both have to leave the ball at midnight; the love between prince (or second son of a viscount in this case) and low-status maid is forbidden; for goodness sake, Sophie even left her glove at the ball, just as Cinderella left her glass slipper. Krombolz echoed this sentiment, saying that Sophie’s whole backstory is “the same as Cinderella’s to a tee.” In short, the season so far relies too much on tropes and fails to create the same intense and palpable chemistry between Sophie and Benedict that has existed between couples in past seasons.
In short, the Bridgerton series is a favorite both of mine and of so many fans across the globe. And although the first installment of the newest season is certainly not perfect, it is still a great watch and is enough to keep fans excited for the release of the next four episodes.