Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 Review: A Top-Tier Romance with Room for Improvement

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the entirety of Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2.

Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 wraps up Sophie and Benedict’s love story wonderfully. It’s impossible not to love these two and feel joyous that they’ll get their much-deserved happily ever after.

As far as Bridgerton love stories go, it is spectacular. But this doesn’t mean that Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 is without its issues. 

This season, Anthony and Kate make a very brief appearance on Bridgerton Season 4 Episode 6, “The Passing Winter.” If the show could only have them in one episode for a handful of scenes, this does not seem to be the best use of Anthony and Kate’s time.

Anthony’s return serves the purpose to urge Benedict to get his head out of the clouds and be reasonable; Benedict’s affection toward Sophie could have serious repercussions for the family. 

While it does make sense that Anthony would take this view on Benedict’s romance, his scenes are underwhelming. Anthony doesn’t tell Benedict anything he doesn’t already know. Violet has made all these points to Benedict before, and Anthony’s speech doesn’t sway Benedict in the slightest.

And then Kate has some scenes with the Bridgertons discussing Cressida’s ball. We don’t get her chatting with Benedict about his romance, nor do we get any kind of moment between her and Sophie. It’s disappointing. 

There had to be a much better storyline/moment for Kate and Anthony to return for.

One option that immediately comes to mind is John’s funeral on Bridgerton Season 4 Episode 7, “The Beyond.” It is odd that the Viscount and Viscountess are not there for Francesca in her time of grief, especially since they were present in the previous episode.

This issue is part of a bigger problem on Bridgerton. The show does not understand how best to use the Bridgertons as a family, especially if those Bridgertons have already found their happily ever after.

It’s as if the show thinks they no longer serve a purpose to the narrative.

If a Bridgerton hasn’t been married off, then we can check in with them as they interact with their siblings. Their scenes can help the audience grow attached to them as characters, ensuring that there will be a viewership when it is that sibling’s season to find love.

Penelope and Colin are currently the only exceptions to this, but that is because Penelope is Lady Whistledown, and her columns are essential to each season’s marriage mart. 

Having Daphne and Anthony absent from big family moments — engagements, weddings, funerals, etc. — makes those moments feel less genuine. Sure, people can have conflicting commitments, but for a family as close as the Bridgertons, key family members not being there to celebrate or grieve doesn’t make sense.

On Bridgerton Season 3, it didn’t feel like as big of a deal to not have Daphne or Anthony around while Colin was falling in love with Penelope because Daphne and Anthony knew Penelope. She’d been a staple in the Bridgerton house for years.

Of course, it would have been marvelous if they’d been around all season, but it did not feel as if part of the Bridgertons had zero relationship with Colin’s wife.

But with Sophie, Daphne and Anthony haven’t met her, so you find yourself wishing that they (along with their spouses) would have made an appearance somewhere in this love story and had gotten a chance to counsel Benedict and/or meet Sophie.

In line with that, one disappointing aspect of Benedict and Sophie’s engagement is that we don’t see the rest of the family informed of it. Sophie was Hyacinth’s ladies’ maid, and yet we don’t see her learn of their engagement or be told about Sophie’s new identity.

There’s a lot of potential in the moments after Benedict proposes, but we are robbed of them. The post-credits scene of their wedding is a beautiful touch, but it would have been better to see more of their engagement and Sophie’s adjustment to life as a lady. 

So much of the season features Sophie being near the upper class and constantly reminded of her station. There’s so much to explore in her adjustment to that life, not to mention proper introductions to the rest of the Bridgerton clan and Sophie’s former coworkers learning about what’s happened. 

As fantastic as the conclusion of Benedict and Sophie’s love story is, it’s frustrating to see where Bridgerton falls short and could be so much better.

Since the show doesn’t have a habit of bringing back Bridgerton siblings and their spouses for any meaningful storylines, it’s not as if we can settle for knowing that we’ll get to see more of Benedict and Sophie next season.

There’s always hope that the show will realize the error in its ways and course correct, but, personally, I don’t have much hope. What do you wish we had seen this season?

Stray Thoughts

• Surprisingly, I’ve grown quite fond of you, Alice.
• Violet supporting Benedict and Sophie is beyond sweet.
• We all think the Queen has taken up the mantle of Lady Whistledown, do we not?
• Posy being the one to secure a match this season instead of Rosamund is fantastic karma.
• John’s death was devastating and so well done. I thought we’d have more time with him.

---

What did you think of Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Bridgerton is now streaming on Netflix.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!