"Bridgerton" Season 4 is a fairy tale ... that we've seen too much
- - "Bridgerton" Season 4 is a fairy tale ... that we've seen too much
Kelly Lawler, USA TODAYJanuary 29, 2026 at 9:01 AM
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Benedict Bridgerton was never going to be Prince Charming.
It's the sad but true fact that, in spite of the best efforts of Luke Thompson, the agreeable actor who has played him in Netflix's "Bridgerton" for the past four seasons, Benedict is one of the blander, more annoying characters the historical romance has produced. He lacks Anthony's (Jonathan Bailey) pomposity and naiveté, Penelope's (Nicola Coughlin) intelligence and daring, Eloise's (Claudia Jessie) sarcasm and witticism and even Violet's (Ruth Gemell) steadfast belief in the status quo. What he lacks, in essence, is any firm personality at all, and his character has wafted around for the first three seasons vaguely positioned as a "free spirit" who delights in sexual escapades.
Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett and Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in "Bridgerton."
So it was always going to be a challenge to adapt the second Bridgerton son's story for the Netflix series, and that's not even including how many fans think the character should be queer. And when you look at the plot of his story from the Julia Quinn novels from which the smash series takes its narratives, the show's writers were presented with a further challenge: How do you take a literal Cinderella story and make it interesting for audiences who have been hearing "bippity boppity boo" since preschool?
The answer, seemingly, is the sometimes fun but often deeply frustrating fourth season of "Bridgerton" (Part 1 now streaming, ★★ out of four). It stars Thompson's boring Benedict but also the magnetic newcomer Yerin Ha as his romantic foil, Sophie. The actress is by the far the highlight of the season, at least in the first half made available for review. But as charming as she is, Ha cannot make up for scripts that struggle to create narrative stakes, import or feeling. It's as if everyone involved in the juggernaut Netflix show is twiddling their thumbs, waiting for a more interesting Bridgerton sibling to take over the main story. For the sake of the longevity of the series, let's only hope whoever's next can bring more to the table.
But Season 4 isn't really about anyone other than Benedict, who we have seen have many affairs and rendezvous with women (and an occasional man) for the first three seasons, while feinting at a career as an artist and constantly complaining about his unimportant status as a second son. At the season's outset, he is the child for whom matriarch Lady Bridgerton has the most worry, and who she is determined to see finally settle down and accept the conformity of polite society. Benedict assumes he will never find a woman who can meet his own huge intellect and free-thinking rebelliousness — until he meets a mysterious silver-clad lady at a masquerade ball.
While conventionally beautiful, our silver-clad ingénue doesn't follow the usual debutante routine and even talks back to Benedict. When she leaves the ball before unmasking herself, Benedict becomes obsessed with searching the "ton" (the members of rich, upper-class society) for her. Only he'll never find her there; as it turns out, our silver maiden is Sophie Baek (Ha), a maid in the house of Lady Penwood (Katie Leung) with a peculiarly adversarial relationship with Penwood and her two daughters. Is this literally the Cinderella fairy tale minus the magic? Why yes, yes it is.
Michelle Mao as Rosamund Li, Katie Leung as Lady Araminta Gun and Isabella Wei as Posy Li in "Bridgerton."
While great TV shows and films have borrowed from fairy tales or adapted them outright, the beat-by-beat retelling of Cinderella doesn't gel with the "Bridgerton" aesthetic. It's perhaps that the show must address inequity for the first time, shattering its romantic, escapist vibes (the show could not do a similarly ahistorical approach to class that it did with race). Maybe it's that, after seeing several love stories that took fans' breath away, this ultimate romantic cliché is a huge letdown. Maybe it's that we're all grown up, and we know Cinderella isn't really guaranteed a happy ending.
But whatever the reason, the plot of the season grates, and the lackluster subplots can't make up for Benedict and Sophie's shortfalls. Penelope (Nicola Coughlin) is still hanging around, still Lady Whistledown and still gathering gossip even though the ton should know better than to spill their secrets around her. Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) is trying oh-so-politely to get Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) to relieve her of her social duties so the weary noblewoman might go into a kind of retirement. Eloise (Claudia Jessie) is trying to convince her mother that she should be a spinster. And Season 3's also-ran Bridgerton Francesca (Hannah Dodd) is trying to make her intimate life with her new husband more, well, exciting.
Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton and Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Bridgerton in Season 4 of "Bridgerton."
It all feels a bit try-hard and forced. A flaw with the "Bridgerton" format is, as its most interesting characters get their happy-ever-afters, they no longer have any reason to hang around in Mayfair (and the actors gave even less reason to show up for guest-spots in random episodes). Anthony and Kate (Simone Ashley) are conveniently "in India" all season, Colin (Luke Newton) only shows up to make out with wife Penelope, and Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) hasn't been seen since Season 2. Every Bridgerton wedding is a closed door.
Season 4 could have been an open door to something new, even though the writers were hampered with less than ideal source material. Instead, it's tiresome and slow-going between rare moments of real heat and intrigue. When the Queen laments that there is no good gossip to be had, I can't help but agree.
Has "Bridgerton" lost its edge for good? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet against the series. With four episodes debuting in February, it has plenty of opportunities to turn this ugly duckling of a season into a swan. Or the pumpkin into a carriage, one should probably say.
I'll keep my hopes up for the fairy godmother of boring TV to intervene.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: "Bridgerton" Season 4 is a too-tired fairy tale – Review
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