A waltz through class and colour
The new season follows Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second-eldest son of the wealthy and prestigious Bridgerton family in the Regency Era, and one of the show’s most charismatic male leads. In what might have been a severe dearth of plots, Benedict who up until now had different preferences, surprises us in season 4, by falling in love with a mysterious Lady in Silver, Sophie Baek, (played by Australian actress Yerin Ha) during a masquerade ball.
The next morning, he tries to find the lady he fell so badly for, (so smitten is he that he completely forgets he normally doesn’t fall for women). But all is in vain, because the Silver Lady has removed herself from society. As it turns out, the lady is actually a maid who snuck into the masquerade ball to experience society life, if only just for one night. But here is a twist.
The season takes on a fairytale vibe, taking particular inspiration from Cinderella. Seriously, a Cinderella in Bridgerton of all the trite story arcs! At the behest of her stepmother, Sophie works as a maid for her and her two daughters. Not only that but Sophie has some noble lineage as well.
For those of us watching season 4 of Bridgerton with typical mindsets from the subcontinent, it certainly was a loopy boy-meets-girl and they fall in love scenario. Not only did it remind us of the deadbeat Cinderella fairytale, but it also goes right back to the famous, likely apocryphal, South-Asian tale of a doomed romance between the Mughal Emporer Akbar’s son, Prince Jahangir (Salim), and Anarkali, a courtesan/maid. The audiences of the subcontinent are so conditioned to this tragic love legend: from Mughal courts to Ottoman harems, the maid who dares to love rarely remains powerless for long.
For instance, we have seen (over and over again) in the Turkish mega-series Mera Sultan, the most famous rags-to-riches story, where Hurrem was taken from Ruthenia (modern-day Ukraine) as a slave, sold in the slave markets of the Ottoman Empire, and entered the harem of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. According to tradition, she worked in a domestic capacity—some stories claim she was a laundress—before catching the Sultan's eye. She became his favourite concubine and, in an unprecedented move, he freed her, made her his official wife, and gave her significant political power as an imperial queen.
History shows that there was also Empress Theodora who, before she became one of the most powerful women in Byzantine history, was an actress, dancer, and considered a courtesan, which placed her at the lowest rung of the social status. She caught the attention of the future Emperor Justinian I. So taken with her was he, that he changed the law to allow a senator to marry an actress. Upon his ascension, she was crowned Empress.
Karin Månsdotter, originally a teenage servant in the royal court, caught the eye of King Eric XIV of Sweden. The king, whose court was in a state of chaos, chose to sanctify their relationship through marriage and she was crowned Queen of Sweden in 1568.
Fredegund worked her way up from a servant position to a mistress and became the third wife of King Chilperic I of Neustria. Queen Nur Jahan was a lady-in-waiting before marrying Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Catherine I of Russia was a servant in the household of a pastor, before becoming a mistress to Alexander Menshikov, and then to Peter the Great, whom she married in 1712.
Back to Benedict and what Shonda Rhimes thinks is our insatiable appetite for Cinderella stories. Perhaps, dearest gentle reader, it is the intrigue, the forbidden love, impending humiliation and heartbreak elements that makes it so thrilling to watch.
What we felt all along was that this season was so much like a Bollywood film minus songs. The romance seems to be right out of a Lollywood/Bollywood film, where the lovers think about each other endlessly, eyes lock when they are in each other’s presence, South-Asian innuendo et al, so much so that we dearly miss songs of judai (parting) and ishq (love). The whole rain-soaked cottage night scene between Benedict and Sophie was so much like the Sharmila Taigore-Rajesh Khanna scene in Roop Tera Mastana. There was even a kite scene where Luke Thompson gave all patang-baaz sajnas a run for their dor! In another scene, Benedict says this line, “Though a moth may love a flame, it will burn should they meet,” bringing all songs about shama-parwana to mind. It was all there, the pining, the love-lorn looks, and the absence-makes-the- heart-more-passionate vibe, minus the lilting 1990s-type Nadeem-Shravan numbers. It would have been perfectly suitable for Sophie in her maid’s quarters to be singing across to the lord in his bed chambers about faaslay [distances], yaadein [memories], neend churayi meri [for a sleepless, tossing and turning Sophie] and so on! After all, love has no language!
Shonda Rhimes has redefined television by normalising inclusive casting and storytelling, asserting that diverse representation is a "simple matter of economics" and a reflection of the real world. By casting characters based on talent rather than limiting them to stereotypes, she has championed, through her production company Shondaland, a "colour-conscious" approach to casting.
However, while Season 4 brings Bridgerton back to diversity and inclusivity with politically-correct but historically- incorrect casting, when you spot one lost moment in the plot, your mind wanders. When you can spot people of all colour, ethnicities and nationalities strolling around on a sunny day, it looks less like the Bridgerton promenade and more like Dubai airport! While still on casting, it is interesting to see 38-year-old Katie Leung (Lady Araminta Gun) play the mom of two adult daughters while the 37-year-old Luke Thompson gets to play the hot, single romantic lead! Only Shondaland can be ridiculous and entertaining at the same time.
Bridgerton’s comments section was sullied by what was called the “anti-Semitic Neo-Nazi venom”, at the time when the Netflix trailer for season 3 launched, and the OTT was accused of using colour-blind casting to falsify history and further modern society’s multicultural agenda resulting in the penultimate goal of white genocide.
But ‘dear, gentle reader’, we can ignore all that because there are other ways of looking at it. It just makes Rhimes happier to show Queen Charlotte portrayed as a Black woman, while the colour-conscious casting extends your imagination to an alternative history where the real Queen Charlotte’s rumoured African ancestry allowed her to integrate the British aristocracy, while the white, Aristocratic British of the Bridgerton family (including Mama Violet Bridgerton) are throwing themselves at coloured people (Lord Anderson) with none of the historical British association of dark skin with inferiority.
At its halfway point, the much-anticipated Bridgerton season 4 had the weakest audience score of any season on Rotten Tomatoes. It also became the target of another wave of review bombing, despite largely strong ratings from critics.
Having said that, Bridgerton fans might enjoy Benedict the rake getting tamed by Cinderella with-an-attitude – even though she came across as the most bland leading lady of the show so far.
On the plus side, this season deeply explores class and title, in a close portrayal of the lives of servants to highlight the contrast between the haves and have-nots. How Sophie was born with a noble name but eventually cast out of society by her own stepmother is an example of just how much titles and entitlement matter in this world, where values such as kindness and honesty have been devalued.
Nevertheless, whether you love or hate Yerin Ha for shattering your imagination of a Caucasian Cinderella to smithereens, or Benedict for his terrible myopia for falling so badly for the insipid Sophie, or whether you are inspired or disgusted with Violet for finally shedding her uptight widowhood (among other things), one has to admit that the squidgy, juicy, fudged-up hotchpotch of plot lines and stories that Bridgerton brings to us are very hard to resist. In the end, it was like Hum Apke Hain Kaun: Sophie’s innocent yet passionate love drew Benedict’s family’s unprecedented and unconditional support!
The queen remains my favourite character and one cannot think of a replacement for Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte, a well-rounded and complex character. One who loves the gossip, loves the parties, loves the balls, loves being in charge of the hierarchy, but also has her finger on the pulse of society. However, behind closed doors, she’s dealing with and coping with what the love of her life (King George III) is going through.
*Spoiler alert*
Over the seasons, Bridgerton has evolved– for better or worse, that is for the viewers to decide. I, for one, have found it deeply entertaining, whether I love some parts and or hate some. Fans feel the music is heavier, the dresses flashier, the romance slower and the world darker. Starting with the "fake dating" romance between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, who pretended to court to boost her suitors and escape his social obligations. In the first season, their intense, slow-burn connection turns into a passionate but conflicted marriage due to trauma-driven secrets. The couple reconciles, and their passionate declaration of love culminates in the birth of their first child in the finale.
Season 2 was defined by the palpable chemistry, lingering glances, and near-touches of Kate and Anthony. They clash over their opposing views on love and duty before finally acknowledging their deep feelings for one another in romantic moments including the Pall Mall game, the bee sting scene, and the final confession in the garden.
Compared to the first season, this romance was less raunchy and more focused on emotional tension, yearning, and the "female gaze".
Bridgerton Season 3 focused on the "friends-to-lovers" romance between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, as she seeks a husband and he reluctantly coaches her, only to realise his own feelings.
Season four had the main romance alongside romances for Francesca Bridgerton, Benedict, and Violet Bridgerton. While the main story kept getting pushed back, with too many subplots, it diluted the Sophie-Benedict storyline which already took us from a glittery fairytale to ground reality. This season was mature and emotionally heavy compared to the previous ones. Between balls and banter, we had to deal with Francesca’s grief, widowhood, class struggle and social exile.
Some believe this latest season improved the show, others think it declined with the Cinderella storyline, the class politics, the pacing issues and a gap in the middle of the season destroyed the momentum of what would have been our tremendously-anticipated big binge. Let’s see how season 5 balances its romantic roots with its growing universe of mature and more intellectual socio-political themes.
Though a little rushed at the end, here we are at the end of season 4 with Violet engaged, Sophie not expecting Benedict’s child, and John dead. The best thing about Bridgerton is the enormous family so each sibling can grow up and give us a season each as they find love in their lives with each new set of leads. With eight Bridgertons and a ballroom that never empties, love is always waiting in the wings. If Season 4 proves anything, it’s that the next scandal, the next swoon, and the next sibling’s undoing are only a waltz away.