Bridgerton House is in full swing, preparing for your return: There are scones to bake, petit fours to be arranged, boot prints to mop up, and more to do. Above, catch up with matriarch Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) and her flock in the first few minutes of Bridgerton Season 4, Part 1, ahead of its premiere tomorrow, Jan. 29.
As the family joyfully reassembles, one Bridgerton family member is noticeably absent: Season 4’s leading man, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). He’s missing seeing Season 3 newlyweds Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton) dote on their lordly baby and the return of Francesca (Hannah Dodd), Eloise (Claudia Jessie), and Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli) from faraway Scotland. Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) has even lowered her hems! Violet, always one to prize family time, is dismayed that her second child isn’t part of the festivities.
With the help of Footman John (Oli Higginson), Violet hurries to Benedict’s private apartment. She demands to see her son ... but Footman John and Benedict’s valet Hatch (Esh Alladi) recommend anything but. In fact, Footman John says, he would be happy to fetch the regularly truant Benedict for his mother, just so she doesn’t have to see what’s hiding in his bedroom. So what has Benedict been up to these last few months? Why hasn’t he been showing up to society events? What is concealed inside his quarters? And is it something more than a mere “inebriated slumber”?
We’re about to learn all of that — and more — when Bridgerton returns. The new season follows Benedict as his romance with series newcomer Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) makes him question his ideas about love, commitment, and society. “Benedict is very free and very keen to hold onto his freedom. He can be a certain person at home, he can be a certain person at the demimonde, he can be a certain person in society,” says Thompson. “His weak spot is where love comes in, because you can’t really be in love with someone if you’re not fully there … to get to spend a full eight episodes digging into him and making a whole symphony about him, it’s great.”
While Benedict is the romantic hero of Season 4, the premiere sneak peek reveals that we’ll also get to know the people who maintain Bridgerton House — and the many magnificent manors across the ton. The sprawling one-shot opener introduces the work that goes on downstairs and the hardworking characters that do it.
This is a fitting way to start the season, which finds Benedict falling in love with the captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball — a fan-favorite moment from the book An Offer from a Gentleman, on which Season 4 is based. As he searches high and low in the ton for her true identity, a chance encounter leads him to grow close to Sophie, a hardworking maid. At the start of Season 4, Sophie works at the aristocratic Penwood House for new-to-Bridgerton characters Araminta Gun (Katie Leung), Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao), and Posy Li (Isabella Wei).
“What’s so beautiful about [Sophie and Benedict’s] relationship is that they see each other for who they are, and they do start to question the standards that society puts on people,” says Ha. “If you are in love with the person at the core of who they are, then that should be all that matters, right?”
Benedict will have to answer that question as he contends with the reality of his feelings for the maid in front of him, and the feelings he has for the mythic Lady in Silver — unaware that they are actually the same woman. Watch the trailer for Part 1 to see more of “Benophie,” as the pairing is lovingly called.
Benedict isn’t the only Bridgerton for whom things are heating up this season. Catch up with the Season 4 stars at the Paris Premiere Masquerade earlier this month. And if that doesn’t quench your craving for tea, tune into the companion podcast Bridgerton: The Official Podcast, and read about all the ways you can celebrate with the Season of Love.
Stay tuned to the Society Papers — aka Tudum — for everything there is to know about the latest Bridgerton season, due on Netflix Jan. 29
