Four seasons in, we know what to expect out of a Bridgerton arc. A new class of Regency London singles enters the marriage market, navigating a gauntlet of balls under the mercurial eye of a control-freak queen who lives for the drama and the pseudonymous gossip columnist who chronicles her progress. Each social (and TV) season focuses on a different noble, wealthy, and gorgeous Bridgerton sibling—of whom there are, conveniently, eight. Every romance begins with a meet-cute, progresses through an excruciating will-they-or-won’t-they, surges somewhere around the midpoint of the season with an explosion of lust, briefly dissolves following a blowup or the revelation of a dark secret, but is repaired in time to culminate in perfect marital bliss.
It’s a formula, but that’s fine. One pleasure of genre fiction is the comfort of repetition, and a core requirement of romance is a happy ending. Still, five years into its tremendously popular run, the Bridgerton template is showing signs of wear. The new season’s lead—Benedict Bridgerton, a louche aspiring artist played by Luke Thompson—would seem to present the ideal opportunity to switch things up. Instead, we get an extremely familiar story that, while packed with endearing performances and never less than bingeable, plays it disappointingly safe.
Releasing in two parts of four episodes apiece (the second half will arrive on Feb. 26), Bridgerton Season 4 takes place in the wake of a seismic moment for Mayfair: the unmasking of wallflower Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) as ton crier Lady Whistledown. Now, Pen is married to her childhood crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton); mother to an adorable baby; and operating out in the open as a sort of gossip advisor to Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel). But when the sovereign forgoes her annual debutante “diamond” and instead anoints the season’s most eligible…
