Dearest gentle reader, the back half of Bridgerton Season 4 has officially graced our screens, and while Part 2 outshines Part 1, it still leaves viewers clutching their pearls for more. Superior? Yes. Flawless? Not quite. But take heart: no season could ever wander as far astray as Polin’s rather chaotic Season 3.
Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson, Dunkirk) spent the first half digging himself into a scandal-shaped hole. That “will you be my mistress” cliffhanger? Atrocious. But Part Two gives Benedict space to do what this show does best: let a man yearn publicly and atone dramatically. Part 2 is exactly what’s needed to make him one of the favorite Bridgerton brothers again.
He softened. He listened. He felt. Watching him own his mistakes and choose love with sincerity is satisfying. In fact, it’s even necessary. The “Our Cottage” drawing and plan Benedict creates for Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha, Dune: Prophecy) is one of the heartwarming gestures to truly stand out. Still, Part 1 lingers in memory like a bad waltz partner you can’t quite shake. Redemption is possible and achieved in Part Two, but amnesia is not.
If anyone truly thrived this season, it’s Lady Violet (Ruth Gemmell, Penny Dreadful). Fearless. Focused. She is fully in her matchmaking era, as always. She has this second sense about her children, and when she sees a union could happen (including one for herself), she moves like a general preparing for battle. She has strategic tea invitations, perfectly timed heart-to-hearts, and just enough emotional manipulation to remain technically innocent. She understood the assignment and then rewrote it in calligraphy.
With Sophie continuing Part Two in life as a maid, the series further widens its lens to the staff, and thank goodness it did. Footman Alfie (David Moorst, Killing Eve) and Footman John (Oli Higginson, Julia) are scene-stealers and the supporters that a Bridgerton or Bridgerton associate needs. They’re witty without being cartoonish and loyal without being dull. Their presence reminds viewers that romance in Mayfair does not function without those polishing the silver behind the scenes.
However, when there are highs there are lows and of course this author has some grievances. Where are Penelope’s (Nicola Coughlan, Derry Girls) sisters? After anchoring much of last season’s chaos, Prudence and Philippa barely flickered across the screen. With the return of Cressida Cowper now Lady Cressida Penwood (Jessica Madsen, Rambo: Last Blood) in Part Two, it feels like a missed opportunity not to give fans at least one deliciously petty or silly Featherington sister moment in Part 2. With fans getting to see Philipa for a few seconds in Part 1, Cressida’s ball in Part 2 would’ve been the time to give them at the very least 30 seconds of screen time.
The two Featherington sisters might not be favorites from the show or ever get their own ark, but they create some of the best side characters viewers that do not need to have elaborate plots for. Fans deserved more orange gowns.
In the absence of Featherington frivolity, Posy Li (Isabella Wei, The Crow) emerges as the unexpected joy of the season. She is unfiltered optimism wrapped in pastel. Where others scheme, Posy simply wants to live and support Sophie (something everyone can be thankful for). Her lightness never tips into foolishness, and instead, she provides balance in a world increasingly bogged down by reputation and restraint. Her ending doesn’t need much focus, but it should receive a huge smile as she finds her match.
Speaking of reputation: Cressida’s return is a triumph. So often framed as the villain by the Bridgertons, she’s actually one of the most honest characters in The Ton (with the exception of her Whistledown scandal in Season 3). She wants marriage. She wants status. She wants security. And frankly, that makes her no different from Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor, Younger) wanting children or any debutante clutching a dance card.
Her complexity in Part Two gives her depth beyond the basic rivalry fans are so used to. One can only hope she returns next season with a possible rekindling of something resembling friendship with Eloise (Claudia Jessie, Defending the Guilty).
As friendships go, the dynamic between Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel, Queen Charlotte) and Lady Agatha Danbury (Adjoa Andoh, The Red King) remains unmatched. The Queen’s loneliness peeks through her usual sharpness, and her desire to keep Lady Danbury close feels human rather than imperial. Yes, Agatha deserves to go back to her homeland as wanted, but all the Queen wants is to not lose her closest friend. While the Queen eventually grows to accept and allow Agatha’s departure, it feels quite sad. Their scenes together always reveal equal parts wit and vulnerability, which is to be said for more than for most of the characters.
And while we’re defending Her Majesty: she’s absolutely correct about Lady Whistledown.
The Ton thrives on chaos. They tune in for scandal. Yet Penelope’s recent hesitation to name names has drained the column of its bite. Even Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker, Patriot Games), who’s ever pragmatic, clocked it immediately. If you’re going to wield a pen like a weapon, then use it. Otherwise, what’s going on here? Penelope has, unfortunately, become… vanilla. Softer. Safer. Less willing to disrupt the social order she once delighted in exposing.
Her retirement from the column absolutely makes narrative sense if she’s no longer willing to be ruthless while diminishing her presence. Without the edge of Lady Whistledown, Penelope risks fading into the wallpaper of her own story.
The development with Penelope truly is a let down and causes her to become a wallflower again. Not in the sense of how she was in the first few seasons, but in the sense of she doesn’t need a plot anymore. She can truly become a side character that gets a couple lines of dialogue here and there without affecting the plot. It’s arguably the most disappointing element of Part Two. The only effect she has on the show is giving way to a new Lady Whistledown.
The reveal of a new Lady Whistledown at the end is quite delicious. Tradition must be upheld. Let’s just hope this successor, whoever they may be, channels the savage precision of Seasons 1 and 2 because The Ton deserves to tremble again.
If the show continues loosely following Julia Quinn’s book order, Eloise is likely to be next. That would be natural. But narratively? Lady Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) feels urgent.
Francesca quietly delivers one of the strongest performances of Part 2. Subtle, restrained, emotionally layered — she commanded attention without demanding it. The sadness brought out in her when Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli, Death on the Nile) dies and how she copes with the loss of a husband moves mountains. She was born to play Francesca.
Delaying her story and forcing her love life to be a side plot again until it’s her time to shine risks reducing her to perpetual side character status, and she deserves far more. Eloise’s rebellion against marriage can simmer another year. Francesca’s love story should not.
Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 gives fans heart, humor, and flashes of the sharp storytelling that makes Bridgerton addictive in the first place. It stumbled, yes, but it also reminds fans why they keep returning to the ballroom.
The music swells. The candles flicker. A new scandal looms.
And dear reader, this author will absolutely be seated.
Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
