Bridgerton S4 is Really Good

Bridgerton Season 4 is really good!

Season 4 is primarily Benedict Bridgerton’s story.
He meets a mystery lady at a masquerade ball, falls for her; but it turns out she’s not suitable to marry… Lots of flirting and angst ensues before the happily-ever-after.

It’s fun!

After watching Season 4, I was so enthralled that I decided to re-read book 5 and was able to binge through Quinn’s cozy writing, finishing the book in about a day.
In contrast, Seasons 1-3 were awful enough that they weren’t able to rekindle my love of reading.

Compared to Seasons 1-3, Season 4 puts much more emphasis on what the show does well, and dials down the stuff which brought down the previous seasons.

Season 4 is More Fun, Sweeter

I’ve always enjoyed the sweet parts of Netflix’s Bridgerton series.
The sweet parts are easy to like, and the show never screwed the sweet parts up.

The parts of Season 4 I enjoyed the most were really able to bring the sweet romance from the books to life, but also making good use of the medium.
For example, the opening scene of S4E2 re-plays the dance between Benedict and Sophie in the garden, and this is re-played with the video effects of fast-forwarding and re-winding as you’d do with a video.

But I guess my favourite moments from the season involved the ‘classical’ arrangements covering pop music; particularly pop music which is quite sweet.
S4 had several of these moments!

A cover of Taylor Swift’s “Enchanted” is used to great effect:
Following Sophie’s escape from the ball, Benedict is enthralled and on a mission to find her. When he finally does visit the house where she’s working as a maid, she admires him through the gap in the door.
The music plays as she’s excited to see him again but anxious about not being able to meet him, and uncertain of whether he’d even recognise her.
– So, the music works really well as a reflection of the intense emotions going on.
(And, indeed, the ass doesn’t recognise her when he later encounters her again).

Perhaps the cutest scene of the show has a cover of Paramore’s “All I Wanted”.
I wasn’t familiar with this song. It’s also such a good song!
But, in the show, the song still plays out over some intense emotions:
Benedict has re-encountered Sophie. And though he didn’t recognise her, circumstances bring them together: he seeks shelter at his large country house, but falls ill & she helps him. She is treated as a guest, and he spends the time flirting with her. The two are each chastised about how inappropriate this all is: he’s got power over her (she’s a maid), and maids who flirt are unemployable.
At the same time, a secondary romance is playing out between Violet Bridgerton and the charming Anderson.
The song plays just as Benedict and Sophie are leaving this country estate (knowing they can’t continue flirting), and after Violet has confessed her anxieties about a relationship with Anderson to him.

And the last one I really liked was the cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Bad Idea Right” (which is a fun song).
It plays out as Benedict and Sophie (who are already trying hard to avoid each other) encounter each other alone in the stairway. They passionately make out with each other.

Season 4 Does a Better Job With Secondary Plotlines

What the Seasons 1-3 did screw up was the content that filled up the rest of the runtime when the main romance wasn’t playing out.
(In particular, S1 filled the rest with awfully mean and bitter drama, and S3 filled it with dumb nonsense).

With S4, finally the show complements the main romance with stories which are fun and cozy and emotional and about relationships.

That is.. I think Netflix’s Bridgerton is at its best when it sticks close to the source material that makes it popular. The show is at its worst when the show creators want to give attention to their original ideas.