Dearest gentle reader, it seems that the “Bridgerton” creators have struck again with another excellent season capturing the magic of mystery and the all-consuming feeling of love, even in the softest of interactions.
Starting off the episode with news that the Bridgerton’s would be hosting the very first ball of the season, a masquerade, I was immediately swept off in the exciting flurry of preparations right along with the characters.
I think that when Sophie Baek arrives, the main love interest of this season, the ball is our entire focus and it is utterly bewitching—the sceneries, decorations, ball gowns, and masks—almost as if we are experiencing the magic of attending our first ball right alongside Sophie.
Later on, I loved the gazebo scene in the first episode when Benedict teaches Sophie to dance without truly knowing her identity, and yet it seemed that in their conversation about venturing deeper into the depths of their souls struck a nerve with the gentleman, so much so that he was intrigued by the masked woman before him.
As we launch into the next episode, we also rewind the clock to the moments before Sophie leaves to go to the Bridgerton ball, revealing her character to be a servant for the Penwood family rather than a member of society. And I think the fact that she is a servant herself explains why we also got more glimpses of conversations among the servants in episode one at Bridgerton House.
As we learn more about Sophie’s background, we see that there is definitely more of a “Cinderella-esque” dynamic between her and her two stepsisters and stepmother, Lady Penwood—although, Posy seems like a very sweet and loveable character who attempts to defend Sophie and come to her aid sometimes.
Fast forward to when Sophie and Benedict are rendered stranded at his cottage to wait out the storm, and because Benedict at the time had been covering up an injury he sustained in a fight to defend Sophie at her former employer’s house, they end up sharing some of my favorite moments of the entire first part.
Their first dance under the gazebo had already set up the rest of the episodes to be ones clearly full of yearning and a need to know more about the other person, and while they were simmering with tension, the heat was not as strong. This is also replicated in the cottage moments shared between them two as they discuss topics like literature, art, and French accents.
But these little moments like when she found him at the lake and when they flew a kite together are the moments that truly defined their relationship dynamic as one that is subtle, gentle, and yet ever so radiant. So far throughout the past seasons, there have surely been many heated moments full of passion and lust, sometimes almost feeling rushed, but with Benedict and Sophie, things feel easy, peaceful, and embody a sense of purity in the way no other Bridgerton couples have matched.
And I think this dynamic also speaks to the balance that settles between their characters, like they have already molded together as one.
I also really love Sophie’s character overall and how they show that there is strength in being a softer written character like hers. Where society has depicted “strong female leads” as ones who are typically more masculine and outspoken, Sophie seems to show her strength in even the quietest of ways throughout the season so far.
But later on, when Sophie realizes that she truly wants to keep her job at Bridgerton House, she tells Benedict that she cannot continue to work so long as he is at the house as well, but given the fact that that is his home, I would expect him to be there and spend time with his own family while handling his familial affairs and obligations while Anthony is gone. To me, it would have made more sense for Benedict to offer to leave for her sake instead of her telling him to leave his own family home for the sake of her keeping her new job.
Another scene I didn’t fully understand would be the last moments of the fourth and final episode of part one when Benedict returns to Bridgerton House and Sophie goes back inside for her purse, and they meet in the stairway. I personally felt like this scene was so full of passion that it didn’t feel consistent with their dynamic in the previous episodes, and I feel like the creators should have taken that into consideration. Instead of making it a heated scene that felt random, they could have made it more emotionally intimate rather than lustful.
And then comes the oh so controversial words when Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress. And to be honest, I think the only part I was really disappointed about when he asked this wasn’t necessarily the nature of the question, considering it seemed to be consistent with societal norms at the time in the show, but that it was Benedict of all people asking that. I was more upset over the fact that I had expected more from him rather than the fact that he had asked her to be his little secret that he kept hidden—although, that was also quite the low blow.
And then they concluded the episode by reemphasizing their societal power dynamic, something they had been doing ever since Sophie and Benedict arrived at Bridgerton House. Whenever the two had to go their separate ways, Benedict was always climbing up the stairs or standing on a higher platform whereas Sophie descended the steps. This subtle way of portraying the barrier that stood between their chances of being together, the very reason Benedict thinked to phrase his question in that way, is so very clever and I’m excited to see what the creators might do next.
