Is this Bridgerton's diamond of the seasons? Its stars share why season 4 is different

Dearest, soft reader,

If you ar a buff of mask balls, shower homes, promenades, yearning and watching beautiful people reach their pinnacles, then you are by now likely aware that Netflix dropped season four, part two of its smash hit Bridgerton today.

This season of the Regency-era drama centres on bohemian Benedict Bridgerton, played by actor Luke Thompson, and lady's maid Sophie Baek, played by Yerin Ha — the show's first East Asian lead.

The first four episodes, which dropped Jan. 29, followed a Cinderella-inspired storyline as Benedict seeks to uncover the identity of the intriguing lady in silver he met at his mother's masquerade ball, unaware that his fantasy woman is Sophie.

We won't tell you what happens in the second half of the season — first, because this is a spoiler-free zone; second, because our evening plans involve binge-watching it ourselves while snacking on an assortment of bonbons.

"I hope that people do feel like there's a bit of fantasy and magic in meeting someone," said Thompson, 37.

Bridgerton actors hope fans find fantasy and magic in season 4

But as Thompson himself notes, the fairy tale element in season four is undercut by reality: Sophie is a maid, while Benedict is a gentleman.

"I think the show has a lot of fun in setting up a very familiar story that we know and love … but then it's also how you marry that with the surprises and ruptures of the real world," Thompson said.

And that's what makes this season stand out from the last three. Or, if we may borrow a favourite term from the show describing the most eligible lady on the market: some are saying it's the diamond of the seasons.

For the first time, viewers are brought deep into the lives of the maids, servants, butlers and footmen that keep those lavish houses running.

We see maids cleaning the rooms before the scenes start, preparing tables of food in the kitchens that are sometimes barely touched and pouring the tea before it is inevitably spilled by the ladies of "the ton," a term used to describe upper class English society.

"Sophie opens up the downstairs element of Bridgerton, and we've never seen that before," explained Ha.

"It's finally making a statement on the world," she said.

Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age have also done this, Hadadi notes, but Bridgerton takes it further with its "maid wars" — where members of the servant class wonder if they're getting paid enough and, in some cases, demand more.

"To actually talk about and tackle the class disparity and the maid wars and their love being an actual obstacle stemmed from society, I think it just grounds it in a different way," said Ha.

In an article in Vulture, Hadadi notes that occasional moments of resentment among the servant class presents the entire show in a new light, whether it's Mrs. Varley trying to negotiate a raise or Lady Danbury realizing her relationship with the Queen is more like a "powerless employee and a toxic employer."

"Bridgerton incorporates who the servants are, and how they talk to each other about their work, to complicate our read on this as a fantasy world," she wrote. "A fantasy for whom, exactly?"

Senior Writer & Editor

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