Bridgerton Season 4: Episode 6 'The Passing Winter'

 The Passing Winter

Written by Annabelle Hood

This episode picks up the morning after the night before.  Benedict believes that as a result of them sleeping together – and his confession – that Sophie will agree to be his Mistress, but Sophie continues to refuse, telling Benedict that is not the life she wants for herself, but she may have no choice if she is pregnant.  We are shown Sophie tracking her cycle, giving more emphasis to the possibility of her being with child.  Sophie’s position in Bridgerton House is complicated further when Araminta, accompanied by Rosamund and Posy, call on Violet, Eloise and Hyacinth and she is seen by Posy who covers for her.  Meanwhile Araminta brings up Sophie’s name with Violet, saying that she stole shoe clips, obviously waiting for a reaction that Violet refuses to give.  After the Tea Violet goes to see Sophie in her room, giving her a letter of recommendation and telling Sophie that for her own protection it would be best she finds somewhere else to work away from Mayfair now that Araminta lives next door and is wanting to prosecute her. 

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Meanwhile the Queen is still eager for gossip on Benedict and the Lady in Silver, and after Lady Danbury informs her that Miss Hollis was in fact not the lady that Benedict sought, and he has now given up the hunt for the Lady in Silver, the Queen asks Alice if she thinks there is someone else, Alice lies and says no.  

Anthony and Kate have returned from India and are currently at Aubrey Hall with their son Edmund, however, Anthony has been summoned to Bridgerton House by Violet, and he is loathed to leave Kate and Edmund.  In London Anthony goes to their club with Colin and Benedict, where he gets the opportunity to talk to Benedict about Sophie.  Benedict compares Sophie to Siena, but as Anthony points out it is not the same as he is in their home and around their family, and as Benedict tells Anthony it is not a dalliance, Anthony responds that they will not be able to live their life in the open.  Benedict leaves with a parting shot at Anthony implying Anthony does not care for the family like Benedict does.

At tea with the Bridgerton ladies, Edmund is brought in to join them, and Benedict arrives in time to witness Violet with Edmund.  Benedict expresses his conflicting emotions about Edmund to Lady Danbury, and he further expresses envy at Edmund and how he has brought the family together, knowing that any children he has with Sophie will not be able to be a unifying presence.  

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The new Lady Penwood, who has been revealed to be Cressida, is hosting a ball, and at Alice's suggestion the Queen has convinced Cressida to hold it in her honour with no intention of turning up.  At the ball as guests begin to realise the Queen is not going to attend we see Penelope signal for the footmen to distribute her Lady Whistledown column, in this column she announces her retirement from writing it, thus overshadowing Cressida's ball.  During the ball Francesca and John spend some quiet time together reminiscent of their first meeting, they express their love for each other in a poignant moment.  

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As they return home from the ball Anthony calls for Benedict to join him in his study.  Anthony confronts Benedict about planning a life with Sophie.  Anthony tries again to tell Benedict what their life would be, how any children will not be accepted in society, or be able to be part of the family. Benedict insists that he has thought it all through but he cannot walk aways from her, not telling Anthony that he is in love with her and continuing with the plan for Sophie to be  his mistress.  The conversation is overheard by Sophie, and the reality hits her, she returns to her room throwing a drawing of My Cottage into the fire, throwing away the fantasy she had of a life with Benedict.  Sophie meets with Benedict and tells him that love isn't enough and that she has accepted another position.  

The episode ends with Francesca going to wake John after he went to lie down with a headache to find he had died.  

Highs: 

• The return of Kate and Anthony, and meeting Edmund
• Hyacinth sneaking into Cressida's ball with Eloise's help
• Again, the Li girls being criminally under utilised
• Francesca and John's moment in the garden at Cressida's ball

Lows: 

• The power dynamics of the Benedict and Sophie relationship, it is feeling a bit like workplace harassment.  This is solely down to a lot of choices made by Jess Brownell that have backed them into a corner with the storytelling. 
• Benedict calling Edmund a small creature.  The optics of this line are not great in my opinion.  Would it have been so hard for Benedict to call him by name?  

Bridgerton Season 4: Episode 5 'Yes or No'

 Yes or No

Written by Lauren Gamble

This episode opens directly after the end of episode 4 as Sophie joins the other servants for the night out, however, she is clearly distracted.  Sophie remains silent on Benedict's 'offer' frustrating Benedict, who finally enlisted the assistance of Eloise through deception, that allowed him to speak to Sophie who told Benedict that she does not want to be a mistress.  

Sophie enlists Alfie's help to find a new position, and Alfie tells her that there is a position under the new Lady Penwood, but that Araminta spread rumours to prevent Sophie from being hired, however, Sophie is confident that Violet will give her a letter of recommendation.  Whilst Sophie talks to Alfie about Benedict's offer, Benedict has gone to Will Mondrich for advice, who tells Benedict that no woman likes to be hidden.

 

 

 Image Credit: Netflix

 

During preparations for Hyacinth's ball Sophie slips into the study where she finds Benedict's drawings of the Lady in Silver as Benedict enters.  They have a conversation where Sophie confronts him as to why he finds it suitable to kiss her, to ask her to be his mistress, when he wouldn't have a lady he met at the ball.  This echoes Anthony's conversation with Siena in season 1, where he told her not every woman is a lady, only from Sophie's perspective with her making Benedict realise that she does not think he sees her as a lady.  

 

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Sophie is distracted for much of Hyacinth's rehearsal ball, and she overhears John the Footman telling maids Hazel and Celia that Araminta is the new neighbour, causing Sophie to suddenly feel unwell and leave the ball.  Benedict follows her and faces her, finally telling Sophie he loves her leading to Benedict and Sophie consumating their relationship, ending the episode.  

 

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Alice Mondrich overhears the conversation between Benedict and Sophie, she has been under pressure from the Queen to find more information on Benedict and the Lady in Silver, however, Alice is reluctant to find information as she does not want to betray the Bridgertons in that way.  

Earlier Mrs Wilson had discovered that a Miss Baek once worked for the late Earl of Penwood, her and Violet surmise that Sophie must be her illegitimate daughter, which makes Violet sad as she is not suitable as a match for benedict.  

 

Elsewhere, Penelope is confronted by Virginia, the mistress of Mr Hiscox, who was tossed out by Mr Hiscox after a column by Penelope about Mistresses.  Virginia gives Penelope a reality check about what it means for her.  Penelope insists she did nothing wrong, and that everyone knew, but Virginia responds that it was suspicions before but Penelope's column made it real and now she is on the street because of Penelope, unable to save money to set herself up independently. As a result of the confrontation Penelope decides to request permission from the Queen to stop writing Lady Whistledown, the Queen refuses, forcing Penelope to continue with the column. 

Highs: 

• Francesca and Michaela's scenes were well done, and it is easy to see the chemistry between them
• Hyacinth in her element with organising her ball 
• Alice Mondrich showing her integrity and loyalty by refusing to spy on the Bridgertons and report back to the Queen
• Seeing Penelope confronted with the real consequences of her column, Penelope lives in a bubble and has little understanding of how the world works for many women who do not have the same privileges as her and those of her class 
• Again, as with most of this season, the focus on the main love story has been very good, and we see Benedict and Sophie's story move forward during the episode
• The exchange with Rosamund and Posy was a highlight, Posy is definitely a character that I love in this season, and I wish we got a lot more of her
• The friendships of the downstairs staff continues to charm, and I like how their stories are connecting into the main stories 

Lows: 

• I really hate to say it, but Benedict was a low in this episode, he pestered Sophie a bit, and while I understand the reasons for it, I just was not overly impressed with the way the writers depicted Benedict in this episode
• Some of the costumes again were not great, and if the best we can say is they were better than S3 then it is not great, one in particular that stood out was Hyacinth's dress at her rehearsal ball with the pompoms all over it. 

Bridgerton Season 4: Part 2 First Thoughts

Having finished part 2, and suitably recovered from the heart wrenching episode 7, here are my first thoughts on season 4, part 2. 

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The Good: 

• While the leads were not as together in part 2 as they were in part 1, there was still mostly a feel of them being centred in the story
• Ben coming out to Sophie, I think this was handled well, no huge drama attached to it, and it felt very natural
• Limited as they were, the family scenes were again a highlight, at the heart of this show should be the family, they are no shown enough, but when they are the Bridgertons never fail to deliver.  
• Speaking of family, Eloise showed her empathy and understanding with her younger sisters, she was their rock when they needed her the most, and it was so lovely to see as it calls back to her being the support for Daphne in season 1 (who can forget that scene when Eloise refused to leave the drawing room so she was there for Daphne?)
• Ruth again excelled, her best scenes (as always) were with the family, in this part specifically with Luke Thompson and Hannah Dodd
• Speaking of Hannah, her and Florence Hunt hit is out of the park in episode 7.  Francesca's shock finally giving way to her anger and grief, and Hyacinth's anger as she dealt with true grief for the first time was both a joy, and heartbreaking, to watch, and Hyacinth truly missing Edmund for the first time showed a young girl that has some resentment that her siblings got something she never did - time with their father
• On a more joyous note, the Li sisters returning.  I just love the dynamic for Rosamund and Posy, they truly were wonderful to watch.  
• Alice being a woman of integrity in her refusal to betray the Bridgerton's she showed a loyalty that others have not always shown. 
• Penelope finally giving up Whistledown, this should have happened in season 3
• Finally, I cannot have a good without mentioning the return of Kate and Anthony with Edmund.  Their scene with Edmund at Aubrey Hall was delightful in all aspects.  

Image Credit: Netflix

The Bad: 

• Kate and Anthony missing when their family needed them the most.  They should have been there during Francesca's time of grief, as should Daphne. It is the moments like these that this show could benefit from the family scenes.  
• Anthony not being there for Hyacinth.  Not for her first ball, but more importantly not being there for her when John died.  Anthony would have been the right person to talk to Hyacinth about her not wanting to marry, not wanting love, that was him not so long ago.  I am not saying the Eloise did a terrible job, she didn't, and Eloise has her own fears, but the idea of having your spouse taken away by death and the fear is something that Hyacinth shares with Anthony, and it would have been so great to see a scene of Anthony talking to Hyacinth about it.  A very missed opportunity. 
• The characterisation of Queen Charlotte as a caricature almost, it is not cute or funny, and does a disservice to the character and the actor. 
• The return of Whistledown at the end.  We do not need another Whistledown mystery in this show, it has run its course and just signals a lack of ideas from the showrunner and within the writers room
• The overuse of expository dialogue, I realise that Netflix wants everything dumbed down, but it gets tedious having everything explained when we are watching the show.  
• The criminal underuse of Michelle Mao, Isabella Wei, Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey

Image Credit: Netflix

Mixed Bag:

• Makeup, whilst not as garish as season 3, some of the makeup was awful, whilst there was some that worked well.  
• Costumes. Again overall not as bad as season 3, there were some great costumes, some truly awful ones and some monstrosities.  There were also one or two that were a lovely style, but the material didn't suit. 

Image Credit: Netflix