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.
Image Credit: Netflix
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.
Image Credit: Netflix
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.
