Dear Reader, Lady Whistledown, voiced by Julie Andrews, is back.
Netflix released a trailer for the fourth season of “Bridgerton” on Monday, and Ton's resident gossip columnist promised to have all the lovely details. The teaser also revealed that the next chapter of the Regency-era romance will be released in two parts on January 29 and February 26.
The eight-episode season will follow the fairy tale-inspired romance of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). The beloved second oldest brother of the Bridgerton brood is known for being commitment-averse and uninterested in marriage, but, if the trailer is to be believed, it looks like a mysterious masked woman he brushes past on a staircase could change that.
“With each passing season, one is known to experience many ups and downs,” Whistledown says in the teaser video. “So we must ask ourselves: Are we up to the task? As always, time, and this author, will tell.”
Unbeknownst to Benedict, the mystery woman, also known as the Silver Lady, is Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). According to Netflix's internal blog, Tudum, the stairwell encounter featured in the trailer is the first time the pair have crossed paths during Lady Bridgerton's masquerade ball.
Benedict and Sophie's romance is based on the events of “A Gentleman's Offer,” the third book in Julia Quinn's “Bridgerton” book series. Like the evil matriarch in “Cinderella,” Sophie’s stepmother (Katie Leung) is more concerned about the social debut and marriage prospects of her two daughters (Michelle Mao, Isabella Wei) than about whatever her stepdaughter is doing.
“Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell previously told The Times that Benedict’s character arc “has a lot to do with being someone who is learning how to exist among society and be unconventional.”
“Benedict [is] trying to figure out her place in the world and how to get around certain rules, something Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) [taught] him [in Season 3]” he said last year. “I think we will continue to tell the story of his [sexual] fluidity in the future.”
The brief trailer for “Bridgerton” season 4 focuses solely on Benedict and Sophie. Those interested in updates on the status of Penelope's writing career or what Francesca, John and Michaela Stirling have been up to since the end of season three will have to keep waiting.
