Bridgerton season 4 will break a romance trend that will mark an important moment in Benedict’s story. Since the Netflix sensation first graced audiences’ screens, Bridgerton has showcased its version of the Regency era by highlighting the love story of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings each season. Bridgerton season 1 showed the love story of Daphne and Simon Basset, season 2 focused on Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma, and Bridgerton season 3 recently showed the love story between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington.

Soon after the release of Bridgerton season 3, it was announced that Benedict Bridgerton would be the romantic lead in season 4, along with newcomer Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek. The season will likely follow the events of the book An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn, similar to how the first 3 seasons followed the plot of their respective books. While some things will be changed as the book is being adapted, it’ll be interesting to see how Bridgerton season 4 handles one aspect of Sophie’s story.

Sophie’s Social Status Creates A Storyline Bridgerton Has (Mostly) Avoided So Far

This Will Be the First Time It’s Explored In Depth

Throughout all of Bridgerton’s 3 seasons, all of the siblings have fallen in love with someone within high society and generally from the same social class. Bridgerton season 4 will be the first time where the main love story will focus on people from two different social classes. There have been relationships between people in different social classes before, but it will be a major factor in Benedict and Sophie’s love story.

In Bridgerton season 1 Anthony was in love with Sienna, an opera singer who was not from an upper-class background despite performing for and interacting with them often. This caused a rift between the two and ultimately led to Sienna breaking things off with Anthony even though he planned to propose. Something similar happened in Bridgerton season 2 with Eloise and Theo, though their relationship never got far enough for this to be a real problem.

Benedict & Sophie Are Only Able To Get Married After She Is Elevated In Status

This Also Had To Happen in the Book

In Benedict’s book, An Offer From a Gentleman, Violet Bridgerton gets Sophie’s stepmother to claim she is a distant relative, which elevates her status from servant and illegitimate child to someone of high society. Because of the social stigma, Benedict and Sophie would’ve been looked down upon if they married, but Sophie’s elevated status allows them to wed with no issues. In the book, before Sophie gets elevated in status, the best Benedict can do for her is offer to make her his mistress, an element of the book many don’t believe should be included in Bridgerton season 4.

So far, very little has been seen of people who are not of high society on the show (…)

This is likely something the couple will have to also face in the series. It’s confirmed that audiences will get to know Sophie, her stepmother, and her stepsister, but it’s unclear how Bridgerton will tackle the social status aspect of the couple’s story. So far, very little has been seen of people who are not of high society on the show, and with Sophie essentially being a servant to her stepmother and stepsister, it’ll be a different look to Bridgerton if the show stays true to the book.

Bridgerton Season 4 Needs To Make Some Similar Changes To Benedict As It Did With Anthony

A Faithful Adaptation of the Book May Not Be What’s Best

In Bridgerton season 2, much of Kate Sharma’s background was changed, making for much entertainment and her story more engaging. Not only was Kate’s ethnicity changed, but much of what was in her background changed. She wasn’t from the outskirts of London like she was in the book, but she came from India to help her sister find a suitable match. With this in mind, it’ll be interesting to see in what ways Bridgerton season 4 will change Sophie’s background.

The full returning cast hasn’t been confirmed for Bridgerton season 4.

It’s already known that Sophie’s last name has been changed from Beckett to Baek to better reflect Yerin Ha’s Korean heritage, but other than that, it’s unclear what changes will be made to her background. Because An Offer From a Gentleman was a kind of Cinderella story, it remains to be seen which aspects of it Bridgerton season 4 will incorporate. No matter what happens, Bridgerton season 4 will be worth the wait to finally see Benedict find the love of his life in Sophie.