BRIDGERTON SEASON 4, PART 1 ENDS WITH A SHOCKING TURN — AND SOPHIE SAYS EVERYTHING WITHOUT A WORD 😳💔
The finale drops a scandal straight out of An Offer From a Gentleman, but it’s Sophie’s silent reaction that hits hardest. Yerin Ha reveals that in the final moments, her expression was meant to say what dialogue couldn’t — conflict, fear, and a choice that changes everything. One look, and Benedict’s world tilts. Fans are already spiraling over what this means for Part 2… 👀🔥
‘Bridgerton’ Season 4, Part 1, Ends With a Scandalous ‘Offer From a Gentleman’: Yerin Ha Breaks It Down
Sophie’s reaction to Benedict’s proposition is wordless — but her facial expression says it all, Ha says.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the ending of “Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 1.
“Bridgerton” Season 4 lived up to the title of the Julia Quinn book that inspired it in the final moments of Part 1.
Across the season’s first four episodes, which hit Netflix Jan. 29, second son Benedict Bridgerton tries to hunt down the lady in silver, a woman he had a romantic first meeting with at his mother’s masquerade ball. But in true Cinderella story fashion, she’s right under his nose the entire time.
The lady in silver is actually a maid named Sophie Baek, played by newcomer Yerin Ha. She’s the illegimate daughter of the late nobleman the Earl of Penwood, and while she was originally raised as his ward, after his death, she forced to serve his wife and stepdaughters.
But she’s expelled from her home once Lady Araminta Gun finds out about her masquerade ball adventure, leading her to seek work out in the countryside. And through a series of coincidences, she ends up needing to find shelter alongside a wounded Benedict, who, of course, doesn’t recognize her.
While he’s still looking for the owner of the glove that was left behind by the lady in silver, he also finds himself drawn to Sophie as she stays by his side in the country, resulting in a sweet lakeside kiss.
In Episode 4, Sophie returns to London with him and is hired by his mother to work at Bridgerton House, further complicating their chemistry.
In the final moments of the Part 1, they run into each other on the stairs and give into a passionate, steamy kiss, set to an orchestral cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Bad Idea Right?” — until Benedict asks a question that changes everything.
More about ‘Bridgerton’ Season 4
‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 Is a ‘Cinderella’ Re-Telling: All the Twists, References and Easter Eggs
‘Bridgerton’ Season 4, Part 1, Ending: What This Character’s Surprise Reappearance Means for Francesca
‘Bridgerton’ Showrunner on How Season 4 Will Embrace Benedict’s Sexuality
What Did Benedict Ask Sophie?
At the end of “Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 1, Benedict and Sophie give into their attraction after trying to stave it off once Sophie became an employee of the Bridgerton family.
After a passionate kiss, Benedict starts to confess his feelings.
“If you wish me to leave, I will, but the truth is, I stay away because you consume me,” he tells her. “My eyes search for you in every room I enter. My heart beats when you are near. The reality of you has become more tantalizing than any fantasy ever could be, and one I cannot live without.”
Sophie appears moved, and whispers Benedict’s name in response.
“I meant it when I said you deserve better, and I am determined to give it to you and more,” he continues.
“Sophie … be my mistress,” he concludes.
The music abruptly stops, and Sophie looks crestfallen by the titular “Offer from a Gentleman,” which doubles as the name of the episode. She runs off, wordless.
Why Is Sophie So Hurt by Benedict’s Offer?
While Sophie says nothing in response to Benedict’s proposition, her face says it all.
Yerin Ha, who plays Sophie, tells TODAY.com that in that moment, her character “feels like she’s let her guard down too much, and it’s a reminder of exactly why she has it up.”
Ha says the moment takes Sophie back to her childhood, when she was forced from a life of comfort and love with her father into that of servitude. After her father’s death, Araminta tells Sophie at the earl’s grave that she was not included in his will.
“My father loved me,” Sophie says.
Araminta then tells her that Sophie’s mother was a maid who “let herself become a mistress” and died without a husband, dignity or a title.
“Do not worry. I will take care of you now. I will feed you, clothe you, and keep a roof over your head. You will work as a maid,” Araminta says.
Sophie protests that she is the daughter of a nobleman, before Araminta reminds her that she is illegitimate.
“Being a maid is the best you can hope for. It will make you invisible,” Araminta says. “You will be protected this way. As long as you do not allow yourself to dream of more than your station.”
Benedict professing his affection but asking her only to be his mistress stirs up the lingering hurt Sophie feels at being reduced to a maid, Ha explains.
“It’s that mantra that Araminta always tells her, ‘Know your place.’ And I think that kind of kicks into gear,” Ha says.
But even if Benedict did propose marriage, as would be expected for a noblewoman, Ha argues her character would still feel disappointed.
“Even if he did say, ‘Be my wife,’ I think almost in a way, she would maybe react the same, because it’s like, how do people from two different worlds coexist together when society doesn’t want them to?” she says.
“So yeah, I think that was what was going through my mind,” Ha adds. “And just how passionately he delivered that.”
“And how hot the staircase was,” Thompson chimes in of filming the (literally) steamy scene.
“They built this new set and it was 15 stories high but there was like loads of candles and obviously all the heat rises, so it was boiling, and you nearly caught fire,” Thompson says.
“My hair almost caught fire,” Ha confirms with a laugh.
“That’s what she was thinking,” Thompson concludes.
“Bridgerton” Season 4 will conclude with four more episodes dropping on Netflix Feb. 26.
