Bridgerton

It may not be new or as inventive as it once was (it bears repeating that this series’ central love story is a Cinderella rip-off), but it remains a wonderful, luxurious watch.

Yerin Ha is sharp and effervescent as Sophie, and it’s hard not to fall in love with her almost instantly. Plot-wise, there’s some charming “upstairs-downstairs” type interplay a la “Downton Abbey” or “The Gilded Age.” .... The show also manages to give Benedict a bit more depth than he’d been afforded in the books.

For now everything’s pulling together toward the same end goal, and the result is giddy and thrilling, the best Bridgerton has been since its first season.

Best of all, the yearning romance fans crave is here, too. And suddenly I’m rooting for Sophie and Benedict’s happily ever after. We know we’ll get one, but it’s the getting there that makes this season of “Bridgerton” fun again.

Bridgerton is daft and OTT, but it’s a splash of colour and a rollicking good romantic lifter for miserable January and February.

All in all, Season 4 of "Bridgerton" represents a return to form for the popular Netflix series — after a slightly underwhelming third season, the antics of Benedict and Sophie come at exactly the right time.

There's no telling yet how Benedict and Sophie's romance will play out in the season's last four episodes, but Part 1 leaves things off on a tantalizing note that will likely leave viewers desperate for more.

We may know all those answers (it’s a love story, after all), but we can’t wait to see what this second half holds, and if “Bridgerton” is ready to mine some darker, deeper tensions in the pursuit of love.

The true romantic highlight of Season 4 thus far is the burgeoning lust, yearning and flirtation Lady Violet shares with Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis). A limited series could be devoted solely to them. Meanwhile, Benedict and Sophie fade into the background, especially amid the bizarrely split season, which harms the show’s pacing and its central romantic tension.

Thus far, Bridgerton season 4, part 1 has knocked forbidden romance out of the park, but struck out with secret identity. Let's hope that part 2 can play to the season's strengths while fixing its mistakes.

Bridgerton Season 4 Part 1 retains the charm of past seasons, but it often feels like two clashing shows, competing for ultimate attention. .... My only hope is that that drama can be a bit more streamlined, a bit more sexy, and bit more focused on our wonderful season leads when Part 2 rolls out on February 26.

Thanks to the fire of actress Yerin Ha, this fourth chapter in the saga of love among the haves and have nots can still thrill us with the pleasures of the unexpected.

Part 1 of “Bridgerton’s” conventional fourth season, which consists of four episodes (now streaming on Netflix) that entertain but fail to make much of an impression beyond that.

It’s all utterly bananas. But crucially, it is sincere about it – and its commitment is admirable.

Despite some great performances and stellar subplots, the latest episodes of the hit show don’t pack as much of a punch as previous iterations.

It is the closest a human could come to creating an AI slop Regency romance: distilling plotlines from classic novels and fairy tales, generating consistently perfect facial bone structure, rendering everything in lurid, over-saturated colour. And yet, Bridgerton remains perfectly enjoyable.

The first four episodes sew with the same pattern, and while that’s comforting, the seams are starting to fray.

As charming as she is, Ha cannot make up for scripts that struggle to create narrative stakes, import or feeling. It's as if everyone involved in the juggernaut Netflix show is twiddling their thumbs, waiting for a more interesting Bridgerton sibling to take over the main story.

We get an extremely familiar story that, while packed with endearing performances and never less than bingeable, plays it disappointingly safe.

When “Bridgerton” follows Sophie home, it stops being a third-string version of itself and turns fascinating, despite the beyond-cliché nature of her eventual storyline.

All these aspects of the main couple’s relationship are quite promising—chemistry! Cross-class love! A heroine who can take us places we haven’t gone! The problem is, everything related to Benedict and Sophie is padded out by A, B, C, and D plots ad infinitum.