“Bridgerton” Season 4 could have easily been a filler season without Yerin Ha.
The “Cinderella” themed season focused on Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the understudy for heiress Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). His dissolute and debauched lifestyle was subject to reckoning, and he could have been reduced to a metaphor for the season’s theme.
But Season 4, which marks the midpoint of an eight-season animated adaptation of romance author Julia Quinn’s work, features Ha in the role of Benedict’s mysterious lover Sophie Baeck, ensuring that Season 4 is more than just a bridge between the eldest sibling’s love story and the younger sibling’s love story.
Ha (best known for her work on Paramount+’s Halo and HBO Max’s Dune: Prophecy before Bridgerton) brings a sense of reality to Bridgerton that I didn’t realize I needed until she showed up. We watch “Bridgerton” (at least I do) for a gorgeous, sexy, carefree escape from regularly scheduled programming. However, Ha’s performance took me out of that situation in the best possible way and deserved a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Acting Nod. The show has a lot of nominations for lower-tier films, but Regé-Jean Page was the only one nominated for acting, and that was in Season 1 in 2021.
Of course, executive producer Shonda Rhimes and Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell gave Herr a lot to play with the character of Sophie. She is the illegitimate daughter of an earl and a maid. But after Sophie’s father dies, she is forced to become a maid by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Despite her circumstances in life, Sophie is highly educated, speaks fluent French, and has an air of dignity and nobility.
Sophie’s appearance elevates the plot of “Bridgerton” with a vulnerable Upstairs and Downstairs storyline that forces the Bridgerton family (and by extension, the audience) to check their privilege.
Ha’s performance, as Sophie evolves from a working-class woman with a troubled pedigree rescued by a Bridgerton boy to a character who challenges Benedict’s easy life, is a relief to Bridgerton audiences accustomed to being enamored with the shallow affairs of the elite.
She expertly plays the two intimate scenes between Sophie and Benedict.
With dramatically different tones (one frenetic and rushed, the other slow and focused on non-penetrative sex), it manages to balance the show’s signature steamy atmosphere with the underlying horror of an unwanted pregnancy in the 1800s.
The mash-up of “Cinderella” and “Bridgerton” offers a slow-burning romance, and while it’s not new to the series, it mixes class and socio-economic issues.
Sophie and Benedict meet when they secretly attend a masquerade ball with the help of a fellow servant. She captures Benedict’s heart at the ball with her intelligence, wit, and conviction.
But rather than Sophie becoming a manic Regency-era fairy dream girl who can tame the free-spirited artist Benedict, Ha makes her a sensitive, sharp character who pushes back against Benedict’s criticisms.
About other women’s pursuit of husbands. Sophie reprimands him for disrespecting their plight.
For women, their entire future depends on securing a marriage partner who will keep them from being unmarried.
Public humiliation, poverty, and all the other unfortunate fates faced by women, even aristocratic women, in a time when they could not or would not win prize matches.
When Benedict finally learns the true identity of this mysterious woman, the world of Bridgerton opens up in a way no previous romantic revelations have. Ha’s portrayal of Sophie brings an honest, deep, downstairs perspective to a show that has so far remained largely superficial.
The struggles of the past few seasons. Ha’s performance was not only impressive this season, but also set a new standard for the series.
