Articles
Bridgerton’s Ending Just Fixed The Show’s Biggest Mistake & The Credits Scene Teases What’s Next
After leaving fans waiting almost a month for a payoff to Benedict’s ungentlemanly offer to Sophie, Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2 is back with a bombshell ending few could have predicted. And crucially, the reveal in the final moments of episode 8 is an inspired move that will help return the show to its halcyon days, thanks to the resurrection of something we lost with the Whistledown reveal. Warning: As should already be clear, this post contains SPOILERS for Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2. Turn away now if you don’t want discussion of the major plot points and what they mean.
It shouldn’t be shocking to reveal that Benedict and Sophie overcome all obstacles to get together by the end of Bridgerton Season 4, because that’s what you expect from Netflix’s flagship romance. There might be some divergence from the books, but we’re here for the comfort of familiarity, and tropes doing what tropes are supposed to is good medicine for that. Not to mention, this season didn’t so much draw from Cinderella as pilfer liberally from the classic story, and everyone knows how that ends. But the more interesting parts of Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2’s ending don’t really have much to do with Benedict and Sophie… starting with that bombshell.
Bridgerton Season 4 Sets Up A Whistledown Replacement
Bridgerton Season 4 Part 2 sees Penelope – not entirely unexpectedly – retire from her Lady Whistledown papers after the removal of her anonymity causes problems. With targets of her gossip column able to seek accountability, Penelope must wrestle more with both the morality of what she writes and the fallout when a mistress accosts her for heavily hinting at which lord is cheating on his wife. It’s a sensible move, which sees Pen move on to writing novels – eventually with the permission of Queen Charlotte, who has been dialing up the pressure on Penelope to deliver more juicy gossip.
But then, just as Benedict and Sophie come together at the end of the final episode of the season – thanks to a plot led by Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi) that legitimizes Sophie in the eyes of the Ton and the Queen – a final Whistledown voiceover proclaims: “…and so we are reunited…” before the biggest shock of the show since the reveal of Penelope in the first place – this Whistledown is not Penelope. An impostor has emerged (a second one, if we’re counting Cressida Cowper’s short-lived tenure), and it’s very clear that Bridgerton intends to replace Penelope with a second Whistledown mystery for Season 5. Here’s the full voiceover, which is split into multiple parts as it plays out:
“…And so we are reunited. It is assuredly a reunion rooted in care and love, though this time with a very different author. But for now, my new identity shall remain a secret. Dear reader, we are going to have so much fun.”
Far from being a cheap trick, the new Whistledown brings back the mystery element that was lost when Penelope was revealed as Lady Whistledown. Her decision to out herself in Season 3 further damaged Whistledown’s role in the story, because of the removal of the cat-and-mouse dynamic that gilded Penelope and Colin’s story so well. It was, unfortunately, a necessary evil that came quicker than it did in the books, but this new Whistledown mystery feels like Netflix acknowledging that a mistake was made (even if it wasn’t really avoidable). However we get to this being corrected isn’t as important as what it now allows.
Who The New Whistledown Could Be In Bridgerton Season 5
Interestingly, Bridgerton has also recast Julie Andrews for the new Lady Whistledown voiceovers, with a slightly more regional accent thrown in. The credits don’t reveal who the new voiceover is, and Netflix has so far been tight-lipped on the uncredited newcomer, but the truth will out eventually. And the new accent perhaps reveals something about who the character behind the disguise is. Could this be a subtle hint that we’re listening to a servant? Or is it just artful concealment?
The highest-ranking candidates for the new Lady Whistledown would be anyone who knows the importance of the column to the Queen, given how much it affects her mood. So that would bring the spotlight onto Alice Mondrich (her new chief lady in waiting), Brimsley, for a slightly more unexpected twist, and Lady Danbury. Yes, she’s retiring from society temporarily, but that would be a great cover, wouldn’t it? There’s also outside chances that it’s Cressida again, but she proved herself badly ill-suited, or that it’s Eloise. It could also be anyone who has lost status over the course of the first four seasons who would gain from societal chaos, or someone new, but that would rather undermine the impact of the eventual reveal. In short, right now, all bets are off. And that’s how it should remain for a while.
Bridgerton Season 4’s Mid-Credits Scene Hints at Who Could Be The Next Main Character
In a surprising divergence from the past 3 seasons, Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2 has a mid-credits scene that shows Benedict and Sophie’s wedding. It’s somewhat throw-away at the surface level, and would probably have worked as a more conventional final scene, with the Whistledown reveal better suited as a stinger, but maybe that was too straightforward? Anyway, crucially, the wedding also gives us a hint of who might be stepping up as the main character in Bridgerton Season 5, and also what we can expect to see from the story.
First, Eloise mentions that she loves a wedding – before clarifying that she means as an attendee. In chronological terms, her time to shine is coming, but it feels like Bridgerton has done very little to actually seed her story. In the books, she marries Sir Phillip Crane, who briefly appeared in Season 1, but has been completely absent since. In order for them to get together, there would need to be several story steps in between. But then, Bridgerton did speed run Benedict’s development from promiscuous cad to doting husband, so it’s not impossible. And Eloise is the next book due to be adapted, even if Colin and Benedict’s stories were flipped.
Then there’s Francesca, who is set up to be the next main character thanks to John’s death. In the books, her story “When He Was Wicked” sees her falling for John’s cousin Michael, who has been gender-swapped for the Netflix adaptation. There are hints of an attraction there already, but it’s still hard to see how the Ton would accept an openly same-sex relationship when Benedict’s male lovers were presented as still wildly taboo and counter-culture. It feels like we’re about to see the most challenging romantic conflict in Bridgerton so far, and the mid-credits scene having Francesca say she will never love again because she already found her great love, is almost certainly misdirection.
And then there’s the more unlikely possibility presented: as Francesca mentions her one great love, the camera pans to Violet, freshly broken up from Lord Anderson (in a rare misstep this season), who looks almost wistful. It doesn’t feel like we’ll get a Violet season (she deserves a spinoff), but her ability to accept another love could be used to set up Francesca’s acceptance of her forbidden feelings for Michaela. That said, Benedict was on the verge of being ostracised entirely for marrying a servant, so Francesca’s story might well end with a second great tragedy.
Bridgerton Season 4’s Ending Reveals A Harsh Truth of the Ton
Benedict’s Cinderella story ends with a happy ending as he marries Sophie, but it’s interesting to look deeper into how the couple is able to navigate what appeared to be an impossible set of obstacles. After blackmailing Lady Penwood (Katy Leung) with the knowledge that she stole Sophie’s inheritance, Benedict, Violet, Lady Penwood, and Alice present Sophie not as Lord Penwood’s illegitimate daughter, but as his niece. The Queen accepts the fake story, despite clearly not believing it, because she finds it amusing, and the pair are free to be together without society’s concerns over their mismatched class status.
It’s an elegant payoff that looked impossible, because Sophie’s illegitimacy had been presented as immovable, even if it does slightly lean into silliness. And it does allow the Queen to have a rare moment of victory. But more importantly, it reveals the dark truth behind society in Bridgerton: that it’s all about appearances, and deception can be a powerful currency. Not long ago, his love of Sophie was going to be Benedict’s condemnation to a life in isolation, ostracized and unavailable to his family. But as soon as the Queen endorses the fake backstory, everything is fine. Truth has always been a weapon in Bridgerton, and if it ever came out about Sophie and the Queen’s part in things, the entire system would fail. Honor has usually been irrefutable in this show, and now, the currency has been rewritten.
Bridgerton Seems To Be Losing Another Main Character
We’ve already seen Daphne and Simon bow out of Bridgerton entirely, and Anthony and Kate are largely just cameos now. And while Penelope and Colin will be assured presences in Season 5 because of the new Whistledown storyline, Benedict and Sophie’s roles are somewhat up in the air. By necessity, Bridgerton has to move main characters on to make space for the next, so I would expect them to either step back or move quietly away entirely. If it doesn’t happen immediately, it’ll be soon.
But there’s another main character who definitely is leaving – at least temporarily: Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), whose plan to introduce Alice as the new chief lady in waiting to the Queen was done in order to allow her own retirement from society. That achieved, the final moments of the last episode see Lady Danbury closing her house in the Ton to move away (presumably to the countryside). Sadly, it feels like Andoh is leaving the role and the show, even if she’s saying it won’t be permanent in this universe, and we’ll be losing a major power player from the Ton. But, at least we know that Bridgerton tends to fill a character vacuum in an interesting way, so there may yet be a silver lining.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
