'Bridgerton' Season 4 Episodes 1-4 Recap: Who Is Sofie Baek? 

Bridgerton Season 4 focuses on the 2nd brother of the “Bridgerton” family. The rake, the charming arts guy, the “free” one. Benedict Bridgerton always believed he would be free forever because his brother Anthony would be the viscount. He would be the responsible one, whereas Benedict could be the bachelor for life. But, of course, his mother doesn’t want this for any of her children. Already, Eloise has proven to be a tough nut to crack, but having to deal with another like her is just too much, no? Benedict and Eloise, in my eyes, are like two peas in a pod. They’re the closest siblings, but they’re also the most different of the lot. They don’t want the same things as the rest of the family; they want to live adventurous lifestyles. But this all changes when Benedict suddenly dances with an unknown woman at his own mother’s masquerade ball. Will he find his mystery woman? Who is this woman, and how did she bring this change in Benedict? Let’s find out in season 4, part 1.

Spoiler Alert

A First Kiss That Leaves an Impression 

Season 4, part 1 begins with Violet’s masquerade ball, the first party of the season, for once not hosted by Danbury, because she’s tired and wants to leave London. Violet is only ever so eager to get Benedict to look at all the ladies of the ton because it’s now officially his turn. Even Colin is married now, and a father to a beautiful baby boy too. The new Lord Fetherington. Violet ends up seeing Benedict’s rakish ways when she visits him in his bachelor abode and finds him with not one, but two women. She has only one request: don’t be late for the ball, because even if he’s not the eldest, he still has a reputation to uphold, because he’s got two more unmarried sisters. 

Benedict shows up two hours late to the ball, and doesn’t want to be there at all. Until he meets a woman who isn’t eager to buzz around him like a bee courting a flower. Benedict is immediately intrigued, but more importantly, because she’s struggling to be in this room, she agrees to get away with him. In a gazebo somewhere in the quiet, they talk. He tells her she’s different from other women, and she counters his “attack” with how these women that he loathes have been trained their whole lives to be noticed for even 5 seconds by a man like him. Suddenly, he wants to know more about this woman in silver, but as the clock strikes 12, everyone has to reveal who they are under the masks, and she runs away. But not before giving Benedict a goodbye kiss just because, and also leaving a single glove behind. 

The Queen and Her Lady-in-Waiting 

Amidst chaos, the queen is now tired of looking for a diamond, so she asks her Lady Whistledown to find a suitor instead. Penelope does her best not to pick out Benedict, who happens to be the best of the crop, but the queen spots him in an instant, knowing far too well that nobody is going to be good enough or rich enough to beat this guy. Penelope is so certain that Benedict isn’t interested in marriage that she tells the queen she can bet he won’t find a partner. However, the queen is adamant; this is the fun she’s been missing. On the other hand, Lady Danbury is stressed about her very own problem. She’s eager to leave the ton and go visit her ancestral home that she hasn’t seen since she was 4 years old. If you’ve seen “Queen Charlotte,” you know this woman has been through far too much to be tied down here by the queen. But, of course, we can’t forget the queen’s fear of loneliness, and it does appear her husband might be on the brink of kicking it, which is why she denies Danbury permission to leave (ouch). 

Furious, Lady Danbury doesn’t show up at the palace for a few days, leading to Brimsley visiting her and asking her to apologize, because the queen is losing it without her. Danbury has no choice but to visit her friend, and the queen finally breaks down in her arms, saying she has nobody, and if Danbury leaves her, she’ll be all alone. “What happens when he dies?” Now, while Lady Danbury sympathizes with her queen, she also wants freedom; she’s tired herself, and she’s not getting any younger. So, she decides to find a new lady-in-waiting for her, a new friend. 

Alice Monrich has been getting close to Danbury, almost like a daughter, and this is quite adorable to see. But Danbury is testing the waters here. She needs someone who is like her—different, an outsider—to be the queen’s friend, because only then will she treat her like a human first and a queen second. Danbury never openly tells Alice that she’s going to take her into the lion’s den until she does and drops her in there with no escape. Alice is massively upset at first, but then Danbury convinces her that she’s meant to be here, in this position, a friend to the queen. 

Violet’s New Dance 

While Violet is eager for her children to get married and settle down, she herself is starting to find love again. Leaving aside the garden-in-full-bloom jokes, Violet and Anderson, Lady Danbury’s (younger?) brother, have quite the chemistry, and seem to be eager to get together. But Violet has her fears. She’s only ever been with one man her entire life. He’s been long dead, but she’s also had 8 children, and her body is different, and her life is different. But her insecurities don’t hold her back from exploring this new experience. It certainly takes her some time, but ultimately she invites Anderson over for some “tea.” These two are certainly going to have more tea in part 2, but how long will it be a secret, and how will Violet handle her children when they find out, which they obviously will. 

Who Is Sophie Baek? 

While Sophie’s story is in the mold of Cinderella’s, there’s no fairy godmother here, and she needs to figure out her own way out of this life. Sophie was an illegitimate child of Lord Penwood. Her mother died when she was very young, and her father never told her what happened to her, but he did promise to look after her for life. Sophie lived in the same house as her father, but he married a woman named Araminta, who had two daughters of her own, Rosamund and Posy Li. Araminta didn’t even bother getting to know Sophie, because she always knew she’d treat her as an outsider. When Lord Penwood died, Araminta told Sophie she wasn’t in the will, and that her father had left nothing for her. To make matters worse, she told her that she was the daughter of a maid, so she should work for the family as a maid too, because it would keep her invisible, which would be the best-case scenario for her (ouch). 

Sophie, a well-educated girl who could be the most desirable diamond in the ton, ended up living as a maid until, one day, she got to go to a masquerade ball. The only reason Sophie gets to go is that Rosamund lost her mask and then found it at the last minute, claiming Sophie was trying to sabotage her by leaving it under her bed. Posy seems to be the only nice one in the family. The other house help at the Penwood house helps Sophie by getting her dressed and telling her to return by midnight, and we know what follows. 

Later, when Benedict spends days looking for his mystery woman, Araminta gets suspicious. But it occurs to her that it was Sophie when he mentions a silver dress. Sophie had crashed into Araminta while trying to leave the ball, but additionally, she’d “marked” her shoes too, which made her realize Sophie had been the one at the ball. When it comes up, Sophie wonders why Araminta didn’t abandon her when her father died. She never should’ve been a maid; she should’ve been free to leave. So now Araminta tells her that’s what she’ll do. She fires her but, more importantly, promises she won’t find any work in the ton again before sending her away. 

My Cottage, or Yours? 

Sophie ends up finding work at a random household, and Philip, the lord there, is a disrespectful man who tries to harass Hazel, one of her fellow maids. Benedict happens to be at a party hosted by Philip and gets into a tussle with him after seeing him mistreat the maids. Sophie gets up and starts to walk out to the city, which is way too far to walk. Plus, it’s dark and scary out there, so Benedict promises to take her. However, on the way, during their bickering, it begins to pour, and luckily for them, Benedict has a cottage nearby. When they get there, the caretaker couple who live there aren’t around, so Sophie climbs in through a window and opens the door. 

He gives her a guest bedroom, because she’s his guest, but in the middle of the night, she hears loud screams. The bruise on Benedict’s side isn’t just a bruise; it’s a full-on wound, and she takes care of him. When the Crabtrees return, they’re surprised to see an unchaperoned lady in Benedict’s room, but he tells them she saved his life. Suddenly, they’re in the cottage a whole week, but that’s because Benedict has to heal, and Sophie needs to find work. She doesn’t know what to do with herself; she’s never had free time to herself, considering she literally did everything in the Penwood household as a maid. So, she has no choice but to give herself up to leisure. Benedict falls in love with her the second he lays eyes on her, not knowing she’s literally his mystery woman. 

Somehow, she finds herself near the lake at the same time he’s swimming there (skinny dipping at that!) and ends up getting caught. Finally, their back and forth bickering leads to them kissing before they both realize this is wrong; she’s a maid, and he’s a lord. He should’ve never done that. But the chemistry is undeniable, and Benedict is clearly head over heels, while Sophie is, of course, the person who thinks logically. They decide never to talk about it again and forget it; it was a mistake. 

Your House, My Job 

Sophie finds herself in the toughest spot when Benedict isn’t able to get her work anywhere else, so he asks to have her work at the Bridgerton house. She immediately tries to turn tail and run, but the truth is, Araminta’s rumors have worked, so she has no choice but to stay here. Benedict convinces his mother to keep her, because she saved his life, and she does. Immediately, Hyacinth and Eloise love Sophie, because not only is she a great maid, but she’s also intellectually aligned with them. She’s like the friend Eloise was missing all this time, thanks to Pen being married now. But while Benedict had promised not to be around so she could be comfortable, he’s desperate to see her all the time and keeps showing up. More importantly, Alice thinks she’s found his mystery woman, but Hollis is not her. While they’re having tea, Benedict gets so flustered by Sophie’s serving that he ends up cussing in front of his “potential” bride and ruining it all. That’s when Sophie tells him to keep his promise and not make things worse for her, because this is the kind of household she’s only ever dreamt of working with. This is the kind of family she wanted. 

Later, Violet asks Sophie about her life and her family, because she can sense the tension between her and Benedict, but Sophie’s only too good at keeping secrets and doesn’t reveal anything except that both her parents are dead. 

Pinnacles and Babies 

On the other hand, Francesca is struggling a little bit in the family life, because she can’t figure out why she and John haven’t had a child yet. John tells her that they say if a woman reaches her “pinnacle,” there’s a higher chance of her getting pregnant. Francesca has no idea what this is and goes to her mother as well as Penelope for help. Penelope finally gives her a real answer, but Francesca still can’t feel it. But, at least she invites her family over for dinner, hosting them for the first time in her London house because Violet needed alone time (huehue). Now, it also seems Eloise is becoming quite a mess, putting herself on the shelf but also not showing interest in anybody’s life, including Hyacinth, who finally tells her she’s being selfish (ouch). I don’t know about you, but I’m not loving this narrative for her. It can’t be the reason she chooses to put herself “on the market” again. But, in the end, Michaela, John’s cousin, shows up, uninvited, and Francesca is more flustered than ever. Wonder what this means. 

Be My Mistress 

At the end of Season 4, Part 1, Benedict and Sophie end up in the servant quarters alone, because he’s desperate to see her, and she left her wallet behind before going to the tavern with the other maids. They crash into each other before realizing how much they want each other, finally getting intimate right there. And while Benedict begins with the most beautiful speech about how he’s drawn to Sophie, he ends it by asking her to be his mistress, because he’s so stupid he thinks that’ll make her happy. For good reason, Sophie walks away, leaving him bewildered and us yearning for what’s going to come next. 

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