‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 finally wants to talk about class

After three seasons of waltzing around it, Bridgerton has finally taken a lesson from Downton Abbey and properly addressed the c-word: class. But it’s complicated.

Though Shonda Rhimes’ Netflix series has long luxuriated in the ballroom gowns, glimmering tea sets, and manicured lawns of the nobility, it has avoided any direct confrontation with the complicated social structure of Regency society, instead living in a fantasy for three seasons. The show’s multiracial casting has raised conversations about historical context, but class politics hasn’t played a major part in the narrative, only being glimpsed fleetingly through characters like Lady Whistledown’s printing press staff and the Featherington’s fiercely loyal housekeeper, Mrs. Varley (Lorraine Ashbourne). The bourgeoisie have had their moments — the Mondriches’ (Martins Imhangbe and Emma Naomi) social standing rose in Season 3 — but the working class has never starred in their own storyline.

So Season 4 comes as a refreshing surprise, as Bridgerton actually gives airtime (and names) to the folks who keep the Ton and the houses of nobility running. Namely, the sublime Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), a Cinderella-channelling maid in disguise who meet-cutes Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) at his family’s own fancy masquerade ball. She knows who he is. He doesn’t have the foggiest.

“Having one half of a Bridgerton couple be a servant immediately injects the show with new energy,” Mashable’s Belen Edwards writes in her review. “The Downton Abbey-esque move offers up a much-needed new perspective on the Ton, one where we see the work that goes into maintaining its lush fantasy. It also prepares the audience to see the world through Sophie’s eyes.”

Though it wasn’t perfect in its representation of class divide, Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey became synonymous with its social commentary on the overlap between the aristocracy and their servants under the same roof, the “upstairs” and the “downstairs.” Like Bridgerton, Downton somewhat unrealistically presents members of the English nobility as benevolent pals of their servants, while the social line between them remains. The storylines involving the upper classes are undeniably prioritised in both series, with everyone else constantly dreaming of moving up, of “bettering” themselves. As Lady Whistledown writes in Season 4, episode 1 of Bridgerton, “This author knows best that a small amount of make-believe often has the power to remake reality to lift us up from the drudgery of a humdrum existence.” Girl, steady on.

This season, our lovers are from two households, both alike in dignity, but they’re sleeping on different floors — one upstairs, one downstairs. Through Sophie’s socially complicated backstory and Benedict’s flippant privilege, the show asks interesting questions about class, inheritance, and Regency society. And it’s not just because Benedict cannot marry someone from a lower social class; we’ve seen this love story before in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (though heroine Elizabeth Bennet hails from the country gentry, not the working class). Bridgerton leans more into the practical implications of a class divide between protagonists. Sophie needs stable employment to survive, period — Season 3 also examined the sexist links between romance and “financial security” for women. When Benedict saves Sophie from an abusive employer, she’s frustrated knowing she has little chance of finding another job. Yes, Bridgerton is a fantasy, but it makes contextual sense for this woman to fear losing her role, despite the open threat within her workplace. Benedict jumps into saviour mode, employing Sophie in his own home while foolishly pretending the unequal power dynamic won’t impact their crushing on each other. He’s wrong.

Wait, this isn’t a still from “Downton Abbey”?
Credit: Liam Daniel / Netflix

With this Cinderella story afoot, it’s prudent for showrunner Jess Brownell to take a leaf from Downton and spend actual time “downstairs.” (Even Jane Austen herself made room to acknowledge the inability of the rich to function without servants.) So, we meet the Bridgerton House staff, including housekeeper, lady’s maid, and event manager Mrs. Wilson (Geraldine Alexander). From director of photography Jeffrey Jur and editor David Greenspan, we’re given shots of the servants fluffing pillows, dusting pianos, folding sheets. We follow Mrs. Wilson into the kitchen, pantry, and scullery where napkins are being pressed, pheasants plucked, dough rolled, and staff reprimanded for leaving bootprints in the hall. We observe who delivers the desserts and dance cards for the Bridgertons’ masquerade ball. “Thrilling for them, chaos for us,” Footman John (Oli Higginson) remarks.

Just like the famous bell board of Downton, we see just how many rooms the staff in Bridgerton must manage, with various shots of the bells connected to Lady Violet’s (Ruth Gemmell) room, the dressing room, and the children’s bedrooms. We later see the same bell service setup in the servants’ quarters of Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung)’s home, Penwood House. In these quarters, we meet servants like Celia (Sophie Lamont) of Bridgerton House, and Sophie’s fellow servants Alfie (David Moorst), Irma (Fiona Marr), and Hazel (Gracie McGonigal), who get their own scenes largely making fun of their employers — once, Mrs. Wilson remarks that the Bridgertons having children means more work for the servants: “They’re sweet as long as you are not the one who has to look after them and mind their cries.”

Oli Higginson, Sophie Lamont, and Geraldine Alexander in “Bridgerton.”
Credit: Liam Daniel / Netflix

Crucially, servants see behind the curtain in pristine Regency households (they’re the ones drawing them, after all). The value of keeping up appearances can easily make way for gossip between household staff — and as Lady Whistledown can attest, information is power, especially in the marriage mart. Mrs. Varley would do anything for the Featheringtons to shield them from public ruin, and has. In Season 4, we see Bridgerton staffers, including valet Hatch (Esh Alladi), covering for Benedict’s rakish behaviour on more than one occasion. Mrs. Wilson is Lady Violet’s closest confidante, becoming the ultimate wingwoman. In fact, Bridgerton champions the value of servants so hard this season it muscles in a storyline referred to by Lady Whistledown as “the Maid War,” in which servants are in such short supply that households are fighting over them.

Make no mistake, Bridgerton Season 4 still holds the aristocracy as its core, covetable class, just as Downton did. In fact, Lady Araminta tells Sophie that impersonating nobility is a “crime.” However, it’s high time the show gives its working class characters dialogue and importance to the series narrative. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.

Bridgerton Season 4, Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 premieres Feb. 26.