The first part of Bridgerton season four ended on a massive cliffhanger as Benedict asked Sophie to be his mistress, and the real reason she didn’t accept his offer is so sad.
After falling deeper and deeper for the maid throughout the series, the Bridgerton brother made the shocking offer on the staircase, and Sophie ran off without giving him an answer.
She never explicitly refused his offer, but her quick exit and the disgusted look on her face said everything. Sophie was outraged by his gesture, and it wasn’t just because she didn’t want to be his mistress.
Speaking to Netflix’s Tudum, showrunner Jess Brownell explained that her reaction relates to her own backstory. Sophie’s mother was a mistress, and her whole life has been full of shame because she was born out of wedlock.
Credit: Netflix
“For Sophie, the idea of being a mistress is the worst possible thing she could be asked,” Brownell said. “Sophie really doesn’t want to ever put a child in the situation she was in. Despite societal rules, there is a part of Sophie that’s hoping that Benedict could see beyond [the Ton] and that what they have is so special it could overcome the obstacles of class.”
Sophie’s father was a lord and her mother was a maid who became his mistress, and she’s felt shame for her entire life because of it, so she’d never want to follow in the same footsteps.
The actress who plays Sophie, Yerin Ha, added: “There’s a certain point where I think she realises she wears [her mother’s necklace] not to kind of remember her by but to remember her mistakes and to be like, ‘I will never become this woman.’ She doesn’t want that for anybody.”
Luke Thompson, who plays Benedict, said the Bridgerton brother “just wants to have his cake and eat it”. Deep down, he “doesn’t like to go anywhere too serious or too committed”.
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Featured image credit: Netflix
