Any thoughts on Bridgerton Season 4?

Funnily enough I'm 6/8 episodes in and quite unimpressed. I think the writing is better this season than last, but the major romance having a significant class divide feels like too much of a power imbalance for my liking.

In the same vein, the mid-season gap inspired me to finally watch Queen Charlotte, which was significantly better than any season of Bridgerton, IMO. Romance still afoot, of course, but George's mental illness was handled much better than I ever expected. And Lady Danforth's plotline was honestly quite compelling. While it wrapped up a little too nicely, it felt much more "earned" than Bridgerton seasons, which always conclude neatly no matter the obstacle.

Starting just with the preface that I have read the books so that will color my opinions.

I liked this season more than the last one, but it didn't quite hit all the marks that I was hoping for. The plot was very sped up due to having to fit into a season and not mess up the other siblings too much, which I think hurt it a bit. The costuming was not my favorite, and the dress/hairstyle they put Sophie in for the Queen's ball was very much a miss for me.

For Francesca, I was super concerned during the first four episodes how her story was being handled. I am not thrilled with some of the choices they made in how the storyline was altered from the books. However I do think that the performance from her actress in the second half was incredibly touching. It really carried that half for me.

For the Benedict/Sophie story, it was definitely a little bit updated for the times to make the power imbalance slightly less gross, Benedict definitely comes across better with the changes. The split between the episodes I think was a small disservice because we don't get a ton of Sophie's background until the second half and it was such an important part of her mindset towards the situation in the first half. I also wish we had more time at the cottage and slow burning the relationship, but with only 8 episodes and needing to devote time to the setup of Francesca plus the side plots with the Queen/Danbury and Violet I get it.

Overall though looking at the last 3 seasons, I feel like it becomes apparent where you have the showrunners needing trying to straddle how to keep 8 books that are almost fully standalone as a continuous show. The parts where they stay true can be ok or not ok based on actor chemistry/how out of date the plot really was/how many time gaps get skipped or rushed through, and often the side plots to me either come across as better than the original story (the Queen, Lady Danbury) or super pointless (Violet new love interest, the Mondrich family).

I will watch the next season when it comes out, but overall I have enjoyed the books better than the show and enjoyed Queen Charlotte more than Bridgerton.

I just finished the other day and Have Thoughts. Spoilers below.

• I also think Sophie and Benedict felt rushed. In one episode, she went from "No, I explicitly will not be your mistress because it's just a bad deal for women," then he said "But I love you" and she immediately changed to "okay, we can boink then".
• The last episode felt especially rushed. She starts in prison and ends a lady. Everything is wrapped up in one conversation with the Dowager Penwood. Everyone just agrees that Sophie is a lady with the thinnest cover story every so therefore everything is fine now?? I guess getting the Queen playing along on your side is powerful, but people would really know, wouldn't they? (Oh, and now she can dance, too?)
• I really liked Sophie's actress's voice and diction. It just sounded nice but also lent credence to the "by your manner of speaking you come across like a nob" comments.
• I also really liked Francesca's actress's handling of her storyline. Playing a character who is having Big Feels but doing their best to cover them up is a tough line and could easily sway too hard one way or the other or be inconsistent. But she did it very well, and the scenes where she fully opened to her self-flagellation and grief were very strong.
• End of last episode - are Francesca and Michaela supposed to be coming across as "historians will say they're just good friends" and that's why she fled? Will be interesting to see where that goes next season.
• I liked Violet's relationship with Danbury's brother and am so sad she turned it down to "find herself". I don't see that really making sense for a women in her position - it's a very modern concept. But maybe it's part of the modernized Regency period of Bridgerton-world and I should just chill and accept it.
• I loved the return of Cressida and her redemption as being a less awful person (but still wonderfully awful taste). I love hating Cressida's dresses so much.

I see what you mean about the variety, but I thought some of the storylines could have been collapsed or cut to let the main ones develop more.

Have you read the books?