Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2

Now that part 2 of Bridgerton is out, we discuss the entire season, as well as how the show portrays its first East Asian lead character, Sophie Baek. Kat Moon, an entertainment correspondent at TV Guide and long-time Bridgerton fan, joins us to share her thoughts on the season and what she learned after interviewing actor Yerin Ha and showrunner Jess Brownell. 

If you want to read some of Kat's great reporting, here's a link of her feature for Time Magazine, "How Yerin Ha Became the Belle of Bridgerton's Ball" and you can follow her on Instagram and X. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Period. I'm host Allison Thow at Day Castillo, and in each episode, we'll see how an adaptation holds up against the original work. What was preserved, what was changed, and what those choices reveal about the time then and the time now. In our February episode, we talked about Bridgerton season four, part one, from a historical lens with history professor Julie Taddiel. Now that the rest of the episodes are out, we're going to talk about the season as a whole, as well as how the show portrays its first East Asian lead in Sophie Beck. Joining me is Kat Moon, an entertainment correspondent at TV Guide. Kat has covered Bridgerton for multiple seasons and interviewed many members of the cast as well as Jess Brownell, the showrunner. Welcome to period Kat.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Hi, thanks so much for having me. I'm so excited to talk about all things Bridgerton.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

So before we start, we should tell our gentle listeners that our discussion is likely to have spoilers for this season. So consider yourselves warned. So Kat, I want to ask you about when you first came upon Bridgerton and what you thought about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Yeah, so I think I also discovered Bridgerton season one during the pandemic. Like many people, I instantly fell in love with the show, could not stop talking about it with friends. And at that time, I was not a full-time entertainment writer yet. So I think I really enjoyed it purely as a fan. And then it's not until season two that I started covering the show. So enjoying it just as much, but definitely uh when I first came across it, it was a different experience.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yeah, season one's probably my favorite season. But this season had a lot to offer, uh, and a lot happened in this second half. So, what did you think about this season overall, especially part two?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I mean, I'm still trying to, you know, stay open-minded about the two-part release, but considering that the first half was a little slower for me, uh, I really enjoyed part two. And I think episode seven, so much happened in that episode alone, which I'm happy to dive in, about whether it's uh with the main characters, but also about Violet Bridgerton, who I think is the MVP of the season, and then also a lot with Francesca. Um, I think that's the episode that they were grieving John. So I think that episode particularly just really moved me in so many ways.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Yeah, so much to unpack there, and we'll try and get to as much as we can in this episode. But you mentioned briefly the two-part approach. Why do you think that happened this time? And did you like it? Was it necessary?

SPEAKER_02 2:40

I mean, I don't think it's the first time Netflix has done, you know, the two-part approach for uh Bridgerton or I think a lot of their most popular releases. I do think it's a uh strategy to, you know, maintain subscribers, which definitely makes sense. Um, but as a viewer who prefers to binge everything at once, uh it definitely is a little difficult.

unknown 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

You also mentioned, and I agree with you, part one was a little slow. I was waiting with bated breath for part two because I was like, what's actually gonna happen? And then, you know, some good things happened, but it continued to be a little slow and also a little depressing until the very end. Um, what did you think of some of those big moments that we saw?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

I think for part one, definitely the masquerade ball was my favorite episode, and I think also because of how much uh Benedict and Sophie was in that first episode, and I loved their first meeting and how witty Sophie was. Um, and I just felt like to me, episodes two to four did not have as many scenes of the two of them together. And I know now, you know, the cast is so large and they're trying to tell so many storylines. Um, but I just found myself thinking, I wish I can get more of anything, Sophie. And then uh when the big uh will you be my mistress moment happened, of course, that was very enraging.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Um, but yeah, I think I was the question every girl dreams to be asked, will you be my mistress? What? I know, I know.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Yeah, and then we had to wait for a month to find out her answer, I guess. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Yeah, what part of him she smacked first.

unknown 4:28

I know.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

So Aaron Ha is the actress who plays Sophie Beck. Um, she's the first East Asian lead in Bridgerton. Uh in the book, she's originally Sophie Beckett. Um, when did you find out about the casting of Yaren Ha and what was your reaction?

SPEAKER_02 4:46

So, part of my work at TV Guide, uh, we do, you know, everything to know about a lot of continuing series, which includes Bridgerton. So I think with any casting announcements, as soon as it's uh shared from one of the trade publications, uh, we do update our own everything to know. So I think uh when the day that Netflix made the announcement, and I think whether it was the same day or a little later when they said uh they would change her last name from Bequette to Beck, that was also uh when I you know wrote up the news and um you know immediately followed her on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

There's definitely that Cinderella-esque kind of story, and once we dive in a little bit more to her background, we see that she's a servant with a stepfamily, um, kind of cast down, but she's by no means a submissive woman. She pushes the boundary, she speaks up, she protects herself and others. Um, seems like a very deliberate choice by the show. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

It's interesting that you say that she is not submissive because in my interview with Jess Brunell for a time, she was saying how after they knew they were going to have an East Asian lead, uh, the Bridger Tim team worked with Cape, a nonprofit, to make sure that the portrayal uh was authentic for the character. And I think one thing she talked about was Cape saying that they wanted to hopefully avoid the stereotype of overly submissive and also overly sexualized women, which often comes up in stereotypes for East Asian women in Hollywood. So I thought that was really interesting and definitely with Sophie did not view her as submissive at all.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Was it refreshing for you to see an Asian woman cast in this role?

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Yeah, I do think a part of truly, you know, the most positive thing about the diverse um casting is that people are imagining themselves um in these characters' positions and really like envisioning a love story for themselves. And I think even the comment I saw after part two released um for the uh the ball that I think Hyacinth was attending and um Gregory, you know, um noticing the girl who is black and immediately taking an interest. Um, I just remember, yeah, seeing a comment um from someone who said, Oh my gosh, like that scene meant so much to me to see. And I think for me, when I saw uh Sophie in the first episode, um, even though she was wearing a large mask, like just seeing her walk down the stairs and you know, knowing that she was someone who looked similar to me, uh, and be in the eyes of Benedict, like the most beautiful person in that room. I think by the end of episode one, I also had some tears in my eyes because yeah, I think, you know, of course, everyone responds to representation in media differently, but I think as a dreamer myself, I just do think those moments are really powerful. Absolutely. I was thinking about it a lot because in the last few years we've definitely seen, I think, the most progress in recent years for shows and films censoring Asian characters, you know, whether that's uh everything everywhere all at once or um things produced in Asia with Parasite and then Shogun doing very well here too.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

So uh while ladies Oscar win for the K-pop song, first one ever.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Yes, oh my gosh, so exciting! Yes, um, we came off Demon Hunters. Let's go. Yes, but I think there have been fewer shows and movies casting Asian characters as their romantic lead. So for this one, I do think that was very refreshing. And I think for uh Yaren Ha too, that was, you know, a new kind of role to step into because um in our interview with Time, she talked about how she has not seen many Asian romantic leads growing up.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, you spoke with Yaren Ha for a profile you wrote while freelancing for Time magazine. Can you give us a little bit of a rundown on Ha?

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Yeah, definitely. So I think this was her first major role. Um she's been cast in a few Hollywood productions, Halo and Doom Prophecy being the main ones, but I think this one is, you know, truly for a show on a um scale of another level in a lot of ways. She has spent time in both Sydney and also Korea training to be an actor. Talking to her was really interesting, hearing about her uh thought process for how she envisioned a future with acting and wasn't sure if she would expand or grow her career uh in the West or in Australia or in Korea. And I think she went to high school in Korea because her grandparents are actors uh in Korea. That's where she saw more potential possibly. And um, I think it was when she saw more roles in Hollywood uh for Asian actors that were not just the typical um side characters that she began like envisioning a path here and decided to go to college in Australia. And yeah, so it was definitely really interesting how you know as she watched representation grow in the states, um, she talked about how that informed her decision for where she would uh pursue her next steps.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

You also talk about in the article that there's still a large lack of female Asian romantic leads. What do you think it was like for her to step into uh a romance role where there's been such a lack of representation of Asian women previously?

SPEAKER_02 10:39

So I think, you know, even though uh there definitely have been more roles for Asian actors in the last few years, um, again, not very many of them are in the romance genre, let alone a lead. So I think uh when she first applied, she thought it was for a supporting character in Bridgerton, and then, you know, found out that it was for the lead. And I remember her talking about how just like how Benedict was really motivating Sophie, her character, to dream bigger, because I think in that relationship, Sophie is the more grounded practical one. Uh, she was saying how you know this role is also making her dream bigger.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

You know, you start your article with a really interesting anecdote. Tell us more about that.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

So something I was really curious about was whether Yerenha has talked to Simone Ashley, who plays Kate Sharma in season two of Bridgerton and is also the first Asian woman lead in the series. And something Yeren said was that, you know, I think she felt introverted and was not sure about reaching out. But then actually Simone Ashley uh was the one to message her first on Instagram to say, I'm here if you need anything. So I thought that was a really sweet exchange between them.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

That is really nice. And Kate even comes back in this season a little bit, so that's nice.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah, I wish they got to, you know, actually converse in that scene, but it's okay. At least they were in the same room, so I was really excited.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Maybe next season. Getting back to Sophie, the character, um, she is Korean in the show. She's raised by her Chinese stepmother, Araminta Gunn, uh Harry Potter's Cho Chang for anyone who's a fan. Uh, we see her father dying on early in life, and we've got a very Cinderella stepmother kind of situation. Um, but Sophie's ethnicity isn't ever like explicitly discussed. So can you talk about how we know she is Korean in the show and how that's represented?

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Yeah, I think definitely the last name change was a major thing. Uh, I also thought it was interesting when I asked Jess Spronell, the showrunner, about this. Um, she talked about how there was a big difference for how they approached Sophie's identity and how they approached um Kate Sharma's identity from season two, and how, you know, for season two uh with Kate and her sister, they had more Indian culture um added to the show. And for example, the holiday ceremony they did for Adwina, uh, that was something that was, you know, um really embracing their culture. Whereas for Sophie, what Jess told me was uh quote, we know her parents and probably her grandparents and herself grew up in England. We found small ways to represent her Korean heritage, but I think this character in many ways would identify as British. So I do think I remember a moment when uh young Sophie calls her dad by uh the Korean term for dad. Uh, but besides that, I don't think there were many explicit um things pointing to her Korean identity. And that was also something Yaron talked about was um how she appreciated that with the romance between Sophie and Benedict, um, you know, Benedict saw her for who she was inside, and uh something that Yaren said was, you know, Benedict was not saying I like you because you're Korean.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah, it does feel like this season gave us a bit more of a history to this Shonda Rhimes world that's a little bit uh colorblind in some ways, but also explicitly names things in other ways. We have Lady Danbury talking about her history and even wanting to leave the Queen's side so she can go visit her homeland. And we have the Sharmas who are that first generation that come over, but then Sophie, as you mentioned, her family has been in England for generations, and so it feels like it gives a little bit more of a of a history uh there than we've seen in other seasons.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Yeah, I totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

One thing though, I I wanna I want to jump on what you said about uh Benedict seeing Sophie for who she is on the inside. And I totally agree. But I I have to ask this question. I think everyone wonders this in Cinderella movies when we've been growing up watching them is Did you really not know who that was, Benedict? Like, come on. Like everyone else has figured it out for like seven episodes. But I mean, come on, it's just a mask. Granted, it was a bigger mask, so like I I get it. All I could think of was Cinderella story with Hilary Duff, where she's also wearing a white dress and a white mask. And I'm like, it's literally, it's like the Zoro mask. Like, come on, guys. It's like Clark kept putting on his glasses. It's like, I guess you have to suspend the disbelief for the romance of it all. But I mean, was it believable for you that he really didn't want to be? Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

You're reminding me of I think Hannah Montana also had a moment where she was revealing her identity and then you know basically turns around and then switches her hair, and then it's like I'm Hannah Montana. I forgot where she did that, but I'm pretty sure she had a moment.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Like every episode. Yeah, I mean, I guess I guess the answer here is that um most men they can't see behind masks.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

I know, but it was I will say I enjoyed the memes in between the you know month-long period of that's like making fun of Benedict, not being able to recognize. Um, or like, yeah, people were definitely wow, uh, I guess he could not tell that she was Asian.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Yeah, it's it's interesting. I think, yeah, the suspending, suspending of disbelief. We'll just leave that there. Um, but I want to talk about too in your interview with Yerenha, you talked about how she drew parallels between herself and Sophie. And I I really want to pick up on that. That was really interesting to me. What did she have to say on that? What were those similarities?

SPEAKER_02 16:56

I think something that stood out to me with Yaron is when she talked about how Sophie isn't afraid to ask for what she wants and voice her needs, which you know becomes really apparent when she talks to Benedict and gives him a response about the whole mischief situation. And I think me and Erin talked about how uh oftentimes I think especially growing up in Asian culture, um, it's possible to be told uh to be just grateful to be in the room and to not ask for more. And I love that she was talking about, okay, now that uh I'm in the room, it's not just thank you, I'm in the room. It's yes, I'm in the room, and what's next? And what can I um how can I use a space and also speak up for myself? And I just really love that uh frame of thinking. And I feel like, yeah, it's something that was very clear in Sophia as well, you know, like regardless of the social position, she was not going to compromise.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

You mentioned earlier Violet um and how she's the MVP of the season. I mean, I certainly I think many people applauded Violet for her support, protection, even fighting for and ultimately blackmailing on behalf of Sophie. Tell me a little bit more about um Sophie and Violet's relationship this season.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Before going into Sophie and Violet's relationship, just have to say I love that whole arc for Violet uh in part one and when she said on the tear having, oh my gosh, obsessed. Um, so happy that that is.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

The sexual awakening of Violet, a mother of like 8,000 Bridgerton children. Good for her.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

I know, love that so much. Um, yes. And then for part two, I think, yeah, definitely her relationship with Sophie. I think I I don't know. I think maybe because I watched so many Cinderella stories where the mother is not the supporting kind. Um, I don't know if I expected Violet to be, you know, that um loving and accepting and gentle towards her. And I think in the yeah, in the interactions that they had, um, it was just really clear that Violet cared for her so much. And I think um regarding Cinderella stories, it's something that Yaren Hall also talked about in the interviews and how um oftentimes when uh especially in the Korean dramas that she watched growing up um that had similar themes, it's usually the overbearing mom, mother-in-law figure who is not approving of the relationship. So first I really just appreciate appreciated the change. And I think also uh there was one moment in episode seven when the mom talked to Benedict and said, paraphrasing here by whoever what whatever you decide, I will love you, um, even though I know you have commitment issues or something along those lines. Um, so I just really loved that whole exchange between Benedict and Violet too.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Well, and the problem is not that Sophie is Asian in this case, it's that she is uh born out of wedlock and a maid. It's they it's a class thing, which I thought was interesting. And we do see other representation of Asian people in this season, especially. We mentioned briefly the stepmother. Um what did you think of her representation of the the typical helicopter mom or the sometimes called tiger mom persona?

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Yeah, yeah. I thought it was really interesting when um the showrunner just said that was another stereotype they were trying to avoid, I believe, with the tiger mom. And you know, I think it's so hard in this case to in my mind, I'm just trying to think about how do you find the line between um Tiger Mom and the evil step mom that she is in the show. And uh I don't know if I needed to say this in the beginning, but I have not read the book, so I don't know how they changed her character from the book. Um, I do think Katie Lone talked about how uh some of her the softer moments were picked for her, I believe, um, to you know make her not come across so harsh, but in my mind, I thought she was still very harsh towards Sophie. Um but yeah, I thought it was often interesting to not have Sophia as the only uh Asian character and to have her stepsisters and Aramenta.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Yeah, I mean there was definitely there were definitely some moments of empathy with Aramenta, seeing, you know, sort of what she went through and also she's literally no different than any other mom in that era just trying to get her daughters married off. She just had The additional difficulty that her husband has died, and there is not really anyone to help support what she has, is what she has. But the way she goes about uh getting Sophie's money and how horrible she is to her, that's kind of where the empathy falls off. And uh she becomes that sort of evil stepmother from the Cinderella stories that we're so used to. Um, and I very much enjoyed her getting what she deserved at the end of the season. But also the sweet younger sister getting what she deserved too. That was nice.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Sweet posy. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I'm so happy that Sophie had posy. Yes. And I I think another reason why I loved episode seven was with all the emotional beats, it also ended on a very dramatic note. I think that was when Aramenta, you know, had Sophia Weston. I was, you know, I what I thought about a lot after I watched episode seven was if this was a weekly release. I know earlier I said I love binging everything at once, but I think I was also working in TV. I'm thinking sometimes about if this was, yeah, if this were a weekly release, you know, everyone would be talking about this cliphanger and all the things, all the scenes that happen in this episode. Uh and I know people can still discuss episode by episode, but yeah, everything with the episode, including our menta's tactics, just really uh struck me.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

One thing that you also talked about with Yaren Ha is that there's a template for this kind of role, K dramas. What are some tropes common in K-dramas that you saw represented in this season of Bridgerton?

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah, so I think something she mentioned was, you know, growing up and watching a lot of K-dramas with her dad. And two of the ones she mentioned were Secret Garden with Hyunbin 2010, and then another one, very iconic for all. Both of these are extremely iconic um classics for K-drama fans. It's 2009's series Boys Over Flowers, and they both kind of have this Cinderella uh story theme. And also I believe it's been a little while since I watched these, but I do believe they both had, you know, disapproving mother-in-laws who are the main one of the main antagonists. So I think um while she did say I don't think there was time for her to revisit all of these K-dramas um when filming started, you know, I think those were definitely ones that she had watched um growing up and were some of her favorites. And actually what surprised me was how differently the mothers responded in the season of Bridgerton versus in those K-dramas.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Any other K-dramas you'd recommend as a Kickstarter for Bridgerton fans?

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Oh, oh my gosh. I would definitely recommend Crash Landing on You. It's one of my all-time favorites, and it is a Starcross lover story where the main woman, she uh is paragliding, I believe, from South Korea and accidentally um ends up in North Korea and then falls in love with a North Korean soldier there. Um, you watch their love story unfold, but the two lead actors are married.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

That's so sweet.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

I'm curious, what did you see as a correspondent of fan reactions? Anything that was funny to you, stood out, or surprised you about their reactions this season?

SPEAKER_02 25:33

One scene that I thought was really funny, uh, that really went viral from part one, and I love seeing the fans' response to that was with the younger sister Posey. It was when she was talking to Benedict about um her theater experience and something about feet hands, and then she saw her, you know, her hands became feet, and the feet hands walked across the stage. And I think Benedict was like kindly, you know, nodding in response and like being the most patient listener while her mom was on the side, like freaking out. Um, and I think a lot of the responses were like so relatable. This is me and my crush, you know, me talking to my crush is exactly like this. So uh that was one bar moment that I personally love. Do you remember the scene now?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I do, I do, and it's it's interesting too because we talked about um in our Pride and Prejudice episode, we talked about a scene where um Lizzie is nice and supportive to Darcy's sister, and I just feel like that's like a kind of a trope of we know we like the people, the main characters, if they're nice to each other's siblings, even though they're like kind of weird.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

No, that's no party.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'll also add that was not um me from an entertainment correspondent perspective. That was just me being chronically online, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is everywhere, which I think I I didn't expect. Um and in my interviews for TV Guide for part two, I did ask Isabella Way, um, you know, did you expect this moment to go viral? And she was saying, you know, mental lost so much to her that people were sharing it, and her brother was sending a bunch of videos about that scene to her. So just loved it. And yeah, she also mentioned how when the cast watched uh episodes for the first time, like that scene also had a similar um response. So that was fun.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

That's so funny. You never know what it is that's gonna hit. Um I know. Well, getting back to Sophie and Benedict, and now that you've seen four seasons of Bridgerton, where do you put this love story all together in the mix? What's what's your favorite love story so far?

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Oh where do I put them in the mix? Season one, Estella's number one in my heart, so uh that romance is um at the top for me. I do think with this one, I as much as I truly love Sophie the character, I do think it's number either three or four for me. Um but I think the primary reason is I just don't feel like I saw enough of them, honestly. And I think as a result of the growing cast, and of course, you know, what they have to set up for Francesca season, um, I just don't personally feel like I spent um as much time as I wanted to with Sophie and Benedict. So uh yeah, whereas I feel like episode one immediately got me hooked into their relationship. Um, there were some middle episodes where in total I didn't feel like there were, I was just truly hoping for many more scenes um between them than I got. So uh as a result, I feel like the ranking is a little lower compared to um, I guess the first two season. I don't know why Bally said my memory. I felt like uh the scenes with the leads made up significant chunks of every episode. And um now there are many interesting storylines, but also many storylines.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Yeah, I would agree with that. It is getting a little, a little confusing. All the names, all the people. I know. So I actually love Benedict, he's one of my two favorite characters, the other one being Eloise. So I I was I agree I wanted more on camera, but I feel like the whole Cinderella storyline is hard to parse out over eight whole episodes. There's just not enough that you can do. So I understand that they had to have a lot else going on between, but it was it was not my favorite season. I was a little bored. And then also, you know, you mentioned Francesca. Last season we waited the whole season to see who she ended up with. And now he's dead. Spoiler alert, again, he's dead, he just died. It was really sad.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Wait, did you see it? Okay, you you did not know what spoiler is?

SPEAKER_00 30:00

No, I have not read the series because I wanted to enjoy the the show as is, and then I was like, man, I really wish I were better prepared for this moment. Uh so I I am excited that Francesca has another season coming out. Tell us a little bit about that. It was recently announced season five.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yeah. Oh my gosh, wait, that must have been shocking. I guess because I'm in Reddit, like even though I have not read the books, um, I knew it was coming, but I'm just imagining.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Like I think I was more shocked than Francesca, who happened upon her dead husband.

unknown 30:38

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Oh my gosh. Wow, yeah. I think I mean just a quick response to what you said. I do think I I love a Cinderella story too, so that definitely gives the season more points. And I do think um, overall, I know I said I only watch it for the romance, but I think this is definitely the season that made me cry the most with episode seven and the whole family grieving um John's death. And uh, I mean, speaking of Francesca, I think I was so moved by Hannah Dodd's performance, um, especially in the one scene where her character tells her mom that they're not the same. And you know, I think uh usually she's this very composed character. So to see her like explode with emotions and release all of that, uh wow. Even as I talk about it, I'm goosebumps. So I think Hannah Dodd Chewy did such a wonderful job with that, and I can't wait to see her story with um with Michaela. And uh I know that I think some fans were expecting Eloise's season to be next and then to go to Francesca, you know, after let's say she's um had a longer grieving period. Um, but also first we don't know what the time jumps are, and I do think, you know, the season definitely gave us a lot of um space to be emotionally invested in the three of them.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Yeah, I did like that we saw more of that relationship uh before, you know, the rando quick death. Um rando quick death.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Did you not get a sense of his his health? Like I actually don't know.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

He just seemed like a busy dude. He was busy and stressed at work. I mean, who is it these days? We can we all need to take care of ourselves so we don't turn into John. Um, but I am excited to see what the next season brings. Um anything else you want to add?

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Yeah, I think I'll actually add one thing that uh I did ask the showrunner about um with regards to why did you end season four um on a note of separation for Francesca and Michaela, and also what are the characters you know thinking there? Because I was like, okay, why exactly did Michaela leave? Um and she was saying that uh at least for Fran from that in that moment, it was um how she sees their relationship. It's platonic for her. And then um, she did say that for Michaela it's meant to be a mystery because my follow-up question would have been, okay, why didn't Michaela leave? And I think the answer was it was supposed to be read as a mystery, and maybe we'll find out more. I think we will find out more um in the next season. But yeah, but it was definitely helpful to know.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Find out more in season five.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

I know, I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

But I will say, I I'm still waiting on Eloise, she's my favorite. I want to know what's happening with her. We did get a little spoiler alert from the books with who she ends up with in part one of this episode, but um I feel like she's gonna be spinstery spinster by the time we get her season.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Oh my gosh. I mean, I know I said, Oh, there are so many storylines, but I would not complain at all about more Eloise and any of the seasons because I love her.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

Well, thank you again so much, Kat, for your insight on all things Bridgerton.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

Thank you so much for having me, and I can't wait for the next season. Also, how you'll respond to season five.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

And that'll put the period on this episode of period. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review. If you have any requests or questions, send us an email at period.thelit podcast at gmail.com. I'm your host, Allison, and our producer and editor is Maya Linne Bura. This podcast was made for listeners like thou.