Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed” Spoilers Ahead
“Time Transfixed” is an excellent title because this Bridgerton episode kept me engrossed in the story following the masquerade ball. It’s the reality check after a romantic night of unbridled joy and wonder. The episode also provides the necessary backstory to Sophie, her upbringing, and the choices she makes now. Not only that, the Penwood family dynamics are established and understood not by mere shallow characterizations, but with nuance.
On a technical level, Season 4 continues to establish itself apart from previous seasons. It has its own visual identity, with autumn colors starting to shift into the series’ color story. Plus, the unique editing style highlights Benedict’s memories and his consuming desire to keep the Lady in Silver’s memory alive in his head.
Queen Charlotte Is Afraid She’ll Be Left Behind
Before we jump back into the romance of the series, let’s pick up where I left off in my review of “The Waltz.” Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury have reached an impasse in their friendship. Lady Danbury wishes to leave London at the end of the season, while Queen Charlotte won’t let her. The queen willingly dismisses Lady Baird after discovering her pregnancy, but won’t give her trusted confidante the same. Agatha leaves her chess game with Charlotte unfinished, leaving the monarch to grow detached from any other type of entertainment.
When Lady Danbury does eventually come back to apologize, after a desperate plea from Brimsley, we see how fearful the queen has become. Her husband doesn’t have much time left. The queen’s world is growing smaller, and her best friend is trying to leave. Agatha has been with Charlotte since the beginning. She’s her only friend left. Charlotte is terrified to face a world without her husband and do it alone. This is one of the rare glimpses of vulnerability from the queen as she apologizes and cries in Danbury’s embrace. Their disagreement isn’t fully resolved, but their friendship proves to be as stabilizing and meaningful as ever. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Adjoa Andoh and Golda Rosheuvel bring their A-game to this emotional scene in Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed.”
Eloise Starts To Lose Her Sibling-in-Crime
One of the best sibling relationships in Bridgerton is Benedict and Eloise. I could make the argument that they are, in fact, the best sibling relationship of the series, but that’s a debate for another time. Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed,” highlights the depths of their friendship, trust, and vulnerability within their large, loving family. Up until the masquerade, Eloise believed it was the two of them against the world. Rebels in their own right, as they held their ground against marriage. Sarcastic and cheeky, the second eldest son and the second eldest daughter get each other. When Benedict recruits Eloise to help him track down the glove lady, she takes the deal to avoid eligible bachelors. Of course, he practically throws her to the wolves at times, but she suffers countless balls and promenades to help her favorite brother. Also, Claudia Jessie and Luke Thompson’s banter remains elite.
Eloise is passionate about her opinions on society, but she’s also perceptive. She senses the despondency descend on Benedict as the weeks wear on. Eloise is more than ready to shun the world again, but her brother isn’t ready to do that. As they walk Rotten Row together for the last time of the season, she sees the defeat in his demeanor. Eloise is disappointed for him, but it leads to a disheartening realization — Benedict’s not part of her club anymore.
Related Content: Benedict and Eloise Should Meet on the Swings Again in Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2
The swings at Bridgerton House remain a safe space for Benedict and Eloise to have truthful, heartfelt conversations; it’s their spot and no one else’s. Towards the end of the episode, Eloise admits to Benedict that she feels a little betrayed that he crossed over to the other side, ready to marry the glove lady if they ever find her. To her, it meant that Eloise was about to be alone in her rebellion. Losing her other siblings to marriage is one thing, but she’s not ready to lose Benedict.
As much as he enjoyed this exclusive club with Eloise, Benedict has crossed to the other side. He looked at this lady in silver and felt inspiration. His defenses crumbled as he delighted in her beauty. He willingly took on this pain of rejection and failure in the hopes of finding her. Yet, he failed. He’s accepted that she didn’t want to be found or marry him. This rejection hits deeper than quitting art school in Season 2.
Benedict has determined that he’s the unserious one, the free-spirited rake. In his mind, he’s not the Bridgerton anyone should give their heart to. That admission almost breaks his sister’s heart, especially when he leaves, and she tries to get him to stay. Based on what he admitted to Sophie on the terrace, he feels like an outsider in his own family, and that includes Eloise. For as much as they’re alike and are as thick as thieves, Eloise can’t relate to him, and right now, he’s alone and unmoored.
“It Was Enchanting To Meet You”
There’s no understating the importance of Taylor Swift’s “Enchanted” to Benedict and Sophie fans. Before Yerin Ha was cast, before it was announced that Season 4 would be centered on Benedict, Benophie fans had “Enchanted” and a dream. This Speak Now track captures the magic of a one-time, love-at-first-sight meeting tinged with fairytale romance. The lyrics perfectly line up with Benedict and Sophie’s meeting at the masquerade ball. Benedict’s “walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy” vanished when he saw Sophie’s face. “The playful conversation starts” as Sophie “countered all Benedict’s quick remarks.” The longing found in the bridge is echoed in their respective yearning while being apart from one another. “Enchanted” isn’t just a song — it’s the song, the anthem of this couple. It wasn’t a question of whether this song would be included in the season. It was a matter of which scene it would show up in.
Instead of being dropped in during the masquerade ball as one would expect, the series uses “Enchanted” as an effective needle drop in Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed,” when Sophie sees Benedict through the crack in the door at Penwood House. First, when she walks back over to the door once she hears his voice, the same notes that played during their first dance slowly bring her back to that glorious night. It’s when Alfie walks up and (correctly) assumes that Benedict is there looking for her that “Enchanted” starts to play. From her perspective, the pre-chorus and chorus are what she’s thinking as she watches Benedict engaging with Posy. She marvels at his kindness to Posy. All she can say is that she was enchanted to meet him.
Meanwhile, Alfie tries to hype Sophie up to open the door and reveal herself to Benedict. Even the song feels like it’s trying to push her as the bridge section builds and she reaches for the doorknob and then… Sophie can’t. Benedict doesn’t want to find her. He wants the lady in the silver gown, and she’s not real. Sophie can’t afford to dream above her station, so she walks away. The heartbreak is punctuated as Benedict looks up at the door just as she left. It’s almost as though he knew she was there. They were so close. Apart, their thoughts will echo each other’s memory until they one day see each other again.
It would be easy to want to shake Sophie here. Why couldn’t you have just opened the door? He was right there! But as we learn from the flashbacks, Sophie is held back by the fear Araminta instilled in her at her father’s funeral. She can’t dream above her station; she’d be repeating history as her mother did. To quote another Taylor Swift song, Sophie isn’t a princess, and Bridgerton isn’t a fairytale.
Araminta’s “Protection” Has Scarred Sophie and Her Self-Worth
As a character, Lady Araminta Gun is cut from the same cloth as every evil stepmother stereotype out there. She’s cold, calculated, and looking out for herself and her biological daughter before anyone else. It would be easy to make this role a caricature because we’ve seen this before. That’s why Katie Leung’s performance in this episode is so impressive. Audiences see the moment her demeanor changes into who she is in the present.
When she first arrives, Araminta is beaming and overjoyed to be there. She eyes young Sophie with genuine care and asks who she is. All Sophie wants is a mother who is lovely and kind, and that is completely torn from her the second Lord Penwood utters the phrase “my ward.” The color immediately drains from Araminta’s face, looking back at the young girl in shock and betrayal; again, credit to Katie Leung for making this moment subtle yet impactful. Any hope of Sophie experiencing maternal love is snuffed out. She doesn’t get to attend dance lessons with Rosamund and Posy. She doesn’t get to belong to a family. All she has is her mother’s necklace, the only tangible evidence that she even existed. This scene honors the opening line of An Offer From a Gentleman: “Everyone knew that Sophie Beckett was a bastard.”
Lord Penwood’s funeral is the nexus point of Sophie’s story. After losing her father, Araminta informs Sophie that she wasn’t included in his will. She’s not part of his legacy. As Sophie pushes back, Araminta pushes further, explaining that her mother was a maid-turned-mistress who died without a husband or a worthy family name. Sophie is alone, and all the promises her father made seemingly died with him.
What’s intriguing here is that Araminta isn’t outright cruel. She breaks down Sophie’s self-esteem, sure, but she reframes Sophie’s new role as a form of protection. Care in Araminta’s eyes is food, clothing, shelter, and above all, invisibility from scandal. She isn’t throwing her out into the streets (for now), but she’s sheltering Sophie from the realities of a cruel world for an orphan.
It’s what she doubles down on when Araminta confronts Sophie for sneaking out to the Bridgerton masquerade ball. She provided protection for Sophie, but not love or even wages. Witty, spiteful Sophie fights back and demands to know why she’s been kept here if she was such a burden to Araminta. Why keep the source of your “suffering” under the same roof? The tension that had been building for decades finally comes to a head as Araminta dismisses Sophie permanently, even calling her Lord Penwood’s error, not his daughter. This scene is captivating thanks to Yerin Ha and Katie Leung’s performances.
In the interest of TV, the gap between Benedict and Sophie’s meeting and reunion is shortened to a few months, rather than two years. Sophie isn’t the one being harassed by Phillip Cavender, but her friend Hazel is. Instead of being a damsel in distress, she defends her friend and helps Hazel flee. When Cavender does set his fury towards her, that’s when Benedict wakes up from his listless attitude and fights off Cavender. Out in the country, these two wandering souls find their way back to each other, meaning it’s time to take a trip to My Cottage.
Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed,” fills in the gaps of Sophie’s past and present, as it sets her up to be with Benedict alone again in a meaningful way. This episode follows Benedict’s attempts to find the lady in silver, only for his belief that he’s an unlovable outsider to strengthen. The love between old friends and siblings also gets a spotlight in meaningful ways. Without knowing what lies ahead, this could be considered the weakest episode of the season, and if that’s the case, it’s only by a small margin and not for a lack of quality.
Afternoon Tea and Further Thoughts
- “I can’t go… but can you imagine?” Sophie is so expressive and light here. She’s completely herself around Irma and Alfie.
- Alfie snags the silver dress, gloves, and Araminta’s shoes. Alfie, you’re a real one!
- Benedict drawing the Lady in Silver like a madman. He licks his lips as he draws her lips, you dawg!
- John Stirling playing with Baby Elliott, as Penelope and Francesca watch. John, I need you not to take any unexpected detours while in Mayfair.
- Give it up to the casting department for Young Sophie. 10/10, she’s so precious, and I’m willing to die for her.
- “I will finally have a mother. I have always wanted one. My new mother must be lovely and kind if she’s marrying Father.” Just rip my heart out, why don’t you!
- Eloise and Benedict trying to find the glove lady… It’s Dumb & Dumber on the case (affectionate)
- “You’re a rake” in synchronicity is actually peak Peneloise.
- “She’s describing Benedict Bridgerton.” Seriously, Alfie, you’re a real one!
- Posy making faces to Sophie mocking Rosamund. These two are sisters for real!
- “For a gentleman can only wander the desert so long without a drink.” Wow, there are a lot of water references. I wonder what it could be alluding to?!
- “When I bullied it out of her, yes.” Mother-in-law Violet Bridgerton looks so smug as she gets her son to admit he was looking for someone.
- “This is your chance, Sophie.” Alfie is all of us trying to get Sophie into that sitting room with Benedict. My guy, you are a real one.
- “The shoes didn’t clash with the silver dress I found under your mattress.” Sophie, why didn’t you put that dress back into the attic? All of this could’ve been avoided!
- “I want to stay angry.” Alfie, one more time with feeling, YOU’RE A REAL ONE!
- Is it just me, or is Cavender’s country party a real sausage fest?
- His friend Hiscox tells him about his new mistress. Oh, would you look at that foreshadowing!
- Benedict holds Sophie’s hand as she gets on the phaeton, but don’t separate immediately. Close enough. Welcome back, Pride & Prejudice (2005).
- I haven’t gone into detail yet (and I want to), but I adore Benedict and Violet’s relationship this season. There’s a playful fondness to them that’s completely different from her other children. Hats off to Ruth Gemmell and Luke Thompson.
- To my fellow Benophie fans, we must concede defeat. The original Benophie stan is Alfie. He noticed that Sophie was jealous about Benedict Bridgerton; he immediately clocked that Lady Whistledown was describing Benedict; AND, he was encouraging her to reveal herself to Benedict. He’s the official captain of the ship.
Now streaming on Netflix: What are your thoughts on Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 2, “Time Transfixed?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX