Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5, “Yes or No” Spoilers Ahead
Bridgerton wastes no time bringing audiences back into the action after the weeks-long break. “Yes or No” is a strong return that immediately picks up after Benedict’s offer to Sophie. There’s no denying the fire that burns between Sophie and Benedict, as they grapple with what they ultimately mean to each other, leading to a stunning declaration of love.
And it’s not just the lead couple. From the eldest Bridgerton to the youngest, this episode sees each of the Bridgertons take meaningful steps forward as the seasons continue to change.
Gregory and Hyacinth Bridgerton Make Their Unofficial Debut in Society
Gregory and Hyacinth Bridgerton have always been on the edge of the action since the beginning. Granted, they were children when Daphne was declared the diamond in Season 1. They’ve always been part of the family, but their identities have largely lain within the collective Bridgerton family unit. The chaotic, bickering younger siblings, unafraid to pick fights with each other over the most trivial things.
Yet, over the course of the series, Gregory and Hyacinth have been growing up in the background. Looking back at Season 1 and Season 2 images of Will Tilston and Florence Hunt are enough to make me feel old. However, it’s this episode that is a stark reminder that we’re not too far off from their seasons. If every Bridgerton season is indeed eight episodes each, then Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5 pushes us past the halfway mark of the entire series. Meaning, “Yes or No” signals a changing of the guard, giving the youngest Bridgertons a preliminary debut since they will be the ones to eventually bring us to the finish line.
Gregory and Hyacinth have been surrounded by love their whole lives. For three years, they’ve seen four of their siblings get married, each of them with their own unique path to it. They know how special and wonderful it can be. That, and with puberty in full effect, it’s no wonder both Bridgerton siblings have high expectations for themselves at this recital, which is practically a preteen practice ball. Gregory spots a cute girl and immediately describes her as “divine,” but later she scurries away just as he tries to make conversation with her. It’s a little dramatic for this Eton boy who just had his first shave, but considering his love story, On the Way to the Wedding, this is tame but great foreshadowing.
Meanwhile, Hyacinth, thanks to advice from a distant Daphne, dances with a cute boy with the presumption that they’ll share a lemonade together afterwards. When he doesn’t take the hint to bring her a lemonade, she feels her first sting of rejection. Hyacinth is a force of nature, but unlike Eloise, she wants this. She has a genuine enthusiasm for her finishing lessons and her eventual debut. Even though she’s temporarily brought down by a dumb boy, Hyacinth is picked back up by her big brother, Benedict. Don’t worry, Hyacinth, you won’t stay down for long. The ton isn’t ready for her level of mayhem.
For as much as each season focuses on a specific Bridgerton sibling, “Yes or No” is a loving tribute to most of the core Bridgerton family. They’re there to pick each other up whenever they’re down. Whether it’s Colin giving Gregory advice on women or Benedict twirling his sister around to make her laugh, they are each other’s support. The Bridgerton family’s greatest strength is each other.
Francesca Bridgerton Confronts Her Insecurities
Speaking of another younger Bridgerton sibling, Francesca’s rhythm is disrupted when Michaela Stirling arrives unannounced at the end of “An Offer From a Gentleman.” Even though she’s had trouble getting pregnant and reaching her pinnacle, she and John were in a steady place. When John’s around his cousin, there’s a playfulness to him that draws out Francesca’s insecurities. She’s afraid John is disappointed with her because they aren’t with child. She believes he’d rather stay up all night, reminiscing with his cousin, than be in bed with her. That’s why she jumps at the chance of turning Michaela’s attentions away from John with a potential suitor, Lord Taylor, against John’s wishes.
Michaela is the antithesis of Francesca. Michaela is walking chaos, while Francesca is content in silence. In Scotland, Michaela was unknowable to Francesca because she could hardly sit still long enough to have any meaningful conversations. Michaela is naturally a social butterfly, a confident woman who can command any conversation with any audience. By all accounts, she makes the perfect hostess. That type of personality is magnetic. Yet, as we come to discover in this episode, it’s easy for Michaela to be fully chaotic because she feels completely secure with John.
It’s been alluded that John and Michaela didn’t have the easiest upbringing. Like the Bridgerton family being each other’s fiercest supporters, the Stirling cousins have always had each other. She’s used to worrying about him, but now, John has Francesca. Since he’s married, she doesn’t have that same level of access to him. In the same way Francesca feels constantly inadequate, Michaela fears losing the one person who makes her feel safe.
John Stirling is a rock for both Francesca and Michaela. He is a cornerstone that makes both these women feel seen, known, and loved exactly as they are. Despite their differing personalities, these two women are united by his stability. Francesca and Michaela are family now, and they have to share him. They each have a role to play in John’s life, and after their conversation, they value what the other brings out of him. It’s from this place that Francesca and Michaela’s friendship begins, validating what they mean to John and what they could mean to each other. Michaela needs a safe place to land, and Francesca could use a little more fun and chaos in her life.
Benedict and Violet Are Playing With Fire
It’s been special to watch Violet’s dynamic with her son, Benedict, unfold this season. As mentioned in “An Offer From A Gentleman,” there’s a playfulness and blunt honesty to their mother-son relationship. Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5, “Yes or No,” drives home the point of how similar they are since they’re both in comparable positions. Benedict and Sophie shared a passionate moment on a stairwell, and at the same time, Violet and Marcus spent their first night together. They both have indulged themselves with their respective partners, and both of these partners are being kept a secret.
For Benedict, the reasons are obvious. Sophie is a maid working in a respectable household, whose sole livelihood lives and dies by her employer. In becoming Benedict’s mistress, she might be provided a place to live and his love, but she has to relinquish her dignity, virtue, and any future plans to marry if he decides to move on from her. Mr. Hiscox and Virginia are proof of that. After being outed in Lady Whistledown, Virginia lost any hopes of love, future independence, and stability; Hiscox lost the woman he loved and gave in to drinking his life away. There are real consequences Benedict has to reckon with, whether Sophie decides to be with him or not. He’s a mortal man, irresistible to the desire he has for Sophie, and Sophie, a moth to a flame that she can’t stamp out, no matter how much she tries to reason with herself and Benedict.
For Violet, the stakes are less precarious. She is, after all, the Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton, an esteemed noblewoman of the ton. She has done her duty in raising eight beautiful, smart, and respectable members of society. With Lord Anderson, she’s awoken herself to her own sexual pleasure, something that’s been dormant since Edmund died. Yet, she hasn’t figured out how to tell her family about Marcus. She tries to explain to Gregory and Hyacinth that he’s her “special friend,” but they fail to pick up what she was putting down. However, Benedict sees Violet brushing Marcus’s shoulder, and he understands exactly what’s going on.
Frankly, it hurts Benedict seeing his own mother being able to be as close and openly affectionate as she is with Lord Anderson. He isn’t afforded that same luxury with Sophie. He has to covertly steal glances, create reasons to be in her orbit, and faces more obstacles to be with her. Meanwhile, as two respected high-class members of the ton, Violet and Marcus will likely face less scandal or little push back from their peers. They’re both widowers, and there’s been enough time passed that they could properly court and remarry if they so choose.
Just as observant as her son is, Violet, too, sees exactly what’s going on between her son and Sophie. Violet was hoping Mrs. Wilson could find any type of legitimacy to Sophie’s background so that she would be suitable for him, but no such luck. When Violet pleads with Benedict to leave Sophie alone, something in him snaps. Benedict calls her out for sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband, down the hall from her own children. He makes his message clear — stay out of my business while you’re doing the same thing. It’s a hard moment to watch Benedict throw this back in his mother’s face, and Ruth Gemmell’s expression is a devastating combination of shock and hurt, like being slapped in the face. But maybe it’s the wake-up call she needs. Benedict and Violet are both playing with fire here by keeping their lovers a secret. As Will Mondrich tells Benedict earlier in the episode, no person truly desires to be hidden.
Benedict Professes His Love to Sophie
Throughout Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5, “Yes or No,” Sophie does everything she can to reject Benedict’s offer, even though she can’t deny her feelings for him. It’s painful for her to watch Benedict interact with his sisters, being part of a family, his family, that she can never truly be part of (mistress or not). Benedict tries to respect her wishes and stay away as much as he can until the pain is too much for him to bear. Much like in “An Offer From a Gentleman,” they simply can’t stay away from each other. No matter how hard it is to fight it, they are tethered to each other. Sophie leaves Hyacinth’s recital, and he has to follow her and make sure she’s ok, which leads to one of the best declarations of love Bridgerton has ever seen.
Bridgerton Season 4 wears its parallels to Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice on its sleeve. From the countryside down to Benedict’s robes, it’s aesthetically similar. Not to mention the nods to Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy holding Elizabeth’s hand and his subsequent hand flex. However, it’s Benedict’s speech to Sophie here that hits the hardest on the 2005 Pride & Prejudice comparisons. “You have taken possession of me” is in the same family as Darcy’s “you’ve bewitched me body and soul.” The use of the word “torment” is deliberate; Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth tells Mr. Collins that she isn’t the sort of female who would torment a respectable gentleman, while Darcy expresses in his first proposal to her that he’s been tormented for the last few months by his love for her. In Bridgerton, Benedict reveals to Sophie that the mere thought of spending a day without her torments his soul. To take it a step further, Mr. Darcy softly tells Elizabeth that he loves her three times before saying that he never wants to be separated from her anymore. Guess how many times Benedict softly and reverently tells Sophie he loves her before they finally kiss — three times. Benedict is his own romantic lead, but there’s no denying that he attended the Mr. Darcy Academy of Yearning.
Benedict Bridgerton has been drifting through life. He’s unable to sit still for a moment as he floats between new interests, new parties, and new sexual partners. Benedict hasn’t been able to commit to anything, afraid to tie together all the pieces of himself for anyone. He’s been without an anchor, unmoored and lost at sea. Sophie Baek is the one person who makes him want to remain still. The only place he wants to be is beside her for the rest of his days. Sophie is not the kite in the study; she is his anchor, holding him steady. Benedict declaring his love for Sophie is him swimming out into the deep waters, committed to navigating this uncharted territory together.
Benedict has his heart completely cracked open to Sophie. Here he is, honoring her with his words, professing the depths of his love for a woman society has made it impossible for him to be with. Benedict has found the person he’s been searching for his whole life. His thoughts are solely of her, Sophie Baek, a maid in his mother’s household. He only wants to look at her, Sophie Baek, not Miss Hollis or any other respectable person of the ton. He longs for a life with her, Sophie Baek, not the Lady in Silver. Benedict Bridgerton loves Sophie Baek. “If only you would love me back.” Words can’t convey the stunning display of raw heartache and yearning found in Luke Thompson’s voice and face here. Benedict needs Sophie the way he needs air, and one word from her could give him life or suck the oxygen out of his lungs permanently.
After her father died, Sophie Baek believed she was unlovable. Araminta reinforced this belief day in and day out. The masquerade ball was a night of fantasy because surely she wasn’t worthy to be loved by a nobleman like Benedict. Him professing his love to her is a direct contradiction to years of emotional abuse telling her she’s not enough. She is the one who occupies Benedict’s thoughts every moment of every day. Sophie Baek loves Benedict and is loved by him. Benedict took the first plunge to wade out into deeper waters. With her own declaration of love, Sophie swims out with him, and together they’ll navigate what lies ahead.
Benedict honors Sophie with his words, and afterwards, he worships her with his actions. They punctuate this scene with a night of lovemaking. Benedict is so besotted with Sophie that his primary goal is pleasuring her first, not himself. When she asks him to go slow, he obliges. When they change positions, his sole focus is on Sophie’s comfort. Again, Lizzy Talbot deserves her flowers for ensuring the actors’ safety in bringing this sexual, intimate scene to life. It is also worth highlighting that Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” was the perfect needle drop for Benedict and Sophie’s first time. The stringed cover is smooth yet sultry, and the lyrics are so in sync with Benedict’s confession to Sophie, you’d think Teddy Swims wrote it about Benedict’s torment and not about drugs.
In An Offer From a Gentleman, all roads led to a fateful sofa in Benedict’s lodgings. And yet, it might be controversial to say, but what the Netflix series managed to achieve is better than the book. The naked vulnerability between Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha’s performances takes Benedict and Sophie’s story to a new level that I didn’t think was possible. It was said before at the end of “An Offer From a Gentleman,” but it hits harder now: there is no going back for Benedict and Sophie at the end of Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5, “Yes or No.” They’ve consummated their love for each other, and now Sophie risks repeating history if she becomes pregnant with Benedict’s child. This forbidden love story just took a new leap forward, and I can’t get enough.
Afternoon Tea and Further Thoughts
- MY KING ALFIE IS BACK! The way Sophie trusts Alfie to tell him the whole truth is so important to me. And yes, he’s still a real one.
- Will Mondrich is dropping truth bombs left and right, and I’m here for it.
- Whoever the new Lady Penwood is, mad respect for kicking Araminta out of the house.
- Sophie Baek really lives in Araminta’s head rent-free.
- Seeing John complain about a headache is like watching the Titanic heading for the iceberg. There’s no stopping what’s about to happen, and I’m in pain.
- There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing Sophie realize that Benedict has been thinking about her for months, even if it’s just as the Lady in Silver.
- I wonder if the other maids have a tally of how many times Varley brings up Lady Featherington.
- Imported cheese party with Featherington brothers-in-law is a spin-off just waiting to happen.
- Gregory, you’re too young to ask for advice about women. Stop this!
- The needle drops of “Yes or No” are a love letter to Summer 2024. “Birds of a Feather,” “Lose Control,” and “360”?! Simply perfection!
- Hyacinth’s recital brought back memories of my days in social dance classes in middle school, where I learned to waltz and foxtrot (Unfortunately, my social days predate brat summer). The room segregated between boys and girls just screamed middle school dance. If this brought back war scenes from your middle school dances, you aren’t alone.
- “As long as you don’t expect me to stay up past 10.” So real, Francesca.
- Alice Mondrich, you just got some good tea. Will she share this scandalous information with the queen? We shall see.
- Bridgerton IS brat.
Now streaming on Netflix: What are your thoughts on Bridgerton Season 4, Episode 5, “Yes or No?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix