In a Bridgerton season full of some truly perfect scenes between Benedict and Sophie, it’s hard to pick a favorite. From their first meeting at the masquerade ball that sets them off on their path to true love, to the way they first relax and have fun with one another as they fly a kite at My Cottage, and declarations of devotion so earnest as to warm the cockles of even the most cynical heart, there’s a reason why Season 4 has arguably been the best story the series has told so far.
But one of the scenes that I keep going back to the most is the night Sophie and Benedict spend together in the conservatory in “The Passing Winter,” mostly due to its uniqueness in the show. Across all its seasons, Bridgerton has juggled a lot of characters and tons of moving plot pieces, and with just eight episodes every few years, there’s frankly not enough time for all of it to get as much attention as fans might like. So to have an entire scene dedicated to the two leads just quietly sitting together and talking — where time stops, and they can simply be — is a rare gift.
Everything starts light and happy, with Sophie arriving and being delighted by the surprise. How could she not be? Not only has the man she loves done something romantic, but it’s presumably the only thoughtful gesture that she can ever remember being made to her. Benedict is waiting for Sophie in the Bridgerton conservatory, surrounded by candles, looking incredibly satisfied with himself and the “world, just for us” that he’s created so he can spend time with her. He wraps Sophie up in a blanket and sits her down, the candlelight making everything look and feel soft and warm as he explains the plan he’s come up with for their future together. Ever the artist, Benedict hands Sophie a drawing of My Cottage, and then paints the picture of what their life will look like living there.
He and Sophie will live in the country, away from the judgment and scorn of the ton, and Benedict will go back to London to play his part in society when necessary. Without the possibility of marriage, it would be a complicated life, but a beautiful one, too. Things are different for them now: Benedict realizes what a colossal and hurtful mistake he made by asking Sophie to be his mistress, and they’ve professed their love for each other with both their words and bodies. Sophie is finally starting to allow herself to want, and Benedict promised to show her that love alone could be a strong enough foundation to support their forever, so she doesn’t turn him down outright. Instead, she says that there’s still quite a lot they need to learn about one another, and in an act of tender vulnerability, Benedict offers up a detail about his sexuality to Sophie that no other soul close to him is aware of.
“I am capable of caring for you, just as I have cared for women I have known who are of the ton. Just as I have cared for some men whom I have known intimately. And I refuse to be at all ashamed about that.”
Sophie sits with this for just a beat, before:
“Love is always something to be proud of. The world needs more of it.”
Benedict smiles at Sophie’s response, looking proud that his trust in her to love all the different parts of him was well placed.
Lest anyone find themselves wondering whether a romantic male lead being open about his bisexuality is unnecessarily performative, look no further than the barrage of homophobia, misogyny, and racism that’s plagued the fandom and culture at large since the announcement that Francesca and Michaela will lead Bridgerton Season 5. As if one sapphic couple being at the center of one season of one show somehow takes something away from the people who get to see themselves and relationships like theirs represented ubiquitously. Social media posts (of which there were far too many) featuring women “joking” that a confession of bisexuality from a man would send them running for the hills in disgust is exactly why a character like Benedict Bridgerton is so needed. To use the romance genre as mere self-insertion wish fulfillment for yourself alone is to cheapen it. Benedict’s coming out is not only important for him, but also for everyone watching Bridgerton who sees themselves reflected in his journey of understanding and exploring his sexuality.
Even after such an offering from Benedict, Sophie resists reciprocity. While she might want to wade out into the deeper emotional waters she spoke about in “The Waltz,” one moment of emotional intimacy isn’t enough to overcome the years of mistreatment by Araminta. No matter how desperately she loves him and wants to reach out and grab the idyllic life he’s laid out for them, she can’t dispel the fear that in the end, she’ll be left with what she’s been made to believe she deserves — nothing.
And so she continues to protect herself with protestations, agonizing over everything that could go wrong. What if Benedict abandons her for another woman? What if Sophie ends up alone in the world with their child? What if, what if, what if. Benedict’s wounded disbelief that she thinks him capable of such cruelty causes Sophie to crack at last, blurting out that she’s illegitimate. Sophie Baek is a maid just like her mother was, Benedict is a nobleman just like her father was, and this situation is already far too similar for comfort.
“My very existence in this world is a shameful secret. You cannot imagine how that feels.”
Of course, he can’t, and he doesn’t pretend to. However reluctantly, Sophie has revealed a huge source of pain for her, and Benedict is reassuring without being dismissive, vowing:
“I may never be able to make you my wife. But I will be bound to you in every way that counts. And should we have a child, that child will feel our love magnified. And we’ll be a family.”
The scene ends as they kiss, sealing their promise to one another even while much remains to be said between them. Sophie still can’t bring herself to tell Benedict that she’s the Lady in Silver he’s been looking for, and Benedict is still grasping on to the idea that he can be with Sophie without having to make some incredibly difficult choices. Sadly, this is the last time they’ll be together before everything starts to unravel — before Sophie overhears Anthony and Benedict’s heated conversation about her and decides to end things with Benedict in this very same spot, before John’s death shatters Francesca and the rest of the Bridgerton family, and before Araminta exacts her final revenge on Sophie by having her dragged off to jail. Circumstantially, Benedict and Sophie aren’t really any closer to being together at the end of this scene than they were at the start, but their night in the conservatory acts as a reaffirmation of the hope that one day, they can be.
First Featured Image Credit: ©LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX