“Bridgerton” Season 4 ends with a magical moment — but you may have missed it if you failed to keep the credits rolling.
The fourth season’s final episode is a big one: Sophie goes to jail; Benedict bails Sophie out of jail after discovering she’s the mysterious Lady in Silver; the pair share a steamy bath; Michaela up and leaves Francesca after John dies, leaving her to grieve all by herself; the Bridgertons come up with a plan to fake Sophie’s identity so that she and Benedict can be together — and the queen signs off on it; and there’s a new Lady Whistledown!
So much happened, in fact, that “Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell told TVLine that the Season 4 finale ending needed to be adjusted. Fans of the books already know that Benedict and Sophie’s love culminates in marriage, but the Netflix adaptation almost makes you believe the show is deviating from Julia Quinn’s blueprint.
After Sophie and Benedict share a kiss in the finale — in the very spot they once embraced with their faces hidden behind masks — Lady Whistledown effectively signs off.
“Dear reader, we are going to have so much fun,” Julie Andrews narrates. Then, the credits begin to roll — without any nuptials in sight.
Briderton showrunner Jess Brownell explains why the wedding scene happened after the credits
If you stick around, however, the credits come to a close as wedding bells begin to ring, and Season 4 ends the way we knew it should: Sophie and Benedict say “I do” at the altar. With the Bridgerton clan looking on, Sophie walks down the aisle and marries her beloved in a brief, but breathtaking ceremony.
“That was originally meant to come up immediately after the rest of action finishes,” “Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell explains. “But once we got into the edit, [executive producer] Shonda [Rhimes] and I were like, ‘Woof! So much happens at the end of this episode.'”
By adjusting the episode’s layout, Brownell hopes viewers can take a moment to digest all that has happened in Season 4 so that they can “really appreciate the glory of the wedding.”
By including the Benedict/Sophie wedding as a sort of Season 4 epilogue, Brownell says, “It really feels like you get this fairytale, perfect ending for Sophie.”
Did you need a moment to breathe before relishing in Sophie and Benedict’s special day? Or did you exit Netflix once the “Bridgerton” credits started rolling and miss the wedding entirely? Sound off in the comments!