Love, Legacy, and Lady Whistledown: Inside Bridgerton’s Most Romantic Ending Yet
Season 4 of Bridgerton concluded, as all proper romances should, with a wedding—but only for those patient enough to linger past the fade to black. In a post-credits flourish worthy of Lady Whistledown herself, Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek were granted their long-awaited happily ever after, exchanging vows at their idyllic cottage estate after a season defined by forbidden, upstairs-downstairs longing.
Portrayed by Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha, the couple’s final moment was not the grand kiss in the masquerade gazebo—where they first met, once masked and now gloriously unmasked and engaged—but the intimate wedding that followed. According to showrunner Jess Brownell, that decision was intentional.
Speaking about the creative choice shepherded alongside executive producer Shonda Rhimes, Brownell revealed that the wedding was initially structured as a traditional end-of-episode tag. But in post-production, the team reconsidered. The gazebo scene, drenched in fairytale romance, felt so transporting that it deserved space to breathe. The wedding, though exquisitely shot, became a secret coda—a romantic gift reserved for devoted fans. The result? A clever Easter egg designed to reward loyalty and spark conversation.
Elsewhere in the finale, the Ton was anything but quiet. Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, has officially stepped away from her reign as Lady Whistledown—though the scandal sheet lives on under mysterious new authorship. Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi) ascends as lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, portrayed with regal sharpness by Golda Rosheuvel, while the formidable Lady Danbury, embodied by Adjoa Andoh, finally departs for a well-earned holiday.
Heartache lingers for Francesca Bridgerton. Played by Hannah Dodd, Francesca now grieves John Stirling (Victor Alli) in solitude after Michaela’s departure. Violet Bridgerton, ever romantic, chooses independence over marriage to Marcus (Daniel Francis), while Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) finds an unexpected détente with Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie). And in a triumphant return, Kate and Anthony—Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey—arrive from India with baby Edmund in tow, restoring order with characteristic poise.
As for the future? The mantle of Season 5’s lead may be clearer than ever.
In a poetic twist, Hannah Dodd once auditioned “quite intensely” for the role of Daphne Bridgerton in Season 1—a part that ultimately went to Phoebe Dynevor. Fate, however, had other plans. A few years later, Dodd was summoned to self-tape for a “very secretive” project. The rest, as they say in Mayfair, is history.
In true Bridgerton fashion, love lingers, secrets simmer, and the final word is never quite the last.
