What Would a “Cressida Is Sophie” Bridgerton S4 Look Like?
A popular recent theory, one I certainly have found a lot of merit in, has pointed out the possibility that Cressida Cowper, famed mean girl of the Ton, could actually be the “Sophie” character who serves as Benedict’s love interest. The evidence both inside the story and outside seems surprisingly compelling for such a seemingly impossible theory. Cressida’s hair features chains and a cage in the ending, and the next shot is Benedict climbing the stairs with a key on his hip. The Bridgerton board game features on all four sides couples, with Simon and Daphne, Kate and Anthony, and Penelope and Colin, with the fourth side being occupied by none other than Benedict and Cressida. Jess Brownell, Bridgerton’s show runner, has made clear they’re not done with Cressida yet.
While I think it significantly more likely that Cressida and Sophie, who we have yet to meet, are related, Cressida and Sophie being one in the same is fascinating. So, how would this even work? Can it work? Well, here are my thoughts on how this version of Season 4 could play out.
The beginning has a very standard start for Benedict. He’s enjoying and partying and living his life with his realization of his broader sexuality. Meanwhile, we see a now brunette Cressida return to London. She finds work with Madame Delacroix, bringing some of the side characters more into the storyline and preparing for the big event, the Masquerade. The Bridgertons are preparing for the ball, and Benedict promises to attend. Madame Delacroix takes pity on Cressida and plays the part of fairy godmother, and she gets Cressida ready to attend the Masquerade. Cressida feels so sad at what she’s lost, and Benedict finds her when she’s sad and alone. They dance together, and Cressida runs off before he can recognize her.
Benedict becomes obsessed with finding this Lady in Silver, and he begins to paint again, painting her. Cressida tries to stay out of sight at the modiste, but she is discovered by some of the other debutantes, and they are cruel. Cressida realizes the pain of her own behavior in the past, and when Eloise comes in, she and Cressida reconnect. Cressida explains what happened with her aunt, and we have flashbacks through an episode of the struggles and horrors she faced, until finally, she changed her hair and ran away. Eloise sees the horrible position Cressida has been in and she wants to help, bringing Cressida to come stay with them. Eloise helps her wash the brown dye out of her hair.
Benedict and Cressida see each other again, and Cressida is devastated when he only recognizes her as Cressida and is wary. Madame Delacroix encourages Cressida, who has a knack for sewing and keen eye for fashion, to keep at her work, so Cressida does. Benedict starts to despair at ever finding his Lady in Silver, just when he and Cressida start to connect. He finds her designs, and they talk about his art as well as her own. Eloise questions Benedict about being friends with Cressida, which at first Benedict dismisses, but he quickly realizes is true.
Penelope and Colin discover that Cressida has been taken in by the Bridgertons, and Cressida feels her world crashing down around her again. Rather than cause a rift, she packs a bag quickly and runs off into the night. When she’s discovered missing, everyone rushes out to find her as it’s not safe for her to be out alone at night. Benedict recalls a conversation they had and heads outside of London, toward Aubrey Hall, where he thinks she’s possibly headed to distant relatives. Benedict comes up on a carriage accident, and, finding no one there, races to the nearest house.
Cressida, after she ran away, got into a coach and is traveling away from London when it breaks a wheel and throws the driver. She tries to help, but it’s no use. Someone comes up on a horse, and it turns out it’s Sir Phillip, who saw the carriage accident from the house. He helps her take the driver up to the house. Benedict comes in finds Cressida, and he encourages her that everyone can make up for their past, but they have to stay to work on it. Cressida agrees to go back and face her mistakes. However, in the morning, Benedict is very sick and Phillip invites them to stay. They discover that he has recently lost his wife.
Cressida writes to Eloise to let her know where they are, and Cressida helps care for Benedict through his illness, staying up all night with him as he has a fever, until it breaks and the first thing he sees is her, for a moment thinking her his Lady in Silver, but dismissing it as a fever dream. Eloise and Violet come to check on Benedict and Cressida, and Benedict is slowly recovering. They stay the night, and then with a still-recovering Benedict, retire to Aubrey Hall with the rest of the family.
While there, Eloise decides she wants them all to put on a play. They grudgingly agree, and they’re all assigned parts with Cressida and Benedict playing the central characters and Eloise acting as director. Violet finds old props that the children used to play with, and when Eloise and Cressida are playing around, Cressida puts on a brown wig and a mask. At that moment, Benedict walks in and is shocked. He confronts Cressida over this, and she confesses to being his Lady in Silver, and they kiss. Cressida leaves though, feeling as though she would be betraying the Bridgerton’s kindness by falling into Benedict’s arms.
Eloise invites Phillip and the children to come watch the play, and Cressida gets overwhelmed by the words of love and affection that are exchanged onstage with her and Benedict. He meets her out in the garden, and he confesses to caring for her in every way. Before he can do something she knows he will regret, she offers herself as his mistress. Benedict is taken aback, and Cressida explains that it would be a good solution for both of them. She tells him to think about it. However, this isn’t what Cressida really wants, it’s what she thinks she deserves and all she thinks she can have.
Eloise and Benedict talk about his feelings for Cressida, which Eloise has picked up on. Benedict takes Cressida to the small house he has purchased outside London, and he offers it for them as a place to live. Cressida is moved by his kindness, and they make love. Cressida is shattered by how loving and tender Benedict is, and overwhelmed by how loved she can feel with him. They give different excuses to the Bridgertons of where they will both be, and they stay together happily for some time, Benedict painting, Cressida sewing, and the two of them making love.
When Benedict goes into town for some business, Cressida is left alone. When he returns, he finds her gone, and a hasty note ending their relationship written out. Benedict is devastated, and can’t stand to be there anymore with all the memories of her. Back in London, he is on the swings and Eloise comes to find him. He confesses the truth to her, and she asks to see the note. Eloise says it doesn’t add up, and Benedict agrees, realizing he was so hurt that he didn’t think of how odd the situation was. He is determined once more to find both his Lady in Silver and the woman he loves.
At the cottage, when Benedict left, that is when Cressida’s father and aunt show up, practically kidnapping her, verbally assaulting her for living as a fallen woman. They lock her away and plan to ship her off back with her aunt. Cressida is miserable, but she has a plan. She takes some of the jewelry from her family house and makes a daring escape out a window, then vanishes.
Benedict, Eloise, and Violet show up to the Cowper house and they deny that Cressida has been there, saying she’s still staying at her aunt’s, so the Bridgertons know they’re lying. Cressida tries to pawn the jewels, but it turns out they’re paste, and her family has lost any semblance of fortune they’ve ever had. Devastated and out of options, Cressida shows up on the steps of the Bridgerton House, where she meets Penelope. She and Penelope have a heart-to-heart and help clear things up. Benedict comes home and finds Cressida there, overjoyed, and he confesses his love for her, which she reciprocates.
However, that night, the police show up and arrest Cressida for theft. Benedict goes after Cressida, but Violet and Eloise go to Cressida’s family. Violet threatens them into dismissing the charges, and they go get Cressida set free, and she realizes that she is loved and cared for by these people and this family even if her own family has let her down. She runs into Benedict’s arms, who proposes to her, and she says yes. Cressida makes her return to the Ton as Benedict’s fiancee, but she realizes it’s much more hollow than she always thought, now that she has the love of a whole family at her back.
Benedict and Cressida get married, and they plan to retire to the country again. Eloise goes missing after the wedding, setting up her season.
Obviously this is really only covering the main story, not any of the side plots, but this is one way I could imagine a Cressida/Benedict season playing out in Season 4! While I don’t think this is particularly likely, I do think it could be a fascinating opportunity to give a redemption arc to Cressida, to show her humility and her change of heart and circumstances, as well as to explore the self-loathing and lack of self esteem that certainly lends itself to explaining many of her behaviors. It could be a beautiful and meaningful story that I think would resonate with a lot of people, and certainly Jessica Madsen and Luke Thompson would light up the screen together.
