Bridgerton season 4 trailer breakdown: Benedict Bridgerton’s love story gets a Cinderella twist in the latest clip

Benedict Bridgerton is at a crossroads in the Bridgerton season 4 trailer - the first official trailer of the season. Netflix and Shondaland dropped the trailer on December 25, a Christmas gift for fans of the fan-favorite romance series. 

The 2.5-minute trailer introduces Benedict Bridgerton's love story, and it's a familiar fairytale classic. The clip opens with Penelope Featherington, aka Lady Whistledown, visiting Queen Charlotte at the opening of a new debutante season.

She's outlining her next Lady Whistledown issue before Her Majesty before the Whistledown's voice narrates the start of Benedict's story in season 4. He's a rake and his mother wants to marry him off to try to break his racist ways - he "must bow to that most powerful of forces, mothers."

What does the Bridgerton season 4 trailer tease about Benedict Bridgerton's love story?

The newly released first official trailer of Bridgerton season 4 establishes the Cinderella-like love story of Benedict Bridgerton and the Lady in Silver. Lady Violet Bridgerton wants Benedict to marry this season, but he hasn't found one he wanted to marry and he's not particularly eager to find the right person to marry. 

As the self-professed bachelor tells his sister Eloise and Penelope: 

"I am charting an adverturesome course!"

But everything changes the night of the masquerade ball. Earl of Penwood's illegitimate daughter, Sophie Baek, fawns over the idea of attending the ball. But because of her standing, she must sneak into the ball and become unrecognizable.

Her servant colleagues help with the disguise, complete with sparkly silver slippers, a dazzling gown with a matching mask, and silver gloves. She ends up dazzling the eyes of Benedict Bridgerton at the ball. He helps her learn how to dance and he calls her "perhaps the most intriguing person" he's ever met. 

But like Cinderella, Sophie has to leave the moment the clock strikes midnight. But unlike Cinderella, what she leaves behind isn't one of her glass slippers, but one of her gloves. Without any idea of the Lady in Silver's real identity, he goes on a feverish search for the woman with only one of her gloves to help him. 

Meanwhile, back to her real life, Sophie is conflicted whether to reveal her identity to Benedict. But she reasons out: 

"He does not want to find me. He wants to find the lady in the silver gown, and she is not real."

What else does the trailer tease about the upcoming season?

While Benedict Bridgerton and the Lady in Silver's love story will be front and center in Bridgerton season 4, it's not the only love story happening in the upcoming season. The trailer also teased a couple of tangled romances and rather steamy scenes. 

Also glimpsed in the trailer are Francesca Bridgerton and John Stirling as well as the couple from the previous season, Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington. The trailer shares glimpses of Colin and Penelope's married life.

The trailer also teases Lady Violet Bridgerton getting her hands full not only with the masquerade ball and the quest to find Benedict a wife but also a romantic partner of her own. It shares glimpses of the budding romance between her and Lord Anderson. 

Bridgerton season 4 premieres on Netflix in 2026. Part 1 drops on January 29 and Part 2 follows weeks later on February 26.