'Bridgerton' Season 4 Episode 8 Recap: Did Benedict and Sophie Finally Get Their Happy Ending?

Benedict and Sophie are determined to be together.

After Benedict and Violet (Ruth Gemmell) help get Sophie out of jail (if you remember, Araminta (Katie Leung) had her arrested for stealing shoe clips), Sophie is brought back to the Bridgerton home as a guest...and that steamy bathtub scene from An Offer From a Gentlemen allows Benedict and Sophie to, well, blow off some steam together.

Now that the truth has been unveiled, and they know Sophie is both the Lady in Silver and the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood, Violet and Benedict have one goal: figure out how Sophie and Benedict can be together.

If they can't find a way to get the Queen's blessing, Benedict and Sophie would have to move to the countryside permanently, removing him from the family and society in a way he's never experienced. But despite the challenges, Benedict is head over heels in love with her — and he's determined to find a way for them to marry.

And as Violet tells him, "We'll find a way. We always do."

Love is in the air in 'Bridgerton' season 4, episode 8.

The rest of the Bridgerton family finally air out their issues too. Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela (Masali Baduza) have worked through their disagreements about how to handle John's (Victor Alli) death, and Michaela agrees to stay in London with Fran.

But there's a little bit of tension that seems to point at the future of their story when Francesca grabs Michaela's hand and it clearly means something before Michaela pulls away. Spoiler warning but anyone who knows the books knows that Michaela is a gender-swapped version of John's cousin Michael from the books, who falls in love with Francesca after his death. So it looks like this could be our central love story for season 5 or 6.

After apologizing to Cressida for her perspective on marriage, Eloise works through her issues over Hyacinth's debut, and their conflict goes beyond Eloise making fun of her lessons (which is so not cool, E). Turns out, Hyacinth is terrified of falling in love because her father and John's deaths prove loss is an unavoidable part of life. But Eloise reminds her that she shouldn't let fear stop her from experiencing great joy, and if it weren't for their parents' marriage, the siblings wouldn't have each other.

Hyacinth finally agrees on one condition: she wants to get to know herself better before falling in love.

The truth about Sophie Baek finally comes out at Queen Charlotte's ball.

And now it's time for one more party to close out the season: The Queen's ball.

Sophie has learned that her father really did leave her an equal portion dowry in his will...and that Araminta stole it from her. This is such a great lesson in choosing who to put your trust in — the people you love and who love you are definitely more trustworthy than someone who wants to do you wrong!

One thing before we get into all the drama (because there's plenty, don't you worry): I love how Eloise encourages Posy to explore a relationship with Lord Barnaby. It shows both that Eloise is more open-minded to the prospect of love and that Posy has someone else looking out for her the way Rosamund never did. I hope we see more of these two in the future!

The evening culminates in a standoff between Violet, Benedict, and Sophie and Araminta, Rosamund, and Posy. Sophie confronts her step-mother about the fact she was never supposed to be a maid and she was always supposed to receive a share of the money. But turns out Araminta gave Rosamund way more than she was supposed to receive in an effort to secure a match.

And, as you'd expect, Araminta embezzling Sophie's dowry is way worse than stealing those shoe clips or pretending to be a Lady, and both parties agree to keep their secrets hush hush.

Sophie and Benedict are able to live happily ever after.

Alice confronts Queen Charlotte in a really impressive way about how she's treated Sophie — and the lower class in general — and really proves herself as a Lady in Waiting. And when the Queen finally comes face to face with Sophie, and is told she's a daughter of Penwood house "by birth and education," she tells Sophie she would have made a wonderful Diamond of the Season. I'm crying!!

So all is well! Sophie is free of her step-mother and Benedict is free to marry the love of his life without any negative consequences. Sophie and Benedict dance to an instrumental cover of "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron (which about sent me into a coma, TBH) before he proposes!!! I love this couple, good grief.

But the future of 'Bridgerton' — and Lady Whistledown — is a mystery.

And as we look to season 5, there are a few new details falling into place: Lady Danbury is leaving court, and Violet and Marcus' relationship ends when she tells Marcus she's not ready to be a wife again. Michaela also leaves Francesca without saying a word, and in the last few moments of Bridgerton season 4, Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) realize someone else has picked up Lady Whistledown's pen — which means the Ton's gossip is far from over.