Bridgerton fans spot small time period error in season 4 that you probably missed

Following the release of Bridgerton season 4 part 1 on Jan. 29, fans have once again proven their passion for the romantic drama series, not only making the release a big one but also by spotting a minor error that most viewers probably didn't notice.

A viral video on TikTok brought to the attention of thousands of fans the appearance of a bandage in Bridgerton season 4 part 1. In the episode, Katie Leung stars as Sophie Baek's (Yerin Ha) stepmother, and she's seen wearing a small bandage on her left ear. The existence of the bandage is nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, but as the video reveals, if you zoom in, it's clearly visible.

Luckily, there's a lot going on during the masquerade ball scene in which the bandage appears, so unless you're looking for it or zooming in on each frame, a lot of fans likely didn't clock it on Leung's ear. However, once you seek the bandage, it's hard to ignore! The reason most fans take issue with the bandage is because the kind of adhesive the actress was wearing had not been invented.

Band-Aid spotted on Katie Leung's ear in Bridgerton season 4

Of course, Bridgerton takes place in the 1800s, and the cast and crew largely take the visual representation of the time period as seriously as possible. (Queen Charlotte's elaborate wigs are another story.) When watching the show, we're fully immersed in the time period. There's no way that something as small as a bandage that blends in with an actress' skin can take us out of the story.

Leung likely had a small injury on her ear that required a bandage, or it was used to cover up a piercing, and perhaps removing the bandage in post fell through the cracks. It's also possible that the assumption was no one would notice. But this isn't the first time that fans have pointed out time period inconsistencies in Bridgerton, and it definitely won't be the last considering there are two more seasons on the way.

In the comments of the TikTok video that pointed out the error, many fans came to the defense of the show and said things such as "It's not that serious" and "Do y'all ever just watch things for fun?" Others made note that as television series and our own TV sets become more high definition, we're going to continue to notice little things that aren't meant to be seen.

Last season, fans noticed that Penelope was wearing acrylic nails during some sequences. Obviously, acrylic nails didn't exist in the 1800s and this had some fans questioning the show's historical realism. But this wasn't a slip-up. Nicola Coughlan had also been filming the series Big Mood at the same time as Bridgerton season 3, which caused a decent amount of unavoidable overlap.

Between bandages and acrylic nails, there have been far more egregious instances of time period inconsistencies, like the Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones and the Under Armor shirt in Stranger Things. Sometimes mistakes just happen, and sometimes performers need to cover their ear.