The Main Season 4 Character Has Not Yet Been Announced
It is unknown whether Bridgerton season 4 will return to Benedict’s story, especially as Eloise is becoming more popular and audiences are keen to know who she ends up with. Completely skipping Benedict’s story will stray far from the books and leave a lot of fans unhappy, but Bridgerton may also fold his story into season 3 in a lesser way.
In the novels, Eloise’s story includes a big time jump, so it would be extremely difficult to return to Benedict’s story if Bridgerton does decide to dedicate season 4 to Eloise and maintain a similar timeline. However, Benedict’s story includes a two-year time jump as well, so it is possible to start his story in season 3 and run it alongside Eloise’s in season 4.
So far, Bridgerton’s sub-plots have had depth without pulling from the main couple’s storyline, so Benedict’s story could be properly told this way. However, Benedict could meet Sophie in season 3 and then start season 4 just after the two-year time jump. Of course, since the show hasn’t been using the same timeline as the books, a time jump might not be included at all. Colin and Penelope’s story takes place about a decade after Daphne’s in the novel, and within the show, it’s only two years.
Having season 4 dedicated to Benedict would allow Bridgerton to keep Eloise as the young, independent woman she is. Also, it would give a chance for more of a story with Theo before the events of her book. Eloise is arguably the main character of the entire Bridgerton series, so creating her season too early could mean her character becomes less important afterward, which would go against her popularity.
How Skipping A Book Has Affected Bridgerton Season 3
Skipping The Book Works For Season 3’s Main Story
Because the Netflix series is only loosely based on the novels about the Bridgerton siblings, skipping the third book to focus on Colin and Penelope doesn’t have a negative effect on the main storyline of the season. Colin and Penelope’s book story, after all, plays out years later than it is playing out on the show. By placing their love story so much earlier, the timeline of the Netflix show is officially different from the books, meaning the stories no longer have to occur in the same order at all.
…straying from the book orders and the specific details of the books is only helping the series to tell a compelling story…
Colin and Penelope’s story does not suffer from being moved up in the timeline. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s hard to see Colin Bridgerton as the good friend who would do just about anything for Penelope as a man who would also wait another decade to figure out how he feels about her, which is what happens in the books. Colin and Penelope admitting their feelings earlier in the show allows the writers to give more story to them after they actually get together.
Skipping the third book for now also means that the audience who is familiar with the books can still be surprised by the events of the show. While it’s clear that every Bridgerton sibling is eventually going to fall in love and get their happily ever after, straying from the book orders and the specific details of the books is only helping the series to tell a compelling story.
The downside, however, with skipping Benedict’s story, or more accurately, delaying it, means that Benedict in season 3 of Bridgerton feels more aimless than his past appearances. The first two seasons planted the seeds for him to fall in love with a character like Sophie as he demonstrated empathy for the working class and a society that didn’t follow the rigid rules of the ton.
In season 3, however, Benedict is no longer frequenting the art scene, having a relationship with a business woman, or even taking art classes. His character feels a little lost at this point, and if the show delays his story again to focus on another Bridgerton in season 4, fans of his character might start to worry that the story isn’t serving him as well as it could in Bridgerton.
