Dearest reader, if there’s one thing that’s true about Netflix’s Bridgerton, it’s that there are a lot of Bridgerton children. In total, Edmund and Violet Bridgerton have eight children: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth. Each season of Bridgerton intends to follow one sibling as they fall in love and get married, just as Julia Quinn’s romance novels do. Since Daphne, Anthony and Colin have all reached their happily ever afters (or at least Colin is nearly there), it’s only time that Benedict finds his as well.
Typically, when one Bridgerton sibling is the focus of the season, the other siblings are part of the subplots that tease their own individual season. Colin and Penelope Featherington’s friends-to-lovers tale has been stewing in the background since Season 1, making their eventual engagement all the more satisfying. In Season 3, Francesca’s introverted romance with John Stirling has even slightly overshadowed Colin and Penelope in their own show. In the midst of all the Bridgerton siblings getting their chances at love, what’s Benedict been up to? He’s by far the most sincere sibling deserving of happiness, yet he remains static. Benedict’s arc has stopped at a lifeless point in Season 3, and there’s no effort being made to push his storyline in the right direction.
Benedict Has Nothing to Do on Bridgerton Anymore
Benedict’s Recycled Plots Aren’t Serving Him Justice in Bridgerton Season 3
For the first two seasons, Benedict’s role was only supportive. It was expected of him, as many believed Netflix would follow the order of Quinn’s books and allow Season 3 to be about Benedict. For storytelling reasons, however, Bridgerton Season 3 skipped over Benedict to seal the deal with Colin and Penelope. It was the right move for the story not to prolong the “Polin” ship any longer. But it only meant bad news for Benedict, who no longer has a solid footing on where his arc is leading to. Before Season 3, Benedict was the hopeless romantic of the bunch. His casual relationships with Madame Genevieve Delacroix and the model Tessa hinted that Benedict’s future partner would not be a traditional member of the ton.
Benedict falls in love with personality and spirit, no matter what their status is or where they’re from. When these relationships didn’t work out, he always had his art to fall back on. It was refreshing for a character to have a storyline outside their romantic pursuits, especially when it was underlined with commentary about privilege and opportunities in the Regency era in London. Benedict formed bonds with people of different economic and sexual backgrounds at the Royal Academy of Art. The experience opened him up to different ways of life that his siblings are mostly unaware of. But then he discovered that Anthony had bought his spot at school by making a large donation, and Benedict quit because he felt like a fraud.
Fast-forward to Season 3, and Benedict is without a purpose, even if he says differently. He was taking care of the estate while Anthony was on his honeymoon, but that purpose fades when Anthony and Kate Sharma returned. Without his art and responsibilities to the family, what’s left for Benedict? Apparently, a secret fling with a widow named Tilley Arnold. The groundwork has already been laid for Tilly to break Benedict’s heart when he eventually falls in love with her, despite her firm stance that she won’t marry again. In the meantime, the heated entanglement is another one of Benedict’s recycled subplots that reinforce his liking for “unconventional” romantic partners. Once upon a time, Benedict’s promiscuous pursuits worked because it represented him living through his art as a free person bound by no chains. Now that he’s abandoned his art altogether, the relationship with Tilley is rather dull and without direction.
Bridgerton Is Wasting Benedict’s Good Nature
Bridgerton Can’t Rely on Benedict Being Kind and Gentle to Save His Story
One could say that Bridgerton has lost sight of who Benedict is as a person. Out of all his siblings, he’s the most intuitive of people’s feelings. As Anthony is confidant in Season 2, his primary role was to act as a supportive person that Anthony could open up to. His line of support didn’t just stop at Anthony, however. His friendship with Eloise was a highlight of Season 2, but has sorely come to a halt in Season 3 as she’s preoccupied with Cressida Cowper and Penelope. A kind and considerate person doesn’t always have to be an uninteresting character on television. Unfortunately for Benedict, his lack of development is making him one. Season 3’s main problem with Benedict isn’t that he doesn’t have an exciting love interest. It’s that the series has refused to explore his psyche again.
There have been sprinkles here and there of Benedict’s insecurities about being the second son compared to Anthony. In the sea of Bridgertons, he feels a little lost. He doesn’t have a good identity that guides him in life. But this insecurity isn’t properly explored in Season 3, which would’ve been the best opportunity to do so. Now that Anthony is married and back from his honeymoon, Benedict is on his own to find a purpose in life beyond being Anthony’s “spare.” In this context, it makes sense why Benedict feels safe to hide away with Tilley in their secret love affair. But the series doesn’t make an effort to hone in on the Benedict’s psychology. Instead of a surface-level fling that won’t amount to anything, it would be more interesting for the moral compass of the family to finally break down his walls.
Benedict’s Season Will Add Something New to Bridgerton
Benedict and Sophie Beckett’s Storybook Romance Is Exactly What Season 4 Needs
It’s quite clear in Season 3 that Benedict is no longer working as a supporting character. It’s time to put him center stage and let him carry the show. Although Francesca’s relationship with John Stirling is moving at the speed of light, Bridgerton can’t keep Benedict on the back burner forever. One more season of him in a reprocessed subplot, and fans will no longer have confidence in him to deliver an electrifying season. Benedict’s book, An Offer From a Gentleman, does at least have the benefit of being a standout installment of Quinn’s series, all due to the class issue discourse that the other books don’t touch on.
Benedict’s romance with Sophie Beckett isn’t a royal story of diamonds and balls. Instead, it’s a classic Cinderella tale where a high-class member of the ton falls in love with a servant who’s also an illegitimate daughter of an earl. Their forbidden love dynamic could finally pull Benedict out of a tedious position, while also reinforcing what Seasons 1-2 set up about his character: that he sees past class and money when it comes to love and companionship. Ultimately, Season 4 should give Benedict all the love and attention by putting him front and center.
