By now, you’ve devoured all of Bridgerton season three, and while you still may be thinking about some of the steamiest moments from part two, you’re likely also grappling with the many questions the final episode raised about the show’s next act. Here’s everything we know about Bridgerton Season 4 so far. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
A new Bridgerton sibling will get their time in the spotlight.
So far, each season has been dedicated to the love story of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings, roughly following the outline in Julia Quinn’s novels on which the series is based. There have been Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), and Colin (Luke Newton) seasons, and the next one will be no different. Season four will focus on Benedict (Luke Thompson) and his quest for love. Of course, we maybe should have seen that coming. A major clue in the finale comes when he says to his sister, Eloise (Claudia Jessie), at a masquerade ball that he’ll be “avoiding eligible ladies like the plague.” In the books, he meets his future wife—the Lady in Silver—at that ball.
For showrunner Jess Brownell, now feels like the right time to focus on Benedict after he took a back seat for three seasons. “It felt important for him to explore the fullness of himself before he settles down,” she said. “He is someone who has big appetites, and we wanted to see him living a big life before he goes into settle-down mode.”
There’s an LGBTQ twist.
While all characters are written as straight in Quinn’s novels, the show has changed that. Throughout season three, Benedict questions his sexuality while dating widow Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New). When she invites him into a threesome with her handsome friend, Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio), Benedict initially declines before enthusiastically saying yes. “There is so much in society that is unnatural, but a feeling between two people, whatever their sex, is the most natural thing in the world,” Lady Tilley tells Benedict at one point.
His sexual awakening leads him to break things off with Lady Tilley, saying, “What happened between the three of us…has made me realize how good it feels to be free. You’ve opened my world, and I’m not ready to close it again just now.”
Since Benedict is the lead of season four, it seems like a given that his sexual exploration will also be a focus. “Benedict has always been a little lost—or free depending on the way you want to look at it,” Thompson told Tudum. “But now he’s trying to find something a bit more solid in himself.”
And even though we haven’t gotten to Francesca’s season yet, she will continue to play a role in the series, and last season, her storyline became queer-coded as well. In the books, Francesca ends up with her first husband John’s (Victor Alli) cousin, Michael Stirling—who has been changed to Michaela (Masali Baduza), introduced at the end of season three. The pair seem to have chemistry when they meet, so it’s quite possible they’ll follow the books otherwise and end up together.
There will be a two-year wait for Bridgerton Season 4.
Showrunner Jess Brownell has been making the press rounds following the finale, shedding some light on what we can expect from the forthcoming season four. First, she confirmed that the series likely won’t return for another two years. “We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language,” Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter at the U.K. premiere for part two. “And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace, we’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range.”
She added: “I’m really excited about what we’re writing. We’re towards the end with the writers’s room season, with the scripts. And I feel like it’s some of my best work and my writers’s room’s best work. We’ve just really gelled our collaboration, and we’re firing on all cylinders so I can’t wait for fans to see what we have.”
Don’t count out Eloise.
And like Francesca, who has to continue to wait for her turn in the Bridgerton spotlight, we will also have to be patient in order to find out the fate of Eloise. She’s had a central role in the series since season one, and in season three went through the aftermath of a falling out with Penelope, due to the Lady Whistledown of it all. In the books, Penelope’s engagement to Eloise’s brother, Colin, while at first a source of contention, eventually serves as inspiration for the young woman to put herself out there in the dating game when she realizes she and Penelope won’t remain spinsters together like she’d planned.
The length of the show will remain the same.
Once again, season four will be eight episodes, though no word on whether they plan to split the drop into two parts again.
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