What To Know
- Fans speculate that Eloise’s season in Bridgerton may significantly diverge from the books.
- Her eventual season will be inspired by Julia Quinn’s novel, To Sir Phillip, With Love.
- Part 1 of Season 4, which is Benedict’s season, will premiere on January 29.
We still don’t know exactly how — or when — Eloise’s (Claudia Jessie) season of Bridgerton will shake out, but that hasn’t stopped fans from coming up with theories. Many of them involve how they think Eloise’s onscreen story will differ from her book counterpart, since Bridgerton has already made major changes to author Julia Quinn’s source material.
The latest comes from a recently resurfaced interview with executive producer Shonda Rhimes. During a 2021 appearance on Bridgerton: The Official Podcast, Rhimes answered a fan question about Marina (Ruby Barker), who readers know is involved in Eloise’s To Sir Phillip, With Love. Her storyline in Season 1 is entirely original to the show, though her outcome — married to Sir Phillip (Chris Fulton) with her twins — is the same as the book.
Regardless, Season 1’s drastically different storyline for Marina — more on that below — prompted the fan to ask if the book and show characters are one and the same. Rhimes answered, “Okay, so technically, I know this: She is the same Marina that appears in the Eloise book; however, she’s not. She is, and she isn’t. There was a bigger story that was made, that we thought, you know, the actress is so interesting, the story became so interesting, but she’s not technically the same.”
She continued, “Originally, the idea was gonna be that she was, and then as the story grew and we built the story out of for Season 1 and Chris [Van Dusen] was filming the story out for Season 1. She stopped being that Marina.”
In the show, Marina is a distant Featherington cousin who pursues a marriage with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) in an effort to legitimize her secret pregnancy. The father of her unborn twins is her lover, George Crane, who died at war. She isn’t successful after Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) exposes her cousin via her Lady Whistledown column. None of that happens in Quinn’s book series, but Marina winds up accepting a proposal from George’s brother, Sir Phillip, in both cases. However, the twins are actually Phillip’s in the book.
During Marina’s brief appearance in Season 2, it hints at Marina’s growing unhappiness — and readers know that Marina eventually dies by suicide, which leads to Philip and Eloise’s correspondence and later romance. But in the Reddit thread that brought Rhimes’ comments on the character back into the conversation, fans wondered if the executive producer confirming that they’re two different characters means Eloise’s story — and possibly romantic endgame — could play out differently.
Some pointed out that Rhimes’ insight could mean they won’t kill off Marina, or at least not in the same tragic way. “Really hope they’re not going to kill her off after the ordeal she had to go through in Season 1,” a fan wrote. “Not even a ‘natural’ death via illness or an accident, because it’s still fridging and essentially making her into a plot device.”
Another chimed in, “This is extremely interesting and tracks with what we’ve been saying for ages: Marina is part of a bigger story and they wouldn’t have cast a WOC if that meant killing her to forward a white couple. Plus they are planning something big for our girl El… Which… We know what it is 👀”
They’re referencing the popular fan theory that Eloise might not end up with Phillip and reignite her connection with print shop worker Theo (Calam Lynch), an original character introduced in Season 2. “Not the same Marina = Not the same Phillip,” one fan added. “Ergo, therefore, henceforth, as such, the show’s real version of Eloise’s ‘Sir Phillip’ could be anyone….or could even be a codename for someone we already knew.”
What do you think: Will show Marina share the same fate as book Marina? Could Bridgerton be hinting at an even bigger change for Eloise’s story? Let us know in the comments below!
Bridgerton, Season 4, Part 1 Premiere, Thursday, January 29, 2026
Bridgerton, Season 4, Part 2 Premiere, Thursday, February 26, 2026
