Bridgerton season three is barely over, but already plot details have started emerging about season four – in particular, who the star will be next time around.
Netflix today announced the upcoming season will find Luke Thompson’s Benedict Bridgerton in the spotlight. The show’s logline teases that season four will “turn its focus to bohemian second son Benedict. Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down.”
That is, until his mother Violet (Ruth Gemmell) throws a masquerade ball and Benedict finds his attention captured by a mysterious Lady in Silver. Who is she? Why, she might just be his next wife.
“It felt important for him to explore the fullness of himself before he settles down,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Netflix’s website Tudum. “He is someone who has big appetites, and we wanted to see him living a big life before he goes into settle-down mode.”
This show also marks the first time Bridgerton will be focus on a bisexual lead. After the events of season three (in which Benedict formed a relationship both with Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) and Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio), he’s realised that he doesn’t mind if “Patricia, or Polly, or Peter, or all three at once” are in front of him.
“His identity has been little bit of a question mark, but it doesn’t ever seem to really bother him. It often feels like … ‘You’re either this, or you’re this.’ He’s finding it out.”
As Brownell puts it, Benedict is more open-minded than most of the ton. “Season three also puts him in a place where he’s really exploring more sides of himself,” she says. “I think he feels things very deeply.”
Of course, Benedict’s love story is not the only one that will be explored more in season four: we have Violet’s love affair with Lord Marcus Anderson; Francesca and John Stirling (as well as John’s cousin Michaela) and Anthony and Kate.
Season three of Bridgerton picked up mixed reviews upon its release. Despite record-breaking streaming figures, the Standard gave it two stars, saying that “the plot beats are predictable (the old gambit of entering a room just as somebody says the wrong thing is getting old fast), the romance feels copy and paste and they all live happily ever after.
“But do viewers care? Even if newcomers will struggle, the fans will lap it up. This is still wildly addictive viewing, the TV equivalent of a 1 am Maccies: it won’t leave you satiated, but it sure tastes good while it lasts.”
