The ‘ton was ablaze with gossip this morning when ‘s Benedict was announced as the Netflix revealed the second-eldest Bridgerton sibling would be on the marriage mart for the next installment, following between According to the logline, “turns its focus to bohemian second son Benedict. Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down.” However, when he meets a mysterious Lady in Silver at Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball, that all changes — and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Colin couldn’t be prouder.
— the third book in her novel series — will serve as the basis for Benedict’s season as he pursues ( ) Sophie Beckett. According to the book’s description, she never dreamed of sneaking into the famous masquerade ball as she has been relegated to the role of servant by her stepmother. There, in the arms of Benedict, she feels like royalty, but it can only last until midnight.
“Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other — except, perhaps this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid’s garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation,” the description continues. “He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?” While Benedict will be the focus of season four, the other siblings also have a busy love life.
Colin and Penelope welcomed their first child; Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and John Stirling (Victor Alli) are off to Scotland to begin their new life together; Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony sailed to India to welcome their first child; and Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) have at least one child by now. Not to mention, Violet and Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) began their own potential courtship in season three. The previous installment also saw Benedict explore his sexuality in a new way, when he entered into a situatitionship with Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) and Paul (Lucas Aurelio).
Showrunner Jess Brownell told that helped him see how he can be truly himself while also very much a part of society. In another conversation, Brownell explained to that Benedict’s sexual identity was not a fixed belief for him, noting that in today’s world, he may be considered pansexual, and that was something they talked about since season one. “I do think that he’s a character who would naturally be more about connection than he would be about gender,” she shared in a .
“In a bigger way, I think the threesome, or throuple, storyline for Benedict is about him learning to embrace his true self in the same way that Pen and Colin are embracing their true selves. Benedict has always been an unconventional character who lives a little bit outside of society in terms of his comfort.” As for how Benedict’s storyline will play out in season four, Brownell teased they’re going to continue giving him space to grow and figure out how he wants to exist in this world, reflecting on one scene in particular that really resonated with the second-eldest Bridgerton.
“There’s a moment towards the end of the season where Benedict is talking to Tilley about how he doesn’t want anything serious, and Tilley, in a very powerful way, says to him, ‘That’s OK, but it was really nice to want something for once,'” she said. “Benedict is someone who experiences a lot of breadths in his life in terms of a million different experiences, but he’s never really committed to anything. I think what he’s starting to realize is that he also craves depth, and so Benedict reconciling breadth with depth is something we’re going to dive into pretty deeply in future seasons.
” While there’s no news yet about when fans can expect season four, Brownell told at the London premiere of season three, part two, that they will likely have to wait another hits the streamer. “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,” she said. “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.
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