Top 10 Questions Bridgerton Needs to Answer in Season 4

It STILL hasn’t been confirmed which Bridgerton sibling the fourth season is going to be about. It felt like we knew immediately after seasons 1 and 2 who was going to be the next sibling in the spotlight, but for season 4, new showrunner Jess Brownell is keeping her cards close to her chest. However, currently, all clues point to Benedict, whose book was skipped so that we could get to Colin and Penelope sooner. Hopefully, the most overlooked Bridgerton soon gets his due, and there were a few hints in the show; he tells Eloise he’ll be at next season’s masquerade, which book readers will know is where his story begins.

To say there has been a LOT of debate around Francesca would be an understatement. Many fans speculated during season 3 part 1 that Francesca was neurodivergent and potentially on the autism spectrum; of course, they didn’t have words for that during the Regency, but she struck a chord with viewers. However, part 2 showed her visibly disappointed when she kissed John at their wedding, and then forget her own name when introduced to Michaela, John’s gender-flipped cousin and her main love interest. We’re going to have to wait for more episodes to see whether she’s bi like Benedict is or whether the show is representing compulsory heterosexuality.

In the books, Eloise disappears to see if she wants to marry Sir Phillip Crane only shortly after Colin and Penelope get married. In fact, she’s corresponding with him in secret throughout their courtship. But in the show, she’s now journeyed to Scotland along with the Stirlings. We can’t wait to hear what she does while she’s there, and how much she learns about herself and the world. Maybe she’ll fall in love once again, meaning she’ll be more equipped to know what she wants in a husband when her book rolls around. But this is also a good plot point because it keeps Francesca connected to her family, as opposed to how rarely she’s seen in the books.

Even if you haven’t read the books, you’ve likely become aware through fandom discourse that John is destined to die young and tragically. He passes away from a brain aneurysm at the beginning of “When He Was Wicked”, and she goes into mourning for four years, while Michael, who inherits the earldom, disappears to India. Since the show has already shown us John and Francesca’s entire relationship, we’re definitely going to see this scene play out in the show, but we don’t know when. It’s supposed to happen two years into their marriage, but the timeline is different in the books and show, so we could see this as soon as season 4.

As everyone knows, in the books, the Sheffields aren’t from India at all. But Kate Sharma IS, and at the end of season 3, Anthony and Kate agreed that they were going to make the long journey to South Asia so that their first child could be born there. This seems to be setting up a trend that the previous season’s couple will be on hand to offer advice to the newcomers, meaning that we’re going to be seeing Colin and Penelope offering pearls of wisdom to the incoming Bridgertons. But the fanbase would sorely miss Kate and Anthony if they do end up staying in India indefinitely. Hopefully, they return to England, or we follow them and their family in India.

“Queen Charlotte” gave us a subplot about Violet realizing that she thinks it’s time to move on from Edmund and open herself up to a new connection. As such, Lady Danbury’s brother, Marcus, returned to London, just in time to charm Violet. Though Lady D is briefly an obstacle because of things that happened between her and her brother in the past, they bury the hatchet and Violet and Marcus seem to agree to give things a shot. Only time will tell whether this continues into season 4, but we hope so! Albeit without taking too much attention away from the main couple. Maybe they’ll get their own inter-season spin-off.

Along with John’s looming death, the other elephant in the room is Lady Crane, AKA Marina Thompson. In the books, we hear nothing of Marina at all until “To Sir Phillip, With Love”, when it’s revealed she’s Eloise’s cousin and has taken her own life. Eloise ultimately marries Sir Phillip and adopts he and Marina’s twins, Oliver and Amanda, as her own. But we have no idea how this is going to play out, since it seems increasingly unlikely that Ruby Barker, who played Marina, will return to the show, having had an unpleasant time while shooting. It would be a shame if Marina dies completely off-screen, and we certainly don’t envy the writers for having to write themselves out of this corner.

In the books, Penelope hangs up the mantle of Lady Whistledown completely after her identity is revealed, and she begins writing semi-autobiographical novels under her own name. But in the show, she’s announced that she’s going to continue writing the gossip column, she just isn’t going to do it anonymously anymore. But how will they maintain the intrigue of Whistledown if everyone knows who she is? By bringing in a new, rival column, of course! We would LOVE to see a new columnist trying to take Penelope’s crown, especially when we’re sure that Pen will find it harder to work out which rumors are true when everybody is wary of her.

If season 4 is Benedict’s season after all, then of course, we’ll meet Sophie Beckett, his love interest. But if it isn’t, and instead the show favors Eloise or Francesca, it’s still likely that we’re going to meet Sophie regardless. Again, this is because Benedict has already referenced the masquerade, which is where they meet. But in the books, Sophie is then kicked out of the household of her stepmother and makes her own way as a servant for years, with Benedict being unable to forget her. So, there’s every chance we’ll still meet Sophie at the beginning of season 4 and may not see her again until a later season, even if we’re to follow a different sibling.

Who knew that season 3’s break-out star would be Cressida Cowper, who’s thus far been a villainous, caricature mean girl? Season 3 managed to humanize Cressida, perhaps too much, because we all felt awful to see her sent away to Wales to live with her horrible Aunt Joanna. We certainly hope that this isn’t the last we see of Cressida, and that she finds a husband and gets a redemption arc. Like Violet, she’s another contender for a potential spin-off miniseries, covering what happens to her in the off-season when she’s away, and whether she finally snares a nice husband who can bring out the best in her.

Let us know in the comments what YOU want to see happen in “Bridgerton” season 4!