Benedict Bridgerton is stepping into the spotlight!
While the first few seasons of Bridgerton focused more on other members of the Bridgerton family like Jonathan Bailey's Anthony, Luke Newton's Colin, and Phoebe Dynevor's Daphne, the upcoming fourth season is shifting to tell the love story of the second Bridgerton son, Benedict.
— (@)
According to Netflix's X (formerly Twitter) account, the fourth season of the popular and spicy romantic period series follow Benedict Bridgerton a little more closely.
"Despite his elder and younger brothers both being happily married, Benedict is loath to settle down – until he meets the captivating Lady in Silver at his mother's masquerade ball."
In the Bridgerton novels, the Lady in Silver turns out to be Sophie Beckett, a low-born woman.
But we have to ask: Why not a captivating Man in Silver?
— (@)
After the recent third season of the show explored the queerness of several characters, namely Francesca Bridgerton (in addition to Benedict), many fans are hoping to see that queerness explored even further in the next season.
Benedict started a romance with the young widow Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New), but he wasn't the only one she was with.
After several passionate rounds of lovemaking, Tilley introduced Benedict to her friend Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio), another man she was having a casual fling with. But she didn't just introduce the two men, she encouraged them to get to know each other intimately.
That encouragement was barely needed, as Benedict and Paul had electric chemistry, and soon, the two kissed, and the three had a lot of intense three-way sex.
— (@)
"[He] felt a little lost to me at the end of last season when his brother got married, and now he’s still trying to figure out that path between adulthood and being a devil-may-care kind of guy," executive producer Shonda Rimes said of Benedict in her notes on the season. "This season you watch him explore aspects of himself that he did not even know were there. I also think you watch him find the joy in the debauchery of life."
"I knew that people out there had a feeling Benedict might be queer,” showrunner Jess Brownell said after season 3. “And personally, it made sense to me. He’s not just open minded, it’s that he seems like the type of person who wouldn’t be as concerned with gender — someone who might be more fluid and pansexual. He’s really attracted to someone’s spirit. And so it felt like we should make sense of those pieces that were in Seasons 1 and 2. That was what we were attempting to do with his storyline."
Some homophobic fans are already angry that Bridgerton has changed the gender of one character, Michael Stirling in the books, to be Michaela Stirling in the show. At the end of the third season, Francesca met Michaela (Francesca married Michaela's cousin John) and the two had an instant and intense connection.
In the books, Francesca falls in love with Michael, so we are assuming Francesca will fall in love with Michaela in a similar way.
Hopefully, Benedict will also get to explore more of the queer aspects of himself, whether it's also with this mysterious Lady in Silver or on his own.
Bridgerton is streaming on Netflix.