Benedict Bridgerton’s Bright Future
If I am in prediction mode, I doubt that Bridgerton Season 3 will feature Benedict in the lead role. I think he’s too adrift, and I believe there’s more work they want to do with him before he gets his spotlight as the leading man. If I lean toward the book and say they’ll follow that, I expect there will be a lovely masquerade wherein he meets a mystery lady in silver at the end of the season.
But I want Bridgerton to swing big. I want Bridgerton to do what they’ve proven they have the guts to do: fight for representation, and change the source material. I want them to give Benedict his happily ever after with a man.
Previously, I advocated for a “give Benedict a boyfriend” idea, something along the lines of showing he’s bisexual and making that a beautiful storyline before he lands with his “forever” of the books, Sophie. Now, I want it to go even farther.
I honestly never expected Bridgerton to have the balls to depart from the book stories as dramatically as they did in Season 2. I thought they would be forever shackled by a basis in early 2000s romance fiction (very good early 2000s romance fiction, but nevertheless). Now, though, they have shown they’re willing to take massive risks to serve the story and the characters better, to make the points they want and need to make.
If your show is making a point about inclusion, it needs to be widely inclusive. That includes sexual orientation.
Chris Van Dusen has dropped more than a few big hints that they’ll be exploring that side of Benedict in the future. He is the second son in a more inclusive world, Chris Van Dusen told Teen Vogue. It’s clearly in the zeitgeist of the Bridgerton writers’ room.
Of course, it’s a distinct possibility that Benedict will have a man in his life in season three that won’t last. Then something will happen that forces them apart or they fall out, he breaks Benedict’s heart, and all of that would be beautiful. And I would be thrilled with that representation and storytelling, so long as it was done well which, at this point, I thoroughly trust Bridgerton to do. But so much better than that is if Benedict gets his happily ever after with a Stephen instead of a Sophie.
Don’t get me wrong: I adore Sophie and their love story. I’m a sucker for a Cinderella story anyway, but given our current cultural climate, especially post Me Too, things were going to have to change in that narrative anyway. So keep the themes of the story, keep a beautiful Cinderella story, give me a fairy tale. Just give it to me for a gay couple.
Too often in media, queer characters are reduced to their queerness. Or worse, it’s treated as something to be fixed or reformed, a message Bridgerton would have to deftly avoid if Benedict has a quick relationship with a man then settles down in the far more acceptable place of marriage to a woman. I think they could do it, but they would have to be quite aware of themselves in that process. And more, it’s important to remember that so many of the queer community’s stories, when they do finally get told, are stories all about the struggle and danger and pain of being LGBTQ+ in a world that struggles or simply doesn’t accept it. “Bury your gays” has become a literal trope with how often the queer characters are killed off.
So in a show that already has a fairy tale element with a source material that leans the same, a show all about romance and a more inclusive world, give us a forever for a gay couple.
Give Benedict his happy ever after with a man. That’s the bright future I want for Benedict Bridgerton.
