Who Is the Bridgerton Season 4 Lead?

One of the biggest questions we were all left with at the end of Bridgerton Season 3 was, unsurprisingly, who is the season 4 lead? The show runner, Jess Brownell, hinted that we should be able to figure out who the S4 lead is from the clues left in Season 3. So, let’s explore those clues, because some of them seem clear, but they also seem contradictory.

First, let’s meet our contenders. The obvious choices are the three unwed, adult Bridgertons: Benedict, Eloise, and Francesca. Obviously they could pull a random bait and switch with a time jump and give us a Gregory or Hyacinth season, or go totally off script and have a Violet season, but that seems highly unlikely. So let’s stick with our big three.

Next, it’s important to rule out that it could be two siblings at the same time. It won’t be, as confirmed by show runner Brownell when she stated to Teen Vogue: “I don’t have any plans to combine seasons. I want every sibling to have their own season and I know that Shonda [Rhimes] wants that as well.” So, that’s out. We need to pick one of the siblings as our prediction for Season Four.

I also won’t be considering the “how many fingers am I holding up?” arguments. I’ve seen lots of comments about how Benedict closes the box with four fingers at the end of Season 2, or we see four of Eloise’s fingers pressed against the window at the end of Season 3. Frankly, I don’t think these are meaningful and they’re entirely contradictory. So I’m just tossing them out and will be dealing with things that are a little clearer.

I’ll start with my possibly surprising least likely pick — Eloise. I know there are lots of people pulling for this, and there are some in-universe reasons I could see this being a possibility. For one, Eloise’s book directly follows Polin’s, so there is a bit of natural progression there. Eloise even expresses in Season 3 some of the same feelings that push her toward wanting to settle down in the books, the feeling that she’s growing isolated as everyone in her life is pairing off. However, that doesn’t seem to stick with her, and while in the books she runs off to Phillip, in the show, we’re seeing more of her running off to Scotland with her sister and the Stirlings. That seems like a great place for her, possibly through a friendship with Michaela, to get back to her true self, the brave activist, who is now a bit more knowledgeable and circumspect.

Moreover, Jess Brownell added in a conversation with The Wrap, “I think it’s absolutely possible that [Eloise] is going to open up to love in the future, but we have a little bit more we want to do with her before she’s ready for that.” So I would say that pretty well confirms that Eloise is not Season 4.

There is still a slim chance, and there could be a clue in that we glimpse some letters addressed to “Miss Bridgerton” that Colin has. Why Colin has his sister’s letters, I have no idea. But those could be an Easter egg hinting at the letters she writes to Phillip, and we could end up with a surprise twist where it turns out she’s been writing him all along, and Season 4 jumps in with their relationship. It’s a possibility, albeit a slim one, so I can’t fully count out Eloise. Still, the likelihood she is our next lead seems about as next to nothing as we can get.

Moving onto our next contender, Francesca. I think there is more of a chance it’s her than Eloise, but she’s still not my top pick for several reasons. Obviously we got the major introduction of Michaela Stirling, her eventual HEA, and there is clearly a lot of hype and discussion around this pairing at the moment. They could want to capitalize on this and dive right in with Francesca’s story. She had a healthy subplot in Season 3, and so they could slide right into her narrative for the next season.

However, the biggest problem with that is it seems her story needs at least one more season to breathe. We’ve just seen her marry John, and get thunderstruck by Michaela. Getting through all the pieces that have to come together, including a possible struggle with fertility storyline, and John’s eventual death, seems to need more space to work than just Francesca’s main season. However, given that the book itself shows us very little of John and Francesca’s marriage, we could jump right into his loss, her grief, and her eventually falling for Michaela directly in Season 4.

That, though, I think would be a misstep for many reasons. I think we need that time to fall deeper for John so we can feel right along with Francesca that deep, abiding grief when she loses him. And I think we need to get to know Francesca, and Michaela, for another season before they dive into their romance. While that ending, with a tongue-tied Francesca, is an absolutely adorable and fun meet-cute, I don’t think it’s a signal we are headed into their story just yet.

Benedict is in many ways the front runner, and it’s easy to see why. His book is third in the original canon of the story, so when Polin jumped to Season 3, many were shocked, and some were even a bit dismayed. While I think this was undoubtedly the right decision, I also know that people would continue to get more shocked and more dismayed if his season was yet again pushed back. He is the oldest unwed Bridgerton, making it make a lot of sense for him to be next up for falling in love.

Within the story, we have lots of clues that it could be Benedict next. The biggest and most glaringly obvious is of course the reference to the masquerade. Book readers will know that this is the famous and adored scene wherein Benedict’s Cinderella-style love story is started. He meets the love of his life, who is in disguise at a masquerade, and then spends several years searching for her. I know I was surprised that the masquerade wasn’t the event to end Season 3, but with the showrunner’s comments that they want to keep each siblings’ major events to their own season, it seems almost guaranteed that means if the masquerade is in Season 4, that it’s Benedict’s season.

He also gives the famous eating of his words line. In Season 1, Anthony declares love will have no place in his marriage, and of course has to eat those words by falling head over heels for Kate. In Season 2, Colin declares he would never court Penelope Featherington, then is so mad for her by halfway through Season 3 that they’re going at it in a carriage. Benedict in Season 3 declares he has no intention of settling down, precisely the sort of thing one might expect from a rake who has just discovered a new part of himself. Bridgerton loves to make her men completely change their outlook, and Benedict seems properly poised to do that.

Of course, that could equally be seen as something he needs to explore for another season before settling down. However, despite a misquoting of Jess Brownell, Bridgerton has not given any indication that they are going to give another season to Benedict finding himself before he finds the one. Brownell did say to Teen Vogue that they would be continuing to explore Benedict’s fluid sexuality. As for what that means, whether that could be an LGBTQ+ love interest or just more of him exploring that before he settles down remains to be seen. But there hasn’t been any comments that steer away from a Benedict Season 4.

At this point, I would lay the odds at about 70% likely it’s Benedict, 25% Francesca, and 5% Eloise. This might not be groundbreaking, but I think it’s the most likely scenario. Let’s hope we find out quite soon, and given that it took only three days between the Season 2 farewell post to the lead announcement, well, we could be hearing quite soon.