Bridgerton Season 4: Will Kate and Anthony Return?

 In episode 7 of season 3 the writers sent Kate and Anthony to India (even though Kate was pregnant), which Jess Brownell has said in interviews was a plot device to write them out, leaving the way open for a return if possible.  For many fans this has led to the belief that Kate and Anthony won't be returning in season 4, despite the public comments from Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey about their commitment to the show.  The belief that Kate and Anthony won't be returning has been reinforced by Luke Newton letting slip in an interview that he had already seen his first script and Polin's first scene, something that Simone and Jonathan don't appear to have had the privilege of (even for season 3 after being the season 2 leads), indicating that the new show runner is perhaps less than committed to Kate and Anthony.  In interviews, Simone and Jonathan have repeatedly said they want to return, but it is up to the production, and so far the production - or rather the show runner - has come across as less than enthusiastic about the idea, and seems to be non committal about their return.

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I realise that many will come back saying that Jess said that she hasn't written Kate and Anthony outIn 2022, ahead of the filming for season 3 Jess Brownell, the new show runner, stated in an interview that Phoebe Dynevor (who plays Daphne, Duchess of Hastings) would be returning in season 3, however, as it transpired Phoebe did not return, leaving Jess Brownell looking less than truthful about her plans.  Having it committed in writing from Jess about Daphne returning when she didn't has led many fans to be sceptical about anything that Jess says about the return of Kate and Anthony, which could be a fair assessment based on information of previous actions.  

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Whilst the past behaviour from Jess is not definitive, there are other things to consider when wondering if Kate and Anthony will be returning in Season 4, specifically the availability of Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey.  Simone is currently filming the F1 movie, and travelling to a number of Grand Prix races around the world in order to film scenes, this is not due to complete until December, though it is hard to know if it will require a full time commitment from her for it, or if she is only required a few days a month.  In an interview with Vogue India Simone also hinted that she is working on another project set in India, though it is unsure if it is in pre-production or if she has been filming it.  Meanwhile Jonathan Bailey is currently filming Jurassic World in Malta, due to finish in October, but then he will soon after be beginning rehearsals for Henry II which runs in London from February to May 2025.  

In addition to filming and theatre commitments, both Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley have projects coming out this year, in fact Simone Ashley has 2, possibly 3, movies all of which she is the lead (yes, one is animated), which will all require some form of promotion.  It is hard to know how much these projects will be promoted and how involved in the promotion they both will be, but it is logical to assume Simone will be heavily involved in the promotion of her projects as the lead, as well as being an executive producer for one of them. With these commitments it is hard to see where they will have the time to commit to Bridgerton much, and if they do I don't expect them in it for more than a scene or two in one episode.  

Further, it is being reported on social media today that the hair and makeup artists that have worked on Simone for Bridgerton are not returning for season 4. Farida Ghwedar and Jessie Deol have been the only team to work on Simone for Bridgerton, and whilst they also did Nicola in season 3, I do not believe that they had been the ones to work on her in previous seasons. If these two are departing Bridgerton, could there be a possibility it is in part because Simone is not returning? This is a possibility. 

As much as this disappoints me, especially when you look at how badly Jess Brownell handled their story in season 3, and failed to complete their story arc in season 3, it is understandable as to why they may not return for season 4. I just wish we had received a good ending for them, and seeing at least one major life event for Kate onscreen.   

Bridgerton Season 4: It's Benedict!

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Bridgerton's official social media accounts, to no-one's surprise, have announced Benedict as the season 4 lead.  The Netflix and Bridgerton promotion teams are obviously looking to try new things with promotion as the season 4 announcement was a departure from the way they announced season 2 and season 3.  Season 2's lead was announced via a short post on their social media sites confirming that the show was returning for a second season and that it would be focusing on Anthony.  Season 3's female lead announced her season live at the FYC event for season 2 during the promotional tour of the US being done by Simone Ashley, and this was followed up with an announcement on their social media pages.  Whilst season 2's announcement had no mention, or hint, of the female protagonist season 3's announcement focused more on the non-Bridgerton half of the pairing as opposed to the Bridgerton.  Season 3's announcement was a short video which featured scenes of Benedict from previous seasons and hinting at the Masquerade Ball, but again no mention of the female protagonist.  We note that in the video Luke Thompson is holding a script for Bridgerton, but it is unclear if it is a S4 script or a S3 script.  

Video Credit:  Netflix

So with the announcement that season 4 is focussing on Benedict, again the fandom has turned to asking who will play Sophie in the show, she is one of the most anticipated Bridgerton spouses, with Michael (now known to be Michaela) and Kate being the other two spouses that have been highly anticipated in the fandom.  It is believed that Sophie will be an actress of East Asian heritage, with the leak of a casting call widely believed to be Sophie, specifying an East Asian actress.  Other rumours suggest that Sophie will not be of mixed race either.  Many fans are of the certainty that she will be a Chinese actress, or a British actress of Chinese descent, which won't seem to anachronistic for the Bridgerton time period, however, there is a possibility she could be Japanese, or Korean as well, assuming that the casting is being specific and not using East Asia as a catch all term for East Asia and Southeast Asia.  In historical terms China makes the most sense for the ethnicity due to the long history of trade between the UK and China - a relationship that has been present longer than the relationship between the UK and India.  

However, is it possible that the actress playing Sophie could be Japanese?  On the day of the season 4 announcement the make up designer, Erika Okvist, shared a video showing a young women having her hair tied in a traditional Japanese style.  Was this video being shared a coincidence or a hint towards Sophie?  Hopefully we will find out before 2026!  

                

                                                          Image Credit:  Screenshot from Erika Okvist Instagram

What we do know from varying social media posts this week is that costume fittings have begun for Luke Thompson, which could indicate that the part of Sophie has been cast.  If Sophie has already been cast is there a possibility she will be announced during August, or will the production try to hold off announcing her as long as possible?  One Reddit user has suggested that it would be a good marketing strategy to hide Sophie's actress until the season is released having her revealed to the viewers as she is revealed to Benedict.  This is a strategy that could have worked if Sophie had been introduced in S3, however, as she will be starting the show as the lead this is not the best strategy for the production, especially after the way season 3 was promoted with two white leads.  The optics would not be great for Bridgerton or Netflix to keep a woman of colour lead hidden for 2 years and during initial promotion, especially if they use a white woman in the initial promotion after the criticism of how the leads of season 2 were promoted compared to the season 3 leads.  

Bridgerton has a perception problem when it comes to their treatment of woman of colour, especially a woman of colour lead who is neither mixed nor light skinned.  If they were to take the route of keeping the actress playing Sophie secret for 2 years, and not promote her at all, and perhaps relying on the season 3 leads to do the initial season 4 promotion (as some fans have suggested), it will increase the negative perception of Bridgerton and Netflix that I have discussed previously.  I hope that when the promotion period comes that the season 4 leads get a world wide tour and all the magazine covers and interviews they deserve to have as leads, just as the season 3 leads did.  

Filming is expected to begin in September, finishing in April 2025, and from previous seasons of filming, the Bridgerton detectives will be out in force to see if they can make any guesses to the storyline from the filming leaks.  

Image Credit:  Netflix

The only thing I have left to say regarding the announcement is - Finally!  Benedict's season is overdue, and I can't wait to see him shine as the lead.  

Bridgerton Season 3: Five ways they missed the mark

Despite its success, season 3 has garnered some of the widest ranging criticism of all Bridgerton seasons.  Whilst previous seasons were not immune to criticism it was mostly contained to one or two main points, in comparison season 3 has been criticised widely for everything from hair and make up to storytelling and acting.  Is this criticism valid, or is it (as some claim) just haters?  From my perspective I believe that some of the criticism is more than valid, this season did not live up to previous seasons in a number of areas and completely missed the mark in other areas.  

Below are 5 of the ways that I think Bridgerton season 3 missed the mark.

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Costumes:  One of the most criticised aspects of season 3 has been the costumes, and I believe that the costuming this season is one of the main reasons many see this season as feeling disconnected from the previous 2 seasons.  Many of the costumes feel anachronistic, taking the viewer out of time and place and disassociating the viewer from the Regency period the show is meant to be set in.  From 1940s and 1950s Hollywood Glamour to 1980s power dressing, Bridgerton season 3 had it all in terms of costuming, and most of it missed the mark for Regency.  Bridgerton set its in-world design in season 1 where it was established that despite a modern twist the general aesthetic and silhouette would remain firmly in the Regency period, for season 3 these rules were thrown out and the costume designer ran with a mishmash of styles and periods which gave a messy and incoherent look overall to the season, and very little of it appeared to make sense. This is not even taking into account the hideous gloves which looked cheap, nor the fact that the leading lady never appeared to wear stockings, something that even the poorest in society did. This is not to say there weren't some good costumes, there were and they tended to be the ones that stuck more closely to Regency fashions, overall the costuming for season 3 was not up to the same standard as the previous seasons. 

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Hair and Makeup:  Another miss, which is odd considering the Hair and Make-up team (unlike the costume designer) was pretty much the same team as for season 2, at least for the main characters. This season the make-up looked too modern with heavy eyeliner and copious amounts of highlighter in some scenes, but one of the most egregious decisions from the Hair and Make-up team was the acrylic nails and the 1950s hairstyles.  In some scenes we saw Penelope with a lot of makeup and her hair down in a Rita Hayworth style with the overall look making it appear as though she was in a 1940s dance hall not a Regency ball room, which did little to draw in the viewer.  Even though we saw some half down hair styles in previous seasons, in general they styles were not fully loose, keeping in theme of the Regency period with a modern twist complementing the two time periods but not completely taking the viewer out of the period the show is meant to be set in.  In this season we saw Penelope with her hair fully down in public more than once - a style that would have only been worn by a sex worker or child not yet out.

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Writing:  Another major complaint on season 3 is the writing and storytelling.   Whilst some will say there were too many sub plots, I would argue that it isn't necessarily the number of sub plots, but the way they were written and the failure to feel seamless within the story that was being told, a problem that was also present in season 2, though not to the same degree. However, one of the worst aspects of the writing is the incomplete storylines, or the storylines that felt incomplete but finished.  The most obvious of these for many fans it that of Kate and Anthony, where their whole story arc was centred on Kate wanting to get pregnant, and then being pregnant without seeing the baby.  Further, with the Kate and Anthony storyline is that they left to go to India whilst Kate was pregnant (another much longer issue to be discussed), leaving their story feeling finished but not complete. In addition to the incomplete storylines, the plot contrivances were more noticeable, especially in respect of Lady Whistledown.  Bridgerton has always used a plot contrivance to tie up their stories, the writers tend to spend too much time on the drama and not enough time getting the couple together, however it seemed even more pointed in season 3.  Part of the issue was that the Lady Whistledown story had been built up for 3 seasons by the time of the reveal, there had been consequences for Marina, for Eloise, and for Cressida as a result of Lady Whistledown for one reason or another, but when the reveal came about it felt too easy.  The resolution failed to deliver on the build up, with a 'that's it' feeling at the end, but also rendering the sacrifices of other characters meaningless in the need to tie up Penelope's story with a happy ever after bow, and her not being vilified for being Lady Whistledown.  There is so much more to say about how the hubris of the writers failed Penelope as a character, and the Lady Whistledown story arc over the three seasons, but that will come over time as I rewatch all three seasons to take more in-depth notes on it.  

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Telling not Showing:  Whilst we saw a little of the idea of showing not telling in season 2, this season it was more prevalent, most noticeably centred around Colin, his story arc and his character.  We were told how Colin felt, but not really shown, we were told aspects of Colin's character but not shown him behaving in this way, we were told that Colin and Penelope were good friends, but we were not shown this, and in fact if you had not seen the previous seasons you would come into this season thinking it was an enemies to lovers initially.  Bridgerton writers are looking to rely a lot more on the telling not showing as they try to go bigger with the drama season upon season.  

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Having Polin as the protagonists: This will be a controversial view in some quarters, but I stand by the fact that I think they did Polin's story too early, and it needed an extra season to marinate, for the friendship to be cemented, and for the fall out of season 2 to be dealt with before moving forwards with their story. I think one of the failures in season 3 with the writing was that there was too much drama to be resolved and they didn't leave enough time and space to resolve it, however, some of that drama could have been resolved, or at least on a path to resolution if they had waited another season to do Polin. 

Bridgerton Season 3 Review: Episode 8 'Into the Light'

After watching this episode my first thought was - 'that was it?'.  This whole season felt flat, and I will say that I am not sure if it is because the season was flat or if it was because I do not like Penelope and Colin, and the writers did nothing to make them likeable in their season, whatever the reason, this season did not live up to expectations, and from what I have seen online I don't believe I am the only one thinking this. In this context this episode is the most anticlimactic final episode I have seen in a TV show for a while.   

This episode focuses on the Lady Whistledown drama, and the conclusion (of sorts) to that story arc. It should have been an episode where we cheered and were satisfied with the resolution, but it all felt too easy, even more so than previous seasons.  Bridgerton is known for its quick resolutions, and the writers inability to truly follow through, and that was never more obvious than in this season with the Lady Whistledown reveal.  After a 3 season build up with the conflict it was all too easily resolved, and some of the underlying issues of Lady Whistledown were never fully addressed. What should have been the conclusion of Lady Whistledown in the series failed as the writers and showrunners instead are continuing with Penelope's gossip column, showing that perhaps their interest is not in the Bridgerton family, but rather in doing their own version of Gossip Girl, which makes this show less and less interesting for those more interested in a romance featuring the Bridgerton siblings. 

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In the beginning of the episode we see Cressida visit Penelope the morning after the wedding, letting Penelope know that she knows she is Lady Whistledown and using this knowledge to blackmail Penelope, telling her she wants £10,000 to keep her secret. During the conversation Lady Featherington arrives to see Penelope, and Cressida reveals Penelope's secret to her. Lady Featherington tells Penelope that there is no need for Colin to know about the Blackmail, but to her credit Penelope says that she doesn't wish to lie anymore, prompting her to go to Bridgerton House (where Colin had gone to earlier), where she tells Colin and Eloise that Cressida knows she is Lady Whistledown and demands £10,000. At this point Colin makes the decision that they won't pay Cressida, but rather he will talk to her. 

Colin goes to see Cressida, where he tries to gain her mercy by sympathising with her plight, however, Cressida calls Colin out on his privilege, telling him that they are not the same - and never will be. This exchange led to Cressida doubling the amount for the blackmail to £20,000, and demanding that Penelope uses her column to restore Cressida's reputation. Colin tells Penelope he has the funds but has to get the sign off from Benedict, whom he will lie to in order to get the funds signed off in order to pay Cressida. 

Meanwhile the Solicitor from the first episode returns to tell Lady Featherington that his investigation has confirmed the money did not come from the aunt she claimed it did since her neighbours confirmed she lived in poverty. Penelope overhears this, learning the truth about how they gained the money and confronts her mother. However, Penelope and her mother's talk reveals to Penelope that perhaps she is more like her mother than she wishes to admit, and they come to an understanding of their similarities. 

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Francesca's wedding takes place in Bridgerton House with just family present. Prior to the ceremony we see Violet and Francesca talk with Violet revealing that when she first met Edmund she was so taken by him that she stumbled over her words and could barely talk. Violet tells Francesca that she believed that was how love was for the longest time, but Francesca has shown her that there was another way to find love. During the wedding celebrations Penelope talks to Colin where she tells him not to ask Benedict for the money as she doesn't want him to lie to his family for her. Penelope sends the Queen and Violet a letter, presumably to tell them of her secret identity. 

Philippa and Prudence's ball takes place, and is much grander than they thought it would be, and whilst Philippa thinks her mother paid for it, it was Penelope who paid for the ball, though she is happy for her mother to take the credit. The ball is interrupted with the arrival of the Queen, and the announcement that she received a letter from Lady Whistledown. The letter to the Queen called upon her mercy and asked for her to address everyone publicly before the Queen passes judgement. Penelope walks into the centre of the room (into the light) and gives a speech in which she talks about Lady Whisltedown, though she never really apologises for what she wrote, but does give reasons and excuses for her writings. Penelope ends her speech by saying that if the Queen affords her the chance to continue that she means to aim her quill more responsibly, and that is her repentance and plea. As she concludes, and the Queen acknowledges this and leaves, the Ton are stunned into silence with no-one speaking, until Philippa comes to the rescue calling for Varley to release the 'bugs' (Butterflies). Penelope tells her mother that she can tell the solicitor that the money came from her writing so that they won't lose the title. 

During the ball Eloise asks Francesca and John if she may come with them to Scotland, both are very pleased to have her join them, and John says that it is wonderful as his cousin has finally arrived to join their travelling party. John's cousin approaches and introduces herself as Michaela Stirling, flustering Francesca where we see her stumbling over her words, barely able to talk - just as her mother described her meeting Edmund. 

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The epilogue shows all three of the Featherington girls with a baby, Prudence and Philippa having had girls, and it is revealed that Penelope had a boy. At this point it is a little confusing as Violet refers to the baby as Lord Featherington, but others refer to him as the heir, so it is unknown if he is the heir to the title, or the new title holder. In the epilogue we learn that Colin has published a book and it is not as bad as what Gregory thought it would be, the episode ends with a VoiceOver from Penelope showing that she is continuing to write her column. 

Bridgerton Season 3 Review: Episode 7 'Joining of Hands'

This episode begins with the fallout of Colin finding out about Lady Thistledown, and to be expected he did not take it well being lied to, and manipulated, by Penelope.  The episode begins exactly where the previous episode left off with Colin confronting Penelope outside the printer's shop, confusingly the anger Colin feels towards her appears to come from concern for her safety (him thinking she had been abducted) initially, and vacillates between that and the fact she is the woman who wrote about him and his family and lied to him. Whilst it is most likely that this was meant to show Colin's confused feelings about the reveal it is never satisfactorily looked at in the episode, so it is hard to know what is motivating this emotion in Colin. As a viewer I was unsure what the motivating force behind Colin's anger was, but I do think that the writers were desperate to give him the same reasoning for anger as in the book. This just doesn't work for a number of reasons, partly due to how they have written Lady Whistledown, but also because they had written themselves into a corner with Colin being angry about what Penelope had written, meaning the writing comes across as incoherent and confused. 

The next morning we have the 'battle of the Ladies Whistledown' as Cressida puts out her first full edition in which she brings into question the reputation of the Bridgerton family, meanwhile the edition Penelope had published comes out also, with more hard gossip as opposed to innuendo disguised as gossip, with a subtle (or not so subtle) dig at Cressida. We find out that it is Lady Cowper that was behind the cruel things written about the Bridgertons in Cressida's column, with Cressida displaying regret at having written them, Lady Cowper however appears to display some jealousy towards Violet and the Bridgertons. 

Preparations for the wedding are underway with Lady Featherington hosting the wedding breakfast, and during the 'tour' with Violet, Colin and Penelope we see the frosty relations between Colin and Penelope. Colin let's Penelope know that he is present because Violet was curious about them not spending time together, and he did not want to arouse suspicions, Penelope's response is to ask if he will call off the wedding - it really seems that is her only concern. In response to Penelope asking if he will call off the wedding, Colin responds with Anthony's line from season 2 - 'I am a man of honour'. Colin also mentions that they were intimate, he goes on to suggest that was also part of her planned entrapment. Penelope doesn't address any issues, just says that she loves him. Colin asks if Penelope will stop publishing, however, she is unable to respond saying she doesn't know if she will, but the night before the wedding when she visits Mme Delacroix Penelope states that she tried giving Lady Whistledown up but it felt like giving up part of herself. I found this from Penelope interesting, it indicates that Penelope may recognise some of the toxicity in her personality and that is what comes out in Whistledown. That Penelope may have some recognition that Whistledown is not the best side of her personality is again hinted at when she runs into Colin outside of the modiste, and again they have a confrontation about Whistledown, and Penelope acknowledges that she has done some damage, and again apologises. As the discussion continues Colin questions about what she wrote about Eloise and Marina and Penelope attempts to justify herself, however, Colin asks if she does not respect him enough to have told him about Marina personally, he then goes on to say it is obvious that Penelope does not respect him considering what she wrote about him at the beginning of the season. 

Image Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix

On his return to Bridgerton House Kate and Anthony have a talk with Colin, or rather Kate has a talk and Anthony sits there besotted with his wife. Kate tells Colin that everyone has secrets and has made mistakes, and that he cannot let one mistake define their whole lives together. On the surface this is about Colin and Penelope I feel that the subtext of this from Kate is her showing how she forgave Anthony, and how they moved on from their mistakes in the previous season. 

The wedding ceremony is a standard ceremony, though missing some important aspects of a full Church of England ceremony, however, it does feel that it is a much grander wedding than one would expect for a third daughter and untitled third son. After the ceremony the wedding breakfast is held at Featherington house, and is interrupted by the Queen who demands all but Bridgertons leave the room, (strangely Lady D remains). The Queen claims that she knows that Lady Whistledown is in the room, and is one of the Bridgertons, however, Anthony steps up and says he would have known if it was happening in his house and would have put a stop to it. This shows Anthony's mindset with regards to Lady Whistledown, and that when he finally finds out that he probably would not be that happy about Lady Whistledown being a member of his family.  

After the Queen leaves Colin and Penelope have yet another confrontation about Lady Whistledown, with Colin again telling Penelope it is time for her to give it up. Penelope responds with a speech about the powerlessness of being a woman, which is interesting because if there is one thing Penelope does it is remove any power a woman may have through exposure in her column, Penelope has not shown any care for women or their roles in society, which makes this speech out of place in the show as it has been previously. 

Highs: 

• John asking Francesca to dance at the wedding breakfast
• Prudence making an effort towards Penelope, it reinforces to me that Prudence's biggest issue with Penelope was that she recognised Penelope is their mother's favourite 
• Kate and Anthony scenes, they are a delight on screen and we truly did not have enough of them
• Marcus and Lady Danbury talking through their issue, and coming to a better understanding

Lows: 

• Penelope and Colin getting married without the Bridgertons knowing she is Lady Whistledown, this shows an inherent lack of familial loyalty or care, and also (to echo Colin), a great amount of disrespect. It is odd that the writers had Colin telling Penelope that she showed disrespect by not telling him about Marina, then having Colin show that same disrespect to his family by not telling them about Penelope being Lady Whistledown. 
• Telling, not showing, us about Kate and Anthony's wedding. Why bring it up knowing fans were upset about not seeing it? Giving the benefit of the doubt to Jess Brownell and the writers, I will say this may have been them trying to give something to the viewers, however, to many it felt more like they were rubbing it in to Kanthony fans that the woman of colour didn't get a wedding and never will.