Dear readers, rumors are swirling that Bridgerton Season 3 may skip a brother -- namely, Benedict Bridgerton -- to focus on Colin and Penelope's love story. This narrative choice would veer away from the order of the books that this romantic drama is inspired by, since their love story is depicted in the fourth Bridgerton book, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Benedict's Cinderella-esque love story is chronicled in the third book, An Offer from a Gentleman. While that change is not entirely discouraged, it may be a misstep for the series. Considering the dominos Season 2 sets up, Season 3 should be Benedict's time to shine, which would grant time for Polin's prologue to grow even stronger.
Bridgerton is a romantic drama series that debuted on Netflix in 2020. It is inspired by Julia Quinn's romance novels, that chronicle the love stories of each Bridgerton sibling. In that vein, Bridgerton has a similar structure to an anthology series, as each season tells a contained love story. Season 1 follows Daphne Bridgerton as she falls in love with Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, like in Quinn's The Duke & I. The recently-released Season 2 sees Anthony Bridgerton find a love match after an enemies-to-lovers romance with Kate Sharma, similar to Quinn's The Viscount Who Loved Me. As the show gears up production for its already anticipated third season, there is speculation about which book Bridgerton will interpret.
This uncertainty about the focus of Bridgerton's next season comes from a recent Shonda Rhimes interview with ET. Rhimes said, "We're not necessarily going in order, but we are going to be seeing each of the siblings and their stories." The timing of those comments stirred up suspicions that maybe Colin and Penelope, who have a significant amount of screen time in Season 2, will see their love story bumped up a season. However, even without taking the books into account, Bridgerton's second season seems to set up Benedict's story for Season 3 while teeing up separate journeys of self-discovery for Colin and Penelope. The latter will only add to the hopeful payoff when Bridgerton lets Polin shine in their season.
In Season 2, Colin finds himself in a place similar to Benedict's during the first season -- trying to find a purpose outside his family. Colin can't find it by looking backward toward Marina or chasing a dream in his travels. Colin needs to do a lot of reflective work before becoming a romantic hero worth loving. Unsurprisingly, the same is true for Penelope as she deals with the fallout of her best friend Eloise learning about Lady Whistledown and who Penelope hurt by writing under the pseudonym. Colin and Penelope's journeys deserve independence before the couple comes together when Bridgerton unpacks the plot of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton.
Colin and Penelope are flawed characters who do and say some awful things during Bridgerton Season 2. They should have the time to accept responsibility for their behavior and grow from it. For Penelope specifically, Benedict's season could allow her to reframe Lady Whistledown's gossip column as something that can help members of the ton (and ton adjacent) rather than hinder them. In An Offer from a Gentlemen, Penelope does just that to assist Benedict and his love match Sophie Beckett when they get caught in a dicey situation. For Colin, Season 3 could be when he reconnects with himself and decide what he wants his life to be -- much like Benedict grapples with in Season 2.
Season 2 allows Benedict steps into his own as he takes on a more prominent role as Anthony's closest confidant. That significance encourages Benedict to shine as a passionate romantic who struggles with confidence as the middle child of the three eldest Bridgertons. Anthony even mentions Benedict's profound distinction from the rest of their siblings in the Season 2 episode "The Viscount Who Loved Me." Benedict can anticipate what other people need before they even know it themselves. Unfortunately, that's a superpower he doesn't lend to himself as often as he should. Season 3 would be a perfect time for Benedict to change that.
Understandably, Benedict's relationship with art is all but peaceful and resolved by the end of Season 2. It has evolved into a different space where he has to find a new connection to it, which perfectly sets up the introduction of the woman in the books who helps him do that. Introducing Polin's love story in Season 3 (instead of Season 4) wouldn't erase the need for that chapter of Benedict's story. Still, it would undercut the need for Colin and Penelope to grow separately before they grow together. Both characters have plenty of stories to tell before then, so it's more than okay to let Benedict shine first.