[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3, Episode 8, “Into the Light.”]
[This article also contains book spoilers from Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series.]
Bridgerton‘s final Season 3 episodes certainly brought some things into the light as the Regency-era romance series embraced two queer storylines that could change the direction of some characters’ paths forever.
Inspired by Julia Quinn’s novels, none of the Bridgerton children are in same-sex relationships, but the introduction of one new character hints at a queer endgame for none other than Francesca (Hannah Dodd), who was introduced to her new husband John Stirling’s (Victor Alli) cousin, Michaela (Masali Baduza).
Without getting into too many specifics about Francesca’s plot from Quinn’s books, she does ultimately end up with John’s cousin, Michael, but the show’s choice to gender-swap the role hints that the series is open to exploring queer endgames. This also makes us wonder, will that be the case for Mr. Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson)?
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In Season 3, it was finally revealed that Benedict is, in fact, bisexual, a theory fans have been pondering since his introduction in Season 1. While that aspect of Benedict isn’t part of his book storyline, it’s certainly going to be part of his story moving forward if his entanglement with Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) and Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio) was any indication.
As fans see in the second half of Season 3, Benedict embraced the casual nature of his relationship with Tilley by also welcoming her “special friend” Paul. The trio shared more than one passionate romp in the final episodes.
Now that Benedict has crossed that threshold, could it have any weight on his future love story? As readers of the books know, his love-at-first-sight romance links him to Sophie Beckett, a character yet to be introduced in the TV series. Her possible arrival was hinted at with the mention of Lady Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) masquerade ball, but considering the gender swap on Michaela, could Benedict receive the same treatment? It’s certainly something to ponder. Below, we’re looking at three big questions about queer love that were raised in Bridgerton Season 3 and how they could be answered moving forward.
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Will Benedict Continue to Explore His Bisexuality?
When Lady Tilley asked to make things exclusive between herself and Benedict, he admitted that he was not ready to be tied down after unlocking this polyamorous side of himself. Therefore, it feels as if the door remains open for more encounters with men and women as Benedict continues to explore his sexuality.
Will Benedict’s Future Love Interest Be a Woman or a Man?
In the books, he ends up with Sophie, but as mentioned above, if the writers of the show decide to do a gender swap situation like they did with Michaela, then it feels like anything is possible.
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Is There Room for Openly Queer Endgames in Bridgerton?
As fans of the TV franchise have seen, queer love stories do exist in the Bridgerton universe. But the primary example being Reynolds (Freddie Dennis) and Brimsley (Sam Clemmett) in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story doesn’t offer too much insight into society’s opinion of such relationships. It was clear that Brimsley and Reynolds loved each other in secret from others, but could the fantasy society in Bridgerton‘s current timeline accept openly queer relationships in the same way they accepted racial integration upon Queen Charlotte’s (India Amarteifio) rise to the throne? Only time will tell, but if so, it could certainly change a lot for the stories fans know from the books.
What do you think? Let us know what you hope to see from these exciting storylines set up in Season 3, below.
Bridgerton, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, Netflix
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