Benedict's Wild ‘Bridgerton' Book Storyline Is Going to Need to Be Changed for Show's Next Season
[Editor's note: The following article contains spoilers for Season 3 of Netflix's "Bridgerton," as well as the "Bridgerton" book "An Offer from a Gentleman."]
Benedict Hive, our time has come.
The final moments of Season 3 of Netflix's smash romantic drama seemed to confirm what many fans have long hoped: Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the erstwhile artist and new sexual explorer, will get his main character moment next season.
The reveal took place while Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Benedict - two siblings whose charged chemistry is really getting quite noticeable, yes? - had a quick goodbye before Eloise departs for Scotland. Eloise noted she'll see him again next year, because her mother would never let her miss "her masquerade ball."
Book readers' ears likely perked up at that detail, because a masquerade ball is the kickoff event in "An Offer from a Gentleman," the Bridgerton book by Julia Quinn that is focused on Benedict. In that story, a young "illegitimate" girl, Sophie Beckett, has a magical night away from her mean stepmother and stepsisters at a masquerade where - after just one kiss and a little charming conversation - Benedict falls hopelessly in love with her, even though this mystery woman's face is obscured by a mask. She runs away at the stroke of midnight, but Benedict vows to devote his life to finding her.
Yes, it's literally the plot of Cinderella.
That's all well and good for a fantasy-driven romantic television show that is watched worldwide, but the rest of the book will need a bit of - let's call it thoughtful tweaking - before it'll have the masses swooning along with Sophie.
Thinking about how to track down a woman whose face you've never seen LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
For example: So Sophie is a down-on-her-luck "by-blow" who, after her mother's death, posed as her father's ward to avoid scandal. Her dad dies when she's 10, and her stepmother puts her to work as a servant. Years pass, and after the magical ball - incapable of continuing to be in London with Benedict looking for her - she runs away and finds work with another family as a servant in the country.
But! One night, the young men at the house she works at throw a party and drunkenly attempt to group rape her. Benedict shows up, fights them off, and absconds with Sophie - who he, of course, doesn't recognize - in the rain to a cabin he owns nearby (sure!). He gets sick, she nurses him back to health, yada, yada, yada, he wants to make her his mistress.
When she refuses because of her pregnancy fears, he instead offers to install her as a higher-ranked servant as his mother's house. When she refuses that, he blackmails her into accepting, because a Bridgerton child has obviously never heard the term "power dynamics." Some more plot happens once the duo are back at Bridgerton HQ, but all else you really need to know before happily ever after is Sophie is briefly DETAINED IN JAIL and Benedict must bust her out of there as well. It's all silly and ridiculous, but also pretty dark. They mention hanging her!
To be fair, "Bridgerton" the show has always carefully selected what story aspects from the 20-year-old books to include and/or update. All of Benedict's threesome fun this past season on the show is in no way hinted at in "An Offer from a Gentleman," and many of the rougher edges of Penelope's book story - regularly referring to her as "plump," etc. - got a kinder spin on the TV program.
The other obvious wrinkle is that "An Offer from a Gentleman" is the third book in the series; it was skipped in favor of Penelope's storyline for the show's third season. With the confirmation that a masquerade is now in the future, it'll be interesting to see what the writers choose to do with the Sophie character and background, as well as how the other plot lines are brought in (Eloise is still living at home at this point in the books, for example).
Jury's out on if they'll hold onto all of Benedict's character development they now have put effort into detailing in Season 3 (bi icon), but here's hoping at the very least Sophie is a fan of threesomes.
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