Spoilers for Bridgerton Season 4 are ahead! Read with caution, and stream the romance series with a Netflix subscription.
Well, Benedict and Sophie found their happily ever after as their season of Bridgerton wrapped up on Netflix’s 2026 schedule. Now, the question is: Who is next? We know it will be either Eloise or Francesca. However, it’s not confirmed which sister will be the focus of Season 5. After watching the finale, though, two conversations convinced me that it will be a book-to-screen adaptation of Eloise’s story. (I also asked the showrunner if we should be reading into all this.)
Eloise’s Response When Hyacinth Said They Can Grow Old And Be Spinsters
After correctly predicting that Benedict would be the focus of Season 4 based on lines of dialogue in Season 3’s finale, I was ready to take notes while watching the final episode of his and Sophie’s season. My ears really perked up when Eloise sat down with Hyacinth to lift her spirits about the prospects of marriage.
For a woman who declared she was “on the shelf,” this was a massive change in attitude for her, as she told her little sister why she shouldn’t want to be a spinster:
- Hyacinth: I thought you would be thrilled. Now you will not grow old alone. We can be spinsters together.
- Eloise: As wonderful as that sounds, I know that is not what you genuinely want. It is all right to be frightened. What happened to John is beyond awful. It frightens me too, more than I care to admit. Some things are out of our control. But what is in our control is our ability to support one another and ensure that we do not allow fear to keep us from experiencing something that could be truly special.
- Hyacinth: Now you are a proponent of marriage?
- Eloise: Proponent is far too strong a word. But after spending a season by your side, I can see that, on occasion, marriage might have its advantages. Companionship, family, a prime seat at a soiree. And then, if not for mother and father’s marriage, we would not all have each other, which seems a rather large reward. Most of the time, anyway.
When it came to Eloise’s story this season, it was all about her seeing the marriage mart in a new light. And after essentially exiling herself for a very long time from it, she started to change her opinion. While she seems to still not be fully convinced that she should tie the knot, a monologue like this suggests that she’s far more open to it than she ever has been before.
Plus, between her best friend and her closest sibling getting married to their true soulmates, as well as John dying, she seems to have a new lease on life. She’s viewing things in a different way, and if I'm reading into this correctly, she's seeing the value in having a lifelong partner. So, that tells me that she might be ready for her own season.
The Conversation The Bridgerton Sisters Had About Who Will Marry Next At Sophie And Benedict’s Wedding
Now, you can make a full argument that Francesca will be next. Her subplot involving John and Michaela was prominent this season, so it’d track if it turns into the main plot in Season 5. However, a conversation at Benedict and Sophie’s wedding makes me think Eloise will wed before her younger sister finds love again:
- Kate: Whose wedding do you think we’ll be attending next?
- Eloise: Oh, I do love a wedding. All the best people in the same place. As an attendee.
- Penelope: Do you think you’ll ever do it again?
- Francesca: Me? A wedding? No. I have had my great love. One time is enough.
Between Eloise making her appreciation of a wedding clear and Francesca declaring that she won’t get married again, I feel like it’s very easy to predict who will be next. To be blunt: Eloise seems ready for it, and Fran, understandably, is not.
So, it stands to reason that we’ll get an adaptation of Eloise’s To Sir Phillip, With Love before we get Francesca’s When He Was Wicked (which would follow book order, though that doesn’t really matter to the show anymore). Plus, if they go this way, it will give Francesca time to grieve her loss and yearn for a new partner, and I think it'd be wonderful to really stretch her story out like that.
However, when I asked showrunner Jess Brownell if we should be reading into this comment about marriage from Eloise, she told me:
She says she just wants to be a guest. And I think that's true. You know, we've seen Eloise – like she shed a tear at Colin and Penelope's wedding. I think there is, deep down, a part of Eloise that appreciates love, that's not to say that it negates her progressive beliefs. And, you know, I think her feelings about the rights of women in that time are very valid and important, but those things can coexist with appreciating love, if not, at least for other people.
All that’s to say, we don’t know who is next…yet. However, it seems pretty obvious to me. So, yes, I’m willing to bet that Eloise will be the focus of Bridgerton Season 5. And if she's not, I'm sure she'll happily and readily support Francesca.
Now, while we wait to see whether Eloise or Francesca will be next, you can see Daphne, Anthony, Colin, and Benedict fall in love by streaming the first four seasons of Bridgerton on Netflix.
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