Exclusive Interview
Why Did Anthony Return to Mayfair Without Kate in Season 4? ‘Bridgerton’ Boss Explains
What To Know
- Kate and Anthony return from India in Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 4.
- Kate stays at their country home briefly while Anthony returns to Mayfair.
- Showrunner Jess Brownell explains that choice, as well as Anthony’s storyline with Benedict.
Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) may have the spotlight in Bridgerton Season 4, but past leading couple Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) got some time to shine. (The below contains spoilers for Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 4.)
The viscount and viscountess were absent for all of Part 1, but they reappeared in Episode 6 upon their return from India. The couple takes up residence in their country home, with the Bridgerton family heir in tow. Kate and baby Edmund remain there to recover from their travels, while Anthony heads back to Mayfair.
When Swooon asked showrunner Jess Brownell about the decision to leave Kate behind, she said, “Yeah, it was a little bit of a schedule puzzle. We knew that we wanted to see them together, which we were able to do with them at Aubrey Hall. And then in terms of having Anthony be there for Benedict, we were able to get Jonny for those scenes, and so you try to make the storytelling work with what’s working logistically.”
Before Kate joins her husband a week later, Anthony gets caught up in Benedict’s drama. For the remainder of the season, Anthony’s plot revolves around him trying to convince his brother to end his love affair. Not only would Benedict marrying a maid hurt his sisters’ prospects, Anthony says, but their children also would never be able to join their family.
“I think it actually speaks mostly to Benedict and what Anthony has understood about Benedict in Benedict’s past, which is that Benedict is a character who gets really excited about things without thinking them through and then abandons them, historically,” Brownell explained. “And Anthony hasn’t been around the last few months to see the growth that Benedict has gone through since he met Sophie.”
Benedict doesn’t heed his brother’s advice, of course, but everything still works out in the end. Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) goes along with the lie that Sophie is a cousin of the late Earl of Penwood, rather than his illegitimate daughter. A supportive Anthony and Kate return for Episode 8’s post-credits scene, which sees Benedict and Sophie marry.
“I think once Antony realizes how deeply Benedict feels for this woman and how committed he is, as you see at the very end of this season, Anthony’s willing to be like ‘I was totally wrong,'” Brownell said. “And then, I think Anthony would have been able to get there, even if Sophie hadn’t been invited into society with the lie that was created, but it was just a transitional moment where each brother was trying to figure out what the other one was up to.”
Bridgerton, Season 4, Streaming Now, Netflix
