Benedict is the second son of the Bridgerton family and the most bohemian of the bunch. He adores art and painting, but has found himself aimless — until he meets a certain Lady in Silver in Season 4.

Keen to hold onto his freedom, Benedict is used to compartmentalizing different parts of his world, from Bridgerton House to the demimonde and the balls of high society. “What he struggles with is bringing it all together and being whole in some way,” says Thompson. 

Romance will make Benedict contemplate how he moves through the world. “His weak spot is where love comes in, because you can’t really be in love with someone or be loved by someone if you’re not fully there.”

Transatlantic, A Little Life

Forced to spend much of her life working as a maid for the most demanding employer in the ton, the resourceful Sophie always finds a way to persevere despite her circumstances. Her life drastically changes after she attends Lady Violet Bridgerton’s masquerade ball. At the event, she meets Benedict Bridgerton and captures the attention of Mayfair’s most elusive bachelor.

“What drew me to Sophie as a character was her strong moral compass: She doesn’t change who she is for anybody else,” says Ha. “She’s faced with a lot of obstacles, but she moves through them with such grace and kindness. That really speaks a lot about who she is as a person.”

Halo, The Survivors, Dune: Prophecy

Violet is the matriarch of the Bridgerton brood, sharing a special bond with each of her eight children. She wholeheartedly believes they all deserve a true love match. In Season 4, four of her children are married and Violet finally has time to explore what watering her own garden looks like.

Even Bridgerton House newcomer Sophie recognizes the compassion emanating from the dowager viscountess. “After a few conversations with Violet, Sophie knows that she’s so kind and warm,” says Ha. “She loves all her children equally, which Sophie didn’t actually witness back in the Penwood house. Sophie respects a mother who cares for her children and always thinks about their well-being.”

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, My Mum Tracy Beaker

Anthony is the eldest of the Bridgerton siblings. Since losing his father at 18 and becoming the viscount, he has taken the duty of acting as a surrogate father to his brothers and sisters very seriously. In Season 2, Anthony found love with Kate (née Sharma) and learned he deserves happiness in his life outside of his responsibilities. At the end of Season 3, they travel to India so Anthony can learn more about Kate’s background before she gives birth to their child. 

“Now knowing he has this person who sees him for who he is — and he sees Kate in all her glory and celebrates every aspect of her — together they have a real strength now,” Bailey says of his character’s true love match. “Before with Anthony, there was a lot of anxiety and probably isolation, loneliness, and fear, and now that’s been able to dissipate because he’s united with Kate, and I think that’s true of her as well.”

Wicked and Wicked: For Good, Fellow Travelers

Kate moves to Mayfair in Season 2 of Bridgerton. Determined and dutiful to her family, she aims to help her younger sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), find a match on the marriage mart. But to Kate’s great surprise, she ends up finding a kindred spirit — and the love of her life — in fellow eldest sibling Anthony Bridgerton. 

Following Kate and Anthony’s marriage, “we see them together as a team,” says Ashley. “It gives you that faith that change is possible. It’s a positive and hopeful thing, especially when it comes to love and a partnership for two very stubborn, complicated characters.” 

At the end of Season 3, Kate and Anthony travel to India to welcome their first child, the heir to the Bridgerton name. However, showrunner Jess Brownell teased during Bridgerton: The Official Podcast that you can expect to see the viscount and viscountess return in Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2.  

Sex Education, Picture This

After traveling the world, Colin realized that what he was looking for had always been right in front of him. In Season 3, he wedded his dear friend Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and started a family of his own. In Season 4, we see Colin and Penelope enjoy wedded bliss — and parental pride. They have welcomed their newborn son Elliot, the new Lord Featherington. 

“We find Colin and Penelope completely in love,” says Newton. “They’re completely obsessed with each other, particularly Colin.”

The Lodge, Doctors

Penelope bloomed in Season 3 of Bridgerton, finding true love with her longtime crush, Colin. She also mended her friendship (and now, officially, sisterhood) with Eloise (Claudia Jessie). In Season 4, Penelope learns how to navigate standing in the limelight without the veil of Lady Whistledown to hide behind. 

“She realizes how difficult it is to be Whistledown and deal with the fame that comes with it now,” says Coughlan. “It’s really turning her world upside down in a new way.”

Derry Girls, Big Mood

Unlike her sisters, Eloise is not eager to join the marriage mart. She’d much rather have her nose in a book and yearns for the freedoms her brothers possess. In Season 4, Eloise — now entering her third season on the marriage mart — is convinced she’s escaped the pressures of the ton by declaring that she’s “on the shelf.” 

“She thinks, ‘It’s fine now. I don’t need to partake in these bizarre rituals,’ ” says Jessie. “But she hasn’t thought it all the way through.”

Toxic Town, Vanity Fair

Francesca is one of the more practical and introverted Bridgerton siblings. Passionate about the piano forte, Francesca would rather observe her boisterous family from a distance than step into the fray. She finds a quiet, assuring love in Lord John Stirling (Victor Alli), and they wed in Season 3. 

In Season 4, they return from Scotland and set up their London home. “There’s still so much to get to know about each other,” Dodd says. Francesca also learns about herself, as she tries to figuring out the meaning of the word pinnacle. 

“For a woman at that time, intimacy is not really discussed, especially when your mother is Violet Bridgerton,” Dodd explains. “So there’s this whole other world that Francesca has been introduced to.” 

Enola Holmes 2, Find Me in Paris

Lord John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin, shares a deep knowing with Francesca — they need not fill the silences to feel understood. At the end of Season 3, John introduces his new bride to his cherished relative, his cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza), before they all head to his ancestral home in Scotland with Eloise.

In Season 4, John is juggling his work in parliament and his new marriage with Francesca. “They’re learning how to live together,” says Alli. “They love that they’re similar, and they bring out different things in each other. Throughout the season, they want to get out of their comfort zones.”

Gangs of London, Last Light

Gregory is the youngest son of the Bridgerton family. He shares a particular closeness with Anthony, who has stepped into a more paternal role for his baby brother.

Goodbye Christopher Robin

Hyacinth is the youngest of the family. She never got to meet her father, who died before she was born. She dreams of falling in deep, everlasting love like her older siblings.

Cursed, Mix Tape

Queen Charlotte rules England — and the high society members of the ton. After Penelope was unmasked as Lady Whistledown in Season 3, only time will tell how the queen revels in having a direct line to Mayfair’s gossip royalty.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Dune: Part One

Brimsley is the Queen’s loyal right-hand man, and has been since she first came to England to wed King George III (James Fleet).

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Benidorm

Lady Agatha Danbury is the undeniable grand dame of the ton. Widowed and a mother of four, she is a longtime confidante of the queen’s and has helped her mold society through the years. Lady Danbury also shares a close bond with Violet.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, The Witcher

Lord Marcus Anderson arrives in Mayfair in Season 3 to a sister who is noticeably displeased to see him. Yet by the end of the season, he and Lady Danbury have mended their relationship. A widower himself, Lord Anderson begins Season 4 ready to move at whatever pace Violet is comfortable with as their romance blossoms.

Don’t Move, Stay Close

Michaela Stirling knows how to make an entrance. “Michaela is very independent, bold, and confident,” says Baduza. “She marches to the beat of her own drum.” She and her cousin, John, are so close that they’re practically siblings, and she travels back with him, Francesca, and Eloise to the Scottish Highlands at the end of Season 3.

Love and Wine, Noughts + Crosses

Lady Featherington develops a newfound respect and closeness with her daughter Penelope by the end of Season 3. Portia is thrilled her daughter found a secure match that just so happens to provide her with dear love as well. The social cache that comes with the Bridgerton name doesn’t hurt either. 

Bookish, Rome

Will Mondrich and his wife, Alice, are met with a surprise in Season 3 as their son becomes a baron and their social standing changes forever. A former boxer, Will trades his life as a working class man for fine clothes and even finer social invitations. 

The Soldier’s Tale, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second

Alice is excited to seize the opportunity afforded to the Mondrich family and leaps into life in the ton. In Season 4, Lady Danbury takes a particular shine to Alice and sees potential in her as a protégée.

Too Much, Professor T

Eloise’s former friend couldn’t stay in Wales forever. After fleeing Mayfair with her Aunt Joanna in the aftermath of scandal in Season 3, Cressida returns in Part 2 of Season 4, having finally found a match on the marriage mart. During her time away, Lord Penwood, a friend of her aunt’s, came to visit and became captivated by Cressida. 

Now Cressida is back with a new husband and new title, ready to reenter society with a ball that she hopes Lady Whistledown will attend — and write about.

Leatherface, Rambo: Last Blood

Miss Rochelle is a young lady in attendance at Hyacinth Bridgerton’s practice ball in Episode 6 of Season 4. As the youth of the ton dance to “360,” Miss Rochelle catches Gregory Bridgerton’s eye.

The Sea Beast, The Power

Twice married and twice widowed, Araminta has two daughters debuting on the marriage mart this season. She is feeling the pressure to get at least one of them wed. Fabulous, discerning, and blunt, Araminta does not respond well when anything — or anyone — threatens her standing in society. 

“Araminta Gun is a woman whom I would describe as a force of nature,” says Leung. “People would perhaps see her as a villain, and that’s always fun to play. I’ve never really had the opportunity before. So it’s about delving deep into her psyche, into why she does the things she does, and looking at it from a perspective that perhaps not everyone would be able to empathize with.”

The Harry Potter films (starting with the fourth in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Arcane,

Beautiful, vain, and eager to please her mother, Rosamund is Araminta’s eldest daughter and most prized possession. Rosamund sets her sights on Benedict this social season and is determined to get what she wants. 

While those on the outside of Araminta and Rosamund’s relationship may see it as a united front, Mao thinks it’s much more complex. “Araminta loves Rosamund, but she’s put Rosamund in a gilded cage,” says Mao. “Araminta’s love and affection are so conditional upon Rosamund being perfect: Rosamund achieving, Rosamund being able to marry into the Bridgerton family or another family of similar stature. It’s tense for her. It creates an environment where she could lose things at any second.”

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Rosamund’s younger sister, the much kinder Posy, is also debuting this year. “Posy is very sweet, [in contrast] to her mother and sister,” says Wei. But Araminta rarely puts the spotlight on Posy, as her chatty and friendly demeanor is displeasing to her mother. 

“Posy has spent a lot of her life being told off for what she thinks should be good and kind things,” says Wei, who considers Posy to be the underdog of the family. “Posy’s relationship with Araminta plays a big part in denting Posy’s confidence.”

Black Doves, 1899

A strong and commanding presence, Lord Penwood also has kindness and tenderness behind his strength.

Heads of State, EastEnders

Sophie’s closest friend, Alfie is a dry, sarcastic footman at Penwood House. Alfie sometimes can’t help but let a cheeky comment fly, especially when he sees Sophie mistreated.

 Killing Eve, Down Cemetery Road

The hardworking cook at Penwood House, Irma has hardened herself to deal with working for Araminta — but she’s always had a soft spot for Sophie.

The Sandman, My Fault: London

A young maid who’s had a tough road, Hazel is lively, full of energy, and quick to make friends even after experiencing challenges.

The Power

Mrs. Wilson is the trustworthy head of staff at Bridgerton House. She has appeared in all three seasons of the series, and we’ll see even more from her in Season 4. 

Oslo, EastEnders

A loyal servant at Bridgerton House, John is the downstairs world’s resident heartthrob, eager to charm Bridgerton House’s maids. John has appeared in all three seasons, and will continue to catch attention in Season 4. 

The Last Five Years, The Pursuit of Love

Mrs. Varley is the head of staff at Featherington House. Since Season 1, she has been a reliable confidante for Lady Featherington. 

The Crown, Riot Women

The housekeeper of Benedict’s country house, My Cottage, Mrs. Crabtree has a tough, no-nonsense attitude. She and her husband (Billy Boyle) are like family to Benedict.

The Crown, Broadchurch

The good-natured groundskeeper of Benedict’s country house, Mr. Crabtree is secretly a little bit afraid of his wife. Yet he still worships her.

Barry Lyndon, The Bretts