“Bridgerton” Showrunner Defends the Timing of a Beloved Character's Death in Season 4 (Exclusive)

Julia MooreSun, March 1, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC

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Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton (left); Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek, Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton (right) in "Bridgerton" season 4Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix (2)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Bridgerton season 4.

Bridgerton season 4 tells the story of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha)

In part 2, which premiered Feb. 26 on Netflix, the pair's love story is interrupted by the death of John Stirling (Victor Alli), husband to Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd)

Showrunner Jess Brownell tells PEOPLE why she chose to have John's death happen when it did

There was heartbreak before the happily ever after in Bridgerton season 4.

In the penultimate episode of the season, John Stirling (Victor Alli)'s death rocked the Bridgerton family and upended the life of his wife, Francesca (Hannah Dodd), most of all.

The news took away focus from the couple at the center of the season — Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second-born son in the high-ranking family and Sophie Beckett (Yerin Ha), a maid — but showrunner Jess Brownell tells PEOPLE why the loss actually drives Benedict and Sophie's love story forward.

"Obviously, episode 7 does shift its focus a little bit to Francesca, but I think that John's death plays a major role in Benedict and Sophie's story," Brownell explains. "Because Benedict and Sophie have this giant obstacle between them — which is class — we felt like, in fact, this major loss might be the thing that could allow, particularly Violet and Benedict, to shift their perspective."

Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton, Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek in "Bridgerton" season 4Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix

The death, and Francesca's ensuing grief, allows both the matriarch of the Bridgerton family, Violet (Ruth Gemmell), and Benedict to "see Benedict's situation with Sophie a little bit differently, a little more sympathetically," Brownell says.

"Because I think when you go through a loss like that, you realize that life is short and love is the most important thing," the showrunner adds.

Brownell knew that John's death — which is the catalyst for Francesca's story in Julia Quinn's When He Was Wicked — would take place in season 4 "really early on."

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"I think from back when we cast Hannah and Victor in season 3, it was important to me that Victor knew very clearly what his timeline was, so he didn't get surprise killed off," she explained. (Dodd and Alli were both cast in season 3. Dodd replaced Ruby Stokes who played Francesca in seasons 1 and 2.)

"We felt like it was the right timeline to allow us to really get to know Francesca and John as a couple, but also to allow ourselves enough time to properly grieve John," says Brownell.

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Dodd, 30, tells PEOPLE that she was with Alli, 30, when they got the script for episode 7. When she read that John died, "I was literally in tears," Dodd says.

Alli similarly said it was "pretty emotional" filming John's final scenes and "saying goodbye."

Ruth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton, Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton, Masali Baduza as Michaela Stirling, Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury in "Bridgerton" season 4Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix

In When He Was Wicked, Francesca finds love again with John's cousin Michael Stirling, who was gender-swapped in season 3 with cousin Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). Alli previously told PEOPLE he thought the choice to gender-swap the character was "really cool."

"I was told that they're going to switch up a bit before we did any of that filming, and it was quite nice," he said of Michaela's entrance into the story. “It was such a nice introduction, I think. I don't think they could have done it in any other way. So yeah, I'm really glad, and I was really excited.”

Bridgerton season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”