Bridgerton showrunner justifies killing off *that* character amid the romance of season four

John Stirling’s death was a huge shock in Bridgerton season four (for those of you who haven’t read the books, anyway). Not only did he die really suddenly, but this event was a real contrast to the cutesie romance of the other episodes. The showrunner of Bridgerton season four, Jess Brownell, has justified the character dying at this point.

So, John’s death was always on the cards in Bridgerton. He dies at the start of the book which focuses on Francesca, When He Was Wicked. The novel follows Francesca’s romance with somebody else. But even some book readers weren’t expecting John to die in the middle of Benedict’s courtship with Sophie. Their romance develops three books before John dies in the series.

Jess Brownell has revealed she always planned for John to die during season four of the Netflix show. She let the actor Victor Alli know as soon as he was cast. Jess Brownell told People: “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.”

I cried
(Image via Netflix)

She didn’t think it was odd for the plot to pivot towards death and grief at this point. A character dying in the middle of Bridgerton season four was meant to be jarring.

“Obviously, episode seven does shift its focus a little bit to Francesca,” Jess Brownell continued, “but I think that John’s death plays a major role in Benedict and Sophie’s story. 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.

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Watching Francesca’s heart break over John’s death makes Violet “see Benedict’s situation with Sophie a little bit differently, a little more sympathetically”.

Benedict running off from his brother-in-law’s memorial
(Image via Netflix)

“Because I think when you go through a loss like that, you realise that life is short and love is the most important thing,” Jess Brownell concluded.

There is also a scientific explanation for why John’s death in Bridgerton season four was so sudden. The author of the books meant that he died of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. The characters in this Regency-era world don’t understand what that is.

Bridgerton is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image via Netflix.