Bridgerton season 3: Could Lady Tilley Arnold be Benedict's future wife?

Benedict Bridgerton has been on an interesting journey since the start of Bridgerton. He's kind of lostin the world being the second son, and doesn't know what he wants to do. He has a talent for art, and that was explored in the first two seasons. But so far in Bridgerton season 3, we haven't seen a mention of it. Perhaps he's been put off by art since he learned his brother Anthony made a big donation to the art academy he'd been attending in season 2. And this lead him to leave.

His storyline has kind of felt repetitive if I'm being honest. And it's a shame because Benedict is such a charming character that has more to offer. But he's not given much except his art, which so far has been nonexistent in season 3 Part 1, and his casual dalliances. It first began with Madame Delacroix in Bridgerton season 1, and then the art model at the academy in season 2. The third season of the Regency-era Netflix hit has now introduced another interesting gal, Lady Tilley Arnold. Could she be his future wife and the one he ends up with?

Speculating about Benedict and Tilley's relationship

While the other two ladies are not considered high society, Lady Tilley is different. She's a widow who's enjoying the privileges her position offers. She's a strong-willed, opinionated woman who isn't afraid to say what's on her mind. She's living her life the way she wants to, even if that's not always what's considered respectable by the ton. And of course Benedict is attracted to all of those traits! The two don't waste any time at all after meeting each other at the Hot Air Balloon event in episode 3.

She claims that she's not looking for another husband, and Benedict seems to be fine with that. Causual sex is his game. But you know in TV when a character says that, the story ends up being that at least one of them catches feelings. Will that happen between Tilley and Benedict? It's really hard to say. With Tilley being a lady and of high society, there wouldn't be an issue of the two being together if they wanted to. But, this character is not in the books and was created for the show. Here's what showrunner Jess Brownwell told TODAY in an interview:

"Tilley is an invention. We felt like she was a good match for Benedict because he’s someone who really doesn’t fit in anywhere. He doesn’t feel like he fully fits into society. He didn’t feel like he fully fit into the art world. [She's a model for Benedict to learn how to] straddle multiple worlds."

The show is known for detouring from the books - after all season 3 should have been Benedict's story if the series stuck to the order of novels. And while there have been significant changes from the books, I don't know if the Netflix series will go as far as changing the couples and who the Bridgerton siblings end up with. Without giving away spoilers, in the novels Benedict marries a woman named Sophie Beckett. The way they meet and their love story isn't what we've seen with Lady Tilley so far. So this kind of indicates that perhaps Benedict and Tilley won't end up together and this is another fling.

Now the show could choose to go in a more risky route and change it all up, but I don't think they're going to do that. In my opinion, Lady Tilley has been introduced to give Benedict another repetitive casual sex story, but perhaps this time he'll actually walk away learning something about himself and his place in the world. He's a great character, and all of us Benedict fans just want to see him happy! Now is that with Tilley? I don't know. I need to see more the lady's character in Bridgerton season 3 Part 2 to decide whether I'd be ok with that. What do you think?

The first four episodes of Bridgerton season 3 are now streaming on Netflix.