Bridgerton: Who Is the New Lady Whistledown After that Shocking Season 4 Twist?
In bridgerton’s Season 4, Part 2 finale the credits rolled following Sophie and Benedict’s wedding, and a shocking twist left viewers asking who now writes as Lady Whistledown. The ending matters because it lands amid major plot turns — including Francesca’s arc and a prominent casting story — that reshape the season’s emotional center.
Hannah Dodd’s long road to Francesca: auditions, secret tapes and a London meeting
Hannah Dodd, an English actress who is 30, remembers auditioning "quite intensely" for the first season of the series when she was up for the role of Daphne Bridgerton and lost the part to Phoebe Dynevor. A few years later Dodd was invited to film a self-tape for a "very secretive" project and later said, "I had no idea it was 'Bridgerton' again, " while speaking at London’s 180 House in mid-February. The interview took place at a remote table at the members club to avoid anyone overhearing spoilers, though everyone nearby was too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice what she disclosed about Part 2 of Season 4, which debuted on Netflix on Thursday.
How the casting fell into place: meeting Shondaland and Jess Brownell’s late decision
After several months went by, Dodd learned the project was in fact the series. She said, "Part of me was like, 'Oh, do I want to go through that again?'" and that she "genuinely loved the material. " A few days after that realization she met with the team at Shondaland and a week after that she was at piano lessons. Showrunner Jess Brownell, speaking later over Zoom from Los Angeles, said the production had seen hundreds of people and "no one had felt quite right, " adding that they saw Hannah "really late in the process and we instantly knew. " Brownell described Dodd as "such a subtle actor" who can "play shyness without seeming weak" and who has "an inner strength that's waiting to blossom, " traits the team felt were necessary for the role.
Francesca Bridgerton’s transition: Ruby Stokes, marriage and sudden grief
Dodd was cast as Francesca Bridgerton for the show's third season, replacing Ruby Stokes, who had played the role in the first two seasons and departed due to scheduling issues. Dodd said she felt pressure joining an already existing Bridgerton family and noted that "their chemistry was incredible" from interviews, which made her worry about how to join and "make sure that I have that chemistry. " She also said the cast were "so lovely" and made her feel at home straight away.
Plot choices diverging from the novels: John Stirling’s death and imagined storylines
The events surrounding Francesca in the first four seasons largely exist before those in Julia Quinn’s novel When He Was Wicked, known among fans as "Francesca’s book. " In Season 3 Francesca made her debut into the Ton and eventually found an unexpected connection with John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin, played by Victor Alli. By the beginning of Season 4 the couple have married and settled down in his London home. In Part 2, John tragically dies. The showrunner acknowledged that almost all of Francesca's story so far has been imagined by the show’s writers: Dodd noted that "people who have read the books understand that none of what they've seen so far happens in the books, " and that "you don't get to see her on the marriage mart. In Chapter 1 of her book, John dies and her story starts after that. " Brownell added that "John's alive for about 10 pages of the book and then there's a time jump, so we're not spending a ton of time in what her immediate grief feels like, " while noting that there were "clues from Julia Quinn about how she might react. "
Season 4’s structure, its shocks and the 30 questions viewers are left with
The season’s shape amplified those shocks: the first four episodes of Season 4 focused on desperate, hungry yearning, while the final four were more about consummation — complete with secret trysts, steaming hot baths, false identities and genuinely big shocks. The finale sequence, which closed after Sophie and Benedict’s wedding, left at least one critic mulling over a long list of unresolved points: "I was left mulling over several big questions. These are the 30 that will keep me up at night. " The coverage of Part 2 carries major spoilers for viewers of the season.
