Bridgerton: Why Lord Featherington Was Killed Off - Screen Rant

In the final episode of Bridgerton, Lord Archibald Featherington (Ben Miller) was confirmed to be dead, but why did the show kill off the patriarch of the prominent family? The 2020 period drama followed the aristocratic Bridgerton family and their almost-rivals, the Featheringtons. As the social season began, the Featheringtons struggled to compete with London’s ton because they were slightly less prosperous than the other families thanks to them having all girls and Lord Featherington's gambling addiction.

It was an addiction that destroyed his family. After betting away the family fortune on boxing matches, he sabotaged the relationship of his daughter, Philippa (Harriet Cains), because he could not afford her dowry. Wanting to earn back his money, Lord Featherington successfully executed an under-the-table deal with boxer Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe). For a while, it seemed as though the Featheringtons’ luck was about to change. However, when his match-fixing was discovered in the Bridgerton season 1 finale, Lord Featherington was then murdered by his “associates,” a couple of sinister bookmakers.

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With Lord Featherington declared dead, Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker) and her daughters were left penniless. This plotline was not explored in Julia Quinn’s books, as Lord Featherington was already dead three years before the events in the first novel. But the twist was important to the series and future storylines. Lord Featherington’s death left unanswered questions and opened up dramatic possibilities for the second season. As per the patriarchal rules of the Regency era, with his death, the Featherington estate will be inherited by an as-yet-unnamed male heir, directly bypassing the surviving family, who are all women. Although the heir’s name was not revealed to the audience, it was evident from Portia’s reaction that the Featherington estate heir would not favor them at all. The unexpected death sets up another season of struggle and survival for the Featherington women.

As the heir claims the estate left to him, the Featherington women have the choice to either simply accept their fate or fight to retrieve their fortune and it's unclear what the scheming Portia will do in order to protect her family. Philippa and Prudence also closed out the social season without husbands, despite their mother’s schemes, so that's another problem for the family: it will be even harder now to marry them off when they have no dowry or dime to their name. This can also affect the youngest Featherington sister, Penelope, who may be forced to enter London's ton season to save her family. Finally, with the big reveal that Penelope is Lady Whistledown, it remains to be seen if she will use her secret identity's influence in her family's favor. Surely, she will spin these events to stir drama and scandal, but audiences will have to wait to see if she will build the Featherington heir up or tear him down.

For a period drama set in a predominantly patriarchal society, it might be surprising that the head of a prominent family was killed off immediately. While it serves as an opportunity for the family to escape the pitfalls of gambling, it also provides a new conflict, one suitable to the aggressive yet inventive methods of Lady Featherington. Perhaps, as the Featherington women try to survive in London’s high society, the second season of Bridgerton will finally give more focus and depth to its supporting characters.

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NEXT: Everything We Know About Bridgerton Season 2