I’m Here For This Theory About Eloise’s Dating Life In Bridgerton Season 5

Eloise’s Bridgerton love story is still a ways off, but that isn’t to say she’ll spend Season 5 on the sidelines. After all, last season hinted at big changes in the self-professed spinster, who confided in Hyacinth: “I can see that, on occasion, marriage might have its advantages.” And according to a new theory, Eloise might indeed head back to the marriage mart in earnest to capitalize on those advantages — even if fans know her ultimate love match isn’t the type to attend balls.

In an April 14 Reddit post, one fan predicted that in the confirmed two-year time jump heading into Season 5, Eloise will have rejected a few proposals. “We start to see her get lonely and actually take it more seriously,” the user writes, adding that Eloise “is disappointed in the options or her inability to really connect with any of them.”

Even if she’s not thrilled with the prospects, it would make sense for Eloise to reexamine the marriage mart. For the first time, she seems open to saying “I do” in a practical way. After experiencing frustration in the dating department, the Redditor predicts Eloise might find inspiration in a marriage of convenience, deciding to “cheat the system” by finding her own.

Another user supported the theory in the comments, writing that Bridgerton should show why Eloise might be “incentivized” to seek out a marriage of convenience.

“She has to realize that marriage is actually a political tool she can strategically wield, hence, her decision to engage in the marriage mart under her own terms,” they write, suggesting that Elose might meet “like-minded, influential, and self-accomplished women who have entered into advantageous marriages.”

Indeed, while Eloise’s openness to marriage might be new, her approach to it will likely feel very her. As showrunner Jess Brownell recently told Bustle, “I love her politics. I think her stance about marriage and the relations between men and women in this time period is dead-on. But what we were really interested in was expanding her empathy and allowing her to see that she has a bit of privilege as a Bridgerton sister that she can abstain from these things, to a certain extent. But for people like Cressida or Posy this season, marriage, in fact, is really important for their lives.”

And it’s important that Eloise’s dating life gets some screen time in Season 5 because once her season arrives, things will likely pick up fast. (Book readers, IYKYK.) “Whereas most of our stories are like yearning, yearning, yearning ... [with] her story, they get married early, early, early,” Brownell teased. “And you actually watch what it’s like to be in marriage, and it’s not all roses and puppies and sunshine right away.”