What happens between Marina Thompson and Phillip Crane in the Bridgerton books?
Netflix’s adaptation of Bridgerton should stay true to Julia Quinn’s novels.
Bridgerton: Five bombshells from season four
Bridgerton fans are gearing up for an Eloise Bridgerton romance in the next couple of seasons.
WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR JULIA QUINN’S NOVELS
Bridgerton season four has now come to an end on Netflix with the final four episodes dropping some major revelations for many of the characters, from Francesca (played by Hannah Dodd) to Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). The final Bridgerton episodes also raised plenty of questions ahead of the fifth season, which is already underway.
The makers of the series have already confirmed season five will follow either Francesca or Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), and fans are keen to find out more about how their love stories play out in Quinn’s novels. Francesca’s story is told in When He Was Wicked, while Eloise’s plays out in To Sir Phillip, With Love.
Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed to Swooon that Eloise will end up with Phillip Crane (Chris Fulton) in the show, instead of her teased love interest, print shop worker Theo. She said: “I think we are interested in honouring the love interest from Eloise’s book.
“I can dispel, she’s not ending up with Theo. She’s ending up with the love interest from her book. What exactly [Eloise’s season] looks like, I don’t want to speak too much on because I want to keep it focused on Luke and Yerin for now.”
In the Netflix adaptation, Phillip is married to Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker), whom Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) started to fall for when she came to live with the Featheringtons in season one. So how do Eloise and Phillip end up together?
Colin Bridgerton and Philip Crane became acquainted in season 1
Marina, a distant cousin of the Featheringtons, has a tragic storyline in the books, having fallen into a deep depression. After giving birth to her twins, Oliver and Amanda, she struggled with her postpartum mental health.
Postpartum depression was not recognised at the time and was therefore not treated and Marina continued to spiral. She would often stay shut in her room and would not come out for days at a time.
She found some comfort in her children, but did not have the energy to take care of them. As much as Phillip tried to help her, her mental health continued to deteriorate.
Not knowing how else to help his wife, Phillip turned his attention to his children and his work. Eight years after their marriage, Phillip saw Marina walking to a nearby lake and realised she was trying to drown herself.
Marina Thompson opened up to Penelope about her pregnancy
He was able to rescue her before she could go through with it, but she ended up developing lung fever as a result of the freezing cold water. She died three days later.
Following Marina’s death, Phillip went on to marry Eloise after they became pen pals. He admitted he felt trapped in his previous marriage due to Marina’s depression.
Eloise offered him comfort, saying Marina was not happy as a child and had most likely suffered from depression for most of her life. In real life, Marina actress Ruby Barker has spoken openly about her own experience being hospitalised for mental health reasons.
In 2022, she shared an update with her social media followers from the hospital where she had been receiving treatment, saying: “I just want to be honest with everybody, I have been struggling. So, I’m in the hospital at the minute, I’m gonna get discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life and I’m gonna take a little bit of a break from myself.
“And I want to encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a favour. Take a break, stop being so hard on yourself. And people used to always tell me not to be so hard on myself, and I never really, really knew what that meant.”
