Mark Darcy Isn't in the Fourth 'Bridget Jones' Movie, and It's for a Very Sad Reason

There are a lot of Pride and Prejudice adaptations in the world, but there is only one Bridget Jones. In 1995, writer Helen Fielding was behind the massively popular "Bridget Jones's Diary" column which ran in The Independent. It told the story of a 30-something singleton living in London who is constantly trying to quit something, whether it's drinking, smoking, or men. Bridget was a deeply flawed, hilarious mess, whose story was soon expanded into wildly successful books and films.

What sealed the deal for fans was the casting of Colin Firth as Mark Darcy in the first two films. This decision was based solely on the fact that he played Mr. Darcy in the BBC's Pride and Prejudice series. You simply haven't lived until you've watched Colin's Mark say to Renée Zellweger's Bridget, "I like you, just as you are." And with that, we fell in love right alongside Bridget. Sadly this didn't last. In the third book, Mark dies. It's a truth that universally sucks. Here's what we know.

Frustratingly, Helen Fielding pulled a Fast and Furious with her books. Remember when we thought Tokyo Drift was the third movie only to discover it falls between the sixth and seventh films in the timeline? Well, Bridget Jones has them beat. If you want to consume the books in chronological order, you'll have to read the fourth book second, the second book third, and the third book last. Hopefully you're following us! All this to say, Mark Darcy dies five years before the third book is set.

The films followed the release order of the first two books but chose to reverse the final two. In other words, Bridget Jones's Baby was filmed before Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. The order of operations matters because we are going to see snippets of Mark in the film version of Mad About the Boy, but only in flashback form as he gets killed while in Sudan, working to free imprisoned aide workers. It's needlessly confusing, perfectly Mark, and very sad.

In November 2013, a month after Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (the book) was published, Helen spoke with the CBC about her heartbreaking decision to take Mark Darcy away from us all. It's really quite simple. Mark Darcy is such a genuinely good person that he would never leave Bridget, nor would we want him to. In order to get Bridget Jones back to her single gal roots, Helen had to make her a widow.

In 1998, two years after the first Bridget Jones book was published and three years before the film adaptation was released, Vogue met with Helen Fielding who was, predictably, quite charming. At the time, she had a flat in Notting Hill which is where a Hugh Grant film of the same name was set a year later. Helen revealed that Bridget was just an exaggerated version of herself, right down to the occasional ill-fitting skirt.

What really struck the person interviewing her, and millions of women since, is just how much we all identify with Bridget Jones. "I’ll tell you one thing about Bridget," she said, as if this was a secret. "It has made me realize that I am no more neurotic than anyone else." She goes on to say that Bridget says the "unsayable" which is how Helen was able to pour her darkest thoughts onto the page. Bridget was her proxy.

The world has changed since the first book came out in 1996, which means things have changed for Bridget as well. She no longer writes about weight and caloric intake in her infamous diaries, but she still has things she would like to change about herself. Perhaps the best part about Bridget, other than her sense of humor and ability to make a fool of herself in a charming way, is her ability to keep trying. In every book and subsequent film, Bridget Jones never gives up. This is the truth universally known.