Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season three, part two of “Bridgerton,” and “When He Was Wicked,” the sixth Bridgerton book.
“The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you’re never going to please every single side of the fan base,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Teen Vogue in a recent interview. “In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, I got her blessing.”
Now, amid fan backlash over the decision, Quinn herself has spoken out to confirm she’s happy with the queer romance twist.
Francesca becomes a more prominent character during season 3 as she meets John Stirling, her first husband, and his cousin Michaela Stirling
In season three, Francesca makes her debut in society and seeks a compatible match for marriage. She finds that partner in John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin (Victor Alli).
Francesca and John bond through their similarly introverted and reserved dispositions. In the season three finale, they get married in a small ceremony and make arrangements to move to John’s primary estate in Scotland.
In the final episode, while at the Dankworth-Finch ball, Francesca is caught off guard by the arrival of John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), who will be accompanying them to Scotland. When Francesca meets Michaela, she immediately becomes nervous and stutters as she introduces herself.
Fans familiar with Quinn’s “Bridgerton” books, specifically “When He Was Wicked,” already know where Francesca’s story is heading, but the show sets up a different course of events for her.
In the novel, John dies two years into his marriage to Francesca and his cousin Michael Stirling becomes the new earl. Francesca and Michael reconnect years later, get married, and have two children.
Introducing a gender-swapped version of John’s cousin will lead to changes in the TV show. Fans hoping for a by-the-numbers adaptation of Francesca and Michael’s love story have expressed strong opinions on the queer story, but Brownell isn’t surprised.
“I think something that has been a real growth point for me, stepping into the showrunner role, is that I’ve always been a people pleaser, and someone who wants to give everyone what they want — but in this job, you have to make difficult decisions,” she told Teen Vogue.
Brownell said that as a queer woman, she related to Franceca’s book. She also felt that it was important to incorporate a queer romance into the show that had a happy ending, “which we don’t always get to see in period pieces.”
Quinn spoke out about the show’s decision to gender-flip Michael and addressed the mixed fan reactions
Brownell, who took over as the showrunner for season three, said that she had been pitching a gender-swapped Michael since season one. When she spoke to Quinn, they discussed the potential backlash.
“We talked about the fact that with almost any single book, there would be a side of the fandom that would be disheartened to see their favorite characters changed,” Brownell said. “I don’t think that there is any book that wouldn’t happen with, so for me, again, it came back to story, and it came back to character. Because Francesca’s book resonated [with me] in the way that it did, it felt like a natural adaptation.”
In a Facebook post on Monday, Quinn confirmed that she and Brownell talked “more than once” about what that change would mean for Francesca’s story.
“I trust Shondaland’s vision for ‘Bridgerton,’ but I wanted to be sure that we could remain true to the spirit of the book and of the characters,” Quinn said.
“I made it clear that it was extremely important to me that Francesca’s abiding love for John be shown on screen,” she added.
The author said that after having those discussions and giving her approval, she thinks the spirit of her book will be preserved when Francesca gets the spotlight.
“I’m confident now that when Francesca has her ‘Bridgerton’ season, it will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like ‘When He Was Wicked’ has always been the true tear-jerker of the Bridgerton book series,” Quinn said.
The author concluded by asking fans to “grant me and the Shondaland team some faith as we move forward.”
“I think we are going to end up with two stories, one on page and one on screen, and they will both be beautiful and moving,” she said.
“Bridgerton” already has a fourth season in the works, but there has yet to be an official announcement about which character’s love story will be next — though there are strong hints that Benedict might be giving up his bachelor ways soon.
Fans will likely have to wait a while before seeing how Francesca and Michaela’s love story unfolds.
The show hasn’t been renewed for additional seasons beyond season four, but Brownell and executive producer Shonda Rhimes already have plans for how they’d tackle future installments. In the case of Francesca, Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that there “will definitely be a time jump at some point” to adequately show her relationships with John and Michaela.
All episodes of “Bridgerton” season three are now streaming on Netflix.
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