In Season 3 of Bridgerton, fans were taken on a journey exploring how Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) falls in love with Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). However, their love story was not the only one on screen. Francesca (Hannah Dodd), the sixth Bridgerton sibling, made her debut as an eligible bachelorette on the market. With the Queen naming her the sparkler (diamond adjacent) of the season, a lot of pressure to find a rightful match began, opening a new world of trouble considering how meek and shy she is. This continued until Francesca stumbled upon John Stirling (Victor Alli), another lone soul who shared similar personality traits.
Francesca and John’s relationship in the season was not without its share of societal skepticism. Their quiet nature and unconventional courtship defied the expectations of the ton, culminating in a marriage that was a testament to their love. This decision, however, was met with mixed reactions, particularly from Francesca’s mother, Lady Violet (Ruth Gemmell), who had hoped for a love match for her daughter, mirroring the passionate love she had experienced with her father and her other three siblings.
The Reasoning Behind Changing Michael’s Gender
All appears to go well until the very end of the episode when Francesca meets Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). Shyness overtakes her character’s face, leaving viewers with a sense that there may be something between them in the future. In the book When He Was Wicked, she has a love match with Michael Stirling, making it clear that the writers of Bridgerton changed the gender of Francesca’s love interest.
One of the showrunners, Jess Brownell, made a statement on the controversial change in Teen Vogue: “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. In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, and I got her blessing.”
“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. I don’t think that there is any book that wouldn’t have this happen. So for me, again, it came back to story and character.”
She shared with Vanity Fair, “I understand that people are very attached to the way the books are. The books will always be there, and those stories are unchanged. So while book fans will always have their Michael, it felt like queer fans didn’t have anyone in either the books or in the series who was really featured to relate to.”
She added, “I would encourage people to channel some empathy for people who have not gotten to see themselves represented inside this world, which is so inclusive in other ways. That is a really, really important message to send to people that they deserve to be included and represented as well.”
Is Changing Michael’s Gender the Right Call for Bridgerton Season 4?
Brownell makes valid points about including underrepresented identities, but the validity of her claims depends heavily on how the execution is handled. So, is changing Michael’s gender a good choice? The simple answer is yes… but the execution could have arguably been better.
At a glance, it feels as though Francesca only partners with John because she’s most comfortable with him and not because she’s in love. This is shown in two scenes. In their first kiss during the wedding, her face reflects nothing connected to a romantic connection but rather a disconnection, indicating subtly that she doesn’t feel anything in the kiss. When she meets Michaela, she stumbles over her words and becomes visibly nervous, as she has never acted this way with John. This, of course, could mean she and John had an instant friendship, whereas Michaela and Francesca may be leaning toward love at first sight. In any case, the writers should have indicated that Francesca fancies women more than men in subtle ways, like lingering glances or being overly shy, while at the same time still being deeply in love with John.
Their love is real in the books. This would be a great time to display a bisexual character. The love she felt for John in the books showed that they were happily married and in love. Although Francesca does seem to have both on the show, her facial expressions and what the writers are trying to insinuate are a bit different. If Francesca showed lingering looks with other women, it wouldn’t have felt so jarring when she finally met Michaela. Without these slight changes, it assumed Francesca was gay all along and did not love John as she did in the books. It’s not necessarily bad, but it would make Francesca’s character more dimensional if she were to have actually loved John while still developing romantic feelings for Michaela.