Spoilers ahead for Bridgerton season 3.
Shonda Rhimes heard it was Pride Month. Among the many revelations in Bridgerton season 3 part 2, released June 13, are Benedict Bridgerton’s newly canonized bisexuality; Eloise Bridgerton’s upcoming discoveries in Scotland; and—well, wait a second, what is that look on Francesca Bridgerton’s face?
Ah, yes, silly me: That’s the face of a woman who just realized she’s attracted to her new husband’s cousin. Whoops!
To further complicate matters, that husband’s cousin is also a woman. (Apparently, Bridgerton executive producer Rhimes heard your complaints and replied, “Bring in the gay ladies.”) Played by the Noughts + Crosses actress Masali Baduza, Michaela Stirling introduces herself to Francesca with a tease: “I caution you, every sordid detail John has spoken about me is a lie. The truth is far worse.”
The truth is that this “Michaela” will arrive as something of a shock to most of the Bridgerton fandom. Leading up to part 2’s release, the courtship between Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and John Kilmartin (Victor Alli) was leading exactly where fans expected: a quiet but happy marriage, and a peaceful getaway to Scotland with Eloise in tow. Readers of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series, upon which the Netflix show is based, already understood that tragedy would likely befall the couple in future seasons. In Quinn’s When He Was Wicked, John dies of an aneurysm, and the grieving Francesca grows close to John’s cousin, Michael Stirling, with whom she eventually falls in love. But Michaela is a gender-bent surprise. As is Francesca’s stammering response to her in the season 3 finale, during which any questions about Francesca’s sexuality basically answer themselves.
Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell herself confirmed to Deadline that Francesca is queer, and that her relationship with the character previously known as Michael Michaela “felt like a natural one to gender bend.” As she told Deadline, “When I read [Francesca’s] book, I, as a queer woman, really related to her book. Maybe in a way Julia Quinn didn’t intend, but a lot of Francesca’s book is about feeling different from her family and from the world around her and not really knowing why. In the book, I think it’s mostly just about being introverted. But I think for a lot of queer people, not every queer person, but a lot of queer people, that sense of feeling different from the time you’re young, is part of our stories.”
Unsurprisingly, not all fans are thrilled about the change—particularly those who read the books and fell in love with a specific version of Michael. A number of them have expressed their frustration at having their favorite couple altered for the screen. But Brownell, in an interview with Glamour, insists that the Netflix series is simply a different interpretation of Quinn’s books. “Michael Stirling still exists in book world,” she said. “Whereas, queer audiences haven’t gotten the chance to see themselves represented in a major way on the show, which is a show that is in so many other ways so inclusive. So I would just ask people to channel some empathy for those viewers, and to understand the importance of us allowing those viewers to see themselves represented.”
Now, none of this surprise need stir up any worry about Francesca and John’s marriage. Those two love each other, rest assured, and Brownell has shown no indication that she intends to write an infidelity storyline. (As she told Glamour, “I don’t think that the reveal of Francesca’s future queerness negates what she has with John...The kind of love she has for John is very real.”)
In fact, Brownell seems hesitant to indicate much of anything about Francesca’s future queer love story, or about Michaela, other than that both will exist. She told Variety, “As far as gender-flipping Michaela, I have a lot I want to say about it, but I’m cautious about talking about it in detail now, because I want people to see how it’s going to play out. And I’m not trying to be withholding; it’s just difficult to talk about the thought and the research that went into it without talking about what’s to come. And I’m just trying to be protective of what story we want to tell for season 4 and beyond.” For now, we certainly hope the Kilmartin family—plus Eloise!—enjoys Scotland.
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