Dearest Gentle Readers,
The time has finally come for a sapphic love story to enter the Bridgerton universe. Last week, Netflix released a teaser confirming that the upcoming fifth season of the wildly popular series will focus on the love story between Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza).
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For those uninitiated, Netflix’s Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn’s series of historical romance novels. Each book (and, therefore, season) focuses on the love story of one of the eight Bridgerton children—Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth. The Netflix version of the series is produced by Shonda Rhimes via her production company, Shondaland, and features characters that display a diverse array of races, ethnicities, body types, physical abilities, and sexualities.
According to the books, Eloise Bridgerton’s story should be the focus of season five, but Netflix is breaking from the source material to put Francesca’s story next. Viewers familiar with the books already noticed that the television series had taken some liberties with Francesca’s story. In the book covering her great love story, When He Was Wicked, Francesca falls for Michael Stirling—her deceased husband’s (Lord John Stirling) cousin. However, season three ended with John introducing Francesca not to Michael… but to Michaela.
The decision to gender bend a central love interest caused viewers across social media to wonder if this signaled the brewing of a sapphic love story on Bridgerton. If the essence of Francesca’s story remained aligned with the books, she would fall in love with Michaela, creating the series’ first prominent LGBTQ+ romance.
Showrunner Jess Brownell spoke to Tudum about the upcoming season. “It feels groundbreaking. Obviously, there are a lot of great shows that have depicted queer love. We’re not the first by any means,” Brownell says. “But to make an entire Bridgerton season about a sapphic relationship feels huge.”
While many queer viewers rejoiced at the news of an interracial sapphic romance on a major platform, many outside of the community argued against it. Some decried the historical inaccuracy (does anyone believe an instrumental version of “Dancing on My Own” played at a ball in Regency London?), while others argued that a same-sex relationship would ruin Francesca’s original story arc.
@luminefilms Love is always a thing to be proud of ❤️🧡🤍🩷🏳️🌈 #franchaela #francescabridgerton #michaelastirling #bridgerton #foryoupagе ♬ original sound – Lumine
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Brownell has already proven she can handle queer characters with care. Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) is an explicitly queer character, and though he found his true love with Sophie Bridgerton (Yerin Ha), the season four script made a point of addressing Sophie’s acceptance of Benedict’s sexuality. “I’ve said from the beginning that this show, in so many ways, is about allowing people to see themselves represented, allowing themselves to dream, and imagine themselves in these fantastical roles,” Brownell says. “It never felt right to not be inclusive of queer love as well within that fantasy.”
Bridgerton is very much not the real world, which works out well for our sapphic main characters. Regency era London likely wouldn’t have been welcoming to Francesca and Michaela’s budding romance, but in the pastel-colored world of Bridgerton, a love like theirs has a chance to flourish. “What is most exciting about Season 5 is that it is going to be a season about queer joy. It is not going to be a season about queer trauma,” Brownell says.
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Don’t watch Bridgerton but have a fear of missing out on season five’s sapphic romance? We’ve got you! Tagg will release a cheat sheet catch-up-guide once the season five premier date is announced to get you ready to drop into the Bridgerton universe just in time for all of the romance!