Note: The following contains spoilers for the entirety of “Bridgerton” Season 3.
The second part of “Bridgerton” Season 3 concluded the love story between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton and introduced a twist that few fans saw coming.
In the final moments of season 3, Francesca (Hannah Dodd) prepares to leave for Scotland with her new husband John Stirling (Victor Alli), when John’s cousin Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) catches Francesca’s eye. While Francesca’s book, “When He Was Mean,” follows Francesca as she falls in love with John’s cousin, Michael, after John’s untimely death, “Bridgerton” season 3 swapped out her love interest to become Michaela, revealing Francesca as a queer character. .
“As a queer woman, I really identified with her book. Her book is a lot about how she feels different and doesn’t know why,” Brownell told TheWrap. “I think Julia Quinn wanted it to be more about the fact that she’s more introverted than the rest of her family, but I think for a lot of queer people, that feeling of feeling different and like an outsider is something we carry with us from when we were young.”
Brownell noted that adapting Francesca’s story felt “natural” to “not only have a queer character in ‘Bridgerton’ that queer fans can see themselves in, but also to tell a story about the queer experience.”
While Dodd enters the Netflix romance series as a newcomer after replacing Ruby Bridges, Brownell said the team was “thoughtful” in introducing her as a queer character from the start of season 3, when She did not identify with the dreams of other beginners. have a husband. Still, Brownell wanted to make sure that the revelation of Francesca’s sexuality didn’t invalidate her connection to John, who she could lean on during the season’s upsetting moments.
“I want to be clear that we are not trying to jeopardize her relationship with John,” Brownell said. “She has a real connection with him based on camaraderie, friendship, respect and common interests, and that is a very valid form of love. What we will continue to explore for Francesca is more whether or not passion is important to her in a relationship.
Although it appears that Francesca and Michaela could lead season 4, Brownell would not confirm or deny whether their story would be the focus of the next episode, saying that “we’re setting up a lot of different threads that could lead to that one of the many characters will be at the center of the next season. the lead of season 4.” Brownell said that the announcement of the love story that would follow season 4 would come “very soon” after the release of part 2.
Below, Brownell reveals why the series moved away from the books after Penelope’s Lady Whistledown was revealed, how closely Francesca and Michaela’s love story will follow his book, and the planned release schedule for seasons to come. come.
What can you tell us about Francesca and Michaela’s love story?
Book fans know where we are going with this story. This is a difficult question to address, because there is a major turning point in Francesca’s book, and if people Google it, they will know what is coming. We plan to stick pretty closely to Francesca’s book, other than the gender swap there are some elements of the book that will need to be changed. But actually, we found that we were able to adapt the book quite precisely, so that people can expect it to play out the same way.
The end of season 3 ends with Penelope continuing to write her column. Why did you decide to move away from the books and maintain his column and how will his writing be integrated into future seasons with his identity revealed?
As we talked about where we wanted to end Penelope in the writers’ room, we felt like, in a season where she’s discovering the importance of her power, her then dropping out of the Chronicle felt like a negative rating. I think there’s more to come with Lady Whistledown – I think now Pen will have to understand what it means to be a public gossip columnist, not only in dealing with the people she writes about, but also in taking steps to be more responsible in what she writes. . Responsibility and authenticity are two things that she’s really had to deal with this season, and we’re going to continue that thread into Season 4.
Will Penelope be more like a traditional journalist than a gossip columnist?
The series still lives in a place of gossip. It’s still gossip, but we tried to take stock at the end of season 3, that gossip has a bit of a bad reputation and that… it can be information, especially for vulnerable people, like the young women of the tone, to share. information about how some men treat other women or their staff. Gossip can actually be used to right some wrongs, and so I hope that in the future you see a more responsible version of Lady Whistledown who uses her pen to speak truth to power.
Part two gives viewers the expected mirror scene, and I know Nicola mentioned wanting to be “very naked” in it. What created this scene?
I’m really proud of this scene. This season, it was very important for us to highlight the fact that Penelope feels more ready to be seen, metaphorically and literally, in this scene. That’s his arc in a lot of ways this season: going from someone who hides on the wall to someone who, in episode 8, is able to get into the center of things. Her nudity in this scene is, in fact, very representative of her taking a step on this journey, allowing herself and her body to be seen by the man she loves.
The season 3 finale also talks about Agatha sleeping with Violet’s father. Why did you want this recognition to happen between them and how might it impact their relationship moving forward?
Shonda and I were talking pretty regularly while she was writing “Queen Charlotte,” and we definitely wanted to continue some storylines and acknowledge some of the growth and connections that were made in the spinoff, so it felt important to understand that these two friends were not hiding secrets from each other. We’ve brought Agatha and Violet even closer this season, so it was really nice for them to have that honest moment, and of course it also fuels Danbury into giving him his blessing of Violet’s crush on Anderson.
Season 3 gave Cressida some humanity, but her reputation seems beyond repair after her decisions. Where does his ton trip go from here?
I don’t think a reputation is irreparable forever – the Bridgertons, it seems, every season, get some mud and they always get away with it. So I’m rooting for Cressida, I think she still has some growing to do, but I hope to give her a happy ending too. We’re not done with this character yet.
There have also been fan edits regarding Eloise and Cressida’s friendship, speculating that it could be more than a friendship. What did you think of all this?
I love seeing all the different ships. It’s not necessarily what we wanted with Eloise and Cressida, but I totally understand why people paid attention to it. They have a beautiful friendship and I think female friendship is really underrated on television, so when you have these beautiful moments of female friendship, it’s really a joy to see. I think it also reflects how hungry audiences are to see queer relationships and queer stories in “Bridgerton,” so I’m really proud to explore that territory with Benedict and Francesca.
Having Penelope and Colin’s story in Season 3 and moving away from the order of the books gave the show more freedom to chart its own path, like with Michaela, who changes gender. How much further could the Bridgerton series go to chart its own path?
Shonda and I are both convinced that we would like to have eight seasons and give each sibling their own season – that’s the goal. I’m not sure if we’ll be down again or not. We’ll be making more announcements about Season 4 soon, and I have an idea in mind where we’re headed, at least in Seasons 5 and 6 if we get a chance to do those seasons.
Now that we’re through the strikes, do you anticipate being able to stick to an annual release schedule for the new seasons or something close to that?
I’ll be honest, every year is probably not an option. It’s such a giant production. It’s like making eight short films, just in terms of the number of plots we have to write, and the production is obviously a huge undertaking. We’re doing everything we can to start releasing seasons sooner, but once a year might be a difficult goal to achieve.
Do you want to serve as showrunner for each season until all eight stories are told?
I’m having a great time – I love living in this world. If you have to spend years and years on a single show, this is the series for you. It’s just a nice place to be. So I have no plans to go anywhere at the moment.
“Queen Charlotte” was such a success. Are you planning to do other spin-offs or prequels for other characters?
I could watch a spin-off about each of our characters. I loved the spinoff and had very little involvement in it other than talking with Shonda about how it would affect “Bridgerton” season 3, so I’m leaving that in Shonda’s hands and will watch it in as a fan, and I hope to have more spin-offs. -offs.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“Bridgerton” seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Netflix.
