Her marriage to John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin, is primarily referenced in hindsight in the books, but the Netflix series gave their quiet, adorably socially awkward love story some much deserved time to shine. And, in the wake of John’s death, it feels completely natural for her to step into the role of leading lady in her own right and for the show to follow her story of second chance romance.
Francesca’s season was always going to be a boundary-pushing one, considering that the show has reimagined her book love interest, Michael Sterling, as Michaela and will use their story to debut its first proper LGBTQ+ romance. The series smartly allowed us to see Francesca and Michaela both becoming friends and grieving John together in season 4, and their story flows much more naturally into the series’ fifth season than Eloise’s might, if only because it will require some fairly significant narrative legwork to set up that by all rights probably should have started by now. (Technically, we’ve already met Eloise’s future husband, though it’s unlikely that casual viewers remember that character all that much.)
So much of Francesca’s story has been about her relationships to others — her marriage, her place in the Bridgerton family, even her status within the marriage — that it will be nice to see her get the chance to not just stand on her own, but to make choices without having to consider anyone else’s feelings. And it certainly feels like a more active path for her character than haunting the edges of someone else’s story, looking heartbroken.
The end of season 4 left the pair at odds — Michaela essentially ghosted Francesca’s request to abstain from traveling for a bit to stay with her in Mayfair — and that’s a pretty big emotional cliffhanger to let sit through another season where they aren’t the main characters. Besides, Francesca more than deserves a chance to reclaim some happiness for herself —and the audience watching at home does too.
