Brb, we’re still not 100% over this yet…
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY NETFLIX
*Warning: spoilers ahead*
Sapphic Bridgerton fans have gone crazy over the latest episode drop in Netflix’s hit show Bridgerton. Despite there being no actual wlw action on screen, audiences were quick to point out the tension growing between Francesca Bridgerton and her husband’s cousin, Michaela Stirling.
We already know from showrunner Jess Brownell that Francesca has a confirmed queer storyline. Hannah Dodd, who plays Francesca, has teased fans by saying that she hopes the Chappell Roan song Good Luck Babe will feature on the show at some point. Before season four, all fans had to work on was a chance encounter between Michaela and Francesca at a ball.
Well, buckle up sapphics, because we finally have some more content to obsess over. In a tense scene in the second half of the latest season, Francesca and Michaela are seen to have a heightened conversation together which ends in a mutual decision to be “friends”. We’ll see about that…
Audiences were also quick to fall in love with a scene in which Francesca and Michaela gleefully dance together.
LGBTQIA+ fans were also delighted to see Benedict, who explored his queer identity in season three, have his own coming out. When speaking to his love interest Sophie, Benedict said: “Society should not be allowed to dictate the rules of how one lives life. Or who one loves. I am capable of caring for you, just as I have cared for women I have known who are of the ton. Just as I have cared for some men whom I have known intimately. And I refuse to be at all ashamed about that.”
Showrunner Jess Brownell told Tudum: “It’s really important that just because someone ends up in a heterosexual-presenting relationship, that doesn’t negate their queerness.”
The inclusion of Francesca’s queer storyline has led to heated debate among fans of the original books by Julia Quinn. In the book dedicated to Francesca’s storyline, When He Was Wicked, there is no sapphic storyline. Instead, after the death of her husband John, Francesca falls in love with his cousin Michael.
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