My issue is not with her same sex love story. We love a queer queen. My issue is that she’s already had her damn season. Let this happen as a background story in another siblings season
93
brbrcrbtrMar 25, 2026
+63
Agreed! The showrunner clearly loves Francesca because she's basically been a co lead for the past 2 seasons , and now she's getting another one. Give us Eloise's story.
63
gildedbluetroutMar 25, 2026
+18
Yeah. My issue is Eloise. I just want to see that woman get her own fun times.
18
JoannaCuppaMar 26, 2026
+1
Eloise's stepkids won't be old enough for the storyline to work yet. Plus she and Philip write to each other for months, and get together when she's 28. Also, his wife is still alive...slight issue!
1
leese216Mar 25, 2026
+20
The showrunner wants this story to happen, which is why it’s happening. Fans have made their feelings clear.
The backlash isn’t ridiculous as backlash itself (I’m sure there are gross things being said which is ridiculous) but when you don’t listen to the fans who make the show successful, then tell them they’re ridiculous ? Yeah Bronwell sucks.
20
Borror0Mar 26, 2026
+2
Aren't they just switching the order of two books?
Fran's stories is Book 6 and they've adapting that first before (presumably) Eloise's (Book 5). If so, what's the drama? They've done that before by adapting Book 4 before Book 3. Was there similar backlash then?
2
Ragewind82Mar 25, 2026
+3
Eloise was a sub-plotline in S2 (detective), S3 (Cressida), and S4 (Hyacinth's chaperone).
Fran is still trailing, she was a sub-plotline at best in 3 and 4.
3
JumpingyrosMar 26, 2026
+7
No, she did not have a season. She had a b-plot in Colin’s season.
7
actuallivingdinosaurMar 25, 2026
Yea like I want this whole storyline with her. Just not a whole season DEDICATED to it.
0
ushikagawaMar 25, 2026
+20
Honestly for me Francesca is just not a very interesting character and I don’t think it’s because of the way she’s written but rather the way she’s played… she doesn’t feel like a real person in the way that Eloise or Anthony do
20
ducky7goofyMar 26, 2026
+1
That's probably because she's neurodivergently coded. Which honestly says a lot
1
PinksamuraiiiiiMar 25, 2026
+55
There’s something seriously going on with the fandom communities lately. A lot of people are super toxic. I heard the Heated Rivalry fandom is just as bad (or worse) than Bridgertons. It’s like nobody is happy.
55
whichwitch9Mar 25, 2026
+19
I mean, real life sucks, so people escape into fandoms. Then people get way too committed and see any criticism as an attack. These people get way too committed to the show or a character as a sort of detachment to reality.
Both of these shows also suffer from a problem- there are people with legit criticisms and there are people attacking them specifically because they have lgbtq+ topics. The former get attacked as being the latter, which gets things even more amped up. You cannot discuss the shows anymore without this occurring.
It goes beyond fandoms and goes into people seriously getting way too personal into pieces of media. I recently got attacked by a friend for saying I liked Jane Austen novels. She thinks they're trash because she can't identify them (full lesbian- the cant identify was her words, not mine, and valid for her). That would be completely fine, except she was mad I liked them and could not understand why a slightly sarcastic hetero woman with an interest in history and occasional like of romance would maybe like/identify with them. She just had strong feelings but was pushing them on me because I said I was rereading Emma and wouldn't commit to stopping. It was baffling, like I wasn't supposed to enjoy it because she didn't. It did not stop until I physically left. Like kept digging at it in an obsessive way. Normally a very chill person but for whatever reason, it just triggered her I enjoyed something she hated
19
SpiritedOwl_2298Mar 25, 2026
+10
Yeah there’s something about people not being able to respect others opinions anymore. It’s like we have to be one big hive mind and everything is either good or bad. Like if one person doesn’t enjoy something then it’s intrinsically bad. It’s getting really frustrating to be honest
10
PackageOk4947Mar 25, 2026
+2
When everything online is scrutinized to the nth degree, this is to be expected. They knew this would happen.
2
PackageOk4947Mar 25, 2026
+1
Do we have to identify with everything to like stuff? I like Star Wars, but I don't identify with Yoda, and I still enjoy it. I think the biggest issue with Bridgerton is what they're doing to historical characters, not fictional made-up people. By stating that Charlotte was black, anyone who argues and points to historical fact gets labelled a racist. Turning around and saying there weren't that many black people in the royal court gets you the same treatment. The same thing goes for the LGBTQ+ whatever-the-f***-is-added-this-week community. Just look at what it's doing to Star Trek right now. If you have a negative comment about Academy, you're labelled everything under the sun, even if it's a legitimate criticism and concern.
I think a lot of this labelling is used to hide shitty writing. In the previous season, the young lady who plays Penelope supposedly got a lot of hatred because of her weight, and people were called fatphobic. Now though, knowing that these companies employ bot armies and blame anyone who says anything negative as review bombing, could it be that these companies are using the bots to stir up this hatred? As The Wolf of Wall Street stated, bad news is still news. It keeps it relevant.
1
WinterFellYesterdayMar 25, 2026
+6
Agree. People have way too much time on their hands.
6
VanillaAphroditeMar 25, 2026
+5
No one hates anything like fandoms hate the object of their affection.
5
OEBDMar 25, 2026
+3
Lately?
3
purpleblossomMar 26, 2026
+2
In my experience, even just being on the sidelines of many, is that most fandoms are toxic.
2
Hailstar07Mar 25, 2026
+6
Considering none of Eloise’s back story from her book has even been hinted at yet, it makes perfect sense for next season to be Francesca. This gives them time to also show the development of Eloise’s initial relationship with her love interest before her season kicks off properly in S6.
6
HudsonValley7Mar 25, 2026
+17
Sorry just don’t give a c*** about her season. My interest in this show is hanging by a thread and I just don’t care about her storyline going this far away from the books
17
thebluickMar 25, 2026
+9
my wife gave up on the show after season 2. they just started changing way too much from the books which she loves and doesn't want to see someone's fan fic of it.
9
Winter_Dragonfly_452Mar 25, 2026
+5
No it’s not. She had her season already. Give us someone else like Eloise
5
m0nekyMar 25, 2026
+6
Season 1 daphne, season 2 Anthony, season 3 Colin, season 4 benedict
Where is her season? LOL
6
Pinklady777Mar 25, 2026
Wouldn't E be next?
0
JoannaCuppaMar 26, 2026
+1
No. In the books she's 28 when she marries, to Marinas widow, Sir Philip. Her having older stepchildren is a huge part of her story. Currently, those children are very young.
1
GreatGojiraMar 25, 2026
+5
The show is obviously fiction and based off some book I think? I don't watch it, but it's fiction.
I don't know why people would be upset when the show is just about hooking up, and the main sex scene the season wants to highlight.
5
CHIBEARS2233Mar 25, 2026
+4
15 books if I remember correctly
4
Feisty-DonkeyMar 25, 2026
+8
It’s a book for each sibling, so 7 books. There are other series set in the same universe that don’t focus directly on the Bridgerton family.
8
GreatGojiraMar 25, 2026
+1
Wow didn't know it was that many.
Show is not for me, I know I'm not the target audience, but my wife loves it.
1
Ozymandius34Mar 25, 2026
-5
Seriously?!?! I’ve never seen the show nor read the books, but I know how hyped this show is. I just came here to see what the “backlash” was all about but I had no idea there were that many pages written about something with seemingly so little substance.
-5
CHIBEARS2233Mar 25, 2026
+7
I should’ve prefaced that I haven’t read the books but my wife has and she wound up getting me into the show with season 2. I was out with my buddies when I got home and she was watching an episode of season 1 where Daphne and the Duke were getting it on and I asked her if she was watching Napoleonic P*** lol. She told me to give it a shot once season 2 started and I wound up giving it a chance and wound up enjoying the show.
7
Ozymandius34Mar 25, 2026
+1
lol that’s hilarious. Congrats on watching Napoleonic p*** with your wife!
1
CHIBEARS2233Mar 25, 2026
+2
Yea it turned into a funny discussion of p*** and storylines and I made the argument that mainstream p*** has 5 min storylines that are hilarious while Bridgerton is slow burn p*** with big dresses and dance scenes lol. Anyways, I was surprised that I enjoy the show as I’m not really into romantic drama personally but I have thoroughly enjoyed the show. I thought season 2 sexual tension was very well done
2
Ozymandius34Mar 25, 2026
It helps get you into a show when you have someone you care about who’s enthusiastic about the show or any show for that matter.
0
All_Hail_HynotoadMar 25, 2026
+3
I have not read the books, but I believe each season is supposed to be based on one of the books. This storyline is one of them. People need to get a grip.
3
Feisty-DonkeyMar 25, 2026
+10
A big part of the backlash is that the show has diverted quite a bit from the books on this particular storyline. Some of the criticism is unfair and rooted in homophobia/racism and some of it is fair disappointment that the things they identified with in the book aren’t coming through in the storyline as written for the show.
But let’s not act like this is unique. I don’t think any book has ever been adapted to a movie or series without some reader disagreement with creative decisions.
10
All_Hail_HynotoadMar 25, 2026
All valid points. I have read synopses of the plots of the books, and they do seem to be quite different in some ways from the show. But like you said, I feel like the changes made for better TV.
0
Feisty-DonkeyMar 25, 2026
+5
Some did, some are harder. I think the big struggle with this is that the romance genre has a single absolutely inviolable rule: it must end with a happily ever after, or at least a “happy for now.”
Francesca’s plot line in the book centers around infertility. Her struggle to conceive and desire for children is a core part of her character. As a woman who never wanted kids, I’m honestly a bit bored by her book, but there are other women who felt very seen by it and loved that the character settled into happiness that didn’t depend on children but then eventually did have one with the pressure to do so lifted.
People are struggling to imagine how a lesbian couple will incorporate that aspect of the story without modern fertility treatments, and they have a point. This author glazes over it, but it’s hard to see a viable plot for a queer couple who wants a family to have a total happily ever after in a regency setting.
Granted, they have thrown over a lot of the historic limitations of a regency setting and maybe they have a plan for it that will be so good everyone will calm down, but I think that’s the reaction- no one seeing a way this ends completely happily and with the character who wanted to be a mother to a biological child having a path for that in the universe the show has created.
5
All_Hail_HynotoadMar 25, 2026
+2
Sort of in the same boat as you in that her storyline is the least interesting to me, although I fully appreciate the issues it raised. And the whole point of this adaptation is that it attempts to modernize it in a what-if universe. It will be interesting to see how they handle this story.
2
tracygeeMar 26, 2026
-1
She JUST had her season it seems like. I wanted Eloise’s season.
Nothing to do with the queer storyline. Love it and I’m here for it. But Eloise is my fave character and it’s taken forever to get to her. And Francesca needs some time to grieve before her great love story.
42 Comments