Exclusive Interview
‘Bridgerton’ Bosses Talk Francesca’s Pregnancy Storyline Change in Season 4
What To Know
- Bridgerton Season 4 alters Francesca’s pregnancy storyline from Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked.
- Showrunner Jess Brownell explained the decision to change the plot.
- Author Julia Quinn reacted to the change and Francesca’s grief in the show.
Warning: The following post contains discussions of pregnancy loss.
Francesca (Hannah Dodd) is dealt more than one devastating blow in Bridgerton Season 4. In Part 1, Francesca and her husband, John (Victor Alli), are having trouble getting pregnant, though their quiet love for each other steadily grows. (Spoilers for Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 4 and Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked ahead.)
When John unexpectedly dies in Part 2, Francesca tries to remain calm in her grief for the sake of her unborn child. The Netflix series follows Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked until that point. Not long after John’s funeral, Francesca is forced to undergo an exam to confirm if she really is carrying the Kilmartin heir. In the show, Francesca learns she was mistaken, deviating from the book in which Francesca miscarries weeks after John’s death. It’s a plot point that the Bridgerton team discussed whether or not to include “at length.”
“Ultimately, I think John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Swooon. “I think Episode 7 has hints of lightness, but it is a much darker version of Bridgerton in a way that I think is really interesting, and especially in the way we get to watch the family come together.”
Brownell explained that they determined that the miscarriage would feel “too morbid.” She added, “We’re still very interested in honoring the fertility storyline. It’s something we tried to honor this season, and we will continue honoring in her future season. But yeah, the miscarriage just felt like, for the screen, a bit too far. I think it would be difficult for Fran to come back from all that.”
Liam Daniel/Netflix
When Swooon spoke to Quinn about the miscarriage change, she explained, “I think [Francesca’s] emotions are the same. I have experienced pregnancy loss. I had three failed pregnancies between my two children. And so I wrote her character very deeply from my own experiences. And I think changing up sort of how her loss happened really doesn’t affect her grief with that.”
The author, who was on set when the show filmed John’s celebration of life, was impressed with how Dodd conveyed Francesca’s grief. “Almost five years ago, I lost my dad and my sister to a drunk driver, so that is obviously a very sudden thing, just like Francesca,” Quinn said. “I thought they handled it really well, especially the sense of bewilderment. Because I think when you do lose somebody suddenly, there’s a surreal aspect to it.”
The show also moves John’s death up, timeline-wise, but it also introduces John sooner compared to the book. Brownell wanted viewers to get to know Francesca, John, and “their special connection.”
“I think that the main motivation behind that was to allow us ample time to grieve John,” she explained about the choice to include John’s death in Season 4. “Wherever Francesca’s season falls, we always felt like, to have John’s death happen within her season, it was going to feel too rushed for her to deal with the grief.”
It also felt right to include John’s death at that point because it changes the perspective of other main characters. “I think for Benedict and especially for Violet, the loss of John reminds them that we all are only here for a short period of time and love is the most important thing we can pursue,” Brownell said.
Bridgerton, Season 4, Streaming Now, Netflix
