At the end of season 1 of ‘The Bridgertons’, we faced the sixth of the eight siblings, Francesca (at the time played by Ruby Stokes), that he had spent the entire season in Bath “practicing his pianoforte.” Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) receives a letter from Aunt Winnie, who Francesca is with, stating that she will be returning home soon.
And so we can see it at the beginning of season 2 of the Netflix series. In the first episode (‘Lividor’), is present in the preparations for Eloise’s (Claudia Jessie) debut, both when the brothers admire the magnificent dress she will wear at that moment and when she makes her debut before the queen.
But then… it disappears. She never comes out again. And look, there are many moments in which we see all the Bridgertons together (Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Gregory and Hyacinth): in the living room commenting on the gossip, at the dances, on the promenades…
It would be logical to forget that Francesca exists, and in fact we could come to think that her absence in the series is because her personality is boring and she does not contribute anything in relation to her sisters Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), Eloise and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt). But on the contrary, it turns out that she is one of the characters most loved by readers of the saga of the writer Julia Quinn.
According to the book of the saga in which she stars, ‘The heart of a Bridgerton’, We should see in season 6 how her passionate love relationship with John, the Earl of Kilmartin, begins. of whom he was widowed very soon. Seeking solace, she takes refuge in Michael Stirling, John’s cousin and one of his best friends.
But Michael has been in love with her since the day he met her, at the family gathering where the wedding between little Bridgerton and her cousin was made public, so When he notices Francesca’s approach, he escapes from London in terror, trying to escape his feelings. When he returns, the widow has already been in mourning for four years and everything suggests that the waters have calmed down. At least, apparently.
Francesca’s personality
Francesca is often considered the most introverted member of the Bridgerton family, but that does not mean it lacks unforgettable moments, such as when he conspires with Eloise to bribe the family maid to inform them about sex on the wedding night. Or when she silently falls in love with John Stirling, as we have seen in ‘Bridgerton 3’.
But… what happened between the second and third seasons for the character to almost completely disappear? It was for a simple reason, scheduling problems of the actress, Ruby Stokes, who played Francesca in T2. Shortly after filming ‘The Bridgertons’ began, he had to leave the set to center into his commitments with the series ‘Lockwood & Co.’, also for Netflix.
‘Lockwood & Co.’ It was an adaptation eight episodes of the novel saga of the same name by Jonathan Stroud. ‘Lockwood & Co’ is a small startup, run by two teenage boys and a recently arrived girl with great psychic gifts (Stokes), a trio destined to unravel a mystery that will change the course of history. Despite its success, it was unfortunately canceled by Netflix.
“I love Francesca”
Chris Van Dusen, creator of ‘The Bridgertons’, told TVLine: “I love Francesca, but we lost her halfway through the second season. After exhausting all other options, he unfortunately had to leave for reasons beyond our control. Maybe the third season will be the charm.”
Once Stokes was ‘lost’ due to various professional commitments, it was necessary to do it again. the casting of Francesa, which fell to Hannah Dodd, a transition that has been quite fluid – although fans of The Bridgertons have perfectly noticed the difference between the two. We had already seen Dodd in films like ‘Eternals’ or ‘Enola Holmes 2’. Dodd gives a solid performance, and her arrival is more than timely, because the third season of Bridgerton offers much more Francesca.
WATCH ‘THE BRIDGERTONS’ ON NETFLIX
