Bridgerton has made some surprising book changes over the years — including cutting Francesca’s pregnancy and miscarriage from the story.
During season 4, which concluded on Thursday, February 26, Francesca (Hannah Dodd) mourned husband John’s (Victor Alli) death while briefly assuming she was pregnant. Francesca was forced to undergo an exam, which is when she found out she wasn’t expecting a baby.
The revelation was a departure from Julia Quinn‘s When He Was Wicked where Francesca miscarried weeks after John’s death.
“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 referred to the miscarriage as “too morbid” to add, saying, “We’re still very interested in honoring the fertility story line. It’s something we tried to honor this season, and we will continue honoring in her future season.”
She continued: “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.”
Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton and Victor Alli as John Stirling. Liam Daniel/Netflix
Quinn, meanwhile, also weighed in on the evolution from her original idea.
“I think [Francesca’s] emotions are the same. I have experienced pregnancy loss. I had three failed pregnancies between my two children,” she told the outlet. “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.”
Quinn praised how Bridgerton navigated John’s death. “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,” she noted. “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.”
Elsewhere in her interview, Brownell explained why the show moved up John’s death after introducing him earlier on screen, to which she replied, “I think that the main motivation behind that was to allow us ample time to grieve John. 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.”
She concluded: “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.”
Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.
