“Surprising, forceful, and quick.” That’s how Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) describes the type of love that she originally envisioned for her children—including the enigmatic Francesca Bridgerton (played by Hannah Dodd)—in Bridgerton season three. But by the time of Francesca’s low-key wedding to the sweet but subdued John, Earl of Kilmartin (Victor Alli), Violet has awoken to “beauty in the slow approach.”

Still, she can’t help but reminisce about the first time she laid eyes on her late husband, Edmund Bridgerton. “When I first met your father, I could barely speak my own name,” Violet tells Francesca. “I was so taken by him. I stumbled over words most familiar.” This sentiment echoes in the final minutes of Bridgerton’s third season, when Francesca meets a person who does, in fact, cause her to forget herself entirely: Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), cousin to Francesca’s new husband. And that name will be somewhat familiar to fans of Julia Quinn’s original book series.

In a major departure, the novel’s male-identifying character of Michael has been switched to the female-identifying Michaela. Ahead, showrunner Jess Brownell breaks down the shocking change in Francesca’s future love interest.

Who is Francesca Bridgerton?

Described in the novels as her older sister Eloise’s (Claudia Jessie) “accidental twin” because of their close proximity in age, Francesca is the most subdued of the Bridgerton siblings. Until now, she had largely been sidelined on Bridgerton. She was gone for large swaths of seasons one and two, with the show blaming her absence on visits to her Aunt Winnie in the countryside town of Bath. When Francesca is reintroduced in Bridgerton season three, we learn that she’d rather be tickling the ivories than fending off potential suitors. “I don’t think she ever wants to be the center of attention, so she feels quite uncomfortable with it being all eyes on her,” Dodd recently told Town & Country. After the show debuted, some neurodivergent fans referred to the character as “autistic coded” because they share traits with the introspective Francesca.

Why is Francesca played by a new actor?

Ruby Stokes, who played Francesca in seasons one and two, departed Bridgerton for a leading role on Netflix’s Lockwood & Co. “I have to hand it to Hannah Dodd, who stepped into the role of Francesca this year,” showrunner Jess Brownell previously told Vanity Fair. “There was the risk with the Francesca character that she could be unknowable or inaccessible, but Hannah brings this real nuance and subtlety that allows us inside her head in a really powerful way.”

As costar Claudia Jessie told VF, “Can you imagine stepping into this two seasons in? I’m terrified turning up, and I’ve been there since day one. Hannah, the minute she turned up, it felt like she’d been with us for years. She is glorious through and through…. Hannah has done a beautiful job. I came away from [this season] very, very, very proud of her.”

What is Francesca’s storyline in Bridgerton season three?

Despite her reticence about the marriage mart, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) names Francesca this season’s “sparkler,” precisely because she performs for herself and not the society set. The queen then masterminds what she believes to be an ideal suitor for Francesca in Lord Samadani (David Mumeni). “I love my family dearly, but it can be rather lonely to be around them all at once,” Francesca tells him in the season’s third episode. Samadani, also one of eight siblings, disagrees with her viewpoint and makes his intentions for a similarly large family known. Dismayed by his response, Francesca retreats to the outskirts of that evening’s ball, where she meets John, Earl of Kilmartin, with whom she bonds over their shared need for solitude.

But when Francesca and John meet, sparks fly in complete silence. “How will they know each other if they do not speak?” asks Violet Bridgerton wary of their courtship—in part because it goes against the match the queen has selected for Francesca.

By the end of episode four, John has seemingly won Francesca over by rearranging a piece of music to her exact specifications. But Francesca’s desire for a quieter love clashes with her family’s tendency toward tortured romance. “The Bridgertons are mostly extroverted and charming and at ease in social situations. And then you have Francesca, who is the introvert of the family,” Brownell tells VF. “She’s much more reserved, much more taciturn. But she also has this really rich inner life and a strong point of view, which is challenging to Violet when Francesca debuts this year on the marriage mart. Violet knows very well how to shepherd her other children who are very vocal about what their feelings are, but because Francesca is more of an enigma, it creates a real hurdle for Violet.”

After Francesca admonishes her mother’s “perfunctory support” of the union between herself and John, Violet comes to appreciate the sensible match. Unlike Luke Newton’s Colin and Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope, Francesca and John wed in a small, frills-free ceremony with plans to retreat to his country home in Scotland. Their travel companions include Eloise, who’s eager to have some fresh experiences before returning to the marriage mart, and John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling, whom Francesca meets at the season’s final ball.

What happens to Francesca in her Bridgerton book?

When she was cast, Dodd says she picked up a copy of Francesca’s novel “because she’s not really present in the other books. That was all I really had to work off.”

Indeed, one of the major book-to-show changes in Bridgerton season three is that Francesca isn’t a major player in Colin and Penelope’s novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. Francesca and John’s romance takes place largely off the page between Benedict’s book, An Offer From a Gentleman, and Colin’s.

She doesn’t take center stage until 2004’s When He Was Wicked, the sixth book in the Bridgerton series. During her marriage to John, Francesca bonds with a character named Michael Stirling, her husband’s cousin and closest friend. It is revealed in the book’s very first chapter that Michael fell in love with Francesca at first sight—mere hours before she walked down the aisle to marry his best mate. (Think Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln’s Love Actually storyline.)

Two years into their marriage, John dies of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, making his closest relative, Michael, the new earl. But Michael abandons his duties—and Francesca—by fleeing to India to grieve alone. The former friends are estranged four years before Francesca re-enters the marriage mart, seeking her second husband and the chance at starting a family. Michael enters the scene with similar wishes, neither hopeful for anything beyond a pragmatic match. But when Michael reconnects with Francesca, he realizes that his romantic feelings for her have not dimmed with time.

So, is Francesca queer in Bridgerton season three?

Given her reaction to meeting Michaela Stirling, it would appear so! “The first time I read When He Was Wicked, which is Francesca’s book, I really related to it as a queer woman,” showrunner Jess Brownell tells Vanity Fair. “Her story is in some ways about feeling different. In Julia Quinn’s book, it really has more to do with her being introverted. But for many of us in the queer community, that sense of feeling different from a young age is part of our stories. So I felt like there was already thematic richness in her book to mine for her story. In telling a queer Bridgerton story, I didn’t want to just drop a queer character in to check a box. I want to tell a story about the queer experience and let there be a richness to her story. And it feels like we’re able to do that with Francesca.”

Those who detected a hint of disappointment from Francesca after her first kiss with John may have been onto something. But Brownell isn’t willing to spell out if their marriage was born more of genuine attraction or a need to settle. “We’re continuing to explore that,” she says. “Personally, I don’t think it’s black and white. What she has with John is real and valid. It is a relationship that is based much more on friendship and companionship, probably, than it is on passion. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not valid, and that it’s not real love. There are plenty of relationships that aren’t passionate to start out with, or then grow less passionate over time, that are still incredibly beautiful and important. So there’s more to mine there with Francesca, and I want to take the time to explore that.”

When asked about potential backlash to exploring the queer identities of both Francesca and Benedict—who engages in a male-female throuple this season—Brownell said: “I am prepared for it. I understand that people are very attached to the way the books are. The books will always be there, and those stories are unchanged. So while book fans will always have their Michael, it felt like queer fans didn’t have anyone in either the books or in the series who was really featured to relate to. I would encourage people to channel some empathy for people who have not gotten to see themselves represented inside this world, which is so inclusive in other ways. That is a really, really important message to send to people that they deserve to be included and represented as well.”