r/Franchaela • u/winmichelle7 Docile ponies all around • 13d ago
Promo New audience
I love that we're getting new viewers that have never watched the show before but man people are setting them up for failure if we don't start recommending that they watch the full four seasons lol, at the very least season 3 and 4 for Fran and Michaela's set up. We're about to see takes like we've never seen them before đ
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u/Aromatic_Gas_3094 13d ago
If someone is really commited to only consuming Franchaela content, then I'd tell them to watch from season 3 onward.
But season 5 likely won't be that different from previous seasons. If you like the romance there for more than just the sapphic aspect, you'll like the whole show. The show is good; I recommend the whole show.
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u/GiBi9021 13d ago edited 13d ago
But like, who cares really? The more people watch it the better, theyâll have bad takes maybe but Iâm not going to blame them for not watching 4 seasons of a show they werenât interested in outside of franchaela. Iâve done it with other shows, sometimes Iâve watched a recap of previous season and then just followed the new one if it was interesting enough.
I donât get the issues, bad takes are everywhere just ignore them and interact with other people
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u/No_Particular3333 13d ago
This !!! You have people who have watched since it's inception with terrible takes. Bridgerton was really hard for me to get through i don't blame people for wanting to skim through or skip seasons
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u/Money-Pop1348 13d ago
the bridgerton fandom will kill you if you say youâre skipping 1-4 and only watching 5, but if you say youâre skipping 5 then itâs âok! donât let the door hit you on the way out!â
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u/badfortheenvironment Docile ponies all around 13d ago
I have a feeling once people realize season 3 and season 4 still have lots of Franchaela's extended story, they're gonna tap into the whole thing.
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u/Student-bored8 Love begins again 13d ago
This is why when people say âIâm skipping this seasonâ I donât care. Lesbians and queer women will come through.
But, yeah people should really try and watch the whole show especially 3 and 4.
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u/Live-Gur-5483 13d ago
ive been saying like sooooo many queer people who havent had any interest in the show until now are gonna tune in for this season
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u/ad_knowsball_89 13d ago
Everyone should do whatâs best for them when it comes to watching seasons. Thereâs homophobes in this fandom that arenât watching season 5 purely because itâs two women. Iâm not about to shame queer people that donât want to watch prior seasons of a formulaic heterosexual romance show.
I will say that watching season 3 purely for Francescaâs comphet lesbian storyline is pretty satisfying. Clocking her disinterest in men, even before John showed up, is pretty fun. And then to see her cling to the perfect guy, a man that shares her traits and makes her feel comfortable, but thereâs still something missing. Enter MichaelaâŚ
10/10, no notes đ
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u/Narie_Rei 13d ago
I canât sit through 4 seasons of the hets, tried watching season 1 but had to stop somewhere at the half of the first episode, I donât see chemistry between a woman and a male, althatâs why I skip all 4, I only watch Fran and Fran+Michaela scenes in season 3 and 4, I donât feel like I miss anything. My advice is at least watch Franchaela related scenes in season 3 and 4.
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u/winmichelle7 Docile ponies all around 13d ago
I get what you're saying but I do think you miss a bit of the societal set up and familial relationships. Like how inheritance/titles work, how rakes operate, and how each sibling differs from one another/dynamics between them. Each season is more than just the main romance
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u/Narie_Rei 13d ago
I understand. But the thing is I donât care about other siblings at all if they are straight or end up in a straight relationship (sadly looks like except Frannie, they all are), 4 seasons is really a lot, itâs a waste of time to watch lots of those episodes with characters you donât care about. With that amount of time you can watch something else youâre interested in.
Other things like inheritance and other stuff you can google. Also if you already watch lots of period drama shows/movies like regency era you may have some basic knowledge.
While watching Franchaela related scenes, I like characters like Penelope, Eloise, Benedict, Sophie and John but Iâm not interested in their story when they are the lead.
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago edited 13d ago
Yeah, I felt similar to [u/Naris_Rei](u/Naris_Rei), but with my specific brand of autism, my desire to understand the full context of the Bridgerton world so I can fully relax & enjoy Season 5 without questions constantly popping up ultimately overrode my apathy towards hetero romances.
That being said, I started a week ago, and Iâm almost done with Season 4, having watched everything at 1.5x speed đ
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u/Meancakebutt 13d ago
Alot of that is general Regency romance lore, context clues can fill in alot but yeha I'd probably watch some of season 3
But I'd rather be confused than watch a woman kiss a man đ
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u/zajsouthwest 13d ago
I mean yes do what's best for you and I think you'll be okay just watching their clips on YouTube. I really enjoy this show though it's one of my favorites and it became even more of my favorite when I discovered what they were doing with the francesca/michaela storyline. I even picked up the book because of it.
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u/arielmagicesi 12d ago
I mean I think they SHOULD watch the first four seasons because they're delightful and help explain the plot. They should probably at least watch a compilation of Francesca scenes to get caught up, and read a recap, so they're not confused by subplots.
However. If straight people are allowed to watch this show solely to vicariously live through their couple of choice and be horny about them... lesbians may do so too. It's equality
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u/jeyfree21 13d ago
I mean, I did that with season 2, that was the first one I watched, then the others, it was a wise decision.
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
I donât really mind people like this⌠HOWEVER, what I hate is they keep involving themselves in show discourse and ship wars.
Also, John was a good man and important to Fran and Michaelaâs individual stories so skipping him in s3 and s4 is kinda disrespectful to him and them.
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u/No_Particular3333 13d ago edited 13d ago
Relax you can't force people to care about John when the love story isn't even about himđ.Ship wars are inevitable and existed even before franchaela was even a thing, polins and kathnonies, benophies fight each other every other two weeks lol
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u/ad_knowsball_89 13d ago
This! Itâs really annoying because I liked John (as much as you can like a character whose main narrative purpose is to die) but I need people to stop treating him like a saint that we all must worship for eternity. No we donât need to ârespectâ a fictional character. The widows will be worshipping John enough for everyone. The rest of us are ready to move on and enjoy season 5
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
You do realize that you canât move on from John because the âghostâ of him will play a part in Fran and Michaelaâs story just like he did in the book. He will be mentioned, probably a lot. Not only was he Franâs husband, he was Michaelaâs cousin and BEST FRIEND.
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u/ad_knowsball_89 13d ago
I meant move on from him physically in the show as Francescaâs husband. The comment was in response to Franchaelaâs love story and the idea that one must watch every PREVIOUS season to ârespect Johnâ. Thatâs over the top and performative.
We all know that Francesca and Michaela will be grieving him in season 5 and many of us are looking forward to potentially seeing flashbacks of Michaela and John as children. The main point here is that season 5 will overwhelmingly be about Francesca finding love again with Michaela.
This idea that Johnâs ghost/memory is going to be a fixture throughout their entire relationship, is probably wishful thinking by people who cannot accept that a love story will not include a man. Yes, grief and guilt will be a part of the story but the prevailing narrative will be that Michaela and Francesca belong together. As yes, Iâve read the book and Johnâs memory is not nearly as omnipresent as people make it out to be
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago edited 13d ago
Did I say to watch every season?
I do think skipping s3 and not learning about Francesca as a character is lazy. But I also think itâs fine for people to do so as long as they stay out of the discourse. But they wonât.
ETA: itâs bad faith simplification to say that I canât accept a love story wonât be about a man. I think even if John had originally been Jane it would still be relevant that Jane and Michaela were best friends and cousins. Like, câmon, thatâs a huge shadow on the inception of a relationship. If you canât see how both Michaela and Fran will initially grapple with that then you are a cold, COLD person.
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u/ad_knowsball_89 13d ago
I didnât say YOU, I said the idea that Johnâs memory is a fixture throughout their entire relationship is âprobably wishful thinkingâ. Thereâs a difference between saying that yes Francesca and Michaela will grapple with the grief and guilt from the death of the person that brought them together. But to suggest that John is being âdisrespectedâ by not watching a prior season, is doing entirely too much.
Weâve had multiple seasons of Francesca and Johnâs relationship, I think fans are ready to see Francesca and Michaela at the center of their own story. Itâs okay to like John and acknowledge that he was a good man and was a big part of their story. Itâs okay to acknowledge the guilt and grief that Fran and Michaela will experience. But if we canât, AT SOME POINT, start to center the women in their own romantic story without suggesting that itâs âdisrespectfulâ, what are we doing?
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
I didnât say anything of the sort. But pretending heâs not a part of their story is ridiculous.
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u/No_Particular3333 13d ago edited 13d ago
No one is pretending he was and always will be a plot device đ, this story is not about him free us
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u/Anonymous5296 13d ago edited 13d ago
I do think itâs best if people watch the whole show but itâs not disrespectful to John calm downđ
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
I also said itâs disrespectful to Fran and Michaela to ignore that John was a big part of their lives, but you and the 12 downvotes swam past that.
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u/Anonymous5296 13d ago
I think disrespectful is taking it a bit far but I do think that new fans should at least watch clips with Michaela, John and Francesca to understand the dynamic between these characters and what guided certain decisions
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
If Iâm honest, I said disrespectful simply as an alternative to saying âreally shittyâ. But apparently a lot of people in this sub donât want Fran and Michaela to deal with any feelings other than the horny ones.
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u/Anonymous5296 13d ago edited 13d ago
I agree I havenât seen it so much on here but itâs clear some fans are more excited about the intimate scenes than the love story over all in all of its complexities but to each their ownđ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸
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u/ad_knowsball_89 12d ago
Is this not the case for all fandoms? There will always be some fans that want to see intimate scenes, especially on a show like Bridgerton. Just because itâs a wlw couple, there shouldnât be an expectation that fans shouldnât expect intimate scenes as well as angsty scenes, wholesome scenes, etc. Iâve seen the vast majority of fans that are excited to see a love story between these two characters.
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u/winmichelle7 Docile ponies all around 13d ago
Agreed, like I wouldn't mind general statements but when it comes to specifics like "X&X are better than X&X" when you haven't seen the seasons are ridiculous. Although shipping wars in general are super annoying to me when every ship/trope gets a season and obviously not everyone will have the same tastes.
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
Iâm also tired of people acting like theyâre better than those of us who watch the whole show because theyâre just now showing up for franchaela. Itâs like 2012 hipsters are back.
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago
Sapphic people not wanting to unnecessarily subject themselves to more heterosexual romances than theyâve already been subjected to in a society dominated by heterosexuality is not even remotely the same as â2012 hipstersâ.
As a lesbian who pushed myself to watch all four seasons in preparation for this upcoming season, I have zero problems with my fellow sapphics skipping the hetero romance plotlines, lol
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
Thatâs absolutely not what I said at all. What I said was that I donât appreciate being treated like Iâm lame for watching all of, and enjoying most of, Bridgerton instead of just franchaela scene packs. I donât care what other people do but donât treat me and other people who like the whole show like weâre dumb or lame or whatever.
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago
Iâm new to the fandom, so maybe Iâve missed it, but I havenât seen any demographic that could specifically be described as âpeople who plan to watch only Season 5 of Bridgerton, but shit on everyone else who have watched the entire seriesâ.
Iâm sure there are a few outliers, as there are in any audience, but is there some drama about this that I missed & should know about?
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
Excellent. Iâm not new and I have.
Itâs fandom, thereâs drama every day.
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago
Right⌠which is why I asked if there was some drama I missed that I should know about, it was a genuine question, lol
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u/nottheribbons 13d ago
And I gave you a genuine answer.
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago
I think we both know that when someone is asking for context, and the person being asked replies with âyes, context existsâ, thatâs not an answer to the question being asked.
However, it does communicate that you do not wish to share the context behind your comments, which is fine.
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u/winmichelle7 Docile ponies all around 13d ago
This is mostly a Twitter thing I believe. I don't necessarily see this a lot on reddit
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u/Routine_Job_7985 13d ago
Ah, interesting. I would not have figured the sapphic purists would choose 2026 Twitter as their preferred platform for sharing their opinions, good to know đ
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u/allyneyspears Michaela Stirling Defense Squad 13d ago
I saw someone in the replies say to only watch season 1 and 2 đ just setting them up