For Bridgerton’s fifth season, it seems we might be leaving the Ton behind for Scotland. The reason? The new couple who will be at the center of the next installment of Jess Brownell’s Regency romp. And no, it isn’t Claudia Jessie’s Eloise and her great love. Instead it’s Hannah Dodd’s newly widowed Francesca and Masali Baduza’s Michaela, the beloved cousin of her former husband, John Stirling.
Netflix confirmed the news with a romantic new teaser featuring the pair, alongside sweeping vistas of misty mountains and dense forests. The streamer also revealed that the forthcoming season is now in production.
The next chapter’s log line reads: “The fifth season of Bridgerton spotlights introverted middle daughter Francesca. Two years after losing her beloved husband John, Fran decides to reenter the marriage mart for practical reasons. But when John’s cousin Michaela returns to London to tend to the Kilmartin estate, Fran’s complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions.”
It goes on to describe Fran as the “Countess of Kilmartin—reserved and contained, Francesca has long felt out of place in the world. As Michaela stirs up new feelings inside her, Fran will make discoveries about herself that could change everything.” Of her paramor, it adds: “Beneath Michaela’s charming and vivacious exterior hides a vulnerable young woman who is quick to run the second she feels discomfort. But, this season, Michaela must face her vulnerability head-on as she’s forced to navigate her relationship to her late cousin’s legacy—and to Francesca.”
The news prompts a number of questions: will Eloise finally have the spotlight in Season 6, then? (The show, it appears, is jumping ahead to the sixth book in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, When He Was Wicked, while the fifth book, To Sir Phillip, With Love, focuses on Eloise.) What else will have happened in this two-year time jump? And how quickly will the identity of the new Lady Whistledown be revealed? It’s too early to say—but rest assured eight new glorious, scintillating, swoon-worthy episodes are now on their way.
