WARNING: spoilers for Bridgerton season 4 part 2 ahead.
All good things come to an end... but don't worry, I'm not talking about Bridgerton. Instead, I'm referring to someone's time on the hit Netflix show, after season 4 part 2 revealed a shocking death at the end of episode 6.
This won't be news if you've read the books, but for the rest of us, John (Victor Alli) suddenly dies of a brain aneurysm, with episode 7 dedicated to his funeral. Not only does Francesca (Hannah Dodd) feel like she's failed as a wife by not giving him a child, but she also doesn't have that part of him left behind.
We know that this is likely to lead to a romantic storyline between Francesca and John's cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) later down the line, but even though it's not confirmed, Alli still thinks killing off John was the "right decision".
'When Fran finally breaks down, it was an intense day'
"It's nice to see another element of the show," Alli begins, "as well as that subject being addressed. It's important, and I guess grounds us in reality. Yes, Bridgerton is a nice, romantic show, but there's also a lot of moments of reality."
He's got a point. We're either steeped in the ultra-surreal or jumping to something that none of us can truly comprehend. That's hardly a soap opera strategy... it's just how life really is.
For Dodd, John's death presented its own challenges. "My scene with Ruth [Gemmell], the actual breakdown, although there were other scenes," she says when I ask what was the most difficult.
"I actually found the wake quite tricky, because we were going for a stoic vibe and she's twitching about the biscuits and things like that. I didn't want to play it too comic, it needed to be heartbreaking.... but also she hasn't fully put her mask on.
That game of needing the audience to know, but also the characters not showing anybody was tricky for me. But the the scene with Ruth where, Fran finally gets to break down. It was quite, it was quite an intense day, but weirdly, a lot of fun as well.
And cathartic for us, too. Put it this way... we're one step closer to a Francesca-Michaela romance coming true in the already-confirmed season 5.
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