There's a big elephant in the room that is being pointedly ignored.
Yup. I am gonna talk about Franchaela.
First: there are definitely homophobes and bigots galore that are talking shit about our girls. They need to sit down, stfu, and read some Sarah Waters. Ffs. We do not tolerate anti-lgbtqa talk in this blog. So no one dare ever try. I will block'fu you after taking screenshots. Are we clear?
Okay, now that I have gotten that completed...
Making Franchaela into s5 is a disservice to both Fran & Michaela as well as Eloise, imho.
A time jump is not a way to show growth. It's a short cut to giving us characters that are slightly different without letting the audience observe any of it. It's worse than a montage.
We need to see Francesca learn who she is now. She defined herself too much as a "wife" to be honest. And that is not a judgment on her. A lot of people define themselves too much as a role they are given or decide to have. I am likely guilty of this. You are too, don't lie. But I don't want a two year time jump that shows us a new Fran that has changed in ways that will mostly revert within 2 episodes.
The loss of her husband is really devastating to Fran on a lot of levels. She wanted to be the perfect wife for John. We saw the stress this caused her. She had only started letting go of it when John passed. For a lot of people, this would make them rubberband snap back to their previous operating system.
And Michaela? She ran. Without warning. Without a whisper of explanation. She abandoned the most important person left to her. And she did it when Fran needed her the most. When she needed Fran the most.
They deserve to have their story unfold like a rose blooming in snow. They took John too quickly, which was also a disservice. He may have had only one chapter in the book, but everyone deserved in the show to see Fran & John & Michaela as the happiest best friends for more than a moment, with the knowledge that Michaela was in love with Fran all the while and Fran had no idea. That was a gorgeous part of the book that we could have explored so much more in the show.
I also feel that them never letting Fran have a fully happy marriage bed with John is really crappy. If they intend to use that to give Fran more guilt? How. Dare. If they try to make it seem like John was not one of Fran's true loves, it would be shitty. Fran's guilt in the book was so poignant, so beautifully complex & sad... it doesn't need extra flavors.
Michaela doesn't need to have Michael's rake/semi villain arc. We are well without it nowadays. Her guilt over loving John's wife is enough. But my issue is we don't get nearly enough of Michaela's feelings from s4 alone. We can sense conflict and attraction but we don't get to observe the yearning and the fall into love. It's a disservice to them all.
And while Fran has had a major part in 2 seasons that were not her own, neither of them set up Franchaela in the way needed to not rush their story or to keep John central to their story in the way he should be. And I know some will object to me saying John should be a central part... but he was in the book too. And it was excruciatingly beautiful.
She has begun her journey out of self centeredness. Now would be the perfect time to have her run away and marry Phillip. But they effed that up by not addressing the end of Marina, which imho should have happened by mid s4.
(Also s4's timeline is fucked as hell. John & Fran had been married less than a year and got married maybe 3 weeks after Pen & Colin yet Pen & Colin have at least an 18 month old? Pure fuckery. Nevermind the fact that Elliot was at least... 6? 7 months old? When they got back from Scotland? They left right after the butterfly ball where Pen was maybe 6 weeks pregnant? So they were in Scotland for over a year to up to a year and a half? And people wonder why I posit that s4 used chatgpt.)
Ahem, anyways. I would much rather see a 1 to 2 year time jump where Marina passed in the meantime time and we see Eloise writing with Phillip for the first episode & it ending with her at his doorstep. Eloise does not need a full season more of being a side character learning to see the perspectives of others. Her eyes are already open. And we could see Fran's growth in Eloise's season. We could even see a fight between Fran and Michaela to better set up their own story.
(Also, Theoloises and "Eloise should be a lesbian!" people? Go away. I am not for you and I can use block'fu on you as well. Eloise was only ever going to be with Theo or be a lesbian in fanfic, so that is where your happiness will be. Phillip was given to us in season 1. You cannot argue it should be changed now and do shocked Pikachu face when it doesn't happen. Sorry.)
Now that I have gotten all that out of the way:
You cannot call all people who do not end up liking S5 or who do not like Franchaela for S5 homophobes on reflex. It's discounting the legitimate qualms that are being expressed. Let the people who have real and helpful opinions be heard, because if the powers that be listen? It will only make Franchaela better. You can disagree with my points. You can disagree with anyone's points. Free will and all that jazz. But don't immediately label someone a bigot who also just wants Franchaela to soar.