Bridgerton fans fear spin-off Queen Charlotte has fallen into the brutal ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope
What happened to Queen Charlotte character Reynolds? (Netflix)
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story actors finally address the gay lover-shaped elephant in the room – where is fan-favourite character Reynolds?
Since finishing Queen Charlotte on Netflix, there’s been one question on every fan’s lips – what happened to gay power couple Reynolds (Freddie Dennis) and Brimsley (Sam Clemmett)? The six-episode Bridgerton spin-off, which released on 4 May, broke new ground after introducing its first leading LGBTQ+ couple across the Bridgerton extended universe – including the three Netflix seasons produced by Shonda Rhimes and the eight best-selling books the show is based on from author Julia Quinn.
But just as viewers praised the sexy period romance between Queen Charlotte’s (India Amarteifo) man Brimsley and King George’s (Corey Mylchreest) man Reynolds, they were left equally confused by the end of the season. The fate of the forbidden but devoted lovers was left hanging after Reynold’s mysteriously disappeared from the show.
“We’re asking questions as well,” Clemmett told RadioTimes in a new interview. “Ever since we got the final episode through, we’ve been like, ‘Where is he? What’s happened? Is he OK?'”.
The show is split into two timelines, the first set in 1761 which follows a young Queen Charlotte as she navigates newly married life and the complexities of court. The other in 1817, when an older Queen Charlotte (played by original actor Golda Rosheuvel) is attempting to secure the future bloodline of the monarchy by pressuring her children to have legitimate heirs.
Unlike in the past where both young Brimsley and young Reynolds are thriving, in the future timeline the only one present is old Brimsley (Hugh Sachs) with no sign of Reynolds, who is noticeably absent from the King’s side.
Despite hopes that he might re-appear by the end of the six-episodes, the show concluded with no heartwarming reunion in sight, leaving both the fans and actors wondering where on earth he disappeared to.
“I, for one, would love to know what happens,” Clemmett continued, “Freddie [Dennis] constantly jokes that he’s having a nice lie down in the Maldives with a mojito, which is very well deserved.”
Well-deserved though it might be, it seems Dennis who plays Reynolds himself doesn’t have a clue either, telling Digital Spy in a separate interview: “I don’t know what happens. None of us know what happens to Reynolds but there’s no doubt in my mind that wherever he is, he still loves Brimsley with his whole heart.”
Old Brimsley actor Hugh Sachs was able to shed a little more light on the elusive Reynolds situation that somehow makes the whole everything way worse.
“There was a scene that we didn’t film, because it was cut, where I was going to meet the older Reynolds,” Sachs told Vulture in yet another interview. “He was the love of his life, and for whatever reason, they could not stay together.
“So when they would pass each other in the passageway in the deleted scene, it wasn’t a toxic moment. Because of the world they inhabited, it was still a hangable offense to be gay, and it was just not possible.”
Since we’ll never get to see that fated scene come to life all viewers are left with is a heart-wrenching scene that cuts from a young Brimsley and Reynolds dancing under the moonlight to an old Brimsely dancing alone. And fans are seriously not OK.
And as Reynolds’ fate hangs in the air, viewers are begging for answers or some closure in the next season if Netflix decides to renew the spin-off.
Given Bridgerton‘s track record for queerbaiting and woeful lack of queer representation, here’s hoping Brimsley and Reynolds get the redemption arc they deserve.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is available to stream on Netflix.
