Sophia Michaels
“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” provides us with plenty of new information about the origins of fan-favorite “Bridgerton” characters. Queen Charlotte, King George III, Lady Danbury, and Violet Bridgerton all appear in the miniseries, along with the Queen’s ever-loyal right-hand man, Brimsley. Brimsley gets a love story of his own in the past, with the “King’s Man” Reynolds, but in the present day, we don’t see or hear about Reynolds, sparking plenty of theories about what happened to Reynolds in the intervening decades.
Brimsley and Reynolds’s Love Story in the “Queen Charlotte” TV Show
In the TV miniseries, it seems like Brimsley and Reynolds are planning on at least attempting a life together, or as much of one as they can have in that era and in their positions. When it looks like George and Charlotte have reconciled and are planning to stay together (and in the same palace), Brimsley and Reynolds share a sweet scene in a bath, where they talk about how their roles could actually allow them to have a lifetime together. In the present-day timeline, however, Reynolds is nowhere to be seen. When Charlotte asks Brimsley whether he has a family, he sidesteps the question by pointing out how his entire life has been dedicated to serving her. Later, he’s seen dancing alone in a palace garden, intercut with flashbacks of him dancing in the same spot with Reynolds during the queen’s ball decades earlier.
Brimsley and Reynolds’s Love Story in the “Queen Charlotte” Book
For those hoping the book adaptation, cowritten by Shonda Rhimes and Julia Quinn, would have more answers, there’s more disappointment in store. The novelization barely touches on the present-day timeline at all, so the ultimate fate of Reynolds is still left up in the air. The book does, however, give us more insight into how Reynolds and Brimsley’s relationship develops in parallel with George and Charlotte’s, even including a sweet moment where George and Charlotte witness the pair dancing in private at the climactic royal ball.
What Happened to Reynolds in “Queen Charlotte”?
Theories have abounded about what Reynolds’s absence from present-day scenes means. Some have theorized that the pair did manage to stay together and that Reynolds is simply living with the King again in his old age, just like in the past. Other theories suggested that Reynolds had perhaps died before the present-day events of the show, while still, others wondered if the below-stairs romance didn’t last, after all.
Actor Hugh Sachs, who plays present-day Brimsley, finally revealed the truth in an interview with Vulture. As it turns out, there was originally a clearer answer, but the scene wound up on the cutting-room floor.
“There was a scene that we didn’t film, because it was cut, where I was going to meet the older Reynolds,” Sachs explained. “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.”
Could we revisit this storyline in a future “Bridgerton” season, or another season of a spinoff? If the “Bridgerton” universe has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is impossible when it comes to true love!
