#franwell

my favorite Bambi-like couple ♡

Charlie gives Franwell update (and unknowingly confirmed my head canon that Fran & Max end up back in NY) and HE SAYS MY NAME. 💗

I love them so much

Maybe I shouldn't write after having watched only two season but I need to share my love for Fran and Maxwell with the world and get it out of my system🥹

I tend to think that Fran is the first who aknowledges Maxwell, but for a long time it's mainly on a sexual level, and she writes it off as sexual attraction and tries to be very nonchalant about it. It's something easier to keep in check, as you can say to yourself it's a natural thing you can't command, but can choose to ignore if it clashes with everything else. Fran ultimately has a heart and values, as many episodes of her refusing to compromise - or taking steps back from it - show, so she will not seduce her boss to climb the social ladder nor gaining any other advantage from him.

She definitely thinks about marrying him though. When he gives her a condo in S2E24, she gets upset because the similarities between her and Mona have made her get her expectations high. But Fran still wouldn't want to marry Maxwell for the person he really is. The second season is even more focused on her being in her 30s and single thus eager to get well married. Mr Sheffield is rich, handsome, respectable and she's not blind.

But this just makes her restrain from seduce him much more admirable. It's the same reason why she withdraws from dating the rich old businessman in S2S4. That's not who she is. It's what CC would be in her position.

The moment when she starts to aknowledge him as a person thus on a romantic level is at her high school reunion. She finally notices a nice person behind the uptight yet hot Broadway producer. She already knows him as a good father too, but that's also a layer who couldn't tell her everything about him as a person. She already knows his integrity in his profession, as she proudly mentions it herself to that investor who courts her (S2E8). Maxwell does make compromises then steps back when he realises it doesn't sit well with him just like in this episode, as he ends up pushing back this investor in order not to use Fran's charms to his benefit. Integrity is certainly a remarkable quality to notice in a man, but this is a layer in Maxwell that says something about him as a professional, not as a person.

Maxwell is too focused on his work to be much in tune with his feelings. It's still an endearing thing to watch, instead of being annoying, because there's good reason for him to have his feelings suppressed. He's a relatively young widower, so he's dealing with a great loss, and has three problematic children who would definitely be upset with a new mother figure, if he ever was that egoist to think about a new relationship.

I believe that Maxwell notices Fran's human qualities first, but still framed as good qualities for a nanny, "despite how unconventional she is". She's kind to his children, she's good at keeping them in check but also at being there for them.

He starts to notice her sex appeal much more slowly. But at the same time Fran is giving him so many headaches and is still very overwhelming for him as a person, along with her family and life. The most recurrent episode format in season 2 revolves around him having a professional goal, Fran having her own life unraveling, the two worlds cross and his plans are ruined, often ending with Andrew Lloyd Webber getting his claws on whatever Maxwell seeked. Since he's very focused on what's more rational to do, a troublesome woman like Fran would be impossible to consider on a romantic level at this point.