When the show first came out, I was infatuated with Francesca and the Season 2 love storyline. Her beauty, her class, and what appeared to be her great chemistry with Dev. The few key storyline episodes with her including the one hour special were in my mind some of the greatest shows I had ever seen.

Years later however, and a couple of full series rewatches later, (minus whatever Season 3 is) I've been left surprised at how I now feel. Maybe its more life experience (though I was still in my 30's during the initial watches), but to me, something has changed and the storyline comes off as much more non-authentic than it originally felt. Francesca really does seem like a woman who, while certainly liked Dev to an extent, was in no way serious about possibly loving him or actually giving up everything and moving to New York for him. I also picked up much more on just how much the two of them didn't seem to understand each other often, leading to me feeling even more that their connection wasn't as authentic as I had thought. The only saving grace for me is the open ending where we can assume it was just a dream and she really did make the right decision which was to in fact return to Italy.

On the contrary, while rewatching Season 1 I felt the exact opposite and how Dev and Rachel felt much more real and authentic, to a very serious degree. Just a surprising takeaway that I'm curious if other people agree with. I love the actress who played Francesca but in reality she was cast more because of her beauty than anything else, in my honest opinion.