On Christmas Day we had the release of new stills for Bridgerton Season 3. I will be doing a series of posts looking at each of these stills, as well as some earlier stills released for season 3, and breaking them down with my thoughts and theories based on what I see.
The first still I will look at is the one of The Viscount and Viscountess Bridgerton, (Kate and Anthony) from episode 1. At first glance there are a couple of things that stand out immediately; the intimacy of the pose, Kate's overall look, and the setting. So let's break these down one by one.
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| Image Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix |
The Setting:
The image doesn't give a lot away about the location of the image, but it appears that it could be their bedroom in Bridgerton House. The walls and drapes show the Bridgerton colour scheme that we see throughout the house (the pale blue), and there are sheer curtains. The look of the background gives a feeling of old money luxury that is associated with the Bridgertons. It appears that Kate is sitting down, potentially at a small writing table. Beyond the basics there is very little else to give away the location of the image from a physical look, however the pose implies intimacy that would be seen in a more private setting.
The Looks:
We can see that under her Spencer Jacket, Kate's dress is Bridgerton Blue, telling us she is now a Bridgerton, however, this is contrasted with the warm red of her Spencer Jacket. Kate's Spencer is embellished with a floral design that evokes the floral embellishments of some of her wardrobe in season 2, in particular her ball gowns, and is also reminiscent of the floral design in Anthony's waistcoat in the Epilogue of season 2. I haven't had the opportunity to do a full analysis, and one day I might, however, my first thought was that the floral designs on Kate's clothing in season 2 were for significant scenes with her and Anthony, and that the floral designs have been carried through to her season 3 wardrobe keeps this connection with them.
It appears the top of her dress has an embellishment that resembles holly leaves (in blue) and berries. This seems a little odd to me, but without seeing the context of the scene it is difficult to know why there is this specific embellishment on her dress, however, it does evoke the idea of Christmas.
Kate's hair looks to be a half up, half down style, with some loose tendrils framing her face and a section of her hair over her shoulder as we saw at the end of season 2. It does not appear, however, that she has her signature braids in this scene, though as were are only seeing one side of her hair it is impossible to determine if there may be braids on the other side. This softer style with her hair shows the continuation of her journey that we saw in season 2 which was illustrated throughout via her hairstyles softening. Kate's hair accessory is again in blue, albeit a slightly darker blue than that of her dress, thus blending in with both the light blue of her dress and the darker red of her Spencer Jacket.
We see very little of Anthony's look in this still, however we can see a little. Anthony's waistcoat appears to be a plain dark colour, either dark blue or black, and we can see that he is not wearing a cravat. Anthony also has his shirtsleeves rolled up, and is not wearing a jacket. This lends itself to an intimate scene with Kate and Anthony where they are alone, relaxed and informal, away for visitors and the family.
The Pose:
Of all aspects of this look it is the pose that I find the most interesting. This is an intimate pose, and similar to ways we have seen Kate and Anthony together previously (him behind embracing her).
The first thing to note is that Kate has her back to Anthony whilst turning her head to look at him in the eyes, this shows her trust in him by having her most vulnerable part of her body open. Meanwhile we see Anthony's trust in Kate as he leans around her exposing his neck. Exposing the vulnerable parts of your body to someone - even with no physical threat likely - shows trust.
Kate and Anthony are maintaining eye contact, this is something that was very noticeable throughout season 2, and helped lend to showing that they are equals, and this has continued into their marriage. The eye contact not only reinforces their trust, their love, and their affection, it also shows that they are not hiding from each other.
Whilst there is an openness to their pose, there is also another element which struck me from the moment I saw this image - protectiveness. In this we see both Kate and Anthony displaying protectiveness in this pose.
Anthony's arms are around Kate as we have seen before, but the positioning of his arms sends a slightly different message to previous times we have seen this.
Anthony's right arm is down the outside of Kate's right arm, rather than across her lower abdomen as we saw in the epilogue for season 2. This looks like he is protecting or shielding her vulnerable side. Anthony's left arm is around her, positioned at the top of her abdomen as opposed to across the top of her chest that we saw in the epilogue of season 2, again in a position as if he is shielding and protecting.
In addition to the positioning of Anthony's arms, we see Kate's right arm across Anthony's left arm as if she is pulling it tighter around herself in a protective or comforting action. In this moment we see Kate wanting, needing, and receiving Anthony's protection, but maybe his comfort as well.
Another interesting thing about this pose is that it appears to be reminiscent of poses that are often seen in photos of parents with their new baby.
I believe that this still is hinting at a major part of Kate and Anthony's storyline for season three, and that we will see Kate pregnant, and perhaps even see the appearance of baby Edmund.
In saying that it is prudent to reiterate that this is my opinion, and whilst this could be read as a protective pose, it could also be one of comfort and reassurance, or something more intimate.
What do you think this pose tells us? Do you think, like I do, that this is an instinctual protective pose and Kate is pregnant? or do you think Anthony is providing comfort to Kate? or do you think that too much is being read into it and they are just having an intimate moment before going to be with the family?
Leave a comment with your thoughts on this image.
