The Netflix Upfront was held on Wednesday afternoon US Eastern Time and as part of their presentation they released the first official clip of Benophie, which was unexpected. I certainly expected this to be released during Tudum at the end of the month, so getting it today was a great surprise. The clip was from the Masquerade Ball, which we know is the majority of the first episode.
Video Courtesy of Netflix
In the clip we see Benedict walking into the Masquerade Ball, hosted by Violet, and immediately he is noticed, and targeted, by the debutantes present, then he spots a young lady in silver (Sophie) looking up in wonder, at this point his expression noticeably changes from one of determination to a softer look, showing him captivated with her. What is noticeable at this point is how the music goes from hard, fast and deeper sounding to lighter and softer, more musical, when he sees Sophie. If this is the Benophie theme then I am in love with it already, I can't wait to hear it more during the season. Benedict looks up to see what has captured her attention, and sees the Chandelier and then looks at her again in wonder.
This clip has no dialogue between Benedict and Sophie, and really doesn't appear to show a lot on the surface, but there is a lot of subtext in what we see. For Sophie, she is entranced with the Chandelier, she is taking everything in and seems in awe of the Chandelier, we see little else from Sophie as all her attention is on what she is looking at, but her wonder and her captivation is clear to see. I think in this we see a little more of Benedict's emotions, but I think the ones he has looking at Sophie call back to the poem he gave to Anthony in Season 2: What is it to admire a woman? To look at her and feel inspiration. To delight in her beauty.
I think for Benedict what we see her is a combination of him delighting in her beauty, which is amplified with the innocence in her wonder at the Chandelier, and feeling inspiration. I am not saying he feels inspired to paint, but rather an inspiration to see things differently, to view the house he grew up in with new eyes and see its beauty more, look at it with a different perspective - another call back to seaosn 2 when Benedict told Anthony to look at things with a new perspective. I think this is what could start him on the road to painting again, we know that Sophie is the one that brings him back to his passion, and this moment we see in this clip could be the spark that sets it all in motion.
But if the clip has been given to us with the upfronts, what could be in store for Tudum?
