Last week Bridgerton released the first character promo for season 4, and they kicked it off with the leading man. I waited to write about it in the hopes we would get a Sophie one as well, but as we haven't I will post my thoughts on the Benedict promo, and maybe address some of the strange comments and speculation I have seen on social media.
NB: I tried to get a copy of the video but it wasn’t able to be played back, however you can see the video on the socials for Bridgerton.
Image Credit: Netflix
Costume:
The costume that Benedict is wearing for this promo is not his Masquerade costume, suggesting that the Masquerade Costumes may only have been used for the posters. Talking of Benedict's costume, the costume designer, Doug Hawkes, broke it down on his instagram a bit. Benedict is wearing a Newmarket coat and relaxed country neck stock (Dougie Hawkes on IG). A Newmarket coat is a long fitted coat that was worn as a riding coat by men, while a neck stock is a type of tie/cravat. Gentlemen would often wear more relaxed clothing in the country, which indicates that this is what Benedict may have worn at My Cottage (more on that later).
The colours are Autumnal, with Brown Trousers, and his neck stock and waistcoat are in darker gold colours. Benedict's jacket is interesting as it looks like it could be green to begin with, then appears to be more blue, I believe it may be a Teal colour that changes slightly depending on the lighting.
Image Credit: Netflix
This costume has less formality than previous season's promotional costumes. It was pointed out to me that in the behind the scenes video released in February we saw a glimpse of Benedict in what appears to be the same costume, and if it is then this could be the costume he wears when returning to Bridgerton House from My Cottage.
Setting:
The setting appears to be a room, we have Benedict place in front of two large planters, however, all the colours are in browns, oranges, and pinks with browner undertones, though the white roses seen in the posters are also present, additionally we can see a glimpse of Autumn leaves. The season being in Autumn is evident with all of the promotion we have seen so far, which will give a new perspective of the world of Bridgerton, and hopefully give us some new and interesting costumes.
Audio:
The promo is accompanied by music, and not a Lady Whistledown voiceover. This has led to discussion in the fandom, with some questioning what this means - one or two have even suggested it is connected to Penelope's storyline. Simply put I don't think it means anything, and I certainly don't see why the promotion for Benedict and Sophie's season would have anything to do with Penelope. Each season has included some character promotions without the Lady Whistledown voiceover, and season 3's promotion also kicked off with a character promotion that did not have the voiceover. Simply put, I think some are reading too much into there being no voiceover.
