Celina, pardon me, but which Phantoms actually think Christine has come back to stay at the ring return scene?
Sure! Phantoms who think Christine has actually returned to him because she loves him, only to realize that's not her intention, are the epitome of this gif:
One of the most common ways for a Phantom to show that he thinks a Christine has returned, permanently, is by running up to her eagerly, only to be pulled up short when she holds out the ring. I actually see quite a few European Phantoms (Dutch, German, Russian) do this, but here's Andrey Shkoldychenko doing that, with Elena Bahtiyarova as Christine:
Another, less common way for Phantoms to show that they think Christine is actually staying, is for them to smooth out their hair and coat. After all, they have to look presentable for their bride, right? Here's David Hunerjaeger doing it, with Valentina Kozhanova:
Jeff Hyslop does an interesting take where he not only seems to think Christine is staying, he actually looks like he's about to go up and kiss Christine again (or at least get a hug?) before realizing the real reason why she's come back (here with Teresa DeZarn):
And Scott Davies not only thinks Christine (Charlotte Page) has decided to stay, he's so relieved that he heaves a very noticeable sigh before actually noticing what she's holding out. His confused head bob really sells it:
Earl Carpenter's reaction (with Katie Knight Adams, whom you can't even see in the gif) carries a note of disbelief throughout. He thinks she's come back, he wants her to come back, but he doesn't seem to think she would have - the hand he holds against himself almost seems to be saying, "You're staying? Truly? For me?" And it turns out he's right, she's not staying:
Ramin Karimloo is just grateful and happy that Christine (Sierra Boggess) is back at all. His mistake is thinking that she's going to be back permanently (disregarding Love Never Dies):
Hugh Panaro doesn't always think his Christine (Sandra Joseph) has come back for certain, but he did in the last show of his first run. You can see it clearly as he hears Christine, then smiles; in the video, you can also hear him say, "Yes...!" It's her holding out the ring (which Joseph even kissed) that breaks it to him, and even then you can see, by his little head shake, that he doesn't quite want to believe it:
And on the opposite end of scale, you have Kevin Gray, here with real-life wife Dodie Pettit, who actually covers his face. Whether he's trying valiantly to smooth his hair and just doesn't know how, or he's so ashamed he can't look at Christine and doesn't want her to see him this way, or he already knows she's going to leave him and he doesn't want to face up to it, it's heartbreaking all the same:
And then there's John Owen-Jones (here with Rachel Barrell), who absolutely believes someone has come for him, but appears to think it's the mob and gets up ready to fight:
There you go, some interesting takes on the idea!
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