Is Carmy actively suppressing his feelings for Syd?
Hear me out; I have noticed something that Carmy does sometimes after he stares at Syd for a while. I saw it again in the wedding episode, and I wanted to analyze it:
He cannot take his eyes away from her, and I think he realizes it, so he does this:
That was an attempt to force his mind to move along. It was too violent a gesture for a moment when Stevie barely had a chance to introduce himself. Carmen is not the type to get annoyed at people speaking slowly. Either he was nervous and wanted to move the conversation along, or he was trying to clear his head (of being mesmerized by Syd). Likely both.
It drives me insane because I think I have seen him do this before
This happened in 2x09 right after she calmed him out of a panic attack, mind you. He is using the talk about the menu to distract himself from thinking about it. He also did it in 2x02:
He stares and makes himself look away.
I have never been sure how much he comprehends his feelings for Syd, but he has at least noticed himself going in that direction.
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and when, in season 5, when Carmy leaves the bear and he has to come to terms that his feelings for Syd are not tied to her being his partner in the restaurant, but that they are a whole thing outside of it, then what? I know that will hit like crack
You know for the first 18-ish years of your life everyone your age is mostly doing the same things and then all of a sudden every year for the rest of your life somebody your age is getting divorced while somebody else just learned what a leaf is and you have no idea what’s going on or what you’re supposed to be doing
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This scene has been controversial for the fandom because a lot of people (me included) have pegged that scene as using Sydney's pain as a tool to make Claire more agreeable to the fandom. But after my second rewatch, I'm beginning to wonder if there's a different or a second reason.
Let's examine the scene.
Sydney is alone and afraid in the hospital when she runs into Claire. Claire is very helpful to her, gets her coffee, finds out about her dad, keeps company with her and reassures her. Syd breaks down in a mess, the most vulnerable we've ever seen her on the show and the scene is so annoying because why Claire, when it could have been literally anybody else?
But notice the micro-expressions on Claire's face;
Sydney breaks down crying
Claire strokes her arm to comfort her but notice the way her expression changes subtly the moment where she stops stroking her arm.
That's a subtle stank face if I've ever seen one.
This is not a sympathetic or empathic face. The up-down flickering of her eyes, the srunched face and flared nostrils, the upturned lip. That's quiet irritation.
This brings me to this scene where Syd calls to Carm to say what he's afraid of
That's a disgusted almost eye roll. And that sweeping shot? They wanted you to see it if you're really looking. But it's so subtle you almost don't notice it and it's also so deniable.
I've been saying since her appearance in S2 that Molly does this subtle micro expressions within expressions that gives sinister vibes to her character and I'm convinced now more than ever that it's deliberate. I went to acting (for film) school. This is something that if it's unintentional, the director will see it and fix it. This is intentional and it's so subtle that they can make it go away if they want and make you look like a crazy person. Typical gaslighting. And you don't notice it unless you are scrutinizing the scenes or rewatching in context.
It's kind of like that scene where Keizer Soze is staring at the notice board (in The Usual Suspects). If the end didn't happen the way it did, it doesn't look sinister at all. It's like an expression that can change meaning depending on the context.
Storer is gaslighting the f__k out of us, yo, and I loathe it. But it's also so intoxicating following this shit. I hate it here LMAO.
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Sometimes when I'm having doubts about how their relationship is going to go because the slow burn be SLOWly burning, I just have to keep telling myself that's because it is what it is.
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Chat is it really platonic if you're talking with his mom and telling her you went all the way to New York to try her son's food and that her son's meal was one of the best of your life BEFORE YOU TELL HIM?!
i’m actually having a full blown conniption about this part. you see him fully exhale + quickly scan her face AS soon as he registers it’s her approaching.
you can see his ENTIRE body relax.
she is the personification + embodiment of PEACE.
SHE is peace.
his entire nervous system knows it.
amazing acting choices from jaw here.
despite the convo of jayo’s closeness bleeding into sydcarmy, sydney has been ACTIVELY written as carmy’s peace + reprieve numerous times.
contextually within the fabric of the storytelling, this has been the case intermittently from the start.