The Green Sweater Skeleton in the Closet
Thoughts about my rewatch of the Green & Tonnatto Episode last night
I must reiterate: Something tells me Carmy wasn’t supposed to call Claire. He was supposed to do as Sydney told him when dropping off the box—to get it over with. But instead, he stopped in front of the house-delayed and called Claire and directed the hidden feelings and how he sees Sydney over to his high school crush.
But that call was needed. Because what I'm observing here, Carmy lies- he lies a lot to Claire.
This is how Carmy lies:
Pretend to be confused.
Pretend he doesn’t remember.
Case in point:
It was also needed so we can for sure know just what Carmy does when he is crushing on someone. He holds onto their things and acts confused.
It’s all lining up perfectly with Carmy’s characterization—one I wrote a meta about around Season 2, and it’s only getting louder each season: he holds onto objects from people he’s infatuated with and expresses that infatuation through art.
Carmy, as an artist, has muses—like Claire once upon a time, and Sydney now.
But Carmy pretends he doesn't have those items, or that he doesn't remember. He knows he had that green sweater once she mentioned it, hence the silly question.
I'm following @freedelusionshere. The last time he was this confused was Sydney's missing cleaver.
But ending the call, he has a second chance to get it over with his mom and make room for his mom and Sydney, and this time he should ignore Claire's call- but he answers when Claire calls back.
The feelings he has for Sydney, which he hasn't yet addressed or cleaned out skeletons in the closet for, are directed towards Claire, and for the viewers, it presents a different compliment for Claire. Wonderful.
Usually, we hear written callbacks and descriptions of the word beautiful, particularly for Claire.
The last time we heard someone described as wonderful, when Emmanuel used it not just for his wife, but for Sydney, as she wore a green sweater.
The next time Sydney wears a green sweater, as talked about amongst the ship? 4x07 Bears & 4x09, Green.
Claire then sends him on a different mission when she hears those words: dig into the past to find a time Claire was good, on time, wonderful—go find the green sweater.
Honestly, the apology to his mother and the act of closing the box of the past, then placing it in Donna's closet and shutting the door, marked the end of their hurdles. He should have walked away at that point. Instead, he opened another chapter of the past by going to his old room.
Sidebar about the room: I was once in the theory of Mikey's closet that holds the green sweater. But I doubt Mikey’s room would’ve stayed the same since his teenage years. There are Chicago underground 2000s punk rock band posters on the wall and an early influence of Anthony Bourdain on the nightstand—the book Kitchen Confidential. (Side note: I don’t know if we’ll see it later, but Carmy has a tattoo on his shoulder dedicated to Bourdain.)
When Carmy finds the green sweater, he doesn’t seem happy to have it in his hands. He’s pensive. Similar to finding Sydney's notebook in season 1 and later on texting her an apology, or holding the funeral card, apologizing to Richie. For Carmy, the objects themselves jolt a memory and reflection. A reminder that something still needs to be ended or faced.
So is he holding Claire’s green sweater now—and are we finally going to open the door to what the is it fuck with Claire?
Because once he solves that, he still has to make room and remember—he has Sydney’s scrunchie and other items in his possession.
And maybe this wonderful label, this sense of reverence, is psychological transference. Carmy’s feelings for Sydney have been displaced onto other people. Same Person, Different People. As Carmy told Claire.
