cosmic-light-fics:
The Girlfriend Montage
I can’t shake this moment from my mind and some interpretations of moments like this in this season have gotten me mad, so here’s what I’ve got to say about the girlfriend montage. Carmy telling Richie he’s gotta call his girlfriend, then we get splices of scenes containing Carmy making food for Claire, Claire working in the hospital, and for reasons that are highly debated by some but seem completely obvious to others including myself there are scenes of Sydney interjected into the couple’s montage.
I have my thoughts as to why Sydney is in the montage but that’s not the point I want to linger on, not now at least.
I am going to focus on this part in particular: the one where Sydney is undressing and we see the Three of Swords tattoo.
To me, nothing is unintentional in this show. Nothing is inconsequential. And this small, two second shot of Sydney proves that in more ways than I can think of.
What I can’t shake is how freaking similar it is to a scene we will later see in ep. 9. The sex scene with Carmy and Claire. It’s an intimate moment. The room is cast in blue hues. It’s all close up shots, quick cuts, and we can barely make out who is who and what is where. The moment is completely intimate and sensual in all the ways a romantic sex scene typically is conveyed.
And it matches the picture above nearly identically.
The choice to show the audience Sydney’s tattoo bathed in this blue light that they will later use for Carmy and Claire’s sex scene, the choice to capture this extreme close up, the choice to include the strap of her bra and a tattoo with an image that symbolizes heartbreak and betrayal, the choice to put one of the most intimate and vulnerable shots of Sydney in this montage meant for a couple is…. pretty indicative of the romantic undertones hidden in Carmy and Sydney’s connection. The first time I saw it, I was blown away by how intimate of a shot that was of Sydney. We’ve never seen her like that - undressing, her skin that is always covered exposed, seeing for the first time that she has a tattoo. Just like we never saw Carmy like that in his sex scene with Claire, him being so intimately exposed.
I don’t know how else to interpret it. Because all of what’s stated above is not coincidence. The creators of this show didn’t coincidentally put scenes of Sydney into the couple’s montage and they definitely didn’t mirror the imagery from the picture above to the sex scene in ep. 9 on accident. Just like how they didn’t coincidentally have Carmy think of Sydney to calm him down during his panic attack.
