#and Carmy IS a mopey little fuck but in the best possible way

[doubleappled]

Yessss I love these thoughts.

I am rewatching Fishes too, slowly and with subtitles to try not to get so caught up in the flood of emotion, and this part about Claire really stands out when you read the dialogue:

The manic rapid-fire pace — there’s almost never a moment when there aren’t multiple lines of multiple people talking over each other on the screen

The way Richie and Mikey feed off each other and the desperation in it

The positioning of the scene so that Carmy’s back is literally against the wall

How even Stevie — coded as “gay,” “citified,” “different” — gets a little caught up in their bro-y bullshit and participates in the dogpile (until Donna throws the spoon at him… foreshadowing?)

Also the way Storer and co aren’t afraid to make Richie a really gross bully in this scene, moments before they’re showing us the softest and most desperate version of him in the scenes with Tiff and Cicero. Carmy REALLY calls him out for objectifying Claire — “homie, you’re having a child” — even in the midst of the onslaught.

I also love the way that scene lays the subtle groundwork for Carmy to want to build something different with Syd — a kitchen where ECs aren’t cruel, and also where women aren’t objectified because it’s just not part of the culture. Carmy isn’t afraid to call out Richie’s behavior when he’s being a sexist dick toward Syd in the kitchen either, even at the very beginning when he’s banging his head against the brick wall of the Beef’s existing culture.

In conclusion, this episode and this show are so good let’s talk about them forever

Just thoughts...

I'm on a claire/syd journey again. It's because the scene where Mikey and Richie try to hook up Claire with Carmy captivates me; Claire had to be written on purpose as the manic pixie dream girl, as a way for Carmy to explore damaging masculine traits by objectifying Claire like his brother, Richie, and Fak.

As the story progresses, Carmy empathizes and relates to Pete and Steven. Watching scene 2x06, Carmy calms down and attempts to listen when Richie and Mikey bring Steven in and explain that they saw Claire.

Besides Claire's looks showing up in the dialogue, Carmy is also known to call out behavior where women are objectified.

Why make objectification a part of the story? Does it analyze masculinity? Does it show us the only way men can connect and find solace is by objectifying women?

We're analyzing Carmy finding himself. It's an adult coming-of-age story as Carmy finds independence and decides what he wants. Family can mean well, but it comes to a point where Carmy has to mean well for himself. He has to move on from Mikey and make his own decisions.

This is where Syd comes in; it's mentioned here that Sydney was Carmy's choice/ There's a heavy dose of emotional attraction to match the physical between them. He hears her needs and wants, and he's trying to learn about her, for Sydney's character objectification is absent.

Carmy is on a journey of self-discovery of what masculinity means to him.

I don't have an ending, really just thoughts...