I've rewatched the episode Pasta, and I've been thinking about the show and its message in combating loneliness as Jeremy points out. It's one of the reasons why I love this series. Yes, it's about the hospitality industry, but it's all about connection, getting to know and learning about the people you love.
But what about disconnect? There were some critiques about the awkwardness in Claire/Carmy's scenes. I wonder if it's intentional. There's this weird dance in getting to know each other in which Carmy struggles to think of the next question. In the scene when he sees Claire again, he seems out of it as he turns away for a minute to think of another question to get to know who Claire is.
Perhaps, for Carmy, this is one of the ways to portray his character regression as he goes back to being the Carmy who is unable to connect with anyone and finds it difficult to express himself to Claire. When we consider that they hung out from March to May, and from Carmy's perspective, all he knows about her is that she is a doctor, her cousin Denny passed, her mom is living and thriving. Is this is because he struggles to ask her any questions beyond that? Shown by his difficulty in forming questions, i.e.- "so how did you um-is that something like- you get to pick that?
Throughout Claire and Carmys' relationship, Carmy's has been holding himself back from any emotional connection or intimacy. They have hung out before, but have never actually talked, as Claire explains. This is the story of their relationship. Claire doesn't understand his eagerness to fix something or his nervousness in waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's subtle conversations that shows their incompatibility.
Comparing this to earlier in the episode as Carmy gets to know Sydney. He holds on to her every word as she tells the story of her last time doing Sheridan Catering. He smoothly asks follow-up questions, and he's relaxed in their interaction.
When Carmy is with Sydney, there's vulnerability in their conversations, along with laughter and curiousity, as he asks Sydney questions to get to know her on a deeper level and he makes the effort towards connection.
Though Carmy and Sydney experience a form of disconnect when Carmy starts dating Claire he still makes the effort to connect with Sydney. At times he could do better but I think its showing us the chemistry and growth in Carmy by his interactions with Syd vs Claire. One where he asks questions that unravel Sydney for himself and the audience vs Claire where we don't even know her last name.
