breaking down THAT dance scene. the frames, The Hands, and my observations from obsessively rewatching it.
so roxana is dancing with jonathan and while he’s distracted by her, she beckons teddy over and they dance, her hands cradling teddy’s head, both their eyes on jonathan.
(you can see she calls over teddy here, her finger is obstructed by jonathan’s face)
roxana goes up close to jonathan, about to kiss him…
but then pulls back with a smirk and leads teddy and jonathan to each other instead and leaves the frame. (it’s interesting how in control she is at this moment, and how she’s the one leading the men together.)
jonathan looks slightly confused and keeps his arm around roxana’s waist from behind him, who comes back into the frame just as the men get dangerously close…
but she just guides the men toward each other with her hands, closer and closer…
jonathan turns away from a kiss and teddy pushes his face past jonathan to look at roxana, while jonathan brings up a hand to hold teddy.
by the look on his face, jonathan seems to be dealing with this strategically, like a spy would. while the other two are playful, sharing secretive looks and smirks with jonathan in the middle, like it’s a game.
then, it cuts and jonathan is now in an embrace with roxana, but her and teddy are still sharing a look over his shoulder.
they sway like that for a bit, body to body, and jonathan reaches over and puts his hand on teddy’s ass, who guides it up to his waist.
from jonathan’s face, he looks like he’s testing new waters here, unsure about how to do it and thinking maybe this is what teddy wants, but teddy guides him back to his waist, so he’s holding teddy just like how he was holding roxana.
then once again, roxana is out of frame as teddy and jonathan move together, foreheads touching...
until her hands snake up both their faces and she enters the frame.
they stay like that for a bit, and then roxana disappears from the frame again as she dips. jonathan almost follows her lips but instead him and teddy are brought together again.
jonathan’s breath hitches and this time they’re both leaning in for a kiss, but roxana comes back up in the frame to separate them.
roxana smirks as she leads jonathan into thinking she’s going to kiss him but turns to teddy instead…
and almost pushes a dazed looking jonathan out of the frame as he now keeps his eyes on teddy who caresses his face, with roxana's hand on the back of his neck...
then this is the last shot before the scene cuts and roxana’s face is… interesting.
okay this already long but here are my observations.
well first off. as opposed to how the teaser photos and promotional pictures made it seem, roxana is not the center of this triangle, it’s jonathan. i was surprised to see how much gayer this dance scene was than what the promos made it look like. like i thought that one shot of teddy and jonathan’s faces together was something like the both of them getting carried away in the moment while pursuing roxana - but instead here, we have multiple moments where roxana isn’t even in the frame. (not to mention, right before this scene, it’s implied that teddy is gay!!)
yet! roxana is the one most in control, and jonathan the least. teddy seems to be willingly conceding control and letting roxana take the lead, but jonathan is swept up in this whirlwind, trying desperately to find his bearings but is just caught off-guard constantly.
which seems to be tied to his deep repression. one detail i caught back in episode one, was that when he’s asked by the therapist about his romantic life and he lies, is when we first cut to the shot of him picking at his hands. he's repressing HEAVILY and his tight jaw here in comparison to the flowy body language of the other two is abundantly clear.
i've seen ppl talk about how roxana isn't being discussed and maybe she's being sidelined for teddypine by viewers but honestly, just by these frames and even how when the show moves to the next scene, where the focus is teddy, jonathan and their phallic cigars; it seems like teddypine is going to be the more central dynamic of the show. (the creator did mention that teddy was the first fully realized character in his head and his relationship with roper and jonathan is the core of this season)
but i'm not willing to write roxana out yet, her overbearing power in this scene and how she maneuvers the two men hints at something more that she holds over them, and i would personally love for her to gain the upper hand somehow instead of being a damsel in distress - even if i'm more invested in teddypine relationship-wise.
feel free to pitch in with your observations too, in case i missed something!
