In Season three Episode two Tommy hosts a party for the Shelby Charity Foundation (a foundation for orphans). During the party Tatiana, a Russian aristocrat, warns Tommy that the necklace he gave Grace is cursed by a gypsy, and that “nothing on earther would make [her] wear it.” Tommy’s gypsy heritage is a focus of the show, so he immediately asks Grace to remove the necklace, but she questions his motive by asking if it would look better on Tatiana. Grace does not listen to Tommy, and they begin to enter the dinner. Suddenly, a shooter appears, but he misses Tommy and shoots Grace. This is apparent because the shooter yells “for Angel.” Angel Changretta loved Lizzie Stark, so in response, the Shelby’s destroyed his restaurant, and after meeting with Angel’s father, threatened his life and used their razors to cut his eyes. In an attempt to save Tommy, Arthur tackled the shooter which causes the gun to aim at Grace. The music is important again because it is slow leading up to the incident, but the shooter’s yell causes the music to stop and the scene to slow down. With the noise drowned out, screams can be heard with a lower, more solemn, tone being played. The slow motion and low angle shots highlight the shock of the situation. The colors of the outfits are also interesting because Grace’s white dress makes her look angelic, dying in the arms of Tommy. The image implies that the last good part of Tommy is dying in his arms. The camera switches to John and Tommy, and focuses on a closer shot of the brothers beating the shooter, but it never show the actual violence, only picturing the facial expressions of the Shelby’s. The violence is not lost because the noises and expression portray the intensity of the beating. Unlike most scenes of violence, the scene ends with Arthur preparing to smash a vase over the shooter’s body. This leaves some imagination to the scene, similar to the earlier camera shots only showing the Shelby’s.
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