Cynthia Taylor, Mozart in the Jungle

Cynthia Taylor (Saffron Burrows)

On comedy-drama Mozart in the Jungle, Cynthia was introduced as an experienced cello player who played second cello in the New York Symphony and was also one of the union representatives for the musicians. She had on-screen relationships with both men and women, and suffers from a drug addiction, though her own story arc had limited screen time. Saffron Burrows, the actress who plays Cynthia, identifies as bisexual.

Relationships

Throughout the first season, Cynthia had an ongoing relationship with series main character Thomas, who cheated on his wife with her. Their relationship started prior to the show. In the pilot, Cynthia told a colleague about her experiences with different kind of male musicians in bed, saying that jazz pianists are open to experimentation, which lead to a flashback of Cynthia having a threesome with an unknown jazz pianist and an unknown woman.

In season 1, episode 6, it was was heavily implied that Cynthia had had off-screen sexual relationships with several conductors in past, including males Karzoff and Thomas, and a woman, Carlotta. In season 1, episode 9 it was implied she had sex with recurring character Bob whom she had been flirting with.

In season 1, episode 10, recurring character Warren told Bob that in the past, he had been married to Cynthia for 8 years.

Season 2

In 2×01 Cynthia met union lawyer and recurring character Nina. She found her beautiful, started to flirt with her, called her sexy, and in episode 3, she kissed her in an elevator.

By episode 6, Cynthia and Nina had sex and Cynthia lied to Bob about being sick so that she could spend more time with Nina instead of meeting up with him. Bob and Thomas caught them on their date, kissing.

In episode 9, Cynthia broke up with Nina after they had a disagreement in how to approach union contract negotiations.

Season 3

Cynthia appeared in episode 3×02, leading a union rally as symphony members were picketing outside the theater. When she wasn’t leading union efforts, she was playing bass in an amateur rock band and for children at a school until the union finally agreed to a deal.

Her screen-time was again very limited; in episode 3×08 she discovered she had carpal tunnel and needed surgery. At the clinic, she met a New York Knicks player, Kevin, they went on a date in episode 3×09 and he picked her up after her surgery in the season finale.

In the season finale, before her surgery, Cynthia also met up with Thomas and seemed interested in revisiting the relationship, but he walked away.

Female love interests:

• Nina (Gretchen Mol, recurring 8 episodes in S2)
• Carlotta Di Gozzi (off-screen, mentioned in S2)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Thomas Pembridge (Malcolm McDowell, main cast, 16 episodes)
• Union Bob (Mark Blum, recurring 17 episodes)
• Warren Boyd (ex-husband Joel Bernstein, recurring 15)
• Karzoff (off-screen)
• Kevin Majors (Baron Davis, guest, 3 episodes in S3)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Recurring), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No, Amazon Video's show

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.