#Michelle and Carmy parallels

[freedelusionshere]

The way Carmy absolutely does not trust Mikey and Richie having the best of intentions for him in Fishes about Claire, so they have to go get Stevie (the one who there is an obvious running joke that he’s gay when he’s not) to convince Carmy they’re not pranking him tells us a lot. About how messy Mikey and Richie are together at that point. But they probably started in on Carmy way earlier and we know because they were making fun of him drawing pictures of her at least in high school.

Richie starts back up with this immediately when Carmy returns to The Beef after Mikey is gone (gayrod, other slurs). Mikey was just extremely jealous of Carmy refusing to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. Even though it made him not cool, he was still drawing fashion in classes. Mikey found a way to get attention, but it’s not who he really was. Carmy later plays Mikey as Logan (Mikey/Donna dynamic), trying it on to impress Claire (which tells us what he thinks about what she really wants, and also he’s bad at it).

Carmy was also around Stevie and Michelle in NYC. We see Stevie looking after Carmy when he comes home late at night. To what degree he observed their relationship is hard to say, but they’re examples of parental figures in his life who (as far as we know) weren’t toxic and were encouraging, and literally sheltered him from abuse in the home. But I imagine he did see them together at points, and evidence of their relationship in their home.

Syd, also, is like Michelle’s whispered “Keep going.” She is like those words come to life for him. When she eats his blood orange sub at Empire, that is literally what he was doing to defy Chef David. Who also bullied and abused him about his tattoos, his stature, him not being “tough” (not masculine or the right kind).

When he tries out the toxic Chef David stuff, look who is calling him out, not triggering it.

[whenmemorydies]

Ancestors and The Bear

Phew, the discourse in season 3 of The Bear on legacy was STUNNING to me. This post by @gingergofastboatsmojito and episodes 3x01 Tomorrow and 3x07 Legacy have been sitting on my heart since I finished my binge of the show. Some thoughts under the cut. (I say "some" but this is another long ass post, soz).

If seasons 1 and 2 of The Bear went into the impact of our birth families on each of us, season 3 shifted pretty squarely to talking about the impact of our professional mentors on our lives. I've described those mentors as culinary ancestors, which as a concept I get into below. I loved this aspect of this season and the show generally. It is so rich and I feel like I'm only going to scratch the surface of it here. Keen to hear others' thoughts on this too.

Legacy and Ancestry

In 3x07 Legacy, Carmy talks to Marcus about the idea of legacy in the context of chefs he had worked with - how those chefs had talked to him about how their work would carry on through iterations and generations of subsequent chefs and restaurants that came after them. I'll include both a transcript and screenshots of this conversation below:

Carmy: Like, um, something would start somewhere, and then, uh, people would take that thing and then they would take it somewhere else. So, all these parts of an original restaurant, they would end up at a new restaurant and that kind of thing. That would happen over and over again. And then all these parts of all these restaurants, they would sort of-- You know, they would find each other. And then new people would take those parts and they would put 'em into their restaurant. And the whole thing, it would, um-- It would start to happen all over again.

Marcus: So, like a family tree or something?

Carmy: [looks to Syd who has her back to him, closing her locker] Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Most folks understand ancestry to refer to our family or genetic lineage. When I was in university, I learned about intellectual ancestors or genealogy: where one can trace your intellectual lineage - the thinkers and creators that have shaped your understanding of the world and/or your chosen profession. I think its useful to take this concept and apply it to The Bear to help understand what the show is saying about legacy. I wouldn't limit the concept to "intellectual" ancestry though. It might be more helpful to talk about culinary ancestors in this context because the process of creating food - crafting dishes - isn't solely an intellectual exercise. It engages our intellect yes, but also each of our senses, our memories (recall that chocolate banana from 2x10 The Bear), and the need to nurture and be nurtured.

Culinary Ancestors

Carmy's culinary ancestors are varied given his work history. We know he's cooked under some of the best chefs in the culinary world of The Bear, including: Daniel Boulud (of Daniel), René Redzepi (of NOMA), Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry), David Field (a sociopathic Joel McHale, of Eleven Madison Park), and Andrea Terry (a sublime Olivia Colman, of Ever). I'd also include here Mikey, Donna and Natalie Berzatto. I'd include cousins Richie Jeremovich and Michelle Berzatto as well. These are the home and line cooks Carm grew up with, watched in his mother's kitchen and at The Beef. He took his lessons - the good and the bad, learnt voluntarily and involuntarily - from all of these people, incorporated them into his working self and transmuted them into his food.

In particular, I've talked here about Chef Terry and the valuable lesson of "every second counts" that she carried with her as she mentored waves of chefs through her restaurant, Ever. That post also talks about the parallels between Terry and Syd (which were even more evident in season 3), the latter of whom I'd argue is also one of Carmy's culinary ancestors ("you make me better at this").

I wish we had more information about Sydney and her influences. We know that prior to The Beef, she worked at restaurants Smoque BBQ, Alinea and Avec. We meet at least one of her mentors, Chicago restauranteur Donnie Madia in 2x03 Sundae and 2x10 The Bear, as well as Nayia at the fictional Verdana French Bistro (which ends up closing by 2x09 Omelette). They each offer up small insights into Sydney: that her food is amazing and that she is always "trying to be the best." Carmy is also undoubtedly one of Sydney's culinary ancestors, as infuriating and withholding as he can be. I'm also certain that Sydney's parents and the cultural history/ies that she's inherited through them are part of her culinary lineage as well. I really, really hope that we get much more insight into this side of her next season.

Respect, mentorship and lineage

One of the things that first drew me to The Bear was the respect that the show gave its characters of colour. In particular, the opportunity and support given to people of colour from a working class operation like The Beef to continue into the fine dining world of The Bear. I've spoken a bit about this here.

I haven't seen a dynamic on television before, where folks from the backgrounds like the POC characters in The Bear are from, are backed in the way they are on the show. Where there are mentors who will invest in them to train them up, and who will take those folks with them as they move into more elite and skilled spaces. Hell, I have barely seen this happen in the roughly two decades that I've been in wage-earning employment myself. Lets be clear, capitalism does not incentivise this kind of shit. Its why certain industries, including the world of fine dining, remain largely if not completely exclusive, demarcated by gender, race and class.

Yes this season was fucked in terms of which characters were getting prioritised for screen time over key Black characters like Sydney and Marcus (the Faks can genuinely go fuck). The lack of care given to Marcus, in particular, whose mother's passing was treated almost perfunctorily in comparison to a wholly unnecessary conversation amongst the entire crew about Cl@ire in 3x02 Next (quoting Richie: "who cares?!"), was also fucked. I would have preferred to have spent more time with Syd, Marcus, Tina, Ebraheim, Sweeps, Manny and Angel than listening to Neil, Ted and fucking Sammy (?!) Fak blather their way through precious minutes during this show.

But even with the above, The Bear regularly manages to floor me with beautiful moments of mentorship, leadership and love featuring characters of colour on the show. This is particularly the case in the relationships between culinary ancestors Carm and Sydney with "descendants" Marcus and Tina.

Birth of the The Bear lineage

Recall 1x08 Braciole where Sydney tells Marcus that after she finished culinary school, she spent all her money eating her way through New York. She says that she had the best meal she's ever eaten while she was there. With Marcus' gentle prodding, we find out that the person who created that meal, was Carmy.

Its not until the first episode of season 3 when we see how this actually played out, for both Carmy and Syd. I won't rehash the details of this scene because it is truly beautiful filmmaking to behold. Please if you haven't already, go watch 3x01 in its entirety. Have tissues nearby.

I will say, that in the best meal Syd ever had, Carmy literally served up his heart and lifeblood (check the cut of the fish, the crimson of the blood orange decoction).

That meal - that seed of inspiration from Carmy - birthed something in Sydney, something that would push her to find Carmy much later, working at his brother's sandwich shop.

Together these two incredibly talented chefs started their own lineage, taking what they knew and investing it into The Beef and eventually, The Bear:

And then, the next generation of collaboration and inspiration emerges:

This is why the visuals in 3x01 Tomorrow, with Syd sitting in quiet contemplation of Carm's dish, are so poignant. From 1x01 System, Carm and Syd have been growing their branch of their shared culinary family tree, nurturing it alongside those of their respective ancestors:

In 3x01 Tomorrow, we see that tree literally emerging from the moment Sydney meets Carm, on a plate.

It all starts when Sydney leaves culinary school and decides to make the most of her time in New York, eating at every place she could think of including, at Eleven Madison Park. And when Carmen, after losing Mikey, decides to make a few seconds count, taking ownership of a dish that he knows is going to be stolen from him and bastardized otherwise. The rest is history, or legacy.

Author's note:

I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that this show is also an exercise of mentorship and collaboration: Ayo Edebiri directing 3x06 Napkins under the guidance of Calo and Storer. Ramy Youssef directing 2x04 Honeydew under the guidance of Storer who had previously directed him on and produced Ramy. The fucking force of nature that is veteran Liza Colón Zayas being directed by Ayo. Jeremy describing the filming of 2x06 Fishes as akin to watching masters at work. Of course any television production is a collaborative effort and there are countless names I'm not familiar with who have put their precious time and energy into making this beautiful thing. I just thought it worth mentioning that at times, this show glimmers with truths, and I think thats because, in some way, they're in the marrow of the thing.

[unladyboss]

SEASON 4 THE BEAR ALTERNATIVE YET PARALLEL STORIES.

(just a note. I'm concerned that that news will be used to affect the show.)

Given what we found out yesterday 26th September, a day that will live in infamy, a couple things can happen.

This thing which I'm writing in semi indignation 👇👇👇👇👇⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️👇👇

Since what THOSE TWO costars seem to be angling for and have been angling for, is more air time for CLAIRE, then they should do that.

Have Claire finish her residency and Carmy go with her. Just go and stop causing stress for EVERYONE. If y'all are trying to say she's PEACE, then Carmy you PEACE TF OUT. Go draw doctor stuff.

Somebody will call to check in on y'all and you can get a whole episode which I WILL SKIP.

Oh! Lest we forget. Your best friends the FAKS can go ahead on with you

Also this thing 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

In the meantime Luca and Sydney take over the Bear with funding from Stevie and Michelle and other sources.

They work steadily and brilliantly and hire Connor and other BOH staff.

Sydney takes her time and gets to know Luca and other guys.

There's a good work and life balance and they still get a star. Because they work together and inspire each other.

I mean ALL the staff help to inspire the menu.

We get back stories from Ebra, Marcus and Chester, Luca, Angel and Manny. We get tension from Adam Shapiro but we get parallel stories. Episodes with Carmy and Claire which I don't have to watch.

Then the rest of the show with fully developed characters and situations.

No? Too much?

Or they can get rid of Claire within the first few minutes of episode one and continue the good story with a great SYDCARMY.

[myloveismineallmine]

Sydcarmy & Beauty and The Beast

So, The Bear is a story with many themes and messages in it. The process of creating a story a lot times is just frankenstein-ing other stories and elements you like plus your owned lived experience.

I don't really remember how I started thinking about it, I do remember it was like 3am so that definitely has something to do with it, but I started thinking about Beauty and The Beast. And then I started comparing certain elements of it with The Bear. And then I started reading the Wikipedia page for Beauty and The Beast. And then I looked at the clock and it was like 4am so I was like okay, I should sleep now actually.

I did notice a lot of interesting similarities between the two, so I wanted to compare some of them in this post here. I think it's a really interesting lens to look at the story of The Bear from.

Chapter 1: The Beast

So, while it would be cool to do some kind of role reversal with the two romantic leads, this story does not do that, and the obvious parallel for Carmy is The Beast.

Rundown of The Beast's character traits, via wikipedia:

"In the original tale, the Beast is seen to be kind-hearted for the most part, and gentleman-like, with only an occasional tendency to be hot-tempered. Disney's interpretation of the Beast made him more constantly angry and depressed, due to the shame from his unkind actions which led to his transformation, and particularly his struggle of reconciling his hideous appearance with his inner humanity which made him feel hopeless about breaking the curse. Supervising animator Glen Keane describes The Beast as "a twenty-one-year-old guy who's insecure, wants to be loved, wants to love, but has this ugly exterior and has to overcome this." Upon his reform under his love interest Belle, his personality changes to refined and more even-tempered, while naive about the world at the same time."

Obviously this isn't to shame JAW's appearance, he's a pretty attractive dude, I'm looking more at the personality traits here.

The Disney version of him is way more unhinged and animal-like, which I'm not sure perfectly fits Carmy, but I feel like the insecurity, anger and depression is pretty accurate.

I don't think the "beast" element is entirely irrelevant, however. Let's think about what the namesake of the show is: The Bear. In reference, or course, to the main family having the last name Berzatto. They do also refer to each other as "Bear."

It's Cousin Michelle who makes the connection between the Berzattos and literal bears:

When she mentions this quote someone had said to her.

Stevie likens the Berzattos to bears later on in this episode:

It's pretty clear that the Berzattos = bears. Aggressive, but also kind and emphatic.

I also want to talk about the very first scene of The Bear:

Carmy is letting the bear out of it's cage, walking slowly towards it. He says "I know" to the bear, trying to calm it, or maybe trying to empathize with it. The bear growls and attacks him, and he wakes up from the nightmare.

It's clear that the caged bear represents something in Carmy. His rage, his stress, his grief. And he can't control it, it escapes and it consumes him.

Backstory of The Beast, extremely paraphrased:

Disney version: A prince is spoiled, cold-hearted and extremely selfish. He's transformed into a hideous beast as punishment, and told he won't transform back unless he earns the love a beautiful young woman.

Fairytale version: The prince's father died before he was born, and his bio mother leaves him in the care of an evil fairy godmother. Things get weird and incesty, this was the 1700s ig, the godmother tries to seduce the prince when he's an adult. He rejects her and she curses him to become a beast and says the curse won't be broken until he receives a maiden's act of true love. There's then a lot of really irrelevant fairy-lore and other stuff that I don't really want or need to get into.

I feel like evil mother figure one might be more accurate? Especially because Donna's one of the people who gave him so much trauma that he still carries with him? Generational trauma and addiction is "a curse" in a way.

Chapter 2: The Beauty

So it's very clearly Sydney.

Beauty in the OG fairytale doesn't have a super interesting personality outside of "pretty, caring and kind." so I think we'll look more at the Disney version here:

"While the studio wanted Beauty and the Beast to resemble an old-fashioned film, the writers envisioned Belle as "a woman that was ahead of her time"."

"...  the screenwriter conceived Belle as a headstrong feminist to avoid creating another "insipid" Disney princess."

"Beauty and the Beast's story department was predominantly male. Woolverton often argued with the more traditional story artists over Belle's role and personality, but continued to be supported by Katzenberg and lyricist Howard Ashman, the latter of whom also lobbied for "a thinker and a reader" who "wasn't a victim"."

So, Belle was basically a strong and independent woman for Disney at the time. I wanna hone in more on these character traits they mention specifically.

Sydney is very intelligent, even an overthinker at times. She literally shows up to, like, week 2 of work with a full book written on how the business can be improved.

We know she's a reader. Not only from the coach K book, she also mentions lending Marcus books at some point.

I also think Sydney fits the "not a victim" criteria. Sydney is shown pretty consistently to stand up for herself and fight back in situations.

On Beauty's backstory:

In every version of The Beauty and The Beast, Beauty's a daughter to a widower (much like Sydney is.) Beauty has many siblings, most notably her evil older sisters. They are omitted from the Disney version, and Belle is an only child.

In the Disney version, Belle is well known for her beauty, but looked down upon for not conforming to more traditional feminine roles.

Being a headstrong woman of color in the very white and male dominated world of fine dining, I can see how she fits this.

Her father has doubts about her career as a chef, she has had bad experience with chefs in leadership positions before, and the crew of The Beef really looks down on her at the beginning of the series.

Chapter 3: Beauty and The Beast

So now let's talk about the actual relationship of the Beauty and The Beast.

Belle/Beauty is lured into The Beast's castle because her father is being held captive inside. And interestingly....

Sydney references her father as the reason for why she applies for The Beef.

In the fairytale, The Beast is immediately smitten with Beauty and asks her to marry him every day. That would be a very obvious HR violation in The Bear, so I think it might be better to look at the Disney version of this story.

So in the Disney version, The Beast is more annoyed that Belle and her father showed up at all, but he does know she's a pretty woman and allows the release of her father so she will be his prisoner instead.

Their relationship is pretty bad at first, like you'd expect a captor and prisoner relationship to be, but he does allow her a nice lavish room. He orders her to have dinner with him, and she refuses to leave her room to protest against him.

Carmy and Sydney were friendly at first meeting, but after The Stock Incident, their cracks really start to show. It's when Sydney really stands her ground and argues back at him. This is not the end of the arguments and tension between them.

Belle and the Beast end up getting in a fight when Belle snoops around his room. He yells at her more loudly this time, and Belle flees the castle on horseback. She gets attacked by a pack of wolves and The Beast saves her. She takes him back to the castle and nurses his wounds.

This to me matches with the final fight Sydney and Carmy have in season 1. Carmy displays the worst of his anger, and it causes Sydney to want to wipe her hands with him completely. She grabs her stuff and leaves, telling him she's quitting.

She comes back when he apologizes to her, and they have a real bonding moment when they decide to open a restaurant together.

The Beast and Belle start to have a better relationship after The Beast heals. They become more friendly, The Beast more docile, and they're both really happy for the first time in the film. There's a scene where The Beast shows Belle the castle library and tells her it's hers.

I think the equivalent would be seeing Carmy and Sydney plan the menu together. In those scenes they seem less like co-workers and more like friends. You can also tell it's one of the few things they get actual real enjoyment doing.

I think the main parallel I see for this relationship is how Carmy and Sydney improve each other. Like with Belle and The Beast, you can actually see Carmy learn how to better handle conflict and communicate more efficiently when he's placed with Sydney.

He's more vulnerable. He apologizes more. He's able to better control his temper.

There's two very concrete examples of Sydney being able to help stabilize his emotions, actually.

Sydney is quite literally "taming the beast" in Carmy. Cognitive behavioral therapy would also achieve that, but Carmy is too much of a workaholic to attend a session, so Sydney will have to do for now. They didn't have CBT in 1700s France, either, unfortunately.

I will also say that this isn't a 90 minute Disney movie, so the slow-burn will be slow-buring for awhile until we get to the actual conclusion of the fairytale.

Chapter 4: Gaston

so I have two characters in mind for this role: Richie and Marcus. But def more heavy on Richie than Marcus.

Gaston is a villain made exclusively for the Disney movie. Here's some description for him:

"In direct contrast to his adversary the Beast, Gaston is depicted as physically handsome with an unattractive personality, both physically and emotionally embodying hypermasculinity. "

"Gaston has been generally positively received by film critics, as his lack of "magic power or political influence" means that his villainy tends to resonate with audiences who often identify someone similar to him in real life, although critics regard him as a less memorable villain than some of the studio's previous efforts."

"The Huffington Post described early drafts of Gaston as "a weaselly, sort of wimpy character." In fact, Gaston was originally intended to resemble more of an annoying than antagonistic character,"

So I think Richie kind of fits the "hypermasculinity" thing, in terms of some of his mindset and sexist behaviors.

Richie, for at least the first season, really looks down on fine dining as a concept. He makes fun of Carmy and Syd for their background in it and makes snide comments about it whenever possible.

Gaston also looks down on Belle for liking books, and encourages her to live a more "simple" life with him instead.

Here's a really interesting parallel I found with these two:

Making fun of the main character's book and then throwing it away? In the intro of the story? Very interesting.....

As far as the similarity with Marcus: it begins and ends with Marcus and Gaston both having unrequited feelings for the main female protagonist.

Other than that, Richie is way more Gaston coded in the grand scheme of things. Just not as evil. I feel like he gives first-draft Gaston with being "More annoying than antagonistic."

Chapter 5: What about Claire?

I see Claire fitting into this as almost like a faux-Belle. The love interest that's supposed to "fix" the main protagonist, but something doesn't work.

Again, there's two scenes I wanna look at specifically to showcase this:

This reaction shot of Carmy. This is the last shot of the sex scene, and there are some other previous shots of the sex scene overlaying this at times. But I've been wanting to do a deep dive into it for awhile-- why have this shot? What's the purpose of it?

I think that this shot clearly tells us that Carmy is either pensive and/or dissatisfied with what has happened. Laying with his eyes open and just staring at the wall, deep in thought, possibly regretful. This isn't the expression a man who's just had sex with a pretty woman usually has. This is one of many clues that this relationship isn't something that he really wants or enjoys.

Aaaand, the panic attack scene again. If Claire was his "true love", she would be able to quell his anxiety and panic, if this whole "beauty and the beast" story arc I'm putting together is to be believed.

Claire is the perfect girl. She's pretty, smart, talented. His family loves her. She loves him. But she does nothing to fix his problems. Because it's not true love.

Carmy not being happy at the thought of Claire vs Carmy cracking a smile because he looks at containers of radichio + fennel, ingredients Sydney cooked him once.

It is ABUNDANTLY clear that his feelings for Syd help his mental state in ways his feelings for Claire do not. Because what he feels for Sydney is closer to true love.

Conclusion:

Am I saying Christopher Storer took the plot beats and characters 1 for 1 from Beauty and The Beast? No, obviously not. Am I saying that maybe he sat down one day and this movie was on and he was like "hey maybe i can do something with this"? Possibly!

This is just speculation at the end of the day, but I really loved looking at all the possible connections between these two things. Tell me your thoughts on all of this: cool interpretation or am I just talking out of my ass?

[thoughtfulchaos773]

A Cycle Worth Breaking

The 2x06 scene with Cousin Michelle breaks my heart. To see that Carmy is so resigned to the dysfunction that he knows is not good for his head. As if he has no choice, he asks what are you supposed to do, you know?

Michelle attempts to get Carmy out with an invitation to New York, but ultimately, Carmy is stuck in the cycle, and the question remains: what are you supposed to do?

Adding to the abuse Carmy suffered in his family- there's this parallel to familial dynamics in the workplace and the trauma that follows. Eventually, after being handed the dysfunction, do we continue the cycle, or can we walk away?

Syd answers Carmy's question- you're supposed to walk away- you gotta get out of here. As much backlash as it caused, Sydney did Carmy a favor by quitting; it woke him up and showed that that was a choice that he could make. He has a choice to get out of it, and he can break the cycle.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The Pacino Variant

Since I found out that JAW got inspiration from Al Pacino to play some of Carmy's layers I immediately started thinking about Frankie and Johnny's dynamic and how it was all so messy in their relationship before it got to the good part. Granted, JAW was not inspired by Johnny, but by a different role Al Pacino played, but still. It got me thinking about how this very Austenian love story, of course, very realistic and bittersweet had certain points in common with Sydcarmy and once I started I just couldn't stop drawing parallels between the sydcarmy dynamic and the frankjohnny one because F&J was a very atypical comedy, just like The Bear and that's why many viewers now don't even understand how The Bear is a comedy, which it is, of course: A noir one. Back then, something similar kinda happened with Frankie & Johnny, it flopped as a rom-com but it became a cult movie and was critically acclaimed.

Here's a clip:

Context: they met while working together at a diner.

The main characters were described as: "lonely little people struggling to find love."

Rolling Stone's review back then read the following:

"Somehow Mr. Marshall, Mr. McNally, and their superb leading actors are able to retain the intimacy of their material. They also retain the story's fundamental wariness about romance, even when everything about Ms. Pfeiffer and Mr. Pacino has the audience wondering why they don't simply fall into each other's arms."

See? Sounds very Sydcarmy to me, building intimacy while NOT dating, Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is all business-no love, a tough cookie, she's been burnt before so she doesn't let any new guy into her life

and Johnny has to do the hard work to convince her (which Carm is not doing bc he rather denies his own feelings and deflects onto Claire as both this amazing meta by @Chefkids and my own humble opinion point out). In Johnny's case, there's no Claire but there is a rather complicated past that also conditions his choices and Frankie doesn't make it any easier on him, etc.

So my point is that the whole Sydcarmy back and forth before it actually happens, which I already mentioned here I think is gonna be more of a cliffhanger kinda thing bc before we get to that part they need to be at each other's throats, Carmy's relationship with C has to crash and burn, The Bear needs to win a bunch of awards and hopefully get out of debt, which will be S3's main focus, along with Nat's baby that's gonna be a total game changer in terms of the Berzatto family's dynamic, etc... when all of those boxes are checked ✅✅✅ then we will venture into Sydcarmy territory on Storer's terms. And I can't help but wonder if that transition from friends to lovers is gonna be kinda like F&J's, I think it might, because it sounds Storer-friendly. I'm not talking about the endgame per se, just the transition.

Would love to know what you all think about this theory.

If you haven't seen the movie and now feel curious about it, here's a playlist, and those short clips pretty much sum it all up.

❤️‍🔥

[failed-version-of-both]

s2 rewatch notes because I simply can't shut up about this show

I didn't notice the first time because I was having so many feelings, but there were just. SO many reminders to call the fucking fridge guy

Once you know what's coming you appreciate the humour a lot more

Everyone who knows the story and still calls her Sugar is an asshole. Point blank

On a related note, when will Nat finally get to scream? Just yell at all of them because they deserve it and she's been going through it

Syd cleaning a tiny stain because everything needs to be perfect vs. Carmy cleaning a stubborn stain in s1 because the place was gross

They made us go through the absolute horror that is Fishes and then gave us Richie's arc right after. As a treat

Obviously there are parallels between Christmas dinner in Fishes and Friends & Family at The Bear, but for some reason what drove it home for me was that little "Michelle and Stevie can't come"

Much like Donna, they are all trying to create beautiful experiences for their guests, but this time it's not tarnished by paranoia and self-hatred (unless we're talking about Carmy)

Carmy getting stuck in the walk-in (stationary, confined) vs. Donna driving the car into the house (dynamic, imposing, literally breaking the wall)

Carmy being so dramatic is a bit funny tbh. "I failed you all" ok buddy, but you're stuck in there, we're actually doing fine out here

That being said he is obviously dealing with a lot of shit and I think it's GOOD. It's not that he's a bad person or that he doesn't have character development, it's that trauma is pervasive and messy and having no trace of it after only two seasons would honestly have been a shit move

[thegirlwhowatchedeverything]

Carmy's Friends

It's cringe to repost oneself, I know and I apologize. But I just have to harp on this parallel and point out how, once again, the writers are being so intentional/screaming sydcarmy. I'm lazy so I'm referencing an old S1 post to rage about the "Fak is my best friend" line.

Okay, canonically three people have been referred to as Carmy's friend (please correct me if I misssed someone!):

Syd, as labeled by Tina in 1x8 (see OP above)

Fak, who called himself Carmy's best friend which we learn from Claire in 2x3. 100% Fak said that to Claire to hype Carmy up like "oh yeah my best friend is the shit, here's his number, call him ASAP". He also calls Mikey one of my best friends, but then fucking it got dark at the end (1x1). Clearly he says "one of" because ofc Richie was Mikey's best friend, but he and Fak go way back to at least (but definitely before) Michael's 15th birthday when Carmy broke up the fight as he says in 1x6 (crying in canon timeline because Richie said he's 45 in 2x1 so we're back to fetus/infant/toddler Carmy breaking up fights lol). But Fak didn't go to his funeral (1x1). In all fairness, neither did Carmy but I thought it was worth pointing out. It's also worth pointing out Fak has siblings - at least one brother, Theodore, and one sister, Francie - but arguably more as Ted and Neil struggle to name all their family members to Michelle (2x6). What I'm getting at here is Fak clearly has a close knit family of his own, much like Carmy, plus the Berzattos so he has lots of people to fill not only the "friends" spots but especially the top "best friend" spot. But Carmy just agrees Fak is his best friend because Syd is a "girl who is a friend" "girlfriend" wife/best friend has his mind in scrambled eggs.

Claire, a "girl who's a friend" turned "girlfriend". Carmy has to have Syd label Claire his girlfriend and then we instantly get unhinged cuts/montages between Claire and Syd (end of 1x8) followed by flashback memories of Carmy meeting Syd and then Syd deciding to stay and open The Bear that calm his panic attack (1x9). Whereas memories of Claire (his now official girlfriend) and Mikey (his proclaimed best friend in 1x8) could not.

In conclusion, Syd is clearly his best friend (once again, see OP above). Not breaking news, we all know this. But I wanted to reiterate it's the writers who are emphasizing it here in canon.

P.S. In my OP, I was wrong about Marcus not knowing Michael since we learned Mikey took a chance on Marcus and hired him straight from McDonald's to start a bakery <3 (1x4).

It's interesting Tina introduces Sydney to her son as "Jeff's friend" in episode seven (and that her son repeats her words literally saying "Hi Jeff's friend"). Had this been episode one when everyone at The Beef was just meeting Sydney that line would make sense. It'd fit with Ebra's "Carmen, there is a girl" and Richie's "Fuck is this?" and "sweetheart" and new fucking broad".

But by this point, Sydney has earned Tina's respect and affection. She even corrects herself calling Syd chef rather than Jeff. So, ways she could have introduce her that would make sense:

a) Chef/Jeff

b) Chef/Jeff Syd(ney)

c) Syd(ney)

So, not only is it an interesting way to introduce her but in my opinion no one else comes close to being categorized as a friend of Carmy's. Pete, Nat, and Cicero are his family, Richie is unofficial family, and everyone at The Beef are officially employees but more like found family. Most of them knew and worked for Michael for years (Marcus seems to be the only exception besides Syd?). And many of them already knew Carmy, knew of Carmy, or know his extended family. An example: Tina knows Carmy's mom from her Christmas party (and tbh probably from multiple Christmases) and knows Sugar from the times she used to come by The Beef (we know because she asks Carmy why she doesn't stop by anymore). A second example: it's confirmed Fak's known Carmy since at least Michael's 15 birthday because of the story Carmy tells about trying to break up a fight at said party. All of his family members (Sugar, Cicero, and Mikey) call him Bear at one point on the show, and Fak is the only non family member to call him by his childhood nickname. However, despite many at The Beef's direct and indirect connections to the Berzattos, I still don't think "friends" is the right description for anyone at The Beef.

I will die on the hill that is a Carmy/Syd romance, but even if you wanted to argue for their relationship being strictly platonic, it's significant that she really is his only friend on the show. And that title is significant because this man has no other life or hobbies outside of his career, his family, and now The Beef and all the people that come with it. Syd is the only person who comes into his life not connected to those things - his life in New York, his family, and his family restaurant. From the start, their relationship is separate from anything he's had or currently has, not mentor/mentee, boss/employee, not family - they're straight up equals, partners, friends. Ideally we get to lovers (whether they make it canon or not, we all know). I don't think either of them are aware of their growing feelings yet (Syd maybe, Carmy definitely not), but neither would object to the label of friends as of now. They're giving One night he wakes/Strange look on his face/Pauses, then says/You're my best friend/And you knew what it was/He is in love vibes to me.

So yeah, labeling Syd as "Jeff's friend" is interesting. To me, it's the writers explicitly communicating the nature of their relationship in a seemingly throwaway line.