#recognize the essential role they play in their team - not just during the capers but outside of it too

[youraveragecatastrophe]

I've been trying to articulate this for a week, to no avail, so have all my tangled thoughts about those delicious angsty bits in The Need for Speed caper.

This may be the worst Team Red has done so far (as far as we know). They've had trouble with their missions before, they've had setbacks, they've occasionally been bruised and beaten down, but now both the theft failed and Zack and Ivy are in prison.

Then there are those lines from Ivy and Zack throughout the episode... the ones that at make you think they're maybe not as sure about their relationship with Carmen as you'd think. Like - you've got Ivy in prison, no fight left in her, more concerned about Carmen's disappointment and reaction than anything else ("maybe you should worry about what Carmen's gonna do to us. We let her down."). Later, Zack shows he took Carmen's reproaches very emotionally ("especially since Carm hates us."). And you know, they're all alone in the world. If Carmen decided to throw them off her "never ending tour", what would they do? Where would they go? They'd be back to square one. Obviously Carmen wouldn't do that, but clearly the siblings are... worried.

And the thing is- Carmen's not the only one looking for her family. When they get out of prison and Zack asks Sterling "we're family?"... He and Ivy have been alone for at least a few years. It's explicitly said in the previous episode they have no other family than each other. Between that and their racing dreams, it's easy to understand how Sterling's proposal feels like a dream come true.

And of course, for hurtful scenes, you've got Carmen chewing Ivy and Zack out. That was painful to watch. Carmen is stressed, she's mad, which makes sense, and while she's frustrated with Ivy and Zack Shadowsan keeps bugging her about them being amateurs and her needing to find better crew members, so she says very hurtful things in the heat of the moment. When we know how bad Zack and Ivy felt about the whole situation just moments before, this really paints a sad picture of the whole scene.

And you know Carmen's not thinking about this entirely rationally either - see her bringing up the headquarters completely unprompted when Shadowsan calls her. She's pressured to change a lot at the same time about the way she works : adding Shadowsan to the team, getting a headquarters, finding 'better' help. This is probably taking a bigger toll on her than it seems.

(Also, speaking of Carmen... Her little smile to Zack and Ivy at the end of the episode when they're talking to daddy Sterling. The way it looks awkward and forced because of course she supports them and wants their happiness, but. that doesn't mean it's not painful for her to accept her friends may very well leave her.)

One conclusion I want to take from the episode (and, I suppose, sort of what this episode's ending scene did) is that no, Carmen doesn't need new, more experienced and professional crewmembers. She needs friends. Family. Because that's what's been missing for her. And Shadowsan's not the only one thinking she needs a more professional crew - see Ivy's "we may need to face the fact we are better racers than we are thieves". But Carmen's not asking for more than that, actually! Ivy and Zack have saved their missions, saved her, many times in the past. They have their rough days but they get past them together.