#there's going to be vibrant collaboration s4

[thoughtfulchaos773]

There was just so much chemistry here. Carmy really sees Sydney as he realizes she wants to take care of others. Also, Carmy is curious. Sydney responded to his curiosity. How they were in sync and engaged, present. Sydney's flirty inflection at "Boursin." Carmy raises his eyebrows as soon as she talks about what she created. Vibrant collaboration, alright.

Oh, and then Carmy finishes screwing Sydney's side, ending with "That's good" at the end of the climax of their conversion... notice the song is also at a climax as Eddie Vedder says, "You're talking next to me," and words of someone sleeping next to you, being close.

Very intimate.

[thegirlwhowatchedeverything]

The Wishbone In S3

Syd's Wishbone Tattoo

Screenshot from @sydcarmyfan

Opening Scene of 3x10 Forever

Chef Keller: And you know as a child, right?

Carmy: Right. Make a wish.

Chef Keller: Roasted chicken. Yeah. We'd take the wishbone out and hang it up and dry it overnight, and then we'd sit with our brothers or our mother or whoever and, uh try to break who was gonna be the lucky person. But now I'm just scraping with the tip of my knife, you see? This knife, you can hear it. You can feel it, right? The vibration on the knife kind of sounds like my dental hygienist cleaning my teeth. You got that?

Carmy: Yes, chef.

Chef Keller: I can start to pull it out. You can see it now, right? Exposed.

Carmy: Yeah. Boom.

Chef Keller: There you go. Your wishbone.

Carmy: Perfect.

Chef Keller: You can save that for tomorrow.

Wishbones And Vibrant Collaboration

Chef Keller: But now I'm just scraping with the tip of my knife, you see? This knife, you can hear it. You can feel it, right? The vibration on the knife kind of sounds like my dental hygienist cleaning my teeth. You got that?

Carmy: Yes, chef.

Chef Keller: I can start to pull it out. You can see it now, right? Exposed.

Carmy: Yeah. Boom.

Chef Keller: There you go. Your wishbone.

Carmy: Perfect.

The wishbone scene is the beginning of 3x10 and the beginning of Carmy's career, literal day 1 at the French Laundry and the tone Chef Keller sets is important. Tone wise, Carmy's first professional moment is one of PEACEFUL vibrant collaboration - he doesn't start in an environment of shutout (Mikey), abuse (Chef David), competition (Carmy to Luca in 3x1 Go faster, chef! Chef, let's fucking go! and Carmy to everyone in 1x8 And when somebody new came into the restaurant to stage, I’d look at them like they were competition, like I’m gonna smoke this motherfucker.), or chaos (Donna in 2x6). In conclusion, pulling out wishbones are peaceful meaning Syd's not Claire is Carmy's peace (2x9).

Also the act of pulling a wishbone requires two people, it's a literal collaboration.

Wishbones and Childhood

Chef Keller: And you know as a child, right?

Carmy: Right. Make a wish.

Chef Keller: Roasted chicken. Yeah. We'd take the wishbone out and hang it up and dry it overnight, and then we'd sit with our brothers or our mother or whoever and, uh try to break who was gonna be the lucky person.

Carmy and Mikey's bond over cooking in childhood: My brother and I, we would cook a lot together, especially when we were kids. You know, that’s when we were closest. Food was always our common ground. We wanted to open a restaurant together. Um, we had a name, we had a vibe, all of it. (1x8)

All of the tattoos we know Syd has so far are on her back which contrasts Carmy's visible ones (literally wearing them on his sleeves). This ofc mirrors their personalities and willingness to open up - Carmy's done this more so far in the series than Syd (but I explain in the last section why I feel like we'll finally get more about her in S4). I feel all Syd's tattoos revolve around her mom in some way and I think it's reinforced by the fact they're on her back - like her inner life in general, she keeps the memories of her mom to herself (no random person could see her tattoos unless she wanted them to - so far her dad, Marcus, and Carmy) but the placement of the tats also show her mom's death is a weight on her back - a burden/trauma from childhood. For the wishbone specifically, it seems like the most straightforward and heartbreaking interpretation is that Syd wishes her mom was alive or that she at least got more time with her because since she died when Syd was only 4 (2x9), she mainly has to rely on her dad's memories of her rather than her own (Marcus: You rely on your dad? He loves it. in 3x5 and Carmy: At least you can rely on him in 2x2).

Wishbones and The Long Lasting Effect of Grief

Chef Keller: We'd take the wishbone out and hang it up and dry it overnight, and then we'd sit with our brothers or our mother or whoever and, uh try to break who was gonna be the lucky person. There you go. Your wishbone.

Carmy: Perfect.

Chef Keller: You can save that for tomorrow.

The fact that "brothers" (Mikey's dead), "mothers" (Syd's mom's dead), or "whoever" (the idea anyone can become found family, Carmy: friends and family's not an exact Science, Sug in 2x9) are highlighted here.

It takes time and distress (aka trauma) before you can pull a wishbone:

Wishbones and The Invisible String of Fate

We start the season where we end the season - Syd and Carmy's invisible string of fate. In 3x1, we see Carmy make Syd's favorite dish (which we knew from 1x8) and we get the extra significance that it was born from what we can assume is Carmy's only act of rebellion at EMP where Carmy makes the dish his way rather than how Chef David's subtracted from Carmy's original idea.

In 3x10, we open on Chef Keller teaching Carmy to remove the wishbone on his first day as a professional chef. We see Carmy's documentation of this formative memory in his notebook in 3x7 when Marcus is flipping through it:

Carmy's drawn step by step illustrations on how to remove the wishbone next to a page that has a magazine cut out of a roast chicken under which Carmy writes "remove wishbone".

On a previous page of the notebook, we see a recipe for some dish, but next to the handwritten ingredients Carmy's placed a piece of green tape that says "bones".

The last page we see in this scene is a picture of several chefs, including Chef Keller.

In 3x1, we see Carmy tying up the chicken after removing the wishbone and placing it very carefully (he uses his hand to gently pat the last chicken after placing it on the rack) next to the other chickens he's prepared. Sidenote for the timing of this flashback - it could have gone anywhere in this episode, but it comes right after Syd hands him the coffee cup in the present thus putting the wishbone memory in the past right next to Syd in the present (however, we don't get the apology until later in the episode).

Later in 3x1 we see another flashback of Carmy tying up the chicken, pulling out the wishbone, and serving the roasted chickens at family including him making a plate of chicken for himself. We see him eat/fix plates for himself several times in the 3x1 flashbacks, but as has been said we rarely see Carmy eat in the present. First notables: Carmy DOESN'T eat Syd's first family meal in 1x1 even after she's offered (and she makes a fennel salad which was the "allergy" Carmy subbed the blood orange for in Syd's hamachi dish at EMP in 3x1). Second notable, he doesn't eat any of the food at Ever's funeral in 3x10 (even though his argument to get Syd to come is it's the last/first time she'll be able to eat Ever's food) because he's so preoccupied with Chef David and he hasn't repurposed his trauma in a dish yet like Luca has with the sweet pea panna cotta in 3x10.

Like Carmy made Syd's favorite meal before knowing her, it's like he also drew her tattoo before knowing her (and something about him not knowing his dish was her favorite/that she ever ate at EMP while he was there and also doesn't know about her wishbone tattoo/any of her tats). This means that in Carmy's career starting, first professional culinary notebook the first thing he draws ties impossibly back to Syd. And shoutout to @sydcarmyfan for pointing out Carmy's touched all of her tats without knowing it in S2.

Wishbones and S4

Even though we end the episode and season on two low notes with Syd's panic attack and what seems to be the negative Tribune review, I think it's interesting that we (almost) end an overall bleak season with a scene of joy for the Bear crew partying at Syd's apartment (minus shell-shucking robot Carm) and even Carm seems lighter after confronting Chef David and seeking advice in Chef Terry. But even if the review is terrible, I have hope for S4 because we end the opening 3x10 scene with a shot of two wishbones - one Chef Keller took out in his demonstration for Carm and the second Carm took out himself.

Ideally, the wishbone splits evenly between Syd and Carmy next season - they both get their wish which is The Bear stays open, is successful, and vibrant collaborations are firing on all fronts between Carmy and Syd, Richie (FOH) and Carmy (BOH), Carmy and Tina, Tina and Marcus, etc. The second wishbone could represent the second chance (rather "second, third and hundredth chances balancing on breaking branches") Syd might give to Carmy by staying at The Bear. Or, it could represent that even if Syd chooses to leave The Bear, there will still be a second chance for reconciliation/friendship/collaboration/marriage in the future between Syd and Carmy.

Syd's outfit in 3x10 is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous (Syd in 2x2)" AND symbolic that we're going to finally learn more about Syd in S4. Again Carmy's tattoos are visible whereas Syd's are covered, but this outfit is sleeveless so it's the closest we've come to being able to see her wishbone tattoo (and the previously revealed Three of Swords from 2x8). Maybe another indication the review is positive (or at least not all terrible) because they realize they've already been reviewed right after Carmy explains how to take out the wishbone and the pope's nose to Tina in 3x4 which is a positively formative start of his career.

Lastly, you PULL wishbones apart. Speaking of migration/immigration, pull factors are positive things that might attract/draw/pull someone into a new place like better education opportunities or jobs or religious freedom.

Whereas push factors are negative circumstances that might force someone out/to move/leave their home when otherwise they would choose to stay - war, famine, lack of freedom, etc. Carmy's PUSHED (Syd: Why are you doing this? Carmy: So you can push me and I can push you, 3x1) Syd to the brink of leaving him - the question for S4 is if he's pushed her over that ledge or not. I think not if it all comes back to wishbones and invisible strings, pulling vs. pushing, and wishes granted like magic (3x9 opening sequence) and miracles (Carmy: it's a miracle these places [aka people aka Syd] even exist, 3x10).