Sometimes I think of Sydney really learning to cook as an extension of taking care of people. How she might have tried to cook for her dad even from a very early age, when he was lost after her mother passed and struggling as a newly single parent. To cook for him as an act of love and nourishment.

SPEAKING OF carm and emmanuel!!!!! 

before meeting him carm would be nervous but would play it off the way he does the alarm in s02e01 (“it doesn’t bother me”) and the puking before every shift (“i liked it”), but *after* meeting him! and seeing how close he and syd are, and how supportive he is of syd, and how he showers syd with love, and how syd can actually talk to him about real stuff and has fun with him! he’ll soooooooooooo badly want emmanuel to like him, like he’ll want emmanuel to like him a lot a lot. 

like, we talk a lot about syd being a part of the berzattos but i think it’ll matter to carm more to be a part of what syd and her dad have going on than it will to syd to be a part of what the berzattos have going on.

Love you, Chef. I love you.

I am truly obsessed with Sydney and all her possibilities. It's when I saw the full Sydney tattoo reveal that really did me in honestly. The pieces of her we are yet to see or have context for... Like we are so slowly uncovering who she is and her fuller backstory and I am so desperate for what new aspects about her that we'll learn when S3 rolls around...

sydney the kids miss you come home

Sydney's designer chef whites are perfection, but when you think about how she's got to be fitted out in the kitchen for the entire week... Wondering if we're going to get to see them on rotation like her scarves, making an appearance for select or meaningful scenes, or if Carmy is just going to eventually make sure the entire work week is covered.

I don't see Claire and Carmy getting back together in the aftermath of season 2, specifically because I think the writing on this show is too economical and disinterested in retreading the same ground and storylines. It serves little purpose to leave characters in a certain stasis when you can change the script/circumstances around them instead. As we left off, I also just can't see Carmy stepping right back into the relationship when he already knows he needed to refocus his attention and having that point only hammered home by how everything fell apart at Friends & Family. As someone intent on centering his life around the restaurant again--with the headspace regarding relationships that he left off in--it just doesn’t add up. Will his failure in the relationship and Claire’s I love you still haunt him? Oh, I have no doubt. But while Claire could be neatly written off without ever being seen from again, I understand the dramatic possibilities she can still serve, and I get wanting to explore that as a writer. And just as an enjoyer of the series, it would be nice if we could also gain a little more depth and dimension to her character, because from where she currently stands she's unfortunately a blemish to the show's overall quality of character writing.

¿¿¿rubbing Sydney’s back while she pukes vs holding Carmy’s shaky hands who will win the race

Love to think about the unhinged gifts Carmy is apparently obligated to give Sydney every season (restaurant co-creation, personalized $$$ designer chef whites) and what could possibly be next. Like how do you top that in successive seasons?

But then some filming actually gave a little credence to an idea I'd had earlier...

Because if Carmy's proven anything it's that he is attuned to what Sydney says she wants, and she did say she'd do anything to go to Noma... Actually, going back to the scene, the way they foreshadowed verbatim for Noma to "teach you to operate at a level you didn't even know you could operate at, Marcus." Makes it feel even more intentional and weighted that Sydney put that wish out there for herself. So when they were filming in the immediate area of where they'd shot the kitchen scenes for Noma, and Will Poulter was also in town, it does leave the door open to the possibility that Syd might get her chance after all. And obviously I'm hoping Carm brings her there himself.

Spoiler cut

These are really interesting thoughts about it potentially being related to Tiff & Richie since their relationship will surely also be explored in the coming season(s). And I do love the idea of Carmy going to support him. A lot of people think it's just Carmy and Claire speaking, but it really is the frenetic interplay of dialogue that the show is known for, and it could very well be Richie talking as well. There was some interior filming spotted happening in this apartment though, and another thing of note is that the actress who plays Kelly, Claire's friend, has also been in town. So I was thinking it's a Claire centric location, and possibly her apartment. I don't think Richie knows how to leave things well enough alone on this front and Carmy still hasn't developed to the point of setting his boundaries -- a part of their dynamic I can easily see being tested further after where they left off in season 2. They definitely switched codenames a while ago, but this was still close to when they seemed to wrap season 2 last year. So I can imagine these as maybe being some of the final scenes for season 3, being filmed when their guest stars were available. But of course all we can do is speculate and wait and see.

ANOTHER ONE! Bear S3 Spoiler

It’s official, Claire is back! In the video, Claire and Carmy are shouting…Carmy is heard screaming “I’m sorry.”

As Claire is heard shouting, does this mean we will see a big character development? Will Carmy be able to be honest with her? Are they getting back together? Why are they shouting? Why is Richie’s messy ass there? Does Claire confront Carmy about his feelings for Sydney? I have so many questions and I can’t wait for s3.

Syd doesn't have a boyfriend. She has a weighted blanket.

Something, something about how Carmen's invitation to have Sydney over to his apartment comes on the heels of his original horrendous fumble, by the very same lockers. How he can still manage to so easily invite her out/invite her in under the guise of work.

Because as we later saw, going to his apartment was not the only option if they needed to cook. That was an instant, active choice on his part. As was Sydney accepting.

carmen + an invitation for sydney

It gives off twin flame energy. I think the director was intentional with the Carmy and Syd's mirroring in this episode. They were both wearing dark sweaters with a design on their right side, possibly the same side as their shoulder tattoos, along with the choreography. This is the last time we see Sydney and Carmy's partnership play out smoothly before Claire and Carmy reunite and Emmanuel fills Sydney with doubts. This moment shows us that they are a union and that they're better together than apart- they're equals.

.

Love when I used to be normal about the bear before sydcarmy tumblr completely rewired my brain and fully revealed all the subtleties and subtext of the show. Just absolutely the kind of media this site was made for: intently examining every little moment in loving, obsessive detail.