new season 2 bingo card just dropped

listen at the end of the day if syd and carmy do end up just being “platonic soulmates” and this is confirmed by the writers/cast and is expressed heavily in the show then i would ultimately be okay with that because that tells me and everyone watching that their relationship with each other is woven into the fabric of the universe and thus transcends all other connections they have in their life. it’s basically dating without the kissing except they are on a level that goes beyond normal friendship, because their souls are inextricably tied together. they are made from the same embers that forged their spirit and cut them in half. it means that they wandered the earth, incomplete, searching for something they didn’t know they needed and by some miracle of events they found their way back to each other and have been made whole. they want, yearn for, need each other. being soulmates, no matter how stubbornly people preface it with the word ‘platonic’, means that they are one in the same and always will be and even if they don’t smooch sydcarmy-truthers take the dub either way.

So I was watching a guy on YT react to The Bear S2, ep 9. He was pissed because he wanted Syd and Carmy to be platonic soulmates. I would wake up angry every day if my man had a platonic soulmate who shared his passion, who made him better, without whom he wouldn't want to pursue his dreams, who he locks eyes with like they have telepathic communication, who the thought of her brings him peace, who he buys expensive gifts for etc... I would want to FIGHT... myself because I'm in the way, they are stupid, and I need to go get my "platonic" soulmate.

Ram and Connie: Two characters who should have ended up together.

Finally watched Paris Blues and the chemistry between Ram and Connie was chemistring. From the first time they met, I could instantly see the connection. Ram touching Connie gives Carmy touching Sydney vibes, especially when Ram puts his hand on Connie’s shoulder?! That was just hot. Ram is so handsome and Connie is so gorgeous. Despite their chemistry, Ram and Connie don’t end up together. I read that this movie is based on a book and in the book, Ram and Connie end up together, but because of racism, they could not have an interracial relationship on screen.

It has been over 60 years since the movie was released and now we are seeing interracial couples on screen , but not everyone likes that. Some people say that they don’t want Sydney and Carmy together because they are platonic soulmates but let’s be honest, if Sydney was not a black woman would they say that? No.

The Bear team can take Syd and Carmy’s relationship in whatever direction they want because it is their vision and I respect that, but I really hope that Syd and Carmy don’t end up being another Ram and Connie: two characters who should have ended up together.

Unpopular opinion (apparently) alert: I don’t like Carmy and Syd together romantically on The Bear. And, in fact, I enjoyed Claire and could see her and Carmy working. Syd is his BFF, his work wife if you will. Soulmates even. But platonically. Carmy needs to be with someone completely outside of the restaurant industry - at the very least, not at the very SAME restaurant. I get in the beginning he needs to be all about it and there’s not room for much else, but he’s going to be miserable if he doesn’t have something outside of that. Someone to take his mind out of that world. He seemed to genuinely enjoy his time with Claire, doing things he had never done before. He needs to find that work life, personal life balance. His work life (by that I mean the entire restaurant industry) is too toxic to also have a relationship within it.

“Syd and Carmy are platonic soulmates”

Listen here buddy if you have a friend who treats you like Carmy does Syd, you need to call them up and have a DTR bc that person is not just your friend.

Ok so question (because I enjoy your analysis on these characters in the bear).

People who share the opinion that Carmy and Sydney should remain platonic soulmates and agree they have chemistry but they don’t read it as romantic.

From my vantage point I see the editing as obviously suggestive with the parallels in his relationship to Claire vs Syd.

Carmy obviously outwardly shows his interest on a seemingly subconscious level and with changed behavior.

Sydney on the other hand reads as very guarded (relatable) but still seeking connection as someone else pointed out. She hasn’t done any work to change that in terms of actively going to therapy. So I’m confused as to why people would think that a person as guarded as she is would outwardly like Carmy reciprocate her deep down romantic feels that I would assume she suppressing. She’s obviously good at it because she’s ambitious and a working professional. Case in point her reaction to Marcus’s date request.

What I do feel people should maybe reflect on more is her reaction to ‘Who’s Claire?’ Where I do agree that it was mostly frustration due to Camry dropping the ball and significant part was subconscious romantic jealousy. Also her insistence on him defining their (Claire and Carmy’s) relationship. Lastly, there’s no way in hell I would accept someone telling my boyfriend “I don’t want to share your focus” and him responding with “you deserve my focus” while she’s fully aware he’s in a relationship that SHE put him in 😂…because WHAT!?!

Sorry this was long and yeah I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Sydney desire for Carmy to define his relationship with Claire comes from Sydney wanting to know where she stands. She's ambitious an smart. She's let Carmy get away with a lot in her short time knowing each other, but she's reached a point where she's investing a lot in his restaurant. She needs to know if it's time to cut bait. Sydney deserves to know is she's working against a relationship that's going to continue to get in the way of The Bear?

And then she does what Sydney does. She tells Carmy how she wants to be treated. She tells him “I don’t want to share your focus.” I think by the time Carmy replies with, "You deserve my focus" he already knows he's going to break things off with Claire so in his mind he isn't really committing himself to another person while he has a girlfriend. He just hasn't seen Claire yet to do it. I think that's part of his distraction and lack of interest in Claire being at the restaurant at all. I doubt her meant to break up with her the way he did, but I also think Claire could have talked him out of doing it if they'd been face to face which is something to think about too.

As for Marcus... I almost feel bad because as early as Copenhagen I could see that he had probably been nursing a crush that Sydney inadvertently egged along throughout S1 and early S2. But once it's a real question instead of hints and international phone calls, she politely but firmly says no. Which also makes me think, part of Sydney wanting Carmy to define things between him and Claire is so she can sus out whether or not he's one of those guy who just strings a girl along. I think that's as much what she's getting at in the beginning of their conversation about him being shitty and that he's the one who makes it more about her.

And like the "Who's Claire?" moment of jealousy, it works because it's personal hurt hiding behind very neatly behind earned professionally annoyance.

This shit is not new

This is in response to the multiple posts right now about the recent articles that have come out and just general angst about this ship in the media.

This really isn't new. It's not unique to The Bear. It's not unique to Carmy x Sydney. It's not unique to slow burns.

I do think Mulder x Scully is the best example. Why? They are the ship that modernized shipping. The terms shipping, noromo, etc. come from that ship. They pioneered the modern "why can't men and women just be friends", "platonic soulmate", "it would cheapen the show", "the show isn't about romance" arguments.

Syd x Carmy are like Mulder x Scully 2.0 (with a slightly different flavor that I will get to). The X-Files was a huge sleeper hit with a cult following. From the first episode there was speculation about romance and people raging against it. The question was brought up in every interview and denied by the show runner. The intensity kept developing until finally they went canon. And then, only then, did the show runner change tune. Shippers felt they were being persecuted for even mentioning the ship. It was super intense.

I watched the show as a teen. I low key did ship them but wasn't involved in fandom so I wasn't aware of the shenanigans. But I know all of this from first hand accounts.

And here's receipts from media:

So, I know a big element is missing in this comparison. The race element is at play here. I'm not denying that. But I will say, I started with this example just to show it isn't just interracial couples that get this backlash. I could also mention Ted x Rebecca, but I don't think I need to go into them because they are current. Mulder x Scully started this and history is important.

I do think there is a special flavor of dislike for this ship because of race. I've spoken on it. The unwarranted hate for Sydney can't be ignored. The same has happened with Richonne, Ichabbie, etc. No denial here. But if you look at the overall history of shipping what we are seeing specific to media denial, media scrutiny, antis, denial of the ship until the very end, gaslighting, etc. is slow burn and shipping war 101.

There is no agenda from cast and crew to stick it to us. Their agenda is to maintain the element of surprise and tell the story they want to tell. There is no agenda from the media to do anything but get a story that gets clicks. There is no special denial of a romance unique to this one.

This is just how a slow burn plays out.

There are no slow burns that went canon and the show runner said, oh yeah, this is the plan before the end. If there is tell me, and I'll gladly correct. But, that just isn't reality. They will say the same thing every season until it happens, no matter what happens on screen in the meantime. And there is always some lame statement made about why they "suddenly" decided to make it a thing or a lame admission that it was planned. So basically, they lie. The lies may seem cruel but it's not personal. It's not some secret agenda to deny your fave romance and happiness. It's just showbiz.

All of this can feel personal in relation to the extent a fan is personally invested. And I think that's up to each person to decide if their investment is creating too high an expectation and too much drama for regarding fictional characters on a tv show. That's not on media. It's not on the actor, creators, journalists, etc. to determine and protect a fan's level of investment or engagement. Nobody has to read the articles. Nobody has to devote their time to fandom. It's a choice. And part of that, may be understanding that all of the media around a ship isn't going to cater to what you want or see and making decisions on what you see is the healthiest, most enjoyable way to engage or not.

Because feelings have been hurt, arguments have raged, lies have been told in fandom and media and it's not new, it's not personal. It just is what it is.

Mulder x Scully walked so Carmy x Sydney can run.

Let me say those about Jeremy's Platonic comments:

- He did say that they are currently platonic and as far as the characters know, its a partnership...which is true. He is talming in present context and obviously from Carmy's perspective.

- I am fully on syd/Carmy are each other's soulmates. If they do try romance, I am on Ayu's wave length where it needs to be when both characters are in a better mental and emotional state.

For future seasons:

- i hope the meat of season 3 is seeing Syd/Carmy contiuning to build their relationship/friendship/partnership. Continue to build their trust, and become a cohesive unit while also, learning to take care of themselves.

I get why most Syd/Carmy shippers are mad about his recent comments, but just watch and wait. Storer and the crew have different ideas and views and we more then likely see that come to fruition in later seasons.

“syd and carmy are platonic soulmates !!” wrong answer.

about to say something controversial but:

Carmy and Syd are platonic soulmates. Those two dating would be a disaster.

Update on my opinion on the bear, since I started a conversation about ships and the show itself I will make two separate posts for this, this one is about ships (I'm currently on ep 6 season 2 btw).

So basically my opinion is the same but stronger I guess, I don't get it, Syd and Marcus so far I HIGHLY doubt anything will happen he definitely has a crush on her but I'm not sure she likes him, but still I personally feel like they would work a lot better, still I don't personally ship them I just prefer them, about Syd and Carmy all I'm seeing is a friendship/partnership that people are trying too fucking hard to make it something else, I've seen their shippers throw literal tantrums when people rightfully bring up the fact that men and women being close does not equal a relationship or romantic feelings, they seem to like to use that against others a lot by also adding small little scenes to "prove their point" and what's even more ridiculous is how mad they get when people say that they only ship them as platonic soulmates, like am I obligated to ship Syd and Carmy romantically to be a fan of the show, bc if so let me know bc I will piss out I don't wanna deal with that behavior. Like there's this war between the people that think it's platonic and the people that think it's romantic and once again like in so many other fandoms they seem to have this superiority complex (some of them). But at the end of the day if you wanna ship them, go for it, but other people don't have to, and when you bring up scenes like his panic attack or the fridge scene and say shit like this:

Like no it won't become invalid.

It's as if your opinion/take on a scene is the only correct one therefore others need to see it the same way, it's absolutely insane, specially if you then go and see what the actors say about their characters and their "relationship" and it completely contradicts what the shippers are going for, like the whole, oh him calming down thinking about her during a panic attack is peak romance, thing gets completely crushed by all of this

Like dude this is what jeremy said:

And this is what Ayo said:

Soooo, maybe don't act like your opinion is above others when the actors would literally agree with the people calling them platonic, you know the ones that y'all like to call delusional and say that their opinion is invalid. Y'all like to make fun of this (which is very strange like what year did y'all get stuck on) but yeah men and women can be friends/best friends/coworkers hell whatever tf without romantic feelings, like do y'all fall in love with every single person you meet/all of your friends, are y'all okay?? No one is in denial no one's opinion is invalid here YOU ship them, doesn't mean it's romantic or that anyone else needs to see them as such or that they have to be.

Anyway I will give my opinion on the actual show in a minute (even though no I'm not finished yet lol)

Okay, I started watching more of The Bear S2 today and I have THOUGHTS.

First, I wanna talk about Claire. It's so obvious she was added into the season to be a love interest. Sure, she's got a personality which some love interests might not have but compared to other characters in the show, hers is basic. Maybe that's the point though? Other characters in The Bear have a plethora of issues and Claire can easily be set apart from the rest of them, hence Carmy's interest in her (aside from knowing her from before). I'M GONNA ADD ONTO THIS IN THE NEXT ONE!!

Second, I understand why he and Claire's relationship is progressing so quickly. Carmy admits that he doesn't really have fun and never had friends either. Before Claire, there was Mikey helping Carmen socialize, but even then it was more for Micheal than it was him. Mikey acted as a sort of social lubricant (hate that word but it's true) for Carmen as they grew up. Michael died and Carmy receded into himself (yk what I mean), focusing on work instead of his social life or mental health. When Claire, someone he was close with back in the day, comes back into his life, he clings to her. Now, this is because she actually has a life outside of her career. She's got friends, she's fun to be around, and she can help people have fun. She's the embodiment of who Carmy never got to be, what he never got to experience. He gravitates towards Claire because she's been living her life to the fullest and Carmen didn't get a chance to do the same.

Third, I know a lot of Bear fans want Sydney and Carmen to be together. I'm still not sure how I feel abt SydCarm but we all see the chemistry between them!! If not romantic soulmates, they are 100% platonic ones. However, I can see why Carmen wouldn't be interested in being close to Sydney romantically or being closer to her than he currently is. Sydney met Carmen through his work as a Sous Chef and they bond over their love of cooking, their hopes for the restaurant. The foundation of their relationship is all work related. I admit, they have their moments were they get on a personal level with each other but mostly, they talk about work. Carmy used to work in a toxic environment and it traumatized him. The Original Beef is a much more positive place to be, but still, a contribution to his stress. So, I can imagine he'd want to be closer with his coworkers but not AS close as they could be. He's seen Syd outside of the kitchen, but it's only been to talk about work. Claire is someone from outside of work, from wayyyy back, and a nice change of pace.

Fourth, Carmen's priorities are ALLLL the way messed up. As soon as he reconnects with Claire, it was like Sydney didn't much matter. He made promise after promise to Syd, yet he never came through. I don't think I'll be able to get over how he COMPLETELY forgot about his plans to go tasting with her to help Claire move FURNITURE bro. In that exact same episode, he neglects to tell Syd, his literal business partner, that they were taking out the walls. Then, he ditches Syd again to deliver the wine license (?). Sugar was fully capable of doing this, but he probably felt bad for making her work sm, so I get it. What I don't like is how he made more plans with Claire instead of helping Sydney out?? Sug and Syd are literally carrying the restaurant on their BACKS.

Fifth, LET'S 👏🏼 TALK 👏🏼 SYD 👏🏼. My KIN, my GIRL, MY BESTIE IS STRESSINGGGG. She's supposed to be Carmen's whole business partner but she's handling most of the responsibilities that are meant to be shared between the two. It's becoming a real challenge for her because she's struggling to cook. Syd's overthinking everything and NEEDS CARMY TO DO HIS FREAKING PART. I wish I had more to say about her in that aspect but I don't 😔. However, I will say I love her relationship with food and how it's shown. The visuals during her menu tasting sequence were CHEF'S KISS 🤌🏻!!

Carmy really just wants to hold his girlfriend, I mean business partner’s hand.

Like, why is your arm so close to Syd, Sir? You want to hold her hand? You are in a business meeting so act ‘’profesh’’.

He is literally obsessed, like we know you love her and all but your sister is right there so behave.

His body language is like, I want Syd. Poor guy. I love the scenes between these ‘’platonic’’ soulmates.

OKAY let's get one thing straight before I go and run some errands: Carmy will NEVER be Syd's mentor BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T FUCKING NEED IT.

I'm shutting this down right now. "Ooooooh Carmy is Syd platonic soulmate because he's her mentor, blah blah blah"

Guys, really??? Her CV is ridiculous. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, she worked in top quality restaurants. The only ding in her work history is her failed catering business but other than that her bona fides is fucking stacked. She doesn't need a mentor, she needs a partner.

Get it right.

I wanted Syd Carmy to fuck the moment they appeared on screen together. RIP to the “platonic soulmates” bandwagon but could not be me