#fixing storer

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Looking for recommendations for sydcarmy fics that pickup after S3 finale. Thanks

[drabbles-mc]

📸 credit: @ courtney__storer on Instagram

Y'all literally who gave this man the right, though 😍

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

WHY THE FUCK WE NEVER SAW SYDCARMY AT THE FARMERS MARKET?!?!

IT’S BEEN 3 SEASONS AND THEY ARE 2 CHEFS WHO OWN A RESTAURANT FFS! WTF WERE YOU THINKING, STORER?! IT'S NOT EVEN REALISTIC!!!

WERE YOU TOO BUSY WRITING THESE PIECE-OF-SHIT SCENES? WAS THAT IT?! WAS THAT IT?!

I can’t emphasize this enough: FUCK YOU!

[ciaomarie]

The quiet angst of Sydcarmy S3 was almost too much to bear...

LIke if Storer and Calo just give us this

and this again

GIF by thiscoldheart

by the end of S4, I will treasure those scraps. I might get all tantrumy and moany with y'all on Tumblr eventually, but I'd be grateful for awhile. So grateful Claire would tell ME to stand up!

[stonemouthzag]

The Boiling point + Boiling Point tv show is so good & such a quick watch omg… having the bear flashbacks+thoughts…

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

This is the sleight of hand Storer served FOR A WHOLE SEASON to make it longer and confessed in 03x07

What Ruins Romance Between Characters

Also keep in mind I’m not a professional writer. This is just a list of things I think absolutely destroys chemistry

Lack of Communication & Proximity: It should be a no-brainer that the two characters in love would also want to be together as much as possible. However, for some authors, what they don't do is just that. Automatically, these characters become more like strangers than people that are dating/married/pining for each other. If you want to build romance start with them actually talking and putting them in situations that demand them to work as partners.

No Show of Physical or Verbal Affection: Another no-brainer. How're you going to want your reader to love them if they don't show it? Even enemies-to-lovers will always figure out a way to make a scene more tense and filled with desire as long as your characters are giving us hints that they want something more than just what they currently are.

One-Sided Pining: Do not have one character doing all the romantic gestures! Readers will think the receiver of the affection is undeserving of their partner. I can assure you, nobody wants to see only one person doing all the heavy-lifting in the relationship. It's boring, sad, and will likely make readers want that character to leave the relationship asap.

Wildly Different Perspectives/Nothing in Common: You're bound for writing a breakup if this is the situation of your characters throughout the entirety of the story. Unless they slowly come to understand one another and meet in the middle, this romance will fail.

Arguing More Than Loving: If your characters are constantly arguing with no intentions to stop it, they are no longer compatible for each other. You are writing a toxic couple that hate one another and forcing them together is unlikely to make the average reader want to continue any further. I've seen some writers do an excellent job of a couple arguing but always trying to be better for their significant other. If you want them to argue solely because this is enemies-to-lovers, some time soon they're going to want to stop being an asshole to the person they like.

Better Romance With Other Characters: If Character A is supposed to be with Character B, but Character C is becoming the ideal, then I'm afraid to tell you the romance will not work between A and B. To avoid this, make them communicate less, have less in common, spend less time together and give more attention to Character B. Take away the roles that make Character C more compatible and give it to B. This doesn't mean you should completely change C, it just means you need to do everything you can to put the focus back on B, and if that's too much then consider ending whatever B and A have.

Too Slow/Fast to Fall in Love: Characters that take 20 seasons and 3 movies to confess is insanely slow. We are starving for the romance that was promised in the story, eventually readers will stop reading because that is not being satisfied. Pacing is incredibly important and you need to take into account the behaviours Character A will have with Character B. Also, don't make them instantly fall in love, I feel everyone in the writers and readers community know this very well. That's not how people work, you actually have to try to know each other first.

Only Together for Sexual Gratification: I don't even have to do a lot of speaking for this. Unless the characters become part of each other's lives outside of the bedroom then the chemistry does not exist.

Lack of Trust/Keeping Secrets: There has to be someone that knows their partner more than anyone else. Keeping secrets will show the readers that Character A does not love their partner enough to trust them with important information. It's fine if they're keeping a few secrets maybe-- major ones-- to protect Character B, but constantly lying and being unwilling to share is the beginning of what we call "falling out of love." Even worse is if Character A went ahead and shared their deepest insecurities with Character C.

Priority is Not The Significant Other/No Sacrifices: All relationships have done something that must be done in order to make the relationship work. If Character A will not give up something that they know upsets their partner/crush then they are not ready to be with someone. In order to love someone you must devote time and have interest in them. If your character chose some external desire over Character B, then this will not work. Their greatest desire should be Character B.

Unrealistic Standards & Expectations: We can't have characters choosing each other for surface-level wants to be satisfied. Readers will end up seeing characters changing their entire personality for their partner and their entire body to fit an image they were not made for. If your readers know Character B very well and it's that Character B would never turn away a friend for example, and suddenly they cut ties with all their friends because Character A doesn't like them, then I'm sorry but this is toxic. You can't change someone's characteristics in the middle of the story to help Character A.

No Conflict: What relationship is truly perfect? There will be arguments and setbacks that need to be explored. This is a fun way at having a deeper level of understanding on why your characters are having a conflict of interest. It's quite stale when everything is happy-go-lucky with no issues, you don't need to make them breakup or anything just a simple disagreement can show a ton for readers on the complexities of Character A and B as people who operate differently together.

Underdeveloped Character with No Goals: Some shows I've watched put time and effort in flushing out one character and completely forget about their life-long partner. Uhm, hello? What's going on?? If you write Character A with their entire lore and family tree or whatnot and then-- oh side note, they also really love Character B-- excuse me, who's Character B? Give us some sign that Character B is capable of thoughts and has dreams of their own. Do not make it revolve around Character A either.

Couple Do Not Interact with Anyone Aside From Each Other/No World Building: Similar to the point above, if these characters only know and see each other, you will lose readers. We are sick and tired of stories where the overarching story has been reduced to two people. If the story is about them, then introduce us to their lives outside of their partner. Can they operate as a functioning creature with thoughts without their partner? Do they have friends and family? Do they go to work and school? Are there fears they have? There's tons of material to choose from, pick anything.

Too Much Interference: Although it's fun to watch two characters do anything to get closer to each other it can become annoying when there's simply way too many characters and situations that separate them. We want all that hard work to be rewarded to Character A when they finally get what they want, Character B. Even a little bit of talking alone, being alone, finally away from the chaotic world is more than enough. Let your characters be alone.

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~~~ MASTERLIST

[yannaryartside]

CARMY NEVER WANTED TO CREATE A MENU WITH SYD.

AND WHY THAT IS THE CORE THEME OF THE SHOW

PART 1: THE LIE THAT CARMY BELIEVES

So, one of the bases of creating an efficient character arc is to give the character something they want, and something they need. In the pursuit of getting what they want, the theme of the show and obstacles will show them what they need. Most of the time, they need healing from an emotional wound that prevents them from growing into the ultimate version of themselves, capable of winning the challenges of the story. I will try to explore Carmy's wound and, more importantly, the lie that created that wound.

In 'The negative trait thesaurus" by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, it reads:

"Wounds are often kept secret from others because embedded within them is the lie-an untruth that the character believes about himself."

When I started therapy (disclaimer: this is not professional advice; I am just talking from how I interpreted all of this), I was introduced to the concept of "limiting beliefs:" lies we have told ourselves about our own nature or the nature of the world. The most difficult beliefs to leave behind are those established in our early childhoods, and we told ourselves those lies to make sense of the world, to make peace with realities we were not equipped to comprehend yet. 

Some examples of lies people belive:

"I am too stupid to learn anything; my teacher said so" "It was my fault that I was molested." "I am a bad person for wanting a different life."

When people believe these lies, they will act accordingly, maybe attracting situations that hurt them but keeping the lie active in their lives. They may self-sabotage or create bonds with people who also believe the lie, even if it doesn't seem this way. 

In some cases, people may develop complete personalities or behaviors to prove the lie wrong, but deep down, they still believe in the lie. Carmy falls into this last category. This is where we find the most contradictory parts of his personality, how he can act shy and insecure in some instances and appear confident and even aggressive in others. 

Long post underneath.

THE RESENT OF A MOTHER:

We can only assume here because I think Storer is gonna let us know more about this soon, but I think I got an idea of this wound when I saw the only moment Carmy was alone with Donna on "Fishes."

I have a lot of things to say about Donna herself, but let's begin with the obvious: the conversation in this scene had little to do with the dinner itself. This was a woman stating that she felt alone and not valued, probably due to being abandoned by her husband and having to overwork herself at the beef to support her 3 kids, all while being a single mother. We don't know if this feeling of abandonment is something she has carried since childhood, but in the state of current womanhood, it wouldn't be uncommon. The work of women (especially mothers), particularly the emotional labor, is rather invisible and not valued at all.

But again, this is something she has used as fuel to resent her kids, who, at the end of the day, didn't ask to be here. Her anger has to go somewhere since she cannot direct it toward the people that ctually caused it. To get to the point:

THE BEARZATTO SYBLING DYNAMIC

Carmy said, "You are not alone; I am here with you." (This kind of comes back to telling Syd she was not alone at the end of the season.) This scene is about a kid trying to communicate to his mother that he loves her and trying desperately to connect with her, to get her to express her affection for him as well.

It tells me that growing up, he felt like he had to "earn" her affection. Donna likes to make her kids feel guilty about her unhappiness, so the kids feel that they are constantly walking on shells because they think their mother hates them, or at least that she resents them and that it is their responsibility to fix it.

In the scene, Carmy asked,

"What is so hard, Mom?"

I think what he was actually asking is, "What is so hard about being with us, to love us? What did we do to you that made you resent us this way?" He is asking because he wants to know, to finally understand. Why do you drink, Mom? Why do you yell? Why do you say such hurtful things?

When she answers, "Nobody makes things beautiful for me," you can see in his face the disconnection. He knows he can't do anything about that.

Then, a crucial part in the scene occurs when Donna calls him "Michael, " which indicates that the only one of her children who could make her feel happy was Michael, or at least that is how the other two kids felt. You can see the hurt in Carmy's eyes in the scene because this answer dismisses his effort to connect to his mother in his own right. She asks him to just leave. He offers to wait to connect with her. Then, it comes to the most chilling moment on the scene, the "we have a problem" using his full name, with resentment in every word. She hugs him while crying, kisses him, and then slaps him.

This is rejection. There is a book called "The Five Wounds of the Soul": wich are Rejection, Abandonment, Humiliation, Betrayal, and Injustice. I think Carmy's wound is rejection, for never earning his mother's love, particularly comparing himself to Michael.

Michael took responsibility for the Beef, finally giving their mom a break. It was Michael's job to make sure everyone was having a good time, to compensate for the discomfort that caused being in Donna's presence, to make sure all of them stayed as a family, which was Donna's intention, so Michael thought he had to make that happen for her. Therefore, Michael is the only one of her kids who succeeds and makes her happy. We know Donna rejects Natalie and Carmy. About Natalie, we can write another whole essay.

THE LIE THAT CARMY BELIVES

According to this scene, I think Carmy thinks that her mother didn't love him because he is not Michael; in fact, he is the most "not like Michael" someone could be. He was shy and stuttered and didn't have friends or girlfriends, comparable to Michael's ability to control every room he was in. Carmy was sensible and no macho alfa as Michael presented himself to be. Carmy left home and the family business, and both Michael and Donna expressed that they feel like he thinks he is better than them. Michael admitted later to admiring Carmy's work in Copenhagen, but Donna never did. carmy grew up having to live with the crumbles of Donna's attention that Michael left behind, wondering every day what was so wrong with him that made her reject him, and wondering what he could do to change that.

The lie that Carmy belives, could be sumarize this way:

I need to earn people's love. I need to always go the extra mile, doing the most possible at all times to earn people's love.

This all goes back to his trauma with Michael. It goes back to his career as a chef and how he became the best. He didn't need to succeed on a larger scale in the culinary industry to earn Michael's respect and love; he needed to be the best in the world, so he did that. He judges his own social abilities, comparing them to Miachae's. He left that promising career only because of Michae's death. He got the girlfriend Michael wanted for him (not saying it was the only reason, but it was there).

PART 2: WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS HAD TO DO WITH SYDNEY?

Well, what does a person who feels they always need to do the most? They do the most. I want to bring you back to the moments Carmy had to develop menu ideas with Syd on s1 and s2.

When Syd suggested items for the menu in s1, he gave her an inconclusive, not enthusiastic "maybe."

When she had to actually cook the thing for him to approve, he tried to make her feel small about it. He felt the need to remind her that she was "impatient and green," according to her previous bosses. He commented about her possibly ruining the flow by using time to cook her recipe. Yikes all around, but the core here is that he was treating her like an enemy, like competition, while she was trying to save the restaurant with what they had on hand to use the most efficient solution.

Then, when Carmy tries the dish and feels stunned by it, he has to make an ambiguous excuse on the fly and just finishes every chance of them using the recipe by saying, "is not ready yet"

And what does he do next? He goes to show the crew a recipe that is extremely complicated for the level they are operating at currently—they said so themselves. I think the recipe is a variation of Donna's butter chicken recipe. To put a nail on that coffin of his intentions to earn her love and approval at the end of it all.

But why does he do all this? Because he needs to be the hero, subconsciously, he is still that small kid begging for acceptance and love; he must go the extra mile. He cannot accept Sydney's help and partnership, because that will take away from him earning what he wants on his own merit.

In S2, he seems unenthusiastic about starting the menu in the first place. Then Claire comes along, and he tries to make it work with Syd and the menu, but I think he subconsciously thanks the universe for not having to go to his core wound. That is what self-sabotage is. That is why he bailed on the food tour with Syd, using such a stupid excuse as helping somebody else move out and never mentioning it again. He never asked her what she liked or what ideas she thought of. For most of the creative process, Syd is alone, working on her own creative crisis. The menu ends up being like two recipes they made in collaboration and then all of his family's traditional recipes. It is two of Syd's recipes and the rest of Carmy's. Then, desserts Marcus did on his own. The collaboration was superficial at best.

All of this creates the core theme of the show. The Bear was once a chaotic place (like their childhood home) that needs to evolve into an efficient, peaceful place built on love, support, and mutual collaboration like a functional family should be. Sydney is the member of this found family that forces Carmy to confront his core wound and learn he can actually be good enough while still accepting help. Therapy probably will play an important part in this theme, alongside with Carmy learning there was nothing wrong with him in the first place, that earning your parent's love is not something a kid can do.

Thankyou for reading. Gif and images are not mine.

[chefkids]

Wondering if you have any thoughts on the symbolism of “our mother of victory” line between the siblings. Not sure if it has any meaning behind just reflecting their (probably) catholic upbringing, but I don’t trust anything in this show to not have further meaning so wondering what smarter minds out there mean…

Our Mother of Victory, Pray for Us

The root of this is in the saying Our Lady of Victory, Pray for Us, which comes from a battle that the Catholics won against the Ottoman Turks. It is often used as a prayer before big event, Notre Dame football team says it before football games for good luck. Adding mother instead of Lady places their mother, Donna, in comparison to a literal Saint, the Virgin Mary. Which is ironic and part of their inside joke because as we know she is far from a Saint.

But I actually think this is a reference to a John Hughes movie called The Great Outdoors, a movie about bear attacks believe it or not. In the opening scene the say Our Lady of Victory, Pray for Us.

We already know Chris Storer has said Hughes movies are a big source of inspiration, specifically in season 2. He included songs from movies like Pretty in Pink, National Lampoons Vacation, and he even gave Kevin McCalliper McCallister from Home Alone a shout out.

Yes. Even more Bears and Fish. So bear with me.

The Great Outdoors is about a family from Chicago that goes on a trip to a cabin and the mother's sister and her husband, who they don't really get along with, invite themselves on the trip. At the start of the movie the dad tells them all a scary story about a man eating bear that he saw through the window and shot at but is still on the loose.

The Bear also starts off with a man going face to face with a bear. The bulk of the movie is about the two families not getting along, but by the end of it, the mythological bear appears and chases them into their cabin and attacks them, but they end up scaring it away and then they all get along and things work out between them.

The first Bear attack after their prayer was with Mikey and Donna

The second Bear attack was with Carmy

But this time, they were actually victorious. Because of Sydney. She managed to get the Bear away from them so they could keep going.

She is their miracle. Right before Sydney ever appeared there was a Virgin Mary figure. Sydney is always portrayed like Mary with light behind her, even with her hair always covered and in blue and white. Mikey is viewed as a Jesus like figure, he died so that they could all fix their sins and the restaurant. He is this ghostly figure whose memory is everywhere. Sydney and Mikey tied together, and she is the one that takes on his last words. Let it rip.

Carmy views Syd as a miracle, he could barely even look at her when he said it. Finding the money in the tomato cans was a miracle, it allowed her to come back and be with him. Her coming to work for him in the first place was a miracle, she came in at the perfect time when he needed her the most. Their Mother of Victory was not their mother at all, but Sydney.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

This is why I'm 95% percent sure this season was meta, and Storer is in on the joke that the Faks are annoying.

Some of the fans have noticed that Neil often involves himself in Carmy's life when it concerns Claire, but when it's Sydney and Carmy, his involvement is always shut down. For example, there's a meta on here about Carmy asking for a screwdriver to fix his relationship with Sydney without Fak's help.

The audience wants Sydney and Carmy to have a conversation, and Neil has to stay out of anything involving Sydney.

[ficsinhistory]

I think the problem with S3 of The Bear was that ok the mess, the coldness and the distancing and the plots in general...if it seemed like it was intentional. If they had a long term plan and this was a bait to change course later like good stories do. But it wasn't, it was just poorly written (and a bit racist).

For example, we could see Sydcarmy being separated because of Carm's worsening mental health and him wanting to convince himself that Claire is better because he doesn't want to make mistakes with the kitchen family and Syd anymore, more as a legitimate plot point and less as Storer wanting to sink Sydcarmy at any cost (which was a stupid idea and I don't even need to say why) if it didn't completely sideline Syd and obliterate her and Carmy's character in the process. Because that man may be chaotic and stupid as he may be, but Carm always cared about Syd's well-being at the end of the day.

Even after doing something stupid, Carmy always had this worry about asking how she felt about it. And that's what made their relationship different and the heart of the show. He can be distant and cold, but ignoring Syd's wishes? Doesn't give her credit when he was the one who asked her to be her partner in the first place??? The same person who recognized in 3x01 that the credit for them getting through the family and friends' night was solely hers, because he knew he had screwed up everything and didn't deserve to be part of it? Not only that, him being an idiot to Natalie, yelling about money when she was pregnant? Even though she was his only living sister? And that he started going to therapy at her request even though he didn't want to after realizing that yes, she was right? And not going to see his niece because he was more worried about Claire?? The woman who, let's be honest, he didn't like. I mean, he a panic attack thinking on HER!!! And now she is his peace??? Using suspiciously the term that the Sydcarmy fandom baptized Syd, almost as an affront. (And let's remeber Claire was pretty happy talking how she almost kill a teenage. I was bawling my eyes if was me. Weirdo (derogatory))

And speaking of her, Sydney Adamu, my beloved and favorite character, what did they do to you? She was thrown into the corner so much that I couldn't believe it. She is a protagonist and ok, she and Carmy are on tense terms, but why not take advantage of the fact that they are more apart to delve deeper into her and her relationships, find out more about her. Her relationship with her mother and father? Any flashbacks, since there were so many, about Sheridan and how this still affects her? She and the rest of the members of The Bear, Nat, Richie. She should exist outside of Carmy in her own right, but they just threw her in there and gave screen time to Claire and the Faks and that sucks. Which leads to another point, why don't you talk more about the og members of The Bear. Okay, we had Napkins for Tina, fair enough. But what about Gary, Ebra, Many? Marcus, whose mother died barely had any weight? It left a bitter taste in the mouth. If they want to fix this, they're going to have a lot of work to do, because history has taken everything to an almost unsustainable level. It's okay to be a tragedy, but give us the rays of sunshine, so we can believe in the best. And we didn't have that. It was just going in circles and that could cost the entire story.

[foreverjustaplace]

The Bear, Season 3 PREDICTIONS

OKAY! So with The Bear premiering slightly earlier now, I wanted to go ahead and get my predictions (and maybe some delusional wishes) out on here because I just saw the still where Syd and Carmy are drinking tea after Carmy gets out of the fridge and I definitely had Syd being there when he got out of the walk-in. I never did get my fanfic out before the new season (although who knows. There’s still time!) so I hope I’ll still be in the headspace to finish it after I see the new episodes!

I would LOVE to see everyone’s predictions, too, so add them in the comments or create a post and tag me!

My Predictions:

Let’s start with Sydcarmy first. Oh, hell. This season is going to be one that drags us through all of the emotions. It’s already giving angst galore from all of the promos. A lot of us are worried about this ship, but I have to believe that while Storer may have not initially been on the sydcarmy train, we have a believer in Calo and loves love. We’ll be okay but it’s not going to always be pretty. We’re about to go through it, 100%, but I think the arduous emotional jouney will be worth it in the end (the end perhaps not being this season…). 

As mentioned, I predicted to myself that Syd would be waiting for Carmy when he finally is freed the walk-in refrigerator before I saw the image. To add to this, I believe this will be a very tense moment. Syd is incredibly disappointed with Carmy, but we’re going to get a hellava moment between the two in the very first episode. This moment is going to show just how deep Syd’s love (and I actually do mean in the friendship sense here) runs for Carmy. Despite Carmy already fucking up by not get the fridge fixed, we will get to see Syd give Carmy more grace than he deserves. But she is going to be skeptical as hell of him. He is going to seemingly change overnight and ignore all healthy ways of coping and go straight into this maniacal version of himself. 

They are about to put us through a Sydcarmy fight for the ages after Carmy does his whole partnership shit. But when I tell you this is going to remind us of the most dramatic romances we read on our Kindles, I mean it. Imagine this trope as one of those whole ass agreement list things that one or both of the romance leads (in a friends to lovers, especially) have. The agreement is done when the friends have an insane, amazing friendship and there’s more there, obviously, but they’re afraid to admit it. Sometimes they truly don’t even know that they like each other! In the case of Carmy, he is so avoidant of all of his feelings, he doesn’t even allow himself to think he likes her in this way. And even if he does recognize it, he certainly doesn’t know how to properly channel that into a romantic relationship with Sydney but he is 100% cognizant of the fact that he doesn’t want to lose her. That he CANNOT lose her. This agreement is done under the guide of a professional work agreement, but what he is proposing sounds more initamiate this just a work agreement. I honestly think it’s going to be jarring because on one hand Carmy believes this will lead to a star, but on the other hand what he’s trying to do starts to look and sound more like a non-platonic relationship.  

There is going to be a DREAM sequence that will make sydcarmy shippers happy. I just have this feeling or maybe this is me in delululand. Look. There were one too many damn dream sequence jokes for me to not take it seriously. I’m always a big believer that dream sequences should go big or go home; in fact, I’m trying to go through all of the dream sequences I’ve watched before in my head right now. I can’t think of one that did not involve kissing OR the wake-up-right-before-they-kiss moment at least. Think back to last month’s Polin (Bridgerton). I hope we get the kiss but I’ll even take the latter. BUT I’m going to go big and say that this may not even be a all heated and sexy dream. Um. What if it’s a Sydcarmy wedding!!!  

Syd and Carmy will sit next to each other at the funeral. There will be some comforting hand holding that is going to put us in a chokehold. I think Syd cries and Carmy comforts her. 

Ya know how Carmy helped Claire move whatever the hell furniture last season? Yeah, we’re gonna see a parallel of the moving thing when he helps Syd. We’re gonna get a Sydcarmy moment inside Sydney’s apartment and they’re going to talk about the future. This will be a great scene and will be use in all the future edits for sureee. Fantasyland me wants Carmy to say some shit like, “Syd, I don’t even know why you didn’t just move in with me?” “Carmy, use your head. You have one bedroom ? ? ?” “I would’ve taken the couch, nbd.”

Carmy sees Syd’s tattoos. I hope!! Perhaps this is in the dream sequence? Or maybe they have an actual conversation. Carmy tells Syd what one of his tattoos means. She does the same. But, forreal, this is a headcanon for me. 

To end the season, Syd and Carmy forreal do something that makes it hard to deny they are 100% in the platonic love category. They kiss and there is a conversation that rivals the under the table scene. Richie is the one who helps them get to this point. 

Sydney makes the decision to step away from Carmy a bit. Does she go to Ever? God, I hope not. But I think her health problems are going to be crazier (PLEASE STORER do not make her sick!!! I beg you!) and she can’t deal with Carmy’s shit any longer. I honestly think we’re going to see the season span months and the angst will be rough. Hopefully it’s one of those, “Three Months Later” things so we don’t actually have to see it. LOL Just get me to the end. 

Carmy is about to piss everyone off. I think we’re going to see Tina, Natalie, Richie, Sweeps, even Pete get into it with him. 

There will be a good number of flashbacks this season:

*Mikey in his last few months, weeks, and/or days leading up to his death 

*But also we’ll see some fun, sweet memories involving Mikey. Moments with Richie, Nat, and Carmy.

*Carmy as a chef before The Beef/The Bear. I’m so looking forward to these! 

*We are finally going to see Syd’s mom in flashbacks! 

Emanuael and Carmy meet. Syd’s dad will not like Carmy. He’s not gonna be impressed at all. They are going to talk and Carmy is going to do everything in his power to convince Emanuel he will be better for Syd and that she’s everything to him. Emanuel is going to give him some advice to win over Sydney. 

Richie is going to start dating and at least semi-successful. I think his redemption arc is still happening and specifically related to his relationships. Not gonna lie, I do actually like the idea of Jess and Richie and so I’m going to keep that in the mix and say Richie is the one who sets up Syd with the Ever guy. Richie will attend Tiff and Frank’s wedding. 

Syd and Marcus grow so much closer. Syd is going to serve as a supporting, loving friend to Marcus. They’re going to bond over the dead mom club. It’s going to be wonderful to see their friendship.

Donna is there for Nat. Perhaps she goes into labor and Donna is there to ease her nerves. It’s a wild moment for sure but a pretty poignant one. 

Luca. Dude. I don’t even know. I LOVE his character. I want him to, like, I’d love for him and Marcus to hook up. That would be the absolute best. Hell, I’d really love for Luca to be Sydney and starting flirting with her and with get to see jealous!Carmy! (PLEASE!) but I’ll settle for some flashback scenes. I guessss. Perhaps Luca comes help out at The Bear? I’d love that.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that The Bear will struggle greatly and close. I cannot deal with this LOL. I don’t want this to happen so I’m not going to predict it, but I think there will be some struggling. 

Tina’s story is gonna be emotional. Her journey into the kitchen is going to be one that happens because she desperately needs a job. We’re going to see her with Luis’ father. We are going to see her with Mikey. We’re going to see that she has always been bright and so capable. 

Claire. Man. I don’t like that she is even in this season, but I appreciate a great story and don’t think we can fully wrap this whole thing up if the walk-in fridge breakup was it. Fak is starting to get on my last nerves with his matchmaking shit lol but I think we will see Claire in at least a slightly different and enhanced light. Chris Storer is intentional in everything he does and I don’t believe for one second this doctor can be so surface level. Carmy may have this guilt eating him up and his trauma keeping him from  wanting anything good, but ultimately Carmy doesn’t actually want her. She’s meant to represent this nice person and serve merely as (physical) relief. But I don’t even know. I don’t think she and Carmy are endgame at all. I want Claire to tell Fak to stop his nonsense. I want her to understand her worth and not go back to Carmy after he said all of this shit about her (and not just because I love Sydcarmy but because I’m for the girlies knowing their worth!). 

What I would really love to happen is Claire cursing Carmy tf out. I’d love for Claire and Syd to have a one-on-one conversation and Sydney says something that exposes how she feels about Carmy to Claire. Awkwardness ensues. 

Okay. Damn. I started typing and I couldn’t stop. It was as if I was ten years old again and typing my predictions for the upcoming Harry Potter book. Dang. Take me back to those days! Those prediction threads were unreal. Tell me your predictions! 

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

I don’t have time for this gaslighting!

We only have 10 more eps to fix this piece of shit oxymoron!

Fuck you, Storer!

[snoopyadamus]

enough rambles has gotten me to this point and the time has passed. the bear s4 wishlist right now.

(quick note these all dont have to happen in the same plot LMAO. its more of a "if at least ONE of these things happen, i'll be happy!" thing)

i'm starting this out on a rough foot: carmy and syd argument. it has to happen. i was serious about that when i said in a previous post. in each other's faces and everything. i need us circling back to the s1 vibes right now.

add on: this argument needs to be what prompts syd to leave. i need that whole crew seeing carmy as a bad guy for a few days. white boy loss!

more richie lore. more berzatto lore. more syd lore. all three. in terms of berzatto lore i'd fucking kill to know about their dad tbh. richie lore? i need to know how he got so close to the berzattos. there's obviously something going on in his family to why he's never seen with them. syd lore? ohhh so much shit i wanna know. her family! the catering! little backstory on her tats! storer don't even give me the fucking season if i don't get a syd centric episode.

i also really want a mikey centric episode too!! i understand that he's supposed to haunt the narrative, but i really want to see something about him rather than it just being "oh shit! mikey! anyways—".

marcus/syd/luca trio friendship. look, i have a lot that i want but i need this at the most. getting a scene where they all cook and shittalk carmy is something that will get me through the day.

i can feel the tomato that's about to be tossed at me, but carmy has to apologize to claire. the way i see it, he has three main people he needs to apologize to: her, richie (no, the one he did in ep 1 does not count. it was half-assed and he's more worried about the fact he did it rather than fixing the problem.) and syd. in my mind, i don't think he's ever going to get the balls to apologize to the other two if he doesn't apologize to her first. (or it might be flipped to where he cant apologize to her until he learns how to apologize to those two, but i'd prefer the former to be honest!)

rough foot p2: imo the bear can't come out in one piece. whether it's because of a bad review, jimmy running out of money as a whole so it can't get it funded anymore or, i semi remember someone saying burn it down. (which? i'd weirdly like??? i'd be devastated as fuck if that happened but also...i'm really interested to see the comeback from that.) i just need a wakeup call for carmy for the overall state of the kitchen. (also because i just DON'T see the show ending with it being like "and they did fine dining forever!" it just feels disappointing to end it that way, especially if the sandwich window is apparently doing way better than the restaurant itself...take us back to the roots!! or something!!)

the bear's timeline is so fucking confusing to the point i don't know what's the current date in the show right now (i've been assuming somewhere in between july-august?) so this one is less than likely to happen but i want them to go to some kind of award thing so bad...james beard or something else i don't fucking care, just give me the group in formal wear please. (extra points if this the only time they're bonding after a while!)

i'm not really into shipping culture like that w/ this show (aka idc who gets with who as long as they're happy.) BUT sydcarmies should at least be allowed a win with the way carmy apologizes to syd. i really want it to be somewhere personal and i hope it includes well—food. drop the collaborative dish while they talk in syd's apartment, thank you. (cause it's gonna leave a sour taste in my mouth if they're uncomfortably distant for life.)

lastly, don't give me anymore copenhagen flashbacks. don't get me wrong, i love seeing carmy happy but every time i read kitchen confidential, (which is mostly set in nyc) i just think "i wonder if carmy went through the same shit". more nyc carmy please if we're going to get flashbacks on past culinary experiences! it doesn't even have to be about fields, but i really wanna see what happened in other places carmy visited.

i feel like that's all in my head for now? feel free to elaborate on these, it's just me spitting out random shit that's been in my head. (i might make a hc list soon? is that something people want????)

[gingerylangylang1979]

Carmy was the regression Storer mentioned in this season and that’s ok.

When I initially read that I thought he meant regression for all of the characters or for the process of opening The Bear. The actual opening went smoother than I thought despite a few setbacks. Most of the characters had arcs of transformation and growth. Carmy was the backslider. 

This really pissed me off at first. I became anti-Carmy for a bit. I didn’t even think he was as cute anymore I was feeling that dramatic about it. That didn’t last long, still want him. Anyways, I was just really upset with the writing team and viewed it as character assassination. 

Now, after some reflection and reading some really good takes on what happened I’m ok with him embodying all of the regression. It only makes sense. He’s wounded on so many levels. Al-Anon and group therapy for what, maybe a year is not enough to heal decades of trauma. His healing will not be linear. He suffered with stuttering as a child. The other males around him called him “a weird little dude”. He’s the runt in the family. He’s the artistic shy one. He hyper focuses. He’s was always “different”. Combine that with several addicts in the family, an absent father, mental abuse from a boss, cut throat competition, and the chaotic grind of the culinary world and he is an utter mess. 

One happy ending last season wasn’t going to fix that. He still has to forge ahead as a world class chef and a new entrepreneur. He’s never had a business, he’s never had to make all the decisions. He’s also trying to mentor and not be a dick all while his emotions are still a whirlwind. His behavior was bad outside of the false love bubble he created with Claire. But in the end he was even shitty to her because he used her as an escape. 

What angered me most was how he treated Syd, especially after last season. This was supposed to be their new beginning and he sabotaged it. This is supposed to be his partner and in many ways his confidante and he took her for granted, disappointed her, missed opportunities to create with her, and overburdened her. 

All of this enraged me. But in the end this is his journey. Writing this is a though but intentional arc. He is fighting being Mikey, being his mother, being the rabid bear. It will be a winding journey. I just hope he gets to be a hero and finds peace in the end. So I will be patient and continue the ride. 

[falllpoutboy]

If you were a writer for s4, sorry Chris Storer, and seeing how they ended up in s3, how would you write (and fix) Sydcarmy's relationship? I mean, how would you lay the foundations for a romantic relationship between them? And what would you do with Claire, Donna, Richie and the others at the restaurant?

first of all i would make them communicate thoroughly. they have to talk!!! i would make it an entire bottle episode of just the two of them talking and eating. i don’t think all of their issues will be fixed automatically by just them talking, but it will definitely help a lot if they had better communication again 😩

carmy needs to resolve his issues with claire and donna before pursuing anything romantic with syd and maybe the big sydcarmy talk will spur him on afterwards. i think the donna confrontation would logically happen first and then claire.

[yannaryartside]

WE NEED 5 SEASONS

Okay I need to vent a little. Please indulge me

This is for this article that says the 5th season is up to Storer.

Storer said they filmed most of season 4, and some things still need to be filmed. So we will have s4 next summer, and we don't know if there will be a 5th one.

I could put my hand on fire to my belief that we will have 5 seasons. Mostly, because regardless of the importance of showing “being trapped in negative patterns” that was s3 for multiple characters, is not gonna be a satisfying conclusion if all those patterns are resolved in one season.

Realistically, i would not make sense.

Even if you think Claire is Carmy’s salvation, this graceful, perfect angel that came to serve Carmy’s redemption, and when they get together, everything will be fine (that narrative sucks ass, by the way, is perpetually insulting to everyone that had ever had a mental illness to suggest them they only need to fall on the hands of someone that ignores all their defects and are determined to please them). You could believe this is all about self-sabotage, and Carmy will wake up next season, apologize to Claire, save the restaurant by ex-maquina magic, and get his happy ending. Yeah, that will be 4 seasons of a conclusive story and an objectively terrible narrative. It is also very insulting to every person who has a romantic partner who struggles with addiction and/or mental illness to tell them they need to be this fairy tale of a person who is Claire to bring "peace" to their partner and basically solve their life. Fuck that. I refuse to believe they are doing that on purpose.

But if they put the “sleigh of hand” and Carmy has to realize that his emotional dependence on Claire is toxic and only contributed to his depression and disassociation, since you spent all S3 pulling him in that direction, making him believe that is what he wanted/needed, you are going to need a whole season for him even to “scape the illusion.” All of this will align with the Bear having to close, Syd potentially leaving, and starting dating Luca. So, S4 is going to be the “wake-up call.”

S5 should be the season of creating new patterns. Carmy will get into therapy. Syd will come back. The two will create new recipes and work on the menu (collaboration, vulnerability). They will realize they have true feelings for one another. Each character will move towards the place they are gonna end up with.

If you created a whole season about "being in the freeze response" and another two previous seasons of extending trauma and bad coping mechanisms, you are gonna need more than one season to fix that; mental wellness is not like that; it should be treated like something that requires more time combined with efforts.

Not to mention, if SydCarmy is indeed happening, you have spent 3 fucking seasons creating distance between them. I also feel like so much of Sydney's life (to her and to us) is trapped around Carmy's issues, and it actually would make more sense for her to realize being with Carmy is too taxing for her, regardless if she had the most realistic tools to actually help him to grow.

You also had not given Sydney a proper arc to grow from her insecurities and follow her dreams. She still seems to be as insecure of her own skills as when she came in, because Carmy insist on creating a menu based on his trauma. Regardless of his good intentions and the beauty of their connection, she will leave the "bear narrative" as if Carmy is the closest thing she had to a chef David, as if Carmy was the monster she needed to endure to "grow" or "decide better." Fuck that.