The Bear Season 5 Update Avoids the Show’s Biggest Carmy Mistake

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First of all, shippers, we understand where you’re coming from. Edebiri and White have excellent chemistry on screen, and there is no way the show would be entering its fifth season and be an awards darling without that imperative connection between Carmy and Syd. Watching the two young chefs work together, and subsequently grow together, is the beating heart of the show. Their relationship feels specific and lived in, and as different as they are, Carmy and Syd compliment each other.

Even Edebiri acknowledged the magnetism between the two, saying, “I do think that like there’s something about seeing people where they’re really passionate or where they’re excelling at something, it can feel exciting and charged.” However, she was just as quick to point out why a romantic relationship between Carmy and Sydney would go down like a lead balloon. “That man is crazy and that girl is a bad communicator! The restaurant would blow up in like three seconds if anything ever happened.”

A Romance Could’ve Crippled Other Characters on The Bear

Beyond the two characters being ill-suited for each other outside of the kitchen, there’s also the Moonlighting curse to consider. Named after the classic sitcom starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, the show’s ratings plummeted once their male and female leads began dating. The best storytelling is conflict and tension, and pairing the two leading characters together romantically would swiftly and effectively dispel both. Sure, the talented writers, directors, and actors that make The Bear could probably make the relationship complex and riveting to watch, but it likely would’ve denied us the slow, skilled, and excellent development of Sydney’s character.

The Bear boasts an incredible ensemble, sure, but at the end of the day, it’s Carmy’s show. He’s how we enter the world of The Beef. Having Carmy date Sydney, especially early in the show’s run, would’ve forced viewers to define Sydney in relation to Carmy, rather than allow us to see her as her own person. By keeping her as a colleague, and out of Carmy’s more private spaces, we got to see more of hers, and The Bear became more of a two-hander that expanded beyond our main protagonist. If Sydney and Carmy dated, we likely wouldn’t have gotten the exquisite Season 4 episode “Worms,” which focused on her decision to take a job offer at another restaurant or stay at The Bear. Focusing on the professional and familial (and often the complicated, toxic blurring of the two) relationships on the show also allowed for episodes like “Napkins,” a showcase about line cook Tina (Liza Colo-Reyes), nor “Forks,” one of The Bear‘s best episodes that puts a spotlight on Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

Keeping it “Professional” Between Syd and Carmy Allows for Fresher Storytelling

Refusing to have Carmy and Sydney date permitted and continues to allow The Bear to be something fresh and unseen on television. Pairing them up is the predictable move. Keeping both sex and romance out of the two leads’s dynamic in turn allows for creator Chris Storer and his team to explore the show’s themes of family and passion in a unique manner, one we’ve yet to see anything else pull off quite how The Bear does it. Also, Sydney and Carmy’s relationship speaks to the truth of the “work spouse” dynamic that seems to have emerged in our hyper-capitalist society. Syd and Carmy love each other, the Season 4 finale made that abundantly clear—it just isn’t romantic. And isn’t it time we see different natures of love depicted and explored on screen?

Not to mention, we might have been completely denied of Claire’s (Molly Gordon) presence on the show. Although Claire is just as much of a workaholic as Carmy and Sydney, she is better suited for him, plus Claire provides an interesting tether and viewpoint into Carmy’s life outside of being a chef and the restaurant. And in Season 4 of the show, its her refusal to get back together with Carmy that prompts him to transfer his share of The Bear to Sydney and to leave the business. Season 5 presumably will dive into Carmy’s quest, and probable struggle, in finding who he is outside of his craft. Dating Sydney would chain him to the part of his life that he’s trying to expand beyond, while Claire perhaps can provide a happy medium, or an alternative altogether. Simultaneously, Sydney is given a leeway to blossom into the chef she’s meant to be without any romantic baggage. However The Bear chooses to further Carmy and Sydney’s stories in Season 5, it’s stronger for keeping them as friends, partners, and collaborators rather than lovers.

Seasons 1-4 of The Bear are currently streaming on Hulu.