I love shows that show the BS as long as they have a happy ending.

Since The Bear has very much an Austenian narrative arc, I don’t doubt it will have a happy ending for the family-family, JLC also confirmed this on IG, so, in terms of that, we have nothing to worry about.

Now, since Braciole was the original movie script’s ending, I’m pretty sure that the endgame is Syd & Carmy ending up together for sure. The question is: In what capacity? Because a Braciole type of ending, doesn’t guarantee a romantic Sydcarmy endgame per se, it only warrants us a Sydcarmy endgame where this is their final destination, they will arrive to, and enjoy together:

But where’s the romance angle? The non-platonic love story? Or better yet, the love story that started out platonic and even when they both tried to fight it, it turned into something else? Something more, soooo much more.

IMO it’s in the symbology, in the lil hints and breadcrumbs Storer left along the way

for us to pick up bc the sadist seems to be fucking allergic to explicitly telling a story, which I used to love till I ran out of patience and that was back in S3. He overused that resource and killed the show bc the explicit romantic love story blooming between the main characters was the ❤️ of the show and he tried to put the slow-burn in the back burner for too long, till no one else was interested in him serving it. I still am, but it wasn’t easy nor pleasant to keep this up and keep on giving him chance after chance for so long.

S5 is his last chance of getting it right, we’re almost there.

I have no doubt in my mind we won, but objetively speaking, we're not out of the woods of the potential lalaland ending, bc we all know that fumbling a good thing is the Sadist's speciality.

If that's the case, since, unlike in the movie, these characters hadn't gone canon, we'd win anyway, only in an implicit way, Storer will definitely hint it but leave it untold, which would be heart-breaking for most fans, bc the Sydcarmy portion of the show's audience, remains being the majority of it, even after being decimated by seasons 3 and 4's awful timing.

I 100% think Storer won't really wanna leave on such a sour note, but I gotta remain objective and that wouldn't be too out of character for a man that wrote a movie script that originally ended with intense eye-fucking and the "Family style? 2 tops? Booths?... etc" moment that changed lives and kickstarted this great love story that so far remains just suggested but unexplored. Like a promise yet to be kept.

Now, if we take this signature symbolic circular writing style framework of his and apply it to that last scene of Braciole, we can easily infer that the family style refers to the family business Syd will join by finally signing that agreement next season, even if Carmy is no longer part of it, the 2 tops are them, the booths could symbolize privacy, which is a crucial ingredient for any couple that has to joggle a busy work-life and a private love-life while working together day in and day out or sharing a family business, the Danish design could mean keeping things simple, not too flashy, same thing as the booths, the tasting menu at the bar could mean that their first 💋 will be at a bar/the restaurant's bar, and the window on the side for sandwiches, is basically already another character of the show, which I'm certain will end up saving the restaurant, franchizing (children/legerdemain) and if we go back to 4x3, we can easily see that the reasons why they are winning the 🌟 they are chasing, which also ensures their happy ending, (not romantic, but happy nonetheless) are:

The Beef sandwich Carmy elevated :

The scallop Syd made and the Michellin critic had:

And the snow experience Richie created for that family:

The sum of all those factors vibrantly collaborating together is what ensures their success in the Michelin arena, and thus, Syd's happy ending as head of The Bear, the Berzatto family business, Richie also officially joined as per her request, so, all stays in the family and thefore Mikey's death was not in vain, because they will all be happy and together, unlike in Fishes:

And Carmy will accomplish his mission of preserving his legacy, holding on to it, making something good outta it and making him proud:

Again, there's plenty of chances for romantic Sydcarmy endgame to happen, but it can also stay an unfulfilled promise, without that meaning an unhappy ending for the characters.

I choose to believe Storer won't want to leave us such an awful after-taste, especially considering that Carmy is his self-insert and he did find love IRL and is working and growing by Gillian's side in a healthy-loving relationship that his traumatizing past didn't keep him from being able to have.

So Sydcarmy should be the fictional version of the Storer-Jacobs household.

Related meta-notes:

Circular

Roots

Star

The thought entered into their mind, and they entertained it thoroughly. Despite the ills of the current moment, the minor inconveniences and anxieties of the day, the sun’s circadian rhythm just existed. Given the right time, the sun would come over the horizon again. 

They remembered flying above. Even only a few thousand feet above the ground, amongst the clouds, they realized how insignificant the lives of humans must seem to the sun. In the moment, that trial and tribulation is everything. But, looking from a distance, it’s simply a small piece of a larger puzzle. 

The sun might decide one day not to rise. It was inevitable. However, it probably would rise tomorrow. And the anxieties of the world would continue to play out, re-structuring the puzzle. Tomorrow, they would wake up and the worries of today would most likely still be there. 

Oh, but to be the sun. Closing their eyes, they realized that they were quite a bit like the sun. Their circadian rhythm just existed. Given the right time, they would rise in the morning. Inevitably, they would not rise again one day. However, they will probably rise tomorrow. 

I resent it when people say that I pick up on social cues and then purposely ignore them. I resent it because of the implication that I do what I do just to make people uncomfortable. That people have a set way of doing things and apparently I just like to push people's boundaries and act in an unexpected way because I like the reaction I get from them. Like I'm Willy Wonka and everything I say and do has to shock you and make you reframe your concept of reality. And that if it doesn't then I will be dissatisfied. As if the end goal was to just make people uncomfortable. I think that if that were the goal, I could do it so much easier by going outside and yelling out curse words at imagined people. I could go into a bathroom, poop in the urinal, then stand next to it and confront everyone who goes into the bathroom, asking them "do I look like I give a shit?" And maybe I resent it because I'm afraid they're right about me -- that the only thing stopping me from doing those ridiculous things is my ego, and I've just found the safest way to make people uncomfortable. But I don't think that's it.

What I've found is what I think we've all found. I've found that at some point in conversation, once we've been talking about something for way longer than we need to, once all of the autonomic responses have been used up, examined, reexamined and thrown out, a miracle happens. When you've waded through all the quick "I've already answered this" layers, all the preconceived defensive regurgitation of media or family or society, you can find yourself in a tiny bubble of honesty. Honesty about insecurity, honesty about flaw, and honesty to the point of fault. And I'm convinced that not everyone can do this the way I can. I'm convinced, be it out of some self glorifying, masturbatory instinct, be it true or untrue, that I do it and that people like it when I do it. That somehow, three hours into a clinically stupid, viscerally interesting conversation, I am apparently a different person. A more honest and insightful and arguably unlikable person.

And I think that this is healthy. I think that, for the same reason I've been trying to think of something to write about for the past two weeks to no avail, this stuff has to come out. Because I spent seventeen years of my life being ashamed of things that I am and then pretending I wasn't. Seventeen years before I started a non-sarcastic sentence with the words "I feel..." I grew tired of waking up and not feeling anything. I could see it on my face in the mirror every morning. A stern lack of emotion, complemented perfectly by my allegedly judgemental eyes and unaffected scowl. A smooth face free of frustrated wrinkles and laugh lines. To the point where I was stuck in this pit of tar made out of complacency and self satisfaction, the Dunning-Kruger effect at its best. Like I was better than others because I didn't feel irrational things. My feelings made sense. I loved my family for being my family. I loved my friends for being my friends. I loved my school and my teachers for making me me, but that doesn't make me a good person, and that doesn't make me a feeling entity, just maybe a loving one. I didn't care if something happened. If a performance wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, my way of dealing with that was to deny the fact that a performance could be judged objectively. If my crush didn't like me, well that's okay too, it's not like I thought we were going to get married. But something deeper inside me was dissatisfied with this. Something so guttural and hormonal and chemical that I'm sure I've evolved to feel made me want to be more human. What I found out was that if I wrote about it, it would go away. For these brief half hours when I'm writing I feel so human and so real. I feel like I can say what I want, and what I say is what I mean. I feel the shift from having to think about what I'm saying to being able to say what I'm thinking and it feels great. Writing this, right now, feels great. It will feel great when I go back and I read it to try and capture this fleeting feeling again, and it will feel great when you read it and then make any kind of simple gesture that tells me you read it and you liked it. Because to let my brain build up for seventeen years was long enough, and now two and a half weeks feels like a lifetime.