#s3 spec

1. Sydney is not an angry/reactive/explosive person. She holds it in until someone pulls it out of her, and even then she’s pretty levelheaded. Perfect example of this would be how she takes a deep breath to keep herself from getting upset before she says, “I just need your focus like you need mine.”

2. Following the above, that conversation happens because the fridge isn’t fixed yet. Opening night is imminent. Her and Carmen have their confessional under the table later that episode iirc, which is both his apology and pledge to do better. Sydney knows the door handle is still fucked at this point, she knows it probably won’t be fixed before opening night, and she now knows Carmen is going to try and make an effort to be more present.

3. Syd is forgiving. Who the fuck else gets yelled at and treated like shit the way she was in the events leading up to S1E7 and then comes BACK? Even that aside, she’s her father’s daughter and Emmanuel is shown to be kind, if a little cautious about who to trust, and pragmatic. Do I think she’s upset with Carmen? Absolutely. But her concern overrides that when he first gets trapped. See: Sydney asking Carmen if he’s okay TWICE and then telling Nat “now’s not the time” when she makes an off handed comment about how Carmen should’ve called the fridge guy.

Sydney isn’t a guilt tripper, so I don’t think she’s going to make him feel like trash over something he just pledged to work on earlier that same day.

4. Sydney spent the better part of S2 going it alone and even made it a point to not actively seek Carmen out bc it was no longer in her best interest to waste time trying. See: her calling in a favor to use a kitchen and then only bringing Tina to it. BUT, her and Carmen had that little “you’re not alone (neither are you)” moment. I think that represents a turning point for initial instincts. As in, Sydney might actually bring up a problem without needing it to be dragged out of her, and if she brings it up on her own it’s less likely to become a footnote in an argument because there won’t have been time for resentment to build up.

HOWEVER, and idk if anyone has talked about this at length, Carmen regresses while he’s trapped in the fridge. He feels like he’s only good at his job because he’s a psycho. If he actually leans into that and starts to engage in some of his old, bad habits, I do think he and Syd will have a fight. And I think that’s the other big concern fandom has. That said, I don’t think whatever disagreement they have is going to get big and loud. Sydney is either gonna leave his ass hanging high and dry, at which point he’ll panic about losing her and reevaluate, or she’ll call a time out with their ASL I’m sorry.

What would really be fucked, and honestly just thinking about it is kind of delicious, is if Sydney signs I’m sorry to get Carmen to take it down a notch and then he doesn’t. That would be a breach of something, I just don’t know what to name it. That would cause some huuuuuuge problems because it would signal to Sydney that she really can’t trust him.