The Bear made a surprising decision in its final season when it directly addressed the demand for a Carmy and Sydney romance.
During the penultimate episode of the series, which premiered on Thursday, June 25, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) visited the restaurant and was looking at the photos in the office of the staff. She specifically pointed out to Pete (Chris Witaske) a photo of Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and Carmy (Jeremy Allen White).
“Are they dating?” she asked as Pete struggled to reply with, “I don’t think so but there are a lot of … there’s some theories.”
Fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting for The Bear to explore a romance between Carmy and Sydney since the show premiered in 2021. The highly debated idea didn’t just leave viewers divided as the cast has questioned whether the platonic partners should turn their connection into something more.
“They got a lot of trauma on both sides. Like, if even that [was explored] — I don’t think that window is open,” Edebiri, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly in January 2023. “But if it were, there would need to be, like, two seasons where it’s just them doing therapy individually before that would even be an option.”
Edebiri clarified that she and White, 35, didn’t initially plan to explore their characters as a couple. “I think when we were making it, neither of us were thinking about that,” she added at the time. “It did feel really nice to get to do something that felt different. There aren’t that many platonic male [and] female relationships.”
Creator Christopher Storer also weighed in on the show’s decision to zero in on the coworkers. “We wanted to make something that was about friendship and a partnership,” he told Variety that same month. “It really is so funny that that is one of the things that people took away — of all the heavy s–t that’s going on in the show! It was interesting because Ayo and Jeremy, since they are our friends and are such wonderful people, I think there is this charisma that comes off both of them.”
Storer added: “From the beginning, it was like, ‘We should just show people being really good at their jobs and pushing each other.’ Selfishly, I hadn’t seen a show without a romantic plot and was like, ‘That could be kind of cool and interesting.’”
Instead, the show opted to position Claire (Molly Gordon) as a love interest for Carmy — to mixed results.
“I’m always ‘the friend,’” Gordon, 30, told Vanity Fair in 2023. “I’ve never played the romantic person. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is going to be a different experience.’”
Gordon noted that White’s role “is a character that people feel so protective over, and it’s been kind of controversial to bring a romantic element into the show. That’s been at times annoying, fascinating and interesting — just to be a part of something that people have opinions on.”
All episodes of The Bear are streaming now on Hulu.
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