“The Bear” is a love story. We’ll explain it to you.

The bear is a love story between Carmy and Sydney. This may seem strange to people who believe that The bear has dispensed with a traditional romance between the two main characters and top chefs, played by Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, and will continue to do so. But after a third reunion of The bear, whose third season airs Thursday on Hulu, I believe Syd and Carmy’s relationship has been maturing right before our eyes this entire time. In fact, their romance might be the show’s main course.

Syd fills the void in Carmy’s life left by his brother Mikey. The show hasn’t exactly been subtle about making connections between Syd and Mikey.

• Just as Carmy is about to open his brother’s tomato sauce recipe from the end of season one – the note that says “Let’s rock it” – she pauses to text Sydney an apology.
• At the end of season one, when everyone is getting money out of the tomato cans, Carmy sees Syd come in. The first words he says after finding that life-changing sum are, “Family style?” – like the kind of restaurant he wants to build with Sydney (which he was supposed to build with Mikey).
• When they finally open the restaurant doors in the penultimate episode of season two, Richie, Sugar, and Carmy say they’re doing it for Mike. Then Sydney walks in and says, with her blessing, “Let’s have a blast.” Sydney and Mikey are constantly intertwined as important figures in Carmy’s life.

Earlier in the same episode, Syd helps Carmy fix a table before the premiere. It’s basically a sex scene without the sex. Sensual music plays in the background. Carmy lies on the floor, vulnerable, while Syd lies on top of him (more or less). “You deserve my full attention,” Carmy says. “And I’m sorry. It’s not Claire’s fault…my attention shouldn’t be divided. It shouldn’t have to be divided.” Does that sound like something you’d say to a co-worker?

Syd says she doesn’t want Carmy to think she’s jealous or bitter. Then they switch positions (!) so Carmy is on top and Syd is on the bottom. Now Syd becomes vulnerable. “(I’m) scared I don’t have what it takes to not screw this up,” Syd says. That leads to this exchange.

Sydney: “You could do this without me.”

Carmy: “I couldn’t do it without you. I wouldn’t even want to do it without you. You make me better at it.”

Sydney: “You do Me better at it.”

Did I mention this happened while they were literally fucking?

Then Carmy stands up and hands Syd an incredibly expensive and lovingly designed pair of embroidered chef’s jackets. A most thoughtful gesture if I’ve ever seen one.

And of course, it’s easy to think that this is a nod to their relationship being sexless and showing that Syd is part of Carmy’s family, but it’s not romantic. White opened up about this last year. “There’s admiration and I think and hope that even in platonic relationships you can say things like, ‘I need you,'” he told diversity“When they talk to each other under the table in episode 9, it’s such a beautiful scene. And it’s a scene about partnership, but not about a romantic partner.”

Not still. Because when the show has no interest in making this a romance, it forces a lot of direct comparisons between Sydney and Claire. Follow me down that rabbit hole, Charlie Kelly style.

Earlier in the same episode with the table, Carmy has a panic attack. We see him flashing through various memories: his mother, his brother, Claire. But the panic attack disappears as he focuses on a series of memories of Syd: the first time they met, her compliments on his professional success, the moment she came back to the restaurant when they found the money in the tomato cans. As this Syd montage plays out, the song playing in the background is “Strange Currencies” by REM:

“YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MINE.”

This song played earlier in the season, in episode 2, when Carmy first reunited with Claire at the freezer. But now, during his panic attack, it plays for Sydney. It’s not exactly subtle! But there are a lot of other little details that, upon rewatch, show that the writers were working towards this. (Shoutout to this incredibly detailed and wacky Tumblr account called Chefkids, which is dedicated The bear and shipping to Carmy and Sydney.) Among the evidence:

• When Carmy spends the first day with Claire in Season 2, Episode 3, he texts Syd to say he’s ditching her while she eats alone at a table, making it seem like he’s standing her up on a date. (She goes on her planned Chicago food tour without him while Edwin Starr’s “25 Miles” plays – I’ll let you listen to the lyrics and judge the meaning.)
• Syd is upset that Carmy discussed her Menu with Claire.
• Syd’s old company was called Sheridan Road Catering. When Carmy takes Claire on their first date, we see them driving down Sheridan Road, along Syd’s old UPS route.
• When Claire sees Carmy at the supermarket, she asks him if he’s making a veal broth sundae. In the next episode, we see Syd eating a sundae.
• In Season 2, Episode 2, Syd explains that she made a perfect lamb stew for a catered event, but she ran out of pasta. Later in the season, Carmy makes Claire a lamb stew with handmade pasta.
• One of the most compelling plot points is the iciness of Claire and Carmy’s relationship. They (re)met in the freezer aisle. They broke up while Carmy was in the freezer aisle. As the Chefkids Tumblr points out, when Claire visits the restaurant in the fifth episode of season two, he tells her to sit at the freezer station. Claire Is the cold preparation. She is the test girlfriend before Sydney, the real one.

It’s entirely possible that the show is trying to give Syd and Carmy a platonic relationship. (Charlie Kelly voice) This is what the authors want They think – that they’re above a standard love story. But if that’s the case, isn’t it odd that the show draws parallels between Syd and Claire so frequently? When Carmy is with Claire, his thoughts drift back to Syd. But Syd also acts oddly when Claire is mentioned. In fact, this is Syd’s face the moment she meets Claire.

“Uh, I’m Sydney, nice to meet you,” Syd says after Claire bursts into an argument with the staff. “I’m sorry you’re here, too. Or not that, uh, it’s happening in front of you. It’s good that you’re here.”

At this point in the series, some people might feel that a relationship between Syd and Carmy would seem contrived. In fact, not only did the writers set the stage from the beginning, but a romance between Carmy and Syd makes perfect sense thematically.

The secret ingredient to any great dish is love. Everyone has heard this from their grandmother or at least found out by watching. Ratatouille or something. But Carmy doesn’t cook with love. Carmy cooks with robotic precision. He may have culinary training that his brother Mikey lacked, but Mikey cooked with a certain tenderness. Instead, Carmy cooks with his mother’s anger in addition to his precision. (That’s why Richie says “OK, Donna!” when Carmy yells at him from the freezer.) Carmy pursued his career because he wanted to tell his brother, in Carmy’s own words, “OK, fuck you, pay attention” after Mikey wouldn’t let him work at The Beef. Carmy did At first he was a cook because he loved his family, but he became a Cook because he was angry at them – especially Mikey.

Supposedly, Carmy is teaching Syd how to be a better cook. But by falling in love with Syd, Carmy might fall in love with cooking all over again. If season 3 does indeed bring us #SydCarmy, then you know what they say: Let’s rock it.