Also, regarding "Ice Chips": Perhaps you discuss it later, but in the episode recap discussion, you seem to be forgetting the OTHER time that Donna shows up: the friends & family night before "The Bear" opens, when she doesn't go in. What does that have in common with Ice Chips? Donna is hesitant about being present when her two remaining children are bringing their "babies" into the world. She knows she has baggage; she's trying to figure out how to handle it, with the minimal tools she has available, and she doesn't want to lose either of her remaining children. Burying a child is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; perhaps the Donna who has been through that is trying to be different from the Donna of Fishes.
I disagree with your commentary about "Legacy." I think that all of it--including the Faks--is a way to show the legacies that Carmy is already carrying with him. We've seen the abusive chef, and the good chefs, but this ep is another way to see the legacy of Mr. Beef (and Mikey!). He knows that "The Bear" is not "Mr. Beef," but what does that mean in the context of the family, of all of the unaddressed trauma, of his relationship with Claire? He's haunted by Mikey, as anyone who has a suicide in the family is haunted (Could I have done or said something different?). Carmy has to pick his way through all of it, if he wants to be the kind of chef he thinks he wants to be. It's not just that he's dismissive, that he isn't living up to his own non-negotiables (he's not stupid; he has to know that on some level), it's that he's trying to do something that no-one in his family has attempted and that they don't fully understand. Richie, the Faks, Natalie, Tina, Sydney, Marcus, they're all coming on board in the ways that they can, but they all understand it fundamentally differently than Carmy does. (Marcus's wonderment at Carmy's creations approaches it, as does Sydney's experience, but only Marcus is driven to create in the same way that Carmy is, so far as we've seen.) So: the Faks talking about haunting is the key to the episode, IMHO, rather than two minutes that you guys think the episode would have been better without. Obviously your commentary was food for thought, so thank you for that!
Ice chips is 100% Emmy bait . At the same time , the people who completely dismiss it simply don’t know enough mother/ daughter combos . I wish the episode showcased the panic at the restaurant without sugar being there . If it was half hospital/ half restaurant I think it’d be better
Also, regarding "Ice Chips": Perhaps you discuss it later, but in the episode recap discussion, you seem to be forgetting the OTHER time that Donna shows up: the friends & family night before "The Bear" opens, when she doesn't go in. What does that have in common with Ice Chips? Donna is hesitant about being present when her two remaining children are bringing their "babies" into the world. She knows she has baggage; she's trying to figure out how to handle it, with the minimal tools she has available, and she doesn't want to lose either of her remaining children. Burying a child is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; perhaps the Donna who has been through that is trying to be different from the Donna of Fishes.
I disagree with your commentary about "Legacy." I think that all of it--including the Faks--is a way to show the legacies that Carmy is already carrying with him. We've seen the abusive chef, and the good chefs, but this ep is another way to see the legacy of Mr. Beef (and Mikey!). He knows that "The Bear" is not "Mr. Beef," but what does that mean in the context of the family, of all of the unaddressed trauma, of his relationship with Claire? He's haunted by Mikey, as anyone who has a suicide in the family is haunted (Could I have done or said something different?). Carmy has to pick his way through all of it, if he wants to be the kind of chef he thinks he wants to be. It's not just that he's dismissive, that he isn't living up to his own non-negotiables (he's not stupid; he has to know that on some level), it's that he's trying to do something that no-one in his family has attempted and that they don't fully understand. Richie, the Faks, Natalie, Tina, Sydney, Marcus, they're all coming on board in the ways that they can, but they all understand it fundamentally differently than Carmy does. (Marcus's wonderment at Carmy's creations approaches it, as does Sydney's experience, but only Marcus is driven to create in the same way that Carmy is, so far as we've seen.) So: the Faks talking about haunting is the key to the episode, IMHO, rather than two minutes that you guys think the episode would have been better without. Obviously your commentary was food for thought, so thank you for that!
Ice chips is 100% Emmy bait . At the same time , the people who completely dismiss it simply don’t know enough mother/ daughter combos . I wish the episode showcased the panic at the restaurant without sugar being there . If it was half hospital/ half restaurant I think it’d be better