The black glove
OMFG I WAS WRONG ABOUT THE GLOVE!
I thought it was just a coincidence because most chefs wear them but nope, it marks the fateful date where their soulmatism began in NYC because she's an angel sent from above to protect him.
I just figured out when Syd and Carmy almost met
Disclaimer: (I'm probably super late to the party bc this happened long ago and it just clicked for me, so probably someone else has already connected these dots before, congrats! & oops!).
System | 01x01
The ❤️ on a plate moment, AKA: best meal Syd ever had, happened on 2/22/22, the day Mikey died.
And that's when God sent Carmy his Angel: Sydney Adamu.
Carmy was sooooooo far gone after he got the call about Mikey's death that not only he burnt himself to kill the "other pain", but at the same time his escapism in the form of COOKING kicked in full force and HE KEPT COOKING and he poured his bleeding heart down on that dish that ended up on Syd's table, all his pain, all his love and broken heart were being served along with that hamachi and that red sauce and the chip, etc. All the emotions that he internalized during the self inflicted burn, transpired the plate and were sublimated in the act of changing the menu in an act of defiance because he had to be there while his brother was killing himself and in creating that dish (just for her).
The black glove sequence:
1- No glove:
2- Gets the call:
3- Burns himself:
4- Puts on the glove and KEEPS FUCKING GOING:
5- Sydney Adamu enters the chat (but she doesn't have his number YET)
Carmy in that kitchen, cooking in that condition, in that self-destructive way, was punishing himself for not being in Chicago with Michael and having lost him like he did.
He figured he deserved such punishment, so he burnt himself, he got the glove on to cover the burn wound, he kept on working to escape from the grief and the mourning, to not process what was happening, and bled on that plate, he gave it all, and Syd took it and loved it, because she's the Angel God/Mikey sent his way to shut the lion's mouth to protect him, when he needed it the most.
It's important to make the distinction between food, which is a medium to connect with ppl, and cooking, which is a safe place he escapes to, to run away from his problems and not to deal with his pain. Not the same, the former is for others, the latter is for himself, and because of others. One is altruist and generous, which is Syd's approach to cheffing, and the reason why she became one, and the other one is self-centered and a defense mechanism. The former starts when the food is eaten and enjoyed by others, when it makes them happy, and it's a way to connect with them and create a nice moment for them, as Andrea said, that's also Syd's style. Whereas the latter is a way to DISCONNECT FROM OTHERS, to hide in the kitchen and it starts with isolation, as 3x1 showed, it's about the chef, not about the ones who enjoy the food, cooking doesn't require ppl eating the food, serving food in the FOH does. Cooking on the level in the way Carmy does to escape his demons lions, only requires that he tastes the food himself and deems it ready to serve, but it doesn't care about the ppl in the FOB, unless they are Michelin critics. Cooking happens in the BOH, it's an inward motion, so to speak, whereas serving the food so others eat it and it makes them happy, it's outward.
She's his wake up call (second one bc Mikey's death was the 1st one and he didn't turn his life around with that, so the angel came to his aid) She's the Bear he fears.
But they wouldn't meet till he was ready to wake up, and that was 4 months later. When she does turn his life around, he was just making sandwiches before she came along.
But because of Sydney, Carmy started aiming higher because he believes in her more than he ever believed in himself.
So high that he lost his footing and got lost trying to please her and impress her, and now he's trying to find himself away from her because he realized what I said above about using cooking as an escape and also because he doesn’t wanna admit what he feels for her because he feels undeserving of her. (She’s everything he’s never gonna be).
But the fact that Mikey died on 2/22/22 and the versicle 22 is about an angel sent by God to protect the one who was about to be devoured by a beast, and that the numbers 2 and 22 have such a deep meaning connected to the femine energy (Mother of Victory pray for us), etc. has a lot of meaningful implications that point toward the endgame quality to their relationship.
Source: Worldnumerology.com
I was so focused on S2 on, that the things that happened before (including S1 flashbacks were not my priority because I'm thinking forward but the sadist is diabolical and he planted these seeds looooong ago, since Mikey died, that's why Carmy’s story started again when Syd came along). Took me almost 2 years to figure it out but now that IK she's his guardian Angel sent by Mikey/God/Cupid, whatever, WE ARE ON!
There's no way these 2 don't end up together, or aren't endgame.
Why such an important date would be linked to Syd if she wasn't his partner in LIFE AND DEATH, not just in the restaurant?
Fucking Sadist, it was hidden in plain sight since he showed us this:
No more games. This is serious.