#natalie katinsky

[bmegrl9124]

Still reading through this post here by @gingergofastboatsmojito and had a thought about the first clip from S5 that they posted on it:

What’s CRAZY is the exchange between Natalie and Carmy in the first clip is the EXACT opposite of their exchange in the pilot episode, where Natalie is outside of the restaurant, the back alley bringing Mikey’s jacket, and Carmy is coming from inside the restaurant, standing in the doorway. Natalie tells Carmy that he smells like the place, after they hug, and that she hates seeing him there. Carmy later tells Natalie in the same conversation that he’s “trying to do something here” and that he’s “gonna fix this place.” Natalie’s response, “No one’s asking you to.”

Notably, the lyrics, “searching for a home, searching for a home, via Chicago…” play towards the end of their conversation. Not sure what that means, but this thought about the mirroring of those two scenes just popped in my mind, and it’s interesting how they wrapped up the storyline with Carmy & Natalie in this way.

[sonoranbumblebee]

I can't wait to see Syd's face someday when she's out and about, and a truly unstable-seeming and dangerous-looking white man intervenes in a situation on her behalf and after while he's going so hard for her that she just gives up being surprised and retreats behind him like she would do with Carm and after a minute though she's like "Wait I'm sorry what is happening? Who are you?" "Oh shit sorry yeah I'm your cousin Spooky." "You're my what who?" "Sugar and Bear are my little cousins." "Ohhhhh...Of course! I should have known. Nice to meet you."

[sonoranbumblebee]

I can't find it but someone just wrote on here about how he got her those chef whites, and then the Berzattos did a little prayer together, and then Richie called for her, and Carmy gave command of his family's restaurant and she said his family catchphrase and it was 100 percent a wedding where she walked down the aisle in white.

There's also something about the Ever funeral afterparty at Sydney's apartment where his wife Sydney and his restaurant mother Andrea, who is wearing white BTW, ritually celebrate the merger of those two houses, which Richie announces to everyone the next day.

But anyway just before she breaks down at the Ever afterparty, in her vision of everyone at the Bear, her memories of Richie, Natalie, and Carmy all include images from that day specifically. The last two people she pictures are Sugar and Carmy, and she has two memories each of Sugar and Carmy, and in both she sees them as they were on her first day at the restaurant and then as they were looking at her at "the wedding" before Friends & Family, waiting for her to say Mikey's line.

🥹

[sonoranbumblebee]

Twin Cubs

Nobody asked, but I've decided that for narrative purposes Sugar and Carmy should be considered fraternal twins and in childhood, twin bear cubs.

Bear cubs are most often born as twins and triplets, although singletons and quadruplets are possible. I think Mikey was a singleton outlier, but Natalie and "Baby" should be considered a pair of "de facto" twins.

The timeline I've seen floated is that they were born about two years apart with Natalie arriving about 10 years after Michael, which, yes. But storywise, they look more like each other than anyone else (except sometimes Richie!), they obviously grew up very much in sync, and Carmy is the most attached to Natalie of anyone, whereas everyone else in the family seemed to treat her like inconsequential trash. Don't get me wrong, Mikey looked after her but I don't think he connected with her, or understood her, or took her particularly seriously. It seems like Donna was especially cruel to her. Pop left her wholesale. For that matter, Carmy is often remote to the point of absentia, with even his very favorites, so fat lot of good it does her, but the point is that she is his favorite. It's also worth noting for the zillionth time that Sugar loathed the restaurant and Richie under Mikey's regime, but the more that place became Carmy Berzatto's house, the more she liked being there.

I think Sugar is sometimes credited with being a bonus mom to Carmy but even though there is a slight age gap and she was obviously more mature than him (to this day), but I think Carmy is/was probably more attuned to her than anyone else in the family. His body language and behavior with her at Seven Fishes and elsewise tell us as much. Similarly, Mikey sometimes seems to have been the leading culprit in the anti-Pete campaign. When Mikey was "in charge," Carmy wouldn't give Pete the time of day (he wouldn't hurt him but he wouldn't engage with him either). Once Mikey is gone, left to his own judgment, Carmy very quickly arrives at "I kind of like Pete now."

The conversation between Richie and Carmy in "Goodbye" basically reveals that they were raised together but in two separate families. Families change over time. The Berzatto family that Richie and Mikey were born and raised in was a different one than the Berzatto family that Natalie and Carmen were raised in. Mikey had an imperfect dad who was always unhappy, fought constantly with their mother, and needed a sedative to get through the birth of his second son. Carmy doesn't seem to have had a father at all, except for what parenting the charming but terminally immature Mikey could provide.

So yeah, just concepts to consider: twins, Chicago cubs, unparented children have to figure it all out on their own, and Mikey's stunted ability to change and grow was not just an obstacle to his own survival but the survival and success of the entire family. That doesn't mean we love him any less, but being able to recognize and acknowledge that is, I think, important.

[sonoranbumblebee]

Carmy and Sugar at the wedding

LOL. Sorry my obsession with Carmy and Natalie's mutual love continues, partly because it's exquisite in its own right and partly because the way he intrinsically trusts and protects and seeks out his fraternal twin* Sugar is a clear road map to how he would be with soulmate Sydney if they were ever to legitimately make each other into familymembers.

So Carmy is drawn to the table by Richie's legs. He finds Claire under there, along with what is obviously a Richie family situation, and he wants to get out, but Evie also feels awkward, so she asks him to stay and obviously he can't say no to babygirl. So he sits. Next to Claire.

And then he hears Natalie outside and the same way he shortly thereafter calls to Syd multiple times to come under the table (and thus join the family and/or save him from whatshername by distraction and diffusion) he calls to Sugar. I think she says "Bear, are you hiding? I can hear you." (She hates it when Baby hides.)

Now, maybe he's just trying to keep her from swearing near Evie because she's building up a head of steam and Francie is trailing in her wake, but he calls her name three separate times. "Sug...Sug...Sug...You wanna just come in?" That is his emotional support sister, and Claire is trying to whisper at him, and he would really like a chaperone for this please.

Also note the difference in tone between Claire and Nat addressing Evie:

* "Dancing is so stupid."

* "Are you sad about something else, honey?"

Like maybe that's just an off-hand negative kind of insensitive remark by Claire, or maybe it's part of a pattern of glibness and an intrinsic absence of sincerity that appears in many of her relationships. IDK. But then Claire bounces off of Nat's prompt: "Honey what are you sad about?" And then Evie bullshits and deflects hilariously by bringing up Jonathan, her dog that's been dead for a while now. And then, after Richie debunks the Jonathan attempt to deflect, Richie prompts, "What's really going on?" Carmy backs him with, "Yeah, you can tell us," and looks right at Sugar, because that is another point in the "us" network. He does not look toward Claire. Hmmm...

It's very interesting to consider if Evie's answer was tailored to Claire specifically, or if Natalie was just going down the wrong path entirely with her question.

IDK it's fine Claire is fine nothing matters, but also, I think the triple call for Sugar is a telling little exchange, and I got a distinct "Sugar, help!" vibe from way he was calling for her, which warms my Carmy–Sugar sibling-relationship-loving heart.

*I am perfectly aware and accepting of the canon that they are simply siblings born a couple of years apart but when doing analysis I find it helpful to just treat them as a bonded set, distinct and different from Mikey and Richie in the family.

[sonoranbumblebee]

"I need hands!" The three-season-long story arc parallels between Sugar & Sophie and Carmy & Sydney

Sugar's feelings about Sophie in the context of her family (dysfunction) are often a mirror of Carmy's feelings about Sydney in the context of his dysfunction

* 2x01 - "timing is not great on my side" / "you look a little green" - Carmy is already in love but the prospect is making him not a little queasy, and he because he's so bad at identifying his feelings he's not even sure what is going on

* 2x02 - "As adults we never try new things because it just becomes so easy to keep doing the exact same thing with the same exact people." - and that's how we end up with the Whatshername plot.

* 2x05 - Carmy: "Look, you know what I want to say." Sugar: "I do. You don't have to say it. I'm good." Fak: "I'm saying stuff, and you're thinking about electrical." (This is just a fascinating character moment. He has made strides on this front. He told his mom he loved her at least.)

* 2x08 - Jimmy's advice on having/raising children is also YOLO advice on taking a chance on love: "I'd want them to not be so afraid of things. I'd protect them less. Have more fun. Make more mistakes. Get into more fuckin' trouble."

* 2x10 - Pete wants Natalie to be able to enjoy how "special and cool and great this place is." Nat probably can, actually, appreciate it. Carmy cannot. So cue Donna, who cannot let herself see her children thrive, cannot celebrate her daughter's pregnancy, just cannot bear the idea that she might hurt the beautiful thing. If Donna is Carmy here, the restaurant is Sydney. He is proud of her. He knows she's wonderful and beautiful. And he believes that his presence in her life is, inevitably, a curse waiting to ruin something good. This inability to identify or experience joy is first referenced when Sydney asks him about Michelin stars and resurfaces when she asks him about working at Ever. Except when she asks about Ever there is the slightest glimmer of Carmy understanding that what he and Sydney have together is special. Just a glimmer. But it's like the door opened and at least the light is getting in. But as of "jam on menu at the apartment" and "friends and family" "you self-sabotage and you run away when things are good." And that's what the famous walk-in fridge speech is about, the possibility of a relationship with Sydney. "Maybe I'm not built for this...what like I was going to be in a relationship" etc etc.

* 3x05 - Episode opens with Natalie on her knees praying, presumably seeking blessings on Sophie and Pete. Creepy horror movie tune "Though the hunter in the night Fills your childish heart with fright Fear is only a dream" Richie and Natalie are talking about their nieces (unborn Sophie and Evie) Nat: "I'm thinking about to not let what's in here—how to not let that get to her." Richie: "You thinks it's better if I back off?...I don't want to back off, but everyone's talking about how Frank is the shit. Maybe it's weird if I'm around." "I think it would be weird if you weren't around." "She thinks I'm alone." I think this Richie talk is very much about Carmy, although not explicitly of course. Carmy wonders if he's "messing this up" as he asks Ebra. Is it better if he's not around? Why is Sydney even staying? Because, and Carmy doesn't quite understand this, is because she is acutely aware of his loneliness, and she told him he's not alone. She won't leave him, not unless she has to.

* 3x08 - No comment on "Ice Chips" other than Natalie handled being in pain and having Donna be her mother incredibly well, and that makes it almost even harder to watch. Sugar is a legend.

* 3x09 - Sugar sends her mom a photo of the baby. She's reaching out to her. The same night Carmy tries to take Sydney out on a date. (As Fak said earlier in the season, "I need more courage. To be a great server, you need a lot of courage...[I'm afraid of] me on the inside, I'm like nervous and scared. And like what am I supposed to do with my hands?") He's a nervous and scared but *he is reaching out*. Carmy still doesn't know what to do with his hands around her.

* 4x01 - "I like this." "Just like this." Baby bliss. Together in bed with you bliss. Alone in the restaurant cooking with you bliss, slutting it up with hands on tables. (Touch the person like you touch the tables? Just an idea.)

* 4x02 - "I really want to meet her and it's fucked up that I haven't." Talk about who "deserves" to be happy. Carmy knows Sugar deserves to be happy, but not sure about himself, but it's not just about him, it's about them. Cries, obviously.

* 4x06 - Carmy holding Sophie is the transitional moment. "Can you hold her?" "How do you want me to do that?" "Like you hold something...very precious." "Are you smiling at me? Yeah, that's my face." Through the act of laying hands on his niece, the courage sort of finds him. Carmy and Syd are physically separated in this episode and I think Carm especially feels isolated and left out, but Syd makes a point to not just call him but tell him she loves him, and he says it back.

And then suddenly everything with Sydney is easy except telling her you're leaving and watching her collapse and cry, which he didn't even know was a thing she could even do.

* 4x08 - Syd cuts Shapiro loose and goes home to Carmy, and they have a few hours of "wedded bliss" with their restaurant baby being perfect, just like Sugar and Pete are blissed out lying in bed together with Sophie.

Last but not least, and this is probably not exactly about the Sugar-Sophie parallels, but it does relate to Richie losing daily contact with his family:

In "Goodbye" Sydney very reasonably accuses Carmy of self-sabotaging and running away. But...given that he was ready to step away as early as 4x03, he was absolutely *not* running away. Quite the opposite. He was lingering. He did not want to tell her. He did not want to step away. He did not want to not see her every day in their kitchen. He was clinging to every last day he could get with her, and not only that, he figured out how to not seem miserable. They were in platonic professional "you're the love of my life" "let's prep carrots together for ever" paradise almost all season but especially after "I appreciate you." "Yeah you too."

In the heat of the moment she can't see it, but I hope after she's had a minute to heal she realizes that part of the reason she heard about it from Pete is because Carmy had incredibly mixed feelings about it but thought he had to for the sake of her and the restaurant but he was as reluctant to go as she was to see him leave but "isn't it better than a slow dance to death?"

Oh wait there is a Sophie connection here. You can't stay pregnant forever! If you go past 42 weeks there is increased risk of spontaneous fetal demise. It was time to induce labor and deliver a new era in their relationship.

[sonoranbumblebee]

I just learned the phrase OT3 and I love it.

The big four all love each other down, but just thinking about how the same way Syd has two guys who watch out for her, Carmy and Richie, Carmy has his two girls, Syd and Sugar, who look out for him.

He's also, let's be honest, absolutely a maniac about both of them. We've never seen a healthy, post-Donna Carmy confronted with a threat to Sugar or Sydney but I genuinely believe we've never even seen a fraction of how insane he could be given a real threat to either of them. We've seen tiny glints of it when Carmy thought Sugar was sick (pregnant) or something was wrong with her shoulder or when Shapiro called and we got the Sharpie tapping flushed neck anxiety.

Anyway, the Carmy-centric OT3 came to mind because in the powerhouse double episode that is 2x09 and 2x10, Carmy gets Sydney in a chef coat that has "their" colors that he clearly ordered well in advance. He kind of wants it known that that's his chef (and girl, but shhhhh...)

But in parallel, in 2x10, the same way he noticed that Syd was wearing a stained coat, during the unfolding crisis of Friends & Family, he notices Sugar is slightly damaged ("you're all wet") and she asks if he has extra shirts and she changes and then she's wearing one when she helps out in the kitchen. Basically, he's got both his girls "cloaked" for protection, plus everyone else (Tina, Marcus) wearing the aprons that go with the place.

The poor lunatic is absolutely soul-dying in that freezer but he can't see that they're all there together and that's because of him. They're all quietly inspired by him and they all worship him (even if Sugar and Richie wouldn't admit it under threat of torture) and he gathered them all up and fed and clothed them and they're all safe and happy together in that building.

[sonoranbumblebee]

Sugar's boyfriend (Pete?)