We Finally Learn More About Sydney's Family In Season 2 Of The Bear
This post contains spoilers through episode 2 of "The Bear" season 2.
Season 2 of Hulu's hit series "The Bear" is here, and some of our burning questions are finally being answered. Spritely sous chef Sydney has played her cards close to her chest when it comes to her personal life — mostly because her work is her life, or so it would seem. In case you need a refresher before season 2, after cracking under the pressure of a self-run high-end catering business, she starts working at Original Beef as a backup plan. Her ambition has always been at the forefront, but viewers are finally getting a peek behind the curtain of the Sydney circus.
Some huge motivations for Sydney's insatiable drive were revealed in episode 2 of the new season. First of all, she has a bit of tension with her father. Ever since her high-powered aspirations crumbled, he has been wary of her career choices. The way she tells it to Carmy, he doesn't respect her work at such a low-caliber restaurant and wants her to aim higher. But an intimate conversation between them reveals a little more about the situation.
Sydney's dad is concerned about his daughter. He doesn't want her to burn herself out the way she did with her catering business. Working under Carmy was supposed to be a temporary backup plan to help her ease back into the world of cooking, but it has come to demand just as much of her as her business did. With the renovations and franchising eating into her salary and taking up even more of her time, he is concerned that the job that was supposed to be her respite will end up causing her just as much stress as the last one.
Her dad doesn't support the restaurant
The truth is, Sydney cannot seem to give less than 100%. And her current job — an environment where she has supervision from management with experience that cares for her well-being — provides a balance and stability that her self-owned business didn't have. Additionally, serving a humbler clientele provides her with greater satisfaction.
But even though Sydney's career is causing some friction with her father, that's far from the biggest thing the audience learns about her in episode 2. More importantly, we also learn that Sydney's mom has passed away.
Sydney's mother's death serves to bond her to her father, but it also puts additional pressure on Sydney to live up to his expectations. If she fails to get his approval, there is no other parent she can turn to for support. Her mother's death complicates her remaining parental relationship, but it also softens it. Her dad is more sympathetic to her struggle because he knows the trauma she has suffered. More than that, Sydney tethers him to the great love that he lost. It has clearly strengthened their bond because they revel in sharing memories of her.
If Sydney's mother's passing had to do with mental health concerns, it makes even more sense that her father would be on high alert when it comes to their daughter's stress. His concern is disappointing for Sydney, who seeks only support, but it makes sense.
Sydney's mom passed away and she's hiding it from Carmy
In "The Bear," there are no big warning signs before crazy news comes. The music doesn't swell, the lighting doesn't change, and the conversation doesn't take on a new tone. Conversations slip into exposition so seamlessly, you barely realize what's happening until you walk away learning something entirely new about a character. The complexity of each person in the kitchen, like Sydney, unfolds organically.
This thoughtful writing is what initially attracted the actor who plays Sydney, Ayo Edebiri, to the show. After reading the script, the star was delightfully surprised to find that her character felt "like a real person," as she told The New Yorker in a recent interview. Edebiri immediately saw the layers of her character without knowing much of her backstory. Poorly written shows attempt to make their characters feel more real by telling the audience right away about some of the worst things they've been through. "The Bear" manages to imbue its characters with the multiplicity of real people without forcing them to reveal intimate things more quickly than a real person would.
By season 2, it feels like we've known Sydney for so long and have learned so much about her. When such an important fact is revealed all of a sudden, it feels almost like we must have missed it. As a dedicated viewer, even I had to go back and skim through season 1 just to make sure this hadn't been revealed earlier. How could I know Sydney so well without knowing her mom had passed? Sydney seems to want to keep this part of herself under wraps from Carmy, someone she's grown very close to, so it makes sense that the audience would be kept in the dark as well. Just like her co-workers, the viewers are kept at arm's length — until now.