The casting director went BERSERK for this episode. I'm with a lot of people when I say that Jamie Lee Curtis shouldn't have won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere, but she DEFINITELY deserves an Emmy for this.

The whole Sugar "are you okay?" thing is such a brilliant representation of what it means to grow up with a mother (or parent) who is this unpredictable. The child becomes the parent. I'm picturing Natalie as an 8 year old taking care of her mother's emotions - it is absolutely a compulsion: Natalie doesn't even know she's doing it. But if you notice - she's still doing it with Carmy. She wants him to call her, she wants him to tell her what's happening with him ... If you think about it, this is Natalie's most beautiful quality - she is caring, she cares about people - but it is also her trap. Being with a man like Pete is beautiful - Natalie saved herself, she chose so well.- she DOESN'T have to take care of him - Pete is fine - if anything, he "takes care' of her - not like she's weak, but ... he runs interference, he's a barrier, he's sane, and he can also take care of himself. And he loves her for who she is. He never calls her Sugar, if you'll notice - the nickname given her because she screwed up in the kitchen (in a family full of cooks this is a huge insult). So I love that from the very first time we see Natalie, at the back door of the restaurant in episode 1, she is saying "are you okay" "why haven't you called" - and now in this episode we can see where that comes from. This episode filled in a lot of the blanks for me in this story - but in particular it "filled in" Natalie. Everything clicked into place for me about the character (and also why she is so scared of having a baby. In the scene where she tells Carmy - and everyone - she's pregnant, before she breaks the news, she starts off by saying to Carmy that she is scared, and that she wants "it" to be "loving" (meaning" motherhood, family) - so you can imagine why someone like Natalie would be so TERRIFIED of having a family. (You can kind of sense that in the scene here between Richie and Tiffany too - they both agree that whatever they do, they don't want to be like thier own parents.) Natalie is completely traumatized by her mother. As far as I can tell, Natalie - the only girl - is the scapegoat for her mother. Donna prioritizes the boys. She's horrible to all of them but she's particularly contemptuous of Natalie. Donna leaves the table saying "F*** you, Natalie." And the episode ends with that huge closeup of Natalie - in almost a dissociated state - at the dinner table. I always loved Natalie - but this episode made me understand her - and also appreciate how BRAVE she was in breaking that cycle and choosing a kind good man like Pete. absolutely love your reactions to this show - and love the discussions. Thank you both.

This episode shows exactly why each of the Berzatto siblings is the way they are. Sugar tries to manage Donna's emotions while putting herself second, so she's the caretaker. That's why she ended up with Pete; he's mentally and emotionally healthy, so she doesn't have to put herself second to take care of him, instead they have a healthy relationship where they take care of each other. Mikey is the protector, he takes the blows with a smile, that's why he's loud and funny and charismatic, because if all eyes are on him and he's lowering tension and defusing situations, then bad things can't happen. That takes a very heavy toll on someone, because he's putting EVERYONE first and himself last, which explains the drug abuse and eventually shooting himself. Carmy is avoidant. He doesn't deal well with confrontation, so he dissociates, he goes blue screen and ignores what's happening around him; it's why he "ran away" from his family to go work in haute cuisine, it's why he drops things onto Sydney and doesn't really listens to her feedback. It's all in that thousand-yard stare at the end of this episode when he's just staring at the cannoli while all hell breaks loose.

oh god even the thumbnail is already giving me that nervous stomach churning feeling 💀 this episode is honestly a masterpiece and the cast is STACKED!! thanks for the reaction guys!

One of my favorite fun facts about this episode is when Richie is watching the Faks dance, you can clearly see his phone isn’t even recording, he’s just enjoying the moment 😂 Also that scene when Mikey is in full emotional distress mode and then slaps himself out of it does something to my heart every time I watch it. You can tell that he truly loves Carmy and wants to be there for him and help make his dream come true, but he feels broken and ashamed and like he doesn’t deserve it along with him. Mikey and the Berzattos in general are such tragic characters 🥺

I recently rewatched the show and you can hear Mikey telling the Ceres story in the background multiple times, one of the many reasons Lee gives him shit. Was confused about Lee's backstory, apparently he's Donna's on/off boyfriend. Which makes the fork throwing scene make more sense and the vitriol in Mike's voice when he says, "We're in MY father's house." So much contempt for that guy. Which then makes sense in the first episode when Jimmy brings up Lee's name, Carmy and Sugar are all "Fuck that guy."

Excellent thumbnail. Stellar episode. This particular Christmas, I think Mikey was already using. In “Dogs”, Carry mentions that he barely knew his dad.

Richie’s girlfriend is Britta from Community which also has stars Joel McHale

"This sounds like Christmas at my house." Same but add about 20 more people. 😬

Your camera could not handle the stress of a Berzatto family Christmas 😂 Not sure Dad is dead. In the Dogs episode S1E4 Carmey asks Jimmy the last he saw him and Jimmy said about 20 yrs. That leaves it open for him to still be alive if they want to bring him in at some point.

Idk about you guys, but when my Dad or uncles tell a story we've all heard before, guess what we do ? Listen. It's clear that Mikey, despite all his flaws, is sitting at the head of the table, and Lee just doesn't get it.

Poor Natalie, she made a mistake ages ago and it became a nickname that still carries all these years. And Pete's the best, along with the NY cousins. Just a huge, adorable dork. You can see why Natalie and him go well together.

I think the mother is bipolar