Okay, first, let me just say that I know this thread isn't going to be commented on or acknowledged in any way. We Bare Bears is a small fandom, and threads just aren't read and tend to die. The only reason I'm making it is because I have too much to say to fit into a dinky comment. So, if you want to add something, great! If you're not even reading this, I don't blame you. Consider it a rant that you're not obliged to listen to.

So. Big episode, huh? There is a lot to discuss about this thing. Let's take it a step at a time, shall we?

First, Yana. We don't know much about Yana. We know she's Russian, speaks the language fluently (though apparently no one can translate it) and has a snowflake tatoo on her arm. She's also Yuri's long lost daughter. PLOT TWIST.

That last scene with the locket raises a lot more questions then people here tend to ask. How did Yana get there? What happened to her mother? Why were she and Yuri separated? And did the Flaming Gears (the tech company, don't quote me on that) have anything to do with it?

Lots of questions. Some others involving that are, does Ice Bear keep Yana's locket? When does he see her again? Will Yuri be coming back? What about Barry? Will Ice Bear's full past finally come to light?

Let's move on to the tone of the episode. This episode was intense. Maybe not by other standards, but compared to the show's normally light, soothing tone, it's pretty heavy. There's a lot of action and general conflict, which you normally don't see in WBB, and it's actually a little jarring compared to other episodes. Not that I'm complaining, mind you---it just seems really out of place in the show's lineup.

I guess my main concern is how they move forward. After something like this, it'll be difficult to throw Ice Bear into another "light" episode without seeming kinda weird. I'm also wondering what kind of continuity they'll put in the next episode. Judging from the premise, Ice Bear will probably be with his brothers helping Nom Nom, and it remains to be seen how present he'll be in the episode. He might be his usual quirky but emotionless self, or he might be quieter and obviously distracted. It's possible they won't acknowledge it at all, but it would be pretty cool if it's shown that he's somewhat affected---the news from this episode must have been like a bombshell for him. Even if he's Ice Bear, he's not going to walk away completely fine.

Speaking of, let's discuss something else: his brothers. What about Panda and Grizz? Sure, they've been home safe and sound these last two nights, but you saw what Barry was willing to do regarding Yana---what's to say he won't go after Ice Bear's brothers? And if they ever found out what Ice Bear was doing outside their knowledge, how do you think it would rock their world? It might cause a rift between them, one that may or may not be able to be fixed in one episode. It'd definitely be interesting to see how his two worlds collide.

There's another thing I want to discuss about his brothers---they're completely clueless. Maybe not all the time, but when it comes to Ice Bear's other life, they're absolutely oblivious to his doings. This doesn't exactly sound so bad, but you have to take a look at their reactions. In "Icy Nights," Ice Bear comes home with a bag of gears and they don't bat an eye. True, they were sleepy, and it's probably not out of the ordinary for Ice Bear to pull something like that. But something less forgivable is in this episode. At the very beginning, when the power goes out, Barry shows a picture of Yana tied up and gagged, saying that if the person that he wants doesn't come soon, he's going to do something very, very bad. Ice Bear is, of course, horrified, but his brothers don't do anything. THEY JUST THINK IT'S A COMMERCIAL. What kind of commercial could that possibly be?! It isn't advertising anything, and it's clearly a message dealing with a hostage. It drives me nuts just thinking about it. I mean, come on. If something like that happened to you, wouldn't you at least call the cable provider, or even the police? How could they let something as obvious as that be chalked up to a COMMERCIAL?

I mean, honestly.

Okay, now let's talk about Barry. I don't particularly care about him, though he is getting more interesting as time goes on. His issues with his dad are somewhat cliché, but his overall character is proving to be very intriguing to watch. Also, I noticed that he has some similarities to Dave, the obsessive guy from "The Island." Not only do they have the same skin tone and hair color, but they've also been scarred in the exact same eye, by the exact same bear. It's probably just a coincidence, but still...

Now that I've gotten all that out of my system, I'll talk about the actual episode. It was pretty good---can't say I wasn't excited about it. The chemistry between all the characters was pretty good, and I really loved Yana and Ice Bear's flirtations on the elevator Roomba. I actually like Yana as a character, and I can't wait to see more of her in future episodes. That goes double for Barry.

One thing about this episode is that it set up another continuing storyline. I saw "Icy Nights" and loved it, but expected it to end the story there. Instead, it continues onward here, and promises to keep going forward. This is interesting, since it's technically the second continuing storyline in the show---the first being the bears' origins, if you can count that as a continuing storyline. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

One last thing. What exactly is Ice Bear's timeline? As far as I can tell, he's been with his brothers since he was a cub, and apart from the brief time before that, he hasn't been separated from them since. I doubt Yana met him when he was a cub, but if he didn't, then where'd he find the free time to go adventuring with her? He's lived with his brothers all his adult life, yet they both mention saving each other's lives in various locations around the world, such as Tokyo and Mumbai. How does he move around like that? And how exactly did he meet this woman? Is it a coincidence she set up shop in the same area as he ended up in? An origin story would be nice!

Okay, I'm out of steam. Believe it or not, my finger's starting to hurt from tapping so much. So I'm going to stop here and wait for people who aren't going to respond. Out of habit, however, I must ask---does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

Okay, ciao!