Moodyeucalyptus

I was rewatching 3x07 Legacy and noticed the below photos of dishes at The Bear taped to the wall in Natalie's office:

Given how authoritarian Carmy was about The Bear's dishes in season 3, this post is working on the assumption that the dishes in the pics above were created by Carmy.

Its telling to me that Carmy's halibut dish at The Bear (above left) looks a lot like Chef David's bastardisation of Carmy's zucchini, blood orange and hamachi dish from Empire (below left) and Carmy's hiramasa dish at The Bear (above right) looks like Carmy's blood orange and hamachi dish from Empire (below right) - representative of his heart, his love, his inspiration - if it had soured:

Recreating Chef David's dish using a bottom-feeder like halibut that devours anything it can and is served with a "dusty" foam (the tartare espuma) which we know from ep 3x05 is dated (recall Syd's sarcastic observation: "its cool...its like 2014 or something") would have been poetic for Carmy. But is giving his abuser that much oxygen, so much so that David is taking up menu space while Carmy sidelines his true collaborator - Sydney - worth it?

Hiramasa and hamachi are both from the yellowtail/amberjack family so Carmy's hiramasa dish uses a very similar fish to what was in The Best Meal That Sydney Ever Had™. Both dishes also use a citrus as the base of their sauce: lime in the leche de tigre of the hiramasa dish and blood orange in the hamachi dish. The hiramasa dish also features charred fennel which, in the context of this show, almost feels like a nod to Chef David and his scorched earth approach to leadership. Visually, The Bear's hiramasa dish features green in its garnish and sauce which is a stark contrast to the crimson in the garnish and sauce of the Empire hamachi dish. Its this colouring and the nod to Chef David that make me feel like Carmy's hiramasa dish at The Bear represents what has happened to his heart and his relationships over the course of season 3: a souring, or poisoning.

Note: the colour green has historically been associated with poison ever since the use of toxic green pigments in the 1700s such as Scheele's green and Paris green.

The hiramasa dish also features two beetroots (labelled "reet beets" in the above picture). Beetroot has long been associated with love due to its red colour and its shape which is similar in size to a heart. In Carmy's hiramasa dish, the beetroots have been cut in half and are sitting in that sour, "poisoned" sauce. If this isn't a visual metaphor for the state of the two hearts associated with the blood orange hamachi dish (Carmy’s as the dish’s creator and Sydney’s as its only consumer), I don't know what is.

3x07 was titled "Legacy" but does Carmy really want his legacy to be an authoritarian kitchen that produces diss tracks and odes to heartbreak for meals? Does he want his legacy to be one that features collaboration, but with his abuser Chef David, who appeared to be living rent free in Carmy's head throughout season 3?

Season 3 featured heavy references to the horror film genre (see, for example, fantastic meta on this here: @espumado's meta on The Night of the Hunter; @thoughtfulchaos773's meta and the reblogs on the horror genre in season 3; @thoughtfulchaos773's meta on the influence of The Exorcist's director, William Friedkin (whom Richie and Natalie talk about in 3x05 Children)). And while Mikey clearly haunts The Bear's narrative, so too does Chef David (as well as Carmy's mother, Donna). If The Bear season 3 is a horror film, Chef David is the demon squatting in Carmy's soul.

But in 3x10, Carmy confronts that devil and makes it clear to his abuser, to us and to himself, the harms he was subjected to while working at Empire.

In doing so, it appears that Carmy purges himself of that poison. He even utters the words "get out" after David leaves, willing his body to rid itself of that demon.

And the next time we see him, Carmy looks infinitely lighter and at peace, talking to Chef Terry. He even incorporates Sydney's gentle advice in 3x05 Children to take stock and reflect on how special his time at Ever was.

(In Children) "Egocentrism is the belief that everything that is happening to us is happening because of us."- Dr Nicole LePera

I was re-watching Worms (I love this episode so much, it's the spiritual opposite of Fishes). And I noticed something: the specific sequence when we have a close-up of the stuck/broken clock in Chantel's kitchen.

Significantly, this close-up is preceded by Syd deciding what to cook, and then followed by a shot of TJ, to represent a younger Sydney, or a struggle that young Sydney had to go through on her own, something that she is stuck in (like the clock), something that Sydney keeps repeating.

Sydney is going through something similar to TJ. Syd is trying to decide whether to stay (have a sleepover) at the Bear, as she explains to TJ later in the scene: "There is a bed for me there." There is also an element of feeling of belonging or not to a group. To have to earn belonging to a place ("pay your dues"? Cramen?).

But the kick of the issue comes when TJ asks, "You said it's not your house, so what if they don't let you fix it?"

So why does Syd want to fix the Bear so much? What does that mean to her psychologically?

One line that surprised me in Goodbye (along with many others) is when Sydney implied that she also became a cook to escape from something:

When Carmen was talking to Michael about the restaurant, he said "We could be happy" because they weren't happy in their family home, so Sydney's equivalent of that (why she wanted to open a restaurant) is: "everything could make sense, everything would be good".

One thing I especially liked about Syd’s sleep over analogy was how she framed it around being accepted by someone else’s family & how they made a place for her within it. What a revealing window into how Syd feels. Especially with the tension that exists between her & Carmy. Even her young cousin clocked it was at least - complicated - from just Syd’s awkward description.

You know how weirdly judgmental Richie & Tiff were when Carmy made her the homemade Sprite in Fishes? Neither were moved by his act of kindness. They thought it was weird & kind of spooky he could replicate the soda so closely. I remember thinking they were assholes because of it.

When Syd is pregnant with their first, they’re at a big Adamu family gathering. When she starts to feel queasy, Carmy whips up that homemade Sprite for her and all her aunties, (who he’s met, but are still getting to know him), and especially her dad, are so impressed, it’s the behind the scenes buzz of the party for a bit. The aunties, (and some little girl cousins), all gather round Syd, while Emmanuel drags Carmy away to ask him to show how he made it. All the aunties/cousins get sips & buzz to Syd that she really found a good one with that lil white boy. And Syd just nods fondly & says, “He’s the best.”

Crying by TV on the Radio, 2008

And Mary and David smoke dung in the trenches

While Zion's behaviour never gets mentioned

The writing's on your wall

Blood on the cradle

And the ashes you wade through

Got you callin' God's name in vain

“Dictatorships are ramifications of the ignorant and misguided few , which are then imposed upon and suffered, by the many!” ― -Daryavesh Rothmensch

This post is a bit all over the shop so apologies in advance. I'm increasingly having conflicting feelings over the amount of time I'm willing to spend on Bear brainrot, given the state of the world. I also woke up thinking about ciphers and keys and had to write something down. We contain multitudes.

Subtext

If you follow the analysis of The Bear put out on this platform, you'd know that a lot of it is dependent on folks breaking down a whole lot of subtext. But what is subtext?

From Merriam-Webster:

A literary text often has more than one meaning: the literal meaning of the words on the page, and their hidden meaning, what exists "between the lines"—the subtext. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, for example, is about the Salem witchcraft trials of the 17th century, but its subtext is the comparison of those trials with the "witch hunts" of the 1950s, when many people were unfairly accused of being communists. 

The Bear has heaps of subtext to parse through and for me, watching it is like a puzzle within a puzzle within a puzzle. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea but this stuff is my catnip. Its truly some of the most remarkable and rich storytelling I've ever come across on television.

Also: analysing The Bear has become a bit of joyous escapism for me in the current global, geopolitical context. Figuring out this puzzle of a show about community and love has been nourishing when the "civilised" West has deemed that its alright that millions of people - the majority of whom are babies and children - be subjected to horrendous genocidal violence and now, slowly starve to death because they are brown, Black and majority Muslim. Like I said here though, watching The Bear is not my resistance and nor should it be yours. I'm not going to pretend that in a time where children are being sniped in the head by an apartheid state, that my joy in watching a tv show is radical. Its not. Its a means of keeping me sane so that I can go and do resistance work elsewhere.

But I digress. Back to my dose of escapism.

The Bear conveys subtext through many means including:

script

colour theory

direction

acting

props

costume

hair and makeup

probably a whole lot of other shit that the film students and folks with industry experience have more insight on!

If you want some juicy subtextual analysis, you can't go past the #sydcarmy tag. Some of my fav writers who get/got into subtext are: @thoughtfulchaos773, @freedelusionshere, @fairestbeard, @currymanganese, @moodyeucalyptus, @mitocamdria, @bioloyg, @outmakingmoonshine, @brokenwinebox, @turbulenthandholding, @devisrina, @sydneys-adamu, @vacationship, @yangsharperavery, @ambeauty, @angelica4equity, @unlikelyjapan, @gongziyus, @yannaryartside, @marianasue20. I'm sure I've missed a bunch so apologies if I have.

Ciphers and keys

The Bear also uses the concept of a "cipher" in its scripts to help mask and reveal subtext. According to Merriam-Webster, a cipher is

a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning; a message in code.

Ciphers can be deciphered by use of a key: a tool to decode the message. In the case of The Bear, I wanted to highlight the below keys which can assist in subtextual analysis of the show:

"She" = Sydney

The most recent and revelatory key for me was the one found by @mitocamdria in their fantastic meta here. This key delivered to us in 4x10 is meant to unlock the "under the table" conversation in 2x09 (and probably other instances I can't think of right now):

Carmy: She...She was just saying this thing about how [...]

Richie: Stop. Who is she?

Sydney: Me, I'm she. [...]

So that when Syd and Carmy have the below conversation in 2x09...

Sydney: I'm sure she's great.

Carmy: She is. She is. She's great.

Sydney: Yeah?

Carmy: Yeah. She's so great it scares the shit outta me.

...we know that the "she" Carmy is referring to is actually Sydney and not Dr Malpractice.

The Faks are Liars

Most folks who watch this show and have an ounce of media literacy would pick up that the Faks are fucked and are not to be trusted. But in case you took them as comic relief and nothing else, 4x05 gives us the below key about their role in The Bear:

Neil: Can we hold her? [where "we" = Neil and Ted Fak, and "her" = Nat's baby Sophie]

Nat: No, sweethearts.

Ted: Sug said I could hold it too. [where Ted is referring to a baby as an "it" - he is truly a lechy fuck]

Neil: She said we could hold her.

Richie: That's a lie

The Faks: Its not a lie.

Richie: That's a fucking lie.

Ted: It's not. Faks don't lie.

In 4x05 its made very plain that the Faks do, in fact, lie. They are liars. This has ramifications for many of their scenes, particularly where they insert themselves as advisors to Carmy and/or Claire. Like Neil telling Claire that Carmy likes her more than he likes himself in 3x09:

This lie gets refuted for us in 4x10 when Carmy tells us that its Sydney that he believes in more than he's ever believed in himself:

Fire = Arrogance, Bravado, (brittle/fragile) Confidence

This key comes to us from 2x07 Forks and the conversation between Chef Terry and Richie:

Chef Terry: I tried to open a giant place years ago. I had all these accolades. I was younger, I was on fire. I was arrogant, and, uh, I tried to move too fast. I couldn't keep the place open and the market crashed and I got killed.

Fire has come to be interpreted a few different ways on this show but in my view, this bit of dialogue from Chef Terry provides the most clarity in explaining its use in other contexts including:

In 2x05 Pop when Claire bizarrely says:

Mikey was cool. Like, he would set something on fire.

If "fire" in The Bear represents arrogance, bravado and brittle/fragile confidence, then Claire's description of Mikey as so cool he'd set something on fire makes sense. Carmy describes his brother as loud and magnetic in 1x08, which we see in action as Mikey recounts his Ceres story in 1x06. We also witness Mikey's bravado and brittle/fragile confidence on full display in 2x06 and at the start of 4x01. Claire's comment in 2x05 is even more prescient given that we find out from Richie in 2x01 that Mikey did, in fact, try to set something on fire: his entire restaurant.

Carmy also repeatedly alludes to fire in the show including in 1x05 Sheridan when he tells Marcus that he started a fryer fire after being awarded Best New Chef and had thought about letting the restaurant he worked at burn down so that his anxiety would disappear. While I can empathise with Carmy's mental anguish the idea of burning down an entire business on which many folks depend for their livelihood, where that fire could also risk harm to neighbours and others nearby, just so that your anxiety might be lessened...is plainly arrogant. This applies to both Mikey and Carmy and their "solutions" for their respective dilemmas.

Chef Terry's key also helps explain part of the Claire/Carmy fight in 4x03:

Claire: Why was the way you felt around me hard?

[...]

Carmy: It made me feel like I was on fire.

Claire: That's awful.

Carmy: No, no, it was the best.

If we watch the Claire/Carmy fight in 4x03 through the lens of Chef Terry's use of "fire", then we can see that the "best" feeling Carmy had when he was with Claire was a feeling of confidence (no matter how fragile or brittle that confidence was), having bravado, feeling like he had something to be arrogant about. In short, Carmy got to feel like Mikey, which felt good - felt like it was the best (given what white men are socialised and racialised to believe is the best) - in the short term. But as Chef Terry notes in her dialogue in 2x07, and as Mikey's character arc shows us: being on fire also means moving too fast, having everything crash around you and ultimately, getting killed.

Finally, Chef Terry's key from 2x07 also applies to Carmy using fire to not think about his brother's death which he tells Claire about in 4x07:

When, uh, Sugar called me about Michael, I was working. I was on the line. And, uh, I didn't want to think about it, so I put my hand on the burner. It wasn't a hot pot.

While there has been interpretation of Carmy's use of fire in this context as a means of numbing, I don't think thats what this is. Carmy wasn't deadening his reaction to Mikey's passing, he was diverting it to another form of pain. As Carmy tells us later in 4x10, he was putting something else in the way (the pain of a burn) so that he didn't have to deal with another real thing (the pain of his brother's death). This may sound cruel of me but it takes a spectacular type of arrogance, bravado and lack of self-awareness to believe that you can stem grief in this way: to believe that setting yourself on literal fire will make you the master of your emotions. By the end of 4x10, Carmy has come to realise this too, which is why he makes the decision to walk away from his role as EC of The Bear.

Keeper of the keys

I'd also like to point out here that Richie is integral to delivering each of the above keys to the audience. Its Richie who asks Carmy "who is she?" Its Richie who tells us that the Faks lie, and its Richie whose conversation with Chef Terry reveals what "fire" means on this show. This is consistent with his role as director/showrunner Chris Storer's author-avatar which was a theory put forward by @currymanganese and documented at length by @thoughtfulchaos773. I'm sure there are other keys he's associated with as well.

Have you come across any other keys in this show? Did they involve Richie? I'd be keen to hear about them so please reply, comment or tag me on your posts!

To me, there are 2 things I’ve taken away from Fire & the Faks!

The only person- his wife who could tell him to see his mom. If Sydney wasn't there he'd find another excuse.

Also soooo diabolical that right after Carmy tells Sydney he's trying to make room for seeing and being around his mother so he can move on. Although he shut Lee Down right before his 'trying' to make room to deal with other things. Which isn't exactly the case because it cuts to Claire coming out from under the table.

Just a little fun episode guide, mostly for me and my Richie collection to see how Richie serves as both actor and director in season 4, and what it means for The Bear- both the restaurant and the show.

Richie Shifts Roles

In Season 4, Richie shifts roles. He's no longer just the surrogate director to himself and Carmy's emotional arc — this season, he's the actor, stepping into environments Carmy once faced. But Richie responds with growth, an appreciation for Groundhog Day, a clearer understanding of his role, and confidence in letting go of the past.

Richie Mirrors Carmy — Episode 2

Richie’s actor’s journey begins in Episode 2, where we first see Carmy sitting alone, sulking over his mistakes—Richie asks if it's performative, almost like a director trying to guide an actor into emotional truth.

This is the last time we really see Richie as a surrogate director for a while. But before Richie steps into his own role as an “actor,” he delivers one last, uncanny piece of direction to Carmy:

“Today is tomorrow, cousin.”

He knows Carmy is stuck in groundhog day. Even Carmy, lost in his spiral, seems momentarily shaken out of his thoughts.

Richie is reminding him: you’re not stuck. You don’t have to keep sulking in guilt, shame, or mistakes. You can break the loop.

It’s a line that quietly offers Carmy a way out of his Groundhog Day. And as we learn later in the season, much of the shame Carmy carries stems from not being there for his family at Mikey’s funeral—a silence that haunts him still.

But Richie’s message is simple and grounded: Today is all we have.

Carmy can live stuck in yesterday’s pain and expect to live in that cycle the next day or he can choose to show up for today.

Richie always is keen director. But Richie as the actor, although observant, is stuck in his own story.

The episode continues similarly to Carmy’s 1x02 moment, with the same music playing. Richie, now in Carmy's role, ends the shift in solitude. He watches 3:10 to Yuma and hears the line, “Squeezing the watch won’t stop time” — a mirror of Carmy’s struggle with today and the next day.

Later on his sofa, Richie watches Ridley Scott speak on directing and reflects on the importance of knowing the space. It's meta for Richie knowing and learning later on that the vibe will influence the guest and the bear. And if he can fix the environment, he can keep the restaurant going.

Another meta moment in this episode was Richie rehearsing his prep speech for the cast of The Bear. Sydney provides the advice that his direction or movie is too inteelligent, too lofty. Richie points out its elitist (maybe a referencee to the reviews about the show).

Richie's Evolution Through Environment: The Scallop Episode

In Episode 3 Richie is back as director in this episode. Richie realizes and applies what director Ridley Scott says- that when the atmosphere is right, people perform at their best. The Bear is perfect for a night.

Before service, he sets the tone for the show- as Marcus asks how many of these can we do (my opinion, this is Marcus asking about seasons of the show or restaurant), and Richie gives the right advice of living day by day.

What I love about Scallop is that it's an episode where everyone shines at Service as Richie returns as director. Sydney's scallop is the highlight of the episode, carrying hues and shining for the reviewer. As Jessie says, they’re on pace. The Bear—both the show and the restaurant—embodies what it means to take care of others, to make people happy, and by serving The Beef the bear let's the guest and the viewers guests in on their family.

On the night of the service, the environment has a significant impact on Carmy's performance. Richie creates a space where Carmy isn’t overwhelmed by dysfunction, but instead is engaged, caring for the guests and supporting his family, rather than shouting or pushing. He's calm amongst the pressure and pace, taking care of others, creating memories for the family they're serving, making them happy.

It’s something Carmy once deeply wanted, but now believes he no longer has a spark for.

One of the most beautiful moments for me in Scallop- besides Sydney's gorgeous montage- Richie watching Carmy plate the italian beef— beautifully and with surprise—for a guest. Richie knows Carmy should be thriving here. As Dion’s “Only You Know” plays, Richie watches and gives this little nod as he watches Carmy love what he's doing.

But the lyrics say, “I wanna see something that used to be in your eyes again… you know it’s only a question of when.” I could cry!

Richie sees at that moment, the light in Carmy’s eyes and believes it can exist in The Bear and for Carmy.

But he's still going to step back and let Carmy live his journey.

Episode 5 Replicants: As an actor, Richie is still struggling with attending the wedding, accepting Frank as stepdad, moving on from Tiffany, and coping with the harshness of loneliness.

Richie is still the actor, but the opposite of Carmy. He’s living in the loop, but showing up, he's working, building tentative intimacy with Jessie, and choosing presence.

Richie’s Dual Role in Later Episodes

In Episode 6, Richie shifts back to director, offering a psychological analysis of Carmy by reminding the audience that Carmy has a mother's complex

But at the end of Sophie, Richie sees Carmy in a different emotion

Richie ends the episode with his usual parting, but it holds a different meaning- Happy Thursday is the possibility of Carmy being happy in the family in the restaurant, away from The Groundhog Day Loop.

In Episode 7, Richie is an actor who initially feels nervous about his performance as a supportive ex-husband. Despite his sadness, he takes on the role of director once again for Frank and Eva, who are scheduled to perform at the wedding. Richie also guides Carmy to the kitchen, where Carmy accidentally connects with Lee. By the end of the episode, Richie embraces his role as the "sand" — the director who brings others together.

In Episode 8,. he directs while writing in his notebook. After he writes his director notes, Carmy moves like an actor hitting his mark, turning to Sydney to connect.

Throughout the rest of the episode, he shifts into actor mode as he flirts with Jessie and tries to redirect what happened by saying, “There’s no ‘I love you’ in the workplace.”

Funny- despite being a director, Richie still lacks some self-awareness of the story since he's also acting in it. The surprise that The Bear is a love story reflects this. He seems to be grappling with the ghost of loneliness, which clouds his perspective.

Does he even realize that he is the one who frequently says "I love you" in the workplace?

He'll know soon in love- the story he's directing and what would make the show and restaurant perfect again.

In Episode 9, Richie does not direct until the end because Carmy is absent. When Carmy finally returns, Richie greets him like a director waiting for his lead, asking where he has been and expressing concern about their limited time. Carmy, the actor, communicates to Richie how emotionally "free" or unstuck he feels by talking to his mother.

This is a contrast to the last time Carmy and Richie sat at the table, which was filled with sorrow. But eepisode 9- their very last shift, Carmy the actor experiences an emotional breakthrough and becomes more open.

Although Richie kept his distance while directing Carmy, he couldn't help but show a hint of a smile, proud that Carmy is moving forward.

At least with his mother and at least by the next episode with Richie? Sort of.

In Episode 10, Goodbye, the two actors—Sydney and Carmy—become so emotionally full in their scene that Richie has to disrupt the direction the story is taking. But he has little control over the twist these two actors pull.

The last season casts Richie in a new light: his role will be a partnership in the upcoming season. However, he will also, unwillingly, become the director of the chaos between Sydney and Carmy. As he puts it, he’ll be the ambassador of a St. Paddy’s Day and @turbulenthandholding, @moodyeucalyptus, and I know that any St Paddy's Day in Chicago is like- a shit show.

The last time we heard about St. Paddy's Day being described as a shit show was by Claire.

But he doesn’t realize that being the ambassador of this upcoming shitshow will actually be a good thing. As a holiday is represented by a color that repsents the good and being on time in the bear.

Richie is the sand. The one who connects.

And next season- It’s St. Paddy’s Day and the clock has run out.

I especially love the ep 8 point of Richie saying it’s a workplace, so there are no I love yous - when in fact, there’s already love steeped in the walls of that place. You’re right, Richie has a blind spot too. It also meshes with I think, Carmy assuming if he removes himself from the restaurant, The Bear can be what he tried to persuade Mikey into making with him. A place wrapped in love, care & beauty. Carmy’s not even realizing he’s already a part of the equation for the remaining partners especially, being he’s the reason they’re even there at all. They love him.