Chaos But Thoughtful

In 5x08, Carmy tells Richie that his being in a relationship an unsafe zone with Claire was a “training exercise” 👀

…and then later in the same ep, he puts his training to use. He and Syd embrace and his back is to the Sun shining down on both of them cos this white boy would not have been able to handle its full force!!!

In 5x08, Carmy tells Richie that his being in a relationship an unsafe zone with Claire was a “training exercise” 👀

…and then later in the same ep, he puts his training to use. He and Syd embrace and his back is to the Sun shining down on both of them cos this white boy would not have been able to handle its full force!!!

I know some folks aren’t into analysing subtext, which is fair enough. But it’s established that The Bear uses subtext and hidden messages to convey meaning. The legerdemain of it all is officially part of the show’s communication. The Bear’s episodes are also fairly short and are not many in number which means every frame, every bit of writing has a purpose (or multiple purposes). There’s not really time for filler (we can argue about the “bad trades” D*sney made - as noted by @freedelusionshere - with excessive Cl@ire and Fak scenes later lol).

You can still watch The Bear without looking at its subtext. It’s been written, shot, costumed and recorded in such a way that it’s perfectly possible to do that and still enjoy the show (a remarkable filmmaking feat imo). But I love deep analysis and am personally wired for it, so all the subtext is very satisfying for me as a viewer.

Expecting subtext is how I approach watching every episode and it’s in questioning why a bit of dialogue has been used or why a shot was set up a certain way etc, that the show’s subtext becomes clearer to me. Others might have different approaches for their watches (if you do, please share! I’m always keen to learn how others approach their analyses!).

So with that context, I reckon 5x08’s flower chat between Richie and The Bear’s florist is actually another juicy, subtextual treasure chest! Because why else would Storer spend precious minutes of the final episode of his show talking about flowers?Let’s get into it, shall we…

Divine light

I wrote here about the code lighting for love used in 5x08. That lighting is directly referenced by Richie and the florist to reinforce its purpose in the episode.

Recall the below scene in 5x08 where Richie and the florist are talking arrangements for The Bear’s dining room. The florist tells Richie that the selling point of delicate baby’s breath flowers’ is their airiness. Richie replies:

Yeah, they let the light pass through them.

Which is exactly what is happening in each of these shots of romantically-linked couples in 5x08:

The light is passing through Jess and Richie, through Nat and Pete, and through Syd and Carmy as they find and see each other anew, through the lens of deep love and care.

I also don’t think it’s a surprise that the show has Richie and the florist talking about baby’s breath to make this point, as these flowers are also meant to symbolise everlasting love. And truly, the selling point of The Bear to its fandom, particularly to Sydcarmies, has been its incredible heart, its ability to show that there is light that resides in all of us and crucially, how deep love allows you to see that light in others (you know...the kind of deep love that allows you to see the "You are considerate. You...You allow yourself to feel things, right? You allow yourself to care. You are a natural leader and teacher. And you're doing all this stuff for every right fucking reason. And- And I get it. This is a great opportunity, right? And its for a lot of fucking money and you can hire whoever the fuck you want, right? But this place, right now, this is starting to gel. It is starting to feel alive, right? And you have seven people in this building who will jump in front of a fucking train for you right now. And I'm gonna do everything I can to set you up for success but any chance of any kind of good in this building, it started when you walked in. And any possibility of it surviving? It’s with you." of it all).

Sigh.

I see you and commend you, writers’ room!

But the subtextual insights from the florist aren’t done yet! She also tells us that baby’s breath are perfect for The Bear/The Bear because,

You don't want a crowded... [...] You don’t want anything taking away from that beautiful food you put here.

On the dialogue's surface, the florist is clearly talking about the floral arrangements not taking away from the food served at The Bear. But subtextually, we, as the audience, have been fed many things in the course of The Bear, including healthy serves of romance, sex and love. And its in relation to these things that the florist gives us more insights; specifically she helps us understand what Chris Storer and the other writers may have been intending for how romance, sex and love are portrayed in this story.

Choosing to depict romantic relationships where the light ultimately shines through the couples, where each person sees - and is seen by - their partner, where they are accepted in their wholeness unconditionally - as beautiful, ugly, messy, joyful and scared as each of them can be - is as close to the divine that many of us will ever come to experience in this life. So why would you crowd that with anything else (like Claire or Francine-shaped subplots, for example)?

It really felt like this subtext was telling us that at least part of the reason why Chris Storer decided to set 7/8 episodes of S5 across one day was cos that framework made it very easy to cut the chaff from the show and focus on the real food: the relationships that the creators and the fandom actually give a fuck about, the most important of which is Sydcarmy.

Explicit Sydcarmy endgame (or lack thereof)

So what does the flower chat have to tell us about that most important relationship? A lot actually.

After discussing baby's breath, Richie goes onto ask the florist about chrysanthemums.

The florist then tells Richie that he can call chrysanthemums "mum" for short. In fact, what she says is,

You can just say "mum".

This is important because "mum" is short form for this type of flower. Its also used to mean "silence" as in "keep mum" or "mum's the word".

If these flowers are being used to subtextually convey meaning to the audience about romance, sex and love, the florist here is telling Chris Storer's director-avatar (as has been theorised by @currymanganese and @thoughtfulchaos773 here and here) to say mum - say nothing.

In fact she even goes so far as to tell him that overt romance of the kind that might be seen when you include two lips (ie. the body parts you need for an onscreen romantic kiss - a kiss that many Sydcarmies were devo didn’t happen in S5) in your show isn't a bad idea. Of course, she spells "two lips" differently to those of us looking at subtext:

You know, the tulips aren't bad either, but the mums...

She then tells Richie, its the mums that hold up:

Mums...And they hold up well too.

Subtextually what this means is that keeping silent - keeping mum - on whether romantic Sydcarmy is endgame is a strategic move by Storer. One - rightly or wrongly - he feels will give this show longevity and allow it to hold up over the years. I can't predict the future but I do know that this show - which uses subtext as part of its communication in the same way it uses lighting, costuming, dialogue and acting - has made it VERY obvious via subtext that Sydcarmy was always intended to be endgame. And so, as @turbulenthandholding has said repeatedly on here, how can this be anything other than what it is?

I should also note that right after the florist-Richie scene, we get a whole sequence of shots of Richie and Jess discussing an engagement at the The Bear, including Richie looking for a wedding box and Carmy seemingly down on one knee offering Syd a ring two Michelin stars as hers and hers alone. @sublimepeachtriumph has written meta about how these scenes have been set up as a proposal from Carmy to Syd here. So more romance, sex and love is undoubtedly on the cards for these two.

carmy has visually etched so many things about sydney into his subconscious.

last season i wrote this post about how carmy's dream is sydney.

last week i wrote this one about how he's actively imprinting memories of her.

the "you look like syd" scene + the "you look nice" scene... are not random. it's an extension of that first meeting + the other dozen times she's walked into a frame he's already wordlessly existing in.

the camera always lingers on his reaction, his expression.

the audience is always a witness to him openly marveling at her.

this is a directorial choice + it's made throughout the bulk of the series so much it becomes a motif.

there is a real narrative + thematic gravitas to the dialogue detail of carmy saying the exact words "it started when you walked in..." the import of which has been seamlessly illustrated by how often he's recalled that very moment within the bones of the story itself.

they weren't just love at first sight. they were incomprehensible at first sight. they were salvation at first sight.

so much of the final season exemplified how sydney is the embodiment of the thing he couldn't see or connect with beneath his trauma, grief + haphazard sense of self.

she was the anchor, she was the connective tissue.

she was the water, to his fire. she was the cool breeze, the calm, the peace. these things were expressly explored via visual symbolism in the narrative.

"i like this..."

he likes being alongside her, he likes assisting her on her mission + dream, which is evident as he speaks in the internship interview.

he likes the moments where he's so outside of himself + his body + all the machinations of existing as this deeply skilled yet complicated chef (person).

when it clicks what her best bite was, we watch his microexpression almost flood with rapturous awe.

immediately the dimensions of this wordless connection is both validated + compounded.

sydney knows about her connection to carmy throughout the length of the series, even if she doesn't verbalize or give credence to it.

she is always very aware of her why, even when it doesn't make sense or falters.

she knows why she's there, why she keeps coming back.

even amongst the pitfalls + agitation.

which is also why there's more emotional distance on her end until the last season + a half.

"you write in the margins." "i appreciate you." "you're supposed to be here!"

but all carmy knows before that revelation is the moment she walked into his life + everything shifted.

he's the legacy, the access, the vehicle. she's the heart, the humanity, the cohesion.

throughout the length of the series they experience the inverse in the other.

in actuality, they found the thing they most hungered for, the thing that was always missing in the lap of the other.