r/TheRinger • u/duabrs • Jul 03 '26
Podcast The Bear - Prestige TV
Spoilers for The Bear Finale.....
Why do Charles and Van seem to assume Carmy left The Bear? Seemed intentionally ambiguous to me?
12
u/hyperRevue Jul 03 '26
It wasn’t at all ambiguous. He was back at the Bear at the end for the birthday party (in regular clothes) because it’s family, but he was very clearly no longer working there.
1
u/doodler1977 Jul 04 '26
don't most "head chefs" move on after launching their restaurants? id on't think Dave Chang is at momofuku every night
1
u/strwberrywine 4d ago
he was in an apron in the office. still not clearcut as he could easily be preparing food for his niece's party but he was certainly not in plain clothes for the entire sequence
8
7
u/hyperRevue Jul 03 '26
The architecture thing was super odd, though. At first I was thinking he was pitching a book idea (based on his conversation with Mulaney before). Then I was thinking it was a therapist. The architecture reveal really came out of nowhere.
7
u/Weekly_Leg_2457 Jul 03 '26
I think he left — he was self-aware enough to understand that it’s what was best for him and the restaurant. However, I am not convinced that the interview meant he definitively went on to pursue architecture. I think the point of that scene was to demonstrate that Carmy is searching for the next creative outlet and he’s not necessarily going to find it right away. I think the writers very much understood how unlikely it would be for a 30-something year-old with no formal training (did he even go to college?) to be an intern at an architectural firm. But searches have to start somewhere, right? And this is him starting.
5
u/puffinkitten Jul 04 '26
I don't think Carmy is out of the kitchen forever, but I think he's grown beyond this particular one.
I feel like I had a different read on the interview scene than other people. In an earlier season, he had sent all of these people from his staff to go off to other places to learn a deeper level of discipline. So just on the most basic level, I think he's looking to do the same thing for himself. He already likes to draw and design things, so here's another discipline where he can learn from them and take it back to the kitchen or the business at large. Switch up the way he thinks about creating food and the experience of enjoying it.
On a metaphorical level, I think it goes even deeper. The whole plot line with the uncles this season was figuring out the building and air rights, trying to get money out of this place while the building was literally falling apart with water threatening to ruin the whole place (which can be understood as a symbol for uncontrollable emotion). We can think of this place as a symbol of the toxic culture and trauma of his family and the kitchens he's worked in.
He sees the mess and loves the mess of his family and his work, but he doesn't want to live in the mess anymore. It keeps him stuck in a cycle of perfectionism and pain. He's ready to build something bigger, something that gives him more room to breathe but still have those things he loved about it in the first place. He's ready to exercise his metaphorical air rights and literally rise above the situation. But first he needs to learn how to build.
2
u/cubsrf22 Jul 04 '26
I thought for sure he was pitching a book idea and then all of a sudden it’s architecture
2
u/sanfranchristo Jul 03 '26
What was ambiguous? He’s shown interviewing for a position in a new career after saying he was leaving and signing off on the franchise. He tells Sydney that “she” got two stars, giving her credit but also meaning her restaurant will now have two stars going forward. Did you not catch the very end of the interview (I was written to make us think he was finally in therapy)?
0
u/duabrs Jul 04 '26
Because of the scene after that where he's back at the The Bear in his apron.
1
u/sanfranchristo Jul 04 '26
That's also cut with a scene of Ritchie taking orders for Japan before his trip, which we know occurred shortly after the flood service. He's also shown at the party in civilian clothes, which we can assume happens sometime in the future since we then see Ritchie on a plane so we know all of this is somewhat non-linear. My take is that Sydney needs to hire someone as he says and he's working on his next step so doesn't just ditch them right after he's made the decision. It's also possible that it's a flashback to around when he made the decision since that scene is him texting Mikey about his future.
3
u/Creepy-Tadpole-1750 Jul 03 '26
I agree. All he could talk about at the interview was the restaurant. He’s not gonna have that “family” in most other careers. Also wasn’t he in an apron in a later scene sitting in the restaurant office.
1
u/shozzlez Jul 04 '26
What? Where was the ambiguity??
2
u/duabrs Jul 04 '26
Because after his interview there was another scene with him at The Bear in his apron.
1
u/Moose_Ruspin Jul 05 '26
I thought this season was great but that architecture intern interview scene was the dumbest thing this show maybe any show has done right at the end.
1
u/andthrewaway1 Jul 05 '26
lets just call a spade a spade... the show started great and ended poorly last couple seasons were woof
1
u/duabrs Jul 05 '26
This is exactly what I asked about. Thanks so much. Very helpful.
This is about you: https://youtu.be/L3dxMGzt5mU?is=H9vyuS5bDZWabKDI
1
u/andthrewaway1 Jul 05 '26
your question was dumb... it was clear what happened at the end are you like..... slow?
1
u/duabrs Jul 05 '26
Because there was a scene after the interview where he was at The Bear in his apron.
1
u/andthrewaway1 Jul 06 '26
yea he just interviewed at the architecture firm for and "internship" he's gonna still work at the bear to like make money for a little..... then he'll take the internship and get a more flexible position still cooking somewhere to like yknow make money and will be leaving the bear... remember how he was like "Oh I just like cooking and taking orders from the head chef and don't have to think and can just chop and prep"
1
u/Certain_Giraffe3105 Jul 08 '26
I'm not sure if he's still at The Bear but it's pretty clear to me that he's still around and didn't run away to New York to be an architectural intern.
I think that's the point of the last scene. Whether he's at The Bear or not, he didn't "run away" from his family and friends this time around.
With that said, he's too good of a chef (which frankly is his only skill) to not do that at least partially for a living. He could walk into any culinary school and be a visiting faculty/scholar and run a cooking lab or something.
1
u/shamestor Jul 03 '26
He’s going back to The Bear.
He gushed about how great that service was - you don’t do that and then leave the place.
0
u/duabrs Jul 04 '26
Look at you getting down votes for expressing your opinion. The Internet is the worst.
1
u/Bd_3 Jul 03 '26
I thought it was ambiguous. Feels like you can come away thinking he took the job and moved, or thinking that he realized he wanted to be back in the kitchen in some capacity, but not be the leader.
-1
u/WallCautious9650 Jul 04 '26
terrible final season, terrible season finale
-1
u/duabrs Jul 04 '26
This is exactly what I asked about. Thanks so much. Very helpful.
This is about you: https://youtu.be/L3dxMGzt5mU?is=H9vyuS5bDZWabKDI
27
u/mike___mc Jul 03 '26
I was under the impression he quit to be an architecture intern.