Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 5 of “The Bear,” which is currently streaming on Hulu.
“The Bear” returns once again in a race against time in the kitchen. The entire season is set over one day as the restaurant looks to finally earn its long-coveted Michelin star.
But in episode 7, titled “Caramel,” the bears are already booked out on a day when there’s a flash flood, the ceiling falls through, and personal tensions mount in the kitchen. Then, as the clock hits six minutes, we see Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) do something he’s never done before: drop a plate on the floor.
“It’s a heartbreaking moment where you think you might lose everything or Carmie might lose everything, but the truth is, it was a very important moment in Carmie’s growth,” Jeremy Allen White told Variety. “In that moment, it’s the end of the world, but ultimately it allows him to have the confidence to take a step back and accept the help and support that he really wasn’t able to have for all the time we’ve known him.”
After being distracted by a flickering light on the ceiling, Carmy drops the plate of lamb she was carefully preparing. Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) immediately intervenes and reassures Carmy, who declares that she has “ruined everything.” It’s a difficult moment that Carmy must overcome, placing full trust in Sydney as the leader to find the best solution.
While filming that scene, Edebiri recalls thinking, “‘Okay, as much as I have to suppress all the anxiety that I might be feeling because of the reality of the situation, and at the same time want to be there for this person who I know in my mind and heart is in the worst possible situation, I have to get rid of all that and get down to business. ‘But I think the way we have to do this is by being together, and then, in a strange way, both of us have the humility of being confident (discover this idea). We’re both experiencing different versions of ego death.’
This season, Carmy makes her final performance before Sidney takes over as head of the kitchen (though news leaked in an early episode only fueled displeasure among her co-workers). White explains that it makes sense “intellectually” for Carmy to quit her job. “But Carmy has this muscle memory and this ego that has been rewarded and honed over the years.”
Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachluck), who caused a stir in this episode by going behind Sidney’s back and not canceling an order to help with crowd control, enters the kitchen after Carmy drops the lamb. He tells Carmy exactly what she wants to hear. “We got you.”
“One of the things I love about that moment is the danger and fragility of the kitchen and how there’s chaos and just chaos lurking around everything,” Moss-Bachrach says. “And the simple act of dropping a plate, which we all do every day, can cause outright fear.”
Allen said that Sidney stepping in on Carmy’s behalf was “written in from the beginning” of the series, adding, “In a way, these two had entered each other’s lives at this point. Sidney has always seen something in Carmy that she couldn’t really see on her own, and vice versa. This balancing act and power struggle has been going on for a really long time, and it felt honest.”
Throughout the season, Sydney advocates for the kitchen to function without people constantly yelling at each other. As he makes his own strides, Edebiri says it’s important that Sydney is a “different” type of leader. “She has certain expectations for herself, but I don’t think they’re completely unfounded. She can’t be Carmy for a lot of reasons, not just because of the restaurant, but because of her own growth and her own inner journey. Part of her journey this season takes into account the fact that she can’t do the things that Carmy would be able to do in that situation.”
Allen’s mind is on Carmy’s journey beyond the show, but he doesn’t know “what a setback or leaving the kitchen will look like.”
But as someone who has played Carmy for five seasons and won an Emmy along the way, it just makes him happy to see someone like Sidney supporting him in such dire moments.
“I remember seeing Carmy admit this and being honest with herself and feeling relieved that she cared about Carmy,” White said. “That’s why I’m rooting for you!”
