The Bear was Too Smart for Its Own Good
Coming to the realization The Bear is not only comedy but a satire, of how everything US bourgeoisie / foodies claim to treasure and want to believe about themselves and their values gets thrown out the window when the information barrage is coming from an accepted direction, is not unlike going through the 5 stages of grief.
Richie's character arc and marvelous "growth."
If you really believe a 45 YO dive cafe cashier and part-time drug dealer with felony assault charges could, at his most benevolent, come to a revelation about acts of service that would be such a game changer that he would help propel a two-star restaurant as maitre'd within months ... or if you caught glimpses of the "real" Richie in his Season 5 morning mirror talk; the big deal he made over the paper clip and handing it off to Natalie to address the staff a la "the smudge;" and how he yanked around the flower sales rep at the end, and believed he actually was smart enough to pull all that off and wind up part owner, you're not in on the joke, you're the butt of it.
Sydney is "the real deal"
If you really believe Sydney went from jobs where she never made it past the prep table to becoming a 2 star chef within months, because she read Coach K, you're the butt of the joke.
In spite of how many characters in The Bear praised Sydney's cooking, in Season 2 alone we are given one example of both Sydney and Carmy spitting out her dish, Syd spitting out another on her own, while Natalie, who never ate at a Michelin starred restaurant in her life, praised Syd's omelet that buried perfectly good eggs under two layers of salty, corporate, industrial-processed food.
Just out of curiosity, when I considered the sodium alone, I googled and got this:
A boursin omelet topped with crushed Ruffles sour cream and onion chips is not a healthy or balanced choice during pregnancy, largely due to high sodium, high saturated fat, and ultra-processed ingredients.
And what does Carmy say?
"You love taking care of people." "I bet that was fire."
Sorry, not sorry. YES, it is funny, but on such a level that is shows how much fans of The Bear want to believe in its sincerity.
Here's another one. This time, asking if lamb ragu on King's Hawaiian rolls is healthy:
No, lamb ragu on King's Hawaiian Rolls is generally not considered a healthy meal choice, as it combines high-fat, heavy meat sauce with ultra-processed, sweet refined bread.
But switch it to pasta, which Sydney was contracted to make:
Yes, lamb ragu on homemade pasta can be a nutritious, wholesome meal, but it is high in calories and saturated fat, so portion size matters.
Last two points: Syd's two greatest hits weren't hers. Her cola-braised ribs were based on her late mother's recipe, and her scallop was a cheaper version of Carmy's hamachi.
All this may seem nit-picky, but there's just too damn much of it throughout 5 seasons, to look at the series as a whole and not see it for the farce it is. If that's not enough, the tail episode makes two crucial references to Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.
And people are still asking if Carmy, the restaurant owner/manager who gave up his inheritance to Syd and Richie, really went on to get an architecture internship.
