What - or who - do the hair claw, the scrunchie and the prayer card that appear in season 3 represent? I think I know, and no its not Claire or Mikey. Join me for an unhinged trawl through all 3 seasons of The Bear (with screenshots cos you know I love me some evidence).
A few weeks ago, @vacationship posed a fascinating question about the hair claw seen in Carmy's apartment in 3x01 Tomorrow:
This question branched off into many lovely and thought-provoking discussions including this post from @thoughtfulchaos773 about the significance of hair accessories and this post from @moodyeucalyptus on Catholicism and miracles. Both posts refer to another memento that we are shown in Carmy's apartment, a scrunchie, which we see at the end of 3x09 Apologies:
A particular theory that intrigued me was that the hair claw from 3x01 morphed into the scrunchie we see at the end of 3x09, as one of the many sleights of hand/instances of legerdemain in season 3, potentially indicative of a softening of Carmy's self-loathing and/or guilt (contrasting the hardness and teeth of the hair claw with the gentle grip of the scrunchie). I think the assumption behind this theory was that the hair claw was associated with Claire (in fact we see the hair claw in 3x01 sandwiched between scenes of Claire at home looking forlorn in bed and then later at work in the hospital) and the scrunchie being associated with Sydney as she's often seen wearing scrunchies throughout the series.
I was so intrigued by the sleight of hand theory that I went on a very ill-advised search throughout all three seasons to find these hair accessories (ill advised because it took ages and it meant sitting through every Claire scene in this show lol) I did not find either the exact hair claw or scrunchie (womp) but I did find the characters who'd be most likely to wear these items. Notably, Claire never wears a hair claw or a scrunchie throughout the show.
So who does?
Hair claw: Natalie
(Note: Tiffany is seen wearing a hair claw once in 3x09 Apologies but I think this is just a coincidence. There's no reason for Tiffany's hair claw to be in Carmy's apartment so I'm going to disregard this possibility here. If anyone has a reason why I shouldn't though, let me know!)
Scrunchie: Sydney
Now Carmy's personal interior design style is probably best described as...utilitarian? If that? The man has nails in his walls that have nothing hanging on them. He's got storage boxes strewn around his living space. There's the occasional bottle of painkillers and Pepto and a bundle of hanging herbs drying in his kitchen. And of course, his chef's whites and a large pile of culinary texts and cookbooks. Oh yes and denim in his oven. Other than this, we are not shown much of anything in Carmy's apartment that could be said to be overtly personal to him. Which is why the hair claw and scrunchie stand out. We've never seen Carmy wear a hair claw or scrunchie so their presence in his apartment is significant.
Similarly, there's one more memento we are shown in Carmy's apartment that is distinct from the rest of his belongings. This is the prayer card that Carmy pulls out of his suit jacket pocket and places with the scrunchie at the end of 3x09:
In the discourse of the show, this particular prayer card is often associated with Michael, as its presumed that this is the card that was available for mourners to take at his funeral. We also see it during the show edited next to images of Michael or of his last note to Carmy, reinforcing the association.
Note: I've previously misidentified the figure on this prayer card as St John the Apostle (apologies, I saw the lamb and the staff and assumed it was St John! I'm also not a practising Christian - my knowledge of the religion has been obtained entirely passively because...well I live in the West and my history is enmeshed with the history of European Christian colonisation of the majority of the world including the part where my family's historically from. Soz.). The image on this prayer card is actually "Fresco of Jesus as Good Shepherd" by Josef Kastner.
Prayer card: Richie
BUT...after going through the last three seasons again (much easier to do this time around lol), I've come to the conclusion that the prayer card is actually Carmy's memento of Richie, not Michael. This is primarily because prior to 3x09, whenever we are shown this card in the show, it appears either with, near or when someone is talking about Richie. Lets take a look...
So we first see the card in The Beef in 1x01 before shots of Mikey's body in the morgue and of the back of his head as he's cooking: these are memories Carmy is having while Richie is telling a story to The Beef staff and as Carmy finds his prized chef's knife on the floor of the kitchen.
We see the prayer card next in 1x02 Hands during a nightmare that Carmy is having that features a voiceover from Joel McHale's psychotic Chef Fields. Notably, the sequence of images where we see the card is as follows:
The next time we see the prayer card is in 2x01 Beef to the left of Carmy's head on the wall, when Sydney is telling Carmy that Richie does not have an appropriate certification because...he's Richie.
Later in the same episode we see the card again, after Richie tapes up Michael's Fenway poster (that Sydney had previously fallen through):
The prayer card is immediately followed by a shot of Mikey's last note to Carmy:
The next time we see the prayer card is throughout 2x07 Forks, the most Richie-centric episode of the series. This is because we find out that Richie keeps a copy of the card on his bathroom mirror, so he sees it everyday:
Given the above (i.e. the strong physical and visual association between the prayer card and Richie throughout the show), I believe the card represents Richie for Carmy.
So why would Carmy have a prayer card as a memento representing Richie and not an actual personal item of his brother from another mother/"cousin", like it appears he does for Nat and Syd?
I think this is because Carmy’s connection to both Natalie and Sydney is direct. The former is his sister, the latter his soulmate (I'm not arguing re: Sydney, check my metas if you want to fight). It makes sense that the trinkets he has of them would belong directly to them.
But Carmy's connection to Richie is not direct. Richie is cousin to Carmy because he was best friend to Mikey first. Carmy’s relationship to Richie has always been mediated through his relationship with Mikey. In life, Richie would only be in Carmy's orbit because of his proximity to Carmy's brother. In death, Richie and Carmy have been thrown together because of the restaurant that Mikey left to Carmy but where Richie works. As a result of that forced employer/employee relationship, they're also forced to navigate their grief and mourning for Mikey in close proximity. In this context, it makes sense that the memento Carmy has for Richie is emblematic of Mikey, and is also representative of that shared sorrow between the two of them due to Mikey's passing.
So why does Carmy have these mementos in his apartment?
I'm not entirely sure what the answer to this question is, but my hunch is that these mementos represent the three surviving relationships in this show that are the most important to Carmy but that have all been severed to some extent by the end of season 3.
Carmy's nosedive into Michelin Mode, his psychological spiral triggered by grief, his past traumatic work experiences, his family history, his entitlement borne out of his racialisation and socialisation (among other things) all of this has coalesced into Carmy pushing away those closest to him. He's slipping into that pattern of behaviour he described at Al-Anon in 1x08 Braciole where he cut people out of his life. Carmy doesn't recognise this though because physically, these people are around him all the time. He doesn't realise that you can be physically present but emotionally and mentally AWOL. I mean, the man isn't even physically present for his sister after Natalie gives birth to her daughter, Carmy's niece. He has some explaining and making amends to do! And hopefully we see this next season.
Its likely that the framing of the hair claw and the scrunchie on the show (via suggestive editing) has been a sleight of hand/legerdemain: to get us thinking their presence only has to do with Sydcarmy/Claire. And as I've discussed, the prayer card is widely associated with Mikey. I reckon this is also a sleight of hand too, for the reasons I noted above. Storer and co got us focusing on the romance and dead brother tropes while they continue to push the theme of chosen family home. By the end of season 3, the hair claw, scrunchie and prayer card appear as reminders to Carmy (and us) that he needs to fix his relationships with Nat, Syd and Richie, and that the loss of them is haunting him as well.
And so next season, Carmy needs to move through and past this:
And fight like hell for this:
After all, this show is about love in all its forms, but above all, its about the love we fight for, the love we choose.
Alright chef,
Tagging: @vacationship @moodyeucalyptus @currymanganese @thoughtfulchaos773 @brokenwinebox @espumado @tvfantic87 in case you're interested but keen to hear from whomever wants to discuss!
A song breakdown for the characters of Jeremy Allen White, Lionel Boyce, Matty Matheson, and Ricky Staffieri. It will discuss the connections other people and I made for the characters Carmy, Marcus, Neil Fak, and Ted Fak.
↓ long text below
Jeremy Allen White
Jeremy Allen White, who ironically, is about to play Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming Bruce Springsteen film, said that Carmy’s theme song would be “The Ties That Bind.”
The expression 'the tie that binds' is used to describe a common idea or belief that links people together. It can also be used plurally as 'the ties that bind'. For example, you may say: ''We are family, held together by the ties that bind. Nothing will tear us apart. (x)
This is when it gets interesting. The Ties That Bind is an opening song for his fifth album called The River.
The songs on The River reveal a tension between the need for community and the need to be alone. "The Ties That Bind", along with "Two Hearts" and "Out in the Street", is one of the key songs on the album about the need for community. (x)
This feels so incredibly reminiscent on the struggles of Carmy. His driving force to fully isolate himself to those he cares about while probably also feeling like he needs the people he’s pushed away.
This also reminded me of @espumado’s post The Night Of The Hunter & The River which was then talked about by @currymanganese’s post on the potential parallels between two romantic relationships in the The Night Of The Hunter and The Bear.
There’s so many weird horror elements in the show. Which is interesting because in this picture we see a revised 2nd edition of The Exorcist! So how farfetched is it to see those elements on the show. Especially this season!
I mentioned before in my post, “Fourth Wall (being broken)” that the Save It For Later song could be about Carmy being lost and it became a reflection to the season. I can’t help but wonder if Save It For Later could have multiple meanings for each character.
@happylikeasadsong broke down some lyrics of the song and explains what it could do with Sydney’s decision.
Lionel Boyce
Lionel Boyce said Sèrgio Mendes, “Ides Of March.” for his character Marcus’ before realizing that’s probably not the name of the song. It was actually “Waters of March”
Sèrgio Mendes is most known for his song, Mas Que Nada, which translates to whatever and anyway. In this article I read, they call him a bossa nova king and Mendes explains how life is about magical encounters.
This is probably a funny coincidence but I actually know a song named Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones. It was playing on a playlist that’s about songs you’d hear during magic shows. (x) (x) (x)
Although, Ides of March wasn’t the name of the song and I write metas for The Bear (AKA I’m insane), I did research on both to see what I can find!
Ides of March, day in the ancient Roman calendar that falls on March 15 and is associated with misfortune and doom. It became renowned as the date on which Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 bce and was further immortalized in the tragedy Julius Caesar by English dramatist William Shakespeare.
On the topic of William Shakespeare, @currymanganese has a post on The Bear being a super deconstructed Shakespearean pastoral comedy.
It was then corrected to Waters of March. I tried to find the meaning for that particular song by Sérgio Mendes but it all lead to “Water Of March” by Antônio Carlos Jobim.
The inspiration for "Águas de março" came from Rio de Janeiro's rainiest month. March is typically marked by sudden storms with heavy rains and strong winds that cause flooding in many places around the city. The lyrics and the music have a constant downward progression much like the water torrent from those rains flowing in the gutters, which typically would carry sticks, stones, bits of glass, and almost everything and anything. Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote the song during a visit to his family rancho, in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state amid a steady rainstorm which had turned the roads and landscape to mud.
sticks and stones may break my bones, (but words can never hurt me) - said in order to show that people cannot be hurt by unpleasant things that are said to them (x)
When it comes to mud, I was immediately reminded of @whenmemorydies’s post on Claire being clear [as] mud. (Which I’ll go a bit more into depth in another post). I’m also fairly certain @ago0112 talked about it as well!
I talked about the topic of glass in my previous meta, The Glass Table & The Glass Fish Tank, where I found parallels to Claire and Donna. Those comparisons got a little confirmed in the script of (2.02).
I did some research on the scripts about Claire on (2.02) as well.
In the post, there was a bit of a deep dive on the potential meaning of glass/shattered glass and here’s one of them I found a connection to.
Connection between the fragility of glass and the human condition:
Glass can be tough, but it becomes fragile when it faces too much pressure. Similarly, people can be strong, but life's challenges can make us feel a bit delicate. The broken glass helps us see that we all have both strength and vulnerability inside us, teaching us about the balance between being tough and sensitive in our own lives.
When it talked about how broken glass helps us see that we all have both strength and vulnerability inside us, teaching us about the balance between being tough and sensitive in our own lives, I was reminded of this particular thebearfx’s post:
After that, I recalled dialogue that I wrote about in my post on Richie being a fox and a caterpillar. In this scene, Natalie and Richie talk about the soul of the dining room in (3x07).
Richie: [scoffs] “Dining room sounds like shit.”
Natalie: “Like, the acoustics?”
Richie: “No. It’s like, the soul, you know? It’s like--Service sounds like total chaos.”
Natalie: “Every day can’t be perfect.”
Richie: “Every day is like the Super Bowl. I could use a lightning bolt.”
Natalie: “Can’t control the weather.”
In Waters of March, there’s a reference to a fox in a brush.
The oak when it blooms
A fox in the brush
A knot in the wood
The song of a thrush (x)
What’s so fascinating about this particular rabbit hole is about what it all potentially means for Marcus as a character.
The song is about spring in Brazil as an allegory for life: how it continues on despite our best efforts to control it. It reminds us how with the ugly, comes the beautiful. (x)
The ugliness could be about death while the beauty of it is what the love he has for his mother could inspire for Marcus.
The plan of the house, the body in bed, the car that got stuck, it’s the mud, it’s the mud. a float, a drift, a flight, a wing, a hawk, a quail, the promise of spring.
He had become frustrated with the difficulties the rain was causing for the construction of a new boundary wall along his property line. The skies rained from above while chaos reigned below, as plainly stated in the lyrics: “It’s the mud, it’s the mud…” With plenty of time to contemplate the situation, Jobim created a modern parable for daily life. (x)
I’ll certainly talk about all of this in a separate post (whenever that will be) but there’s so many small details that evolve into a beautiful narrative.
The Coca-Cola Jingle
Coca-Cola tapped Antonio Carlos Jobim for the rights to his ‘Águas de Março’, giving new lyrics to ‘The Waters of March’ to make the jingle a worldwide sensation. Jobim even became a celebrity spokesman for Coke in a relationship that lasted for several years. (x)
Coca Cola is one of the most popular soft drinks in the world. In doing my research, I found an article talking about how design elements of the soft drink’s logo clearly portray the idea of energy, fun, and good times.
The recent 2021 hug version logo of the brand was termed as “magical” and “genius” by designers. It ended up being introduced with a new tagline as “real magic.” Apparently, it’s considered magical because you can imagine the bottle even when it is not there.
There’s even a well-known story about the white and red logo being inspired by the brand’s first advertisement that featured Santa Claus wearing his red and white suit with a bottle in his hands. (x)
@vacationship made an analysis on the green and red sauce and the potential importance of its symbolism.
Sydney and Claire have an interesting parallel with coke. I actually found that little connection earlier but didn’t know it had any relevance to this until now.
(Sydney pouring/drinking coke after the scene of the group being at Marcus’ mother’s funeral isn’t a coincidence.)
Matty Matheson
Matty Matheson chose Hakuna Matata for his character Neil Fak. The Bear’s instagram account also talked about how he is a master mocktail maker.
Hakuna matata roughly translates to “there are no troubles” in Swahili. The phrase was popularized in English by the 1994 Disney movie The Lion King, where it's translated as “no worries.” It has a connotation of not worrying about things outside a person's control. The movie popularized the phrase internationally, making it a cultural staple and synonymous with Disney's family-friendly brand.
'Hakuna matata' is Swahili for 'no worries'. As such, it is the perfect catchphrase for Timon and Pumbaa, as it perfectly reflects their relaxed, devil-may-care attitude to life. (x)
@outmakingmoonshine has discussed the possibility that the Faks are the inner voice/imaginary friends for the protagonist (Carmy).
Are they suggesting Pumbaa, Timon, and Simba are Neil Fak, Ted Fak, and Carmy?
The Lion King was released on June 15, 1994, receiving critical acclaim for its music, story, themes, and animation. With an initial worldwide gross of $763 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 1994 and the second-highest-grossing film of all time, behind Jurassic Park (1993).
Timon: Hey, where you going?
Simba: Nowhere.
Timon: Gee. He looks blue.
Pumbaa: I'd say brownish-gold.
Timon: No, no, no, no. I mean he's depressed.
Pumbaa: Oh.
Pumbaa: Kid, what's eatin' ya?
Simba: Who cares? I can't go back.
Timon: Ahh. You're an outcast! That's great; so are we!
Pumbaa: What cha do, kid?
Simba: Something terrible. But I don't wanna talk about it.
Timon: Good. We don't wanna hear about it.
Pumbaa: Come on Timon. Anything we can do?
Simba: Not unless you can change the past.
Simba: Hakuna matata?
Pumbaa: Yeah. It’s our motto!
Simba: What’s a motto?
Timon: Nothin’ what’s a motto with you?! (laughs)
Pumbaa: Hakuna matata: These two words will solve all your problems. (x) (x) (x)
Carmy could have a side of him that feels outcasted by the rest of the group (there was also a group chat he had no idea about) so he conjured up another set of outcasts that promote a motto and philosophy to solve all of his problems.
Neil Fak is the naive/childlike aspects of himself that I suspect Carmy got from his childhood with his mother. I can’t help but wonder if the Faks representing Carmy’s inner voice was only applied to the dumpster scene when I found dialogue about how nice it is in the office before Carmy called Sydney nice after checking her out. Does it only apply when they’re all alone together?
As with many characters in The Lion King, Pumbaa's name derives from the East African language Swahili. In Swahili, pumbaa (v.) means "to be foolish, silly, weakminded, careless, negligent."
Richie and Carmy calls Neil Fak a bitch in (3x02)
Neil Fak: “Nat, the vibe’s weird.”
Carmy: “You’re such a fucking bitch.”
Richie: “You’re such a bitch.”
Natalie: “I know, sweetheart. Don’t be scared.”
Most of these could probably best describe Neil Fak (and even Carmy perhaps) but I wonder about the negligence of his character. Is this about the lack of real tools of his? Another detail that I’m not sure connects here is that Neil Fak mentioned being afraid of boxes to Ted Fak.
Warthogs regularly come into contact with villages and people. When this happens, they usually cause havoc, scampering through a garden or village and making a mess of everything. There is one Pumbaa adjective that is correct. They can be lazy. Rather than digging their own burrows, they will often just use the burrowed home of other animals. (x)
I remember this dialogue vividly, but there was a scene where the Faks asked Donna if they could stay over her house during Christmas.
Neil Fak: “Do you think that we can sleepover—”
Donna: “There’s no sleepovers at Christmas. What the fuck?”
Neil Fak: “No, we can sleepover.”
Donna: “No, you can’t sleepover on Christmas. No. Mm-mmm.”
Neil Fak: “No? No. Big Neil got us skateboards.”
Donna: “You know what? Shut up. Michael!”
Neil Fak: “Michael hid ‘em.”
Donna: “Hey, Michael. Get in here. Mike? The Faks are asking me stupid things—”
(The fact that there’s a Hakuna Matata reference after Hulu is bought by Disney is also not lost on me.)
Timon is a historical Greek name, taken to mean "he who respects." Timon's name may derive from Shakespeare's tragedy Timon of Athens, another Shakespeare reference in a film which derives its plot from Hamlet. The tragedy is based in the history of the real Timon of Athens, a famous misanthrope during the era of the Peloponnesian War, who refused life in Athens to live isolated. Another explanation is that he is named after the Greek philosopher Timon, a disciple of Pyrrho, the founder of the school of skepticism. (x) (x) (x)
I happened to stumble upon another Shakespeare reference. If Timon is meant to be Ted Fak then this is going to be a bit ironic because of what Ted Fak’s theme song is!
Ricky Staffieri
Ricky Staffieri chose Back Then by Mike Jones for the theme song of his character, Ted Fak. Ironically, this song is vulgar in nature with calling woman “hoes” and all.
In the same meta I mentioned earlier, @outmakingmoonshine talked about Ted being sex driven and maybe representative of Carmy’s primal mind.
We also have @thoughtfulchaos773 having a post on the inappropriate double entendre jokes on the show.
I never really listened to the lyrics until about two months ago, but now that I have, they’re pretty amazing. On the surface, it’s a vulgar song about “hoes,” but on a deeper, more philosophical level, it’s an anthem about self-confidence. The overall message in Jones’ song is that the ladies in his life were never really gave him the time of day until he started to make it big. When you really listen to the message of the words – and not necessarily the words themselves – a lot of it is just him spewing the harsh truth. I think it speaks to all of the ugly ducklings out there, or the really shy people who never put themselves out there until they found themselves later on in life. That cute girl in middle school or high school who is now a bombshell? Yeah, she remembers how you treated her. (x)
Claire always told Carmy about their past history when they were young but Carmy seemed to have no recollection of it.
After reading this analysis on its philosophical meaning, I couldn’t help but wonder what it all meant pertaining to Ted Fak. Do we really know anything about Ted Fak’s history in high school besides Carmy? I just got a sudden wave of theories that this is referring to Carmy.
For Ted Fak, maybe this is about being treated poorly in high school. Now, he ended up working for a popular food establishment with very sudden attention from woman which had never happened before.
For Carmy, Ted Fak could be the more anxiety/primitive ridden version of him.
The reason I talk about the anxiety aspect is because some people have the personal experience of saying things they don’t mean when they have anxiety. Ted Fak could be representing the brutal ‘truths’ that Carmy could or don’t really mean.
Anxiety activates people’s fight or flight instinct
When someone has an anxiety disorder, they'll often feel intense fear towards possible threats and dangers. For someone with a social anxiety disorder, this could be crowds or social events, whereas for someone with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), their fear could be focused on a broad range of potential scenarios, such as losing their job, damaging their friendships or getting into accidents. These thoughts cause people to experience symptoms of anxiety such as an increased heartbeat, shortness of breath and nausea. This is because thinking about the possible dangers activates their fight or flight instinct.
Irritability is a symptom of anxiety
When a person is experiencing anxiety, they'll often be more irritable than usual. This is a common symptom of many types of anxiety disorder. (x)
The increased heartbeat caught my attention because Claire noticed his heart was beating fast in a scene before it cuts to Carmy looking at a clock in (3x04).
The other part of the song I absolutely love is: “I ain’t got no time to call her. I’ma stall her like she stalled me, now she trying to call me; (girl) I’ma dog your whole ass like you dogged me.”
I can’t lie. I laughed so hard when I saw this lyric. Like damn, I wonder who exactly this could refer to here? It could be about Kelly but I’ll have to do more digging to figure that out.
I can’t speak for everyone in the world, but I know that I have an elephant-like memory when it comes to people how people treat me – whether it was in middle school, high school, college, or recently. I’m a firm believer in that unless someone gives you a reason to treat them like dirt, you shouldn’t. I know that I don’t pay any mind to people – not just girls – who treated me like crap and are now trying to make like everything is OK. Respect is earned, not given with me; I believe people can change (to a degree), but it will take time for someone to earn my trust and respect, if violated.
This is when we get the depiction of respect and how it’s earned, not given. Does Carmy respect Claire and vise versa?
I didn’t really get the vibe that Claire was a mean person or a bully with the way she spoke about her and Carmy’s history. But what if she scrubbed the ugly parts of it?
It’s making me ponder whether Carmy felt bitter that Claire suddenly had this interest in him because he’s well known as a chef now. It’s even more bizarre because they were both in New York. Mikey told her about Carmy’s chef adventures by the time of Christmas. Why didn’t Claire reach out to him then? Did it really take Mikey passing away for her to make a move?
There was discussion between @devisrina, @thoughtfulchaos773, and I about this. This is when I had the thought that Claire might’ve started talking to Carmy to humor herself and her friends because Carmy was the loner in high school. It was after the scripts came out and we discovered Claire was originally supposed to be blonde like Carmy’s mother. There’s so many questions on whether Claire and Carmy really had a crush on each other.
The Phone Number
I’m at the early stages of what I hope will be a very successful sports reporting career, so some people have reached out for various reasons (advice, recommendation, etc.). I’m happy to try and help the people who treated me well, but I almost want to laugh at the people who treated me like dirt and are now asking for a favor, however small.
Mike Jones may use more colorful language than I would have had I wrote this song, but its underlying message is essentially the Golden Rule laced with profanity: Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
Something that I thought was interesting, was that Mike Jones rapped his phone number into the song. The most obvious parallel to this is that Carmy (purposely?) gave her the wrong number when they reunited by the grocery store fridges.
They see that I'm a star, now they wanna sit in my car
Now they wanna count my cheese, smoke my weed and sip my barre now
They used to love to me diss me, now they rush to hug and kiss me now
They tellin' all they friends when I leave how they miss me now
(281) 000-000
Hit Mike Jones up on the low cause Mike Jones about to blow
Befo' the ice was in my grill, before I got my major deal
These hoes wouldn't give a damn if I was ill, geah (x)
Apparently, ice on grills is a thing in the cooking industry. Graham Elliott revealed in an interview that his trick for making better burgers is pressing an ice cube into the middle of the patty before grilling.
“And if you're worried about the ice cubes making your burgers cold or wet — don't! The ice melts pretty quickly so no one will even know they were there.” <- This just felt reminiscent to my theory on Claire being an illusion. (x) (x)
Chef Graham Elliot Remembers Charlie Trotter
“Famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter died on Tuesday at age 54. Graham Elliot joined Charlie Trotter’s at age 21, and worked in his kitchens for three years.”
It seems important to note that Graham Elliot had three years of experience with Charlie Trotter.
Chef, mentor, trailblazer, philosopher, artist, teacher, leader. These are the words that immediately come to mind when I think of Charlie Trotter, or CHT, as he was referred to by the team. Rarely does one encounter an individual that can both inspire and frighten you with his (almost perverse) dedication to excellence and perfection. I learned his philosophic approach to cooking, and that everything was of equal importance. That you had to be your own toughest critic. That we weren’t in the “food industry” but in the “make it happen” business. To this very day, I try to foster the same ideals in my team: That the food you put on the plate, the way you keep your knives sharp, the way you wipe down your station—all of those represent who you are as a person. (x)
@moodyeucalyptus recently tagged me in their post discussing the documentary about Charlie Trotter and the similarities with Carmy’s asshole boss. I don’t think it’s a coincidence I found this connection.
We know that Carmy was buying very expensive food ingredients/supplies and helped Claire’s mother with moving boxes. (Not to mention, he was literally moving boxes with Claire like he was doing with the Faks.)
As @outmakingmoonshine pointed out, Carmy had a problem with Richie calling Sydney sweetheart in the very first episode but didn’t really seem to care about Claire being called a piece of ass by Ted Fak. The only thing he did was clarify what he meant and that was it.
Is it possible he didn’t really flinch because these were his thoughts about her for a while and has been trying to navigate through his true feelings for her?
What really caught my eye was the smoke my weed part. Funnily enough, in season three, we see Claire and Carmy share a cigarette.
Claire: “Can you just not make this weird? Like, I need a favor. My cousin bailed on me.”
Did he feel a certain way after doing that favor for her? Which would explain why he asked her for a favor too and struggled to explain why he gave her a fake number. Carmy mentioned how he liked her alot at the party. Did he think it wasn’t anything more than what it was, exchanging favors?
Claire: “You know he, uh he told me you guys are really close and he’s your best friend.”
Carmy: “Fak said that?”
Claire: “Mhm.”
Carmy: “No no no. Fak’s not my best friend.”
Claire: “Really?”
Carmy: “No no he is. He’s probably my best friend.”
Claire: “That’s interesting. To sit with. For you.”
I thought Claire saying this was very strange because I couldn’t grasp whether she was saying a lighthearted joke or making fun of him.
Considering the new information thebearfx had given, did Carmy sense that? Especially when Jones talked about how they wouldn’t care if he was ill. It felt so reminiscent to Claire leaving Carmy in the fridge after he said things that were more concerning rather than hurtful.
Maybe Carmy didn’t realize the type of relationship it was until it was too late.
Thank you so much for reading!! This seems so convoluted. I made a good majority of this on August 7th. Feel free to call me insane for this rabbit hole (I’m well aware of how insane I look). There’s alot of information that I just discovered recently besides this meta but I don’t even know how to put it in the proper words. So, bear with me for a bit lmao. Fair warning, the topic of animals, gardens, plants, water, glass, and cigarettes might come back in a good majority of my metas for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to properly explain why later lol.
The Claw, The Scrunchie and The Prayer Card: Part 2 (Timing)
A couple weeks ago, I posted a prediction on the significance of the hair claw, the scrunchie and the prayer card that appear in Carmy's apartment in season 3. In that analysis, I suggested that these items represent three particular characters on the show and Carmy's relationships with them (FYI: the hair claw = Natalie, the scrunchie = Sydney and the prayer card = Richie). We see the scrunchie and the prayer card together at the end of 3x09 Apologies, placed in the same spot in Carmy's apartment. The first and last time we see the hair claw however, is in 3x01 Tomorrow, the first episode of the season.
In their reblog of The Claw, The Scrunchie and The Prayer Card meta, @moodyeucalyptus queried why we didn't see the hair claw with the scrunchie and the prayer card at the end of 3x09. I had my suspicions about this, but it wasn't until recently that I think I've come to a clearer understanding about the separate presentations of these items in season 3 and what the timing of their appearances means, particularly for Carmy's relationship with Nat and with his birth family.
Natalie is haunting Carmy
Or rather, the Berzatto family is haunting Carmy. Let me explain.
We see the hair claw in Carmy's apartment in the first episode of season 3. I think its early appearance in the season is for two reasons:
The first is that the hair claw is a legerdemain, meant to look like a token of Claire's given its appearance in 3x01 in between scenes of Claire at home and at work. I think the purpose of this sleight of hand was to misdirect the viewer's attention to Carmy's love life from the outset and misleadingly establish it as the primary source of his mental anguish this season. As I've noted here, I don't think Claire is the main source of Carmy's anguish.
In fact, it seems pretty clear that Claire herself is a legerdemain: a stand in for Carmy's relationship with The Berzattos. This has been discussed in various places on Tumblr including in this fantastic post by @brokenwinebox contrasting shots of Donna/Donna with Carmy and Claire/Claire with Carmy, as well as in this *chefs kiss* comparison between shots of Claire and the Berzattos done by @currymanganese. I also had a theory where I posited that Claire is a reverse-engineered haunt, maintained by Carmy to keep his brother Mikey in his life, after the latter's death.
We also have this LA Times article in which The Bear's Andrew Wehde (cinematographer) and Joanna Calo (showrunner, executive producer, writer and director) say the following:
All of the above is to say that Claire and her relationship with Carmy seriously appear to be sleights of hand masking the truth of the main source of Carmy's anguish: his birth family.
Which brings us back to the hair claw, which, as I've said here, I believe belongs to Carmy's sister, Natalie Berzatto.
If we are working on the basis that the hair claw belongs to Carmy's sister and not Claire, lets get to the second reason that we see it in 3x01 and not with the scrunchie and prayer card in 3x09.
First, we need to note that Carmy's relationship with the owner of this hair claw - Natalie - is inextricably linked to his relationship with his birth family, the Berzattos. Natalie is his biological sister from that family and she's also the ONLY Berzatto family member that Carmy is seen having any contact with in the present after returning to Chicago to run The Beef in season 1.
Indeed, according to Jamie Lee Curtis, Carmy hasn't seen his mother Donna, the only other surviving member of his immediate family (that we've met on the show) since the events of 2x06 Fishes, approximately 5-6 years ago (given the events in season 3 appear to take place in 2023).
By the time we get to 3x01, Carmy's relationship with the Berzattos (including with Natalie) has had a lifetime of impact on him due, among other things, to an intergenerational history of abuse and trauma. Indeed, right before we see the hair claw in 3x01, we see Carmy staring down at the scar on his hand - a scar that @thoughtfulchaos773 has concluded Carmy got on the day he learned about his brother Mikey's suicide - another visual reminder of Carmy's family and the shadow it casts over his life.
Given the above, I believe the hair claw in the season premiere indicates to us that Carmy is entering season 3 with this familial history playing heavily on his mind. Season 3 also starts on the back of the walk-in fiasco in 2x10 which this reblog thread between myself, @bbythurs and @ambeauty discusses as a representation for Carmy of a broken promise to Sydney and the rest of The Bear crew. In that broken promise, we see an inadvertent repetition by Carmy of the behaviours in his birth family that he hates the most (recall his Al-Anon monologue in 2x03 Sundae where Carmy says his family would fuck up things that gave him amusement and enjoyment, but specifically that they would make promises they weren't able to keep). In this way, season 3 starts with Carmy doing everything he can to undo that broken promise, to undo repeating hurtful familial patterns.
In contrast to the above, Carmy's relationships with Sydney and Richie, while not great at the start of season 3, have not yet reached a boiling point and perhaps are not as front of mind for Carmy. By the time we see the scrunchie and the prayer card at the end of 3x09 however, Syd and Richie's relationships with Carmy have massively deteriorated and are hanging on by a thread. They are definitely occupying his mind by then, explaining why the mementos associated with these two characters are revealed to us at that point in the show.
As always, these are my thoughts and an attempt to apply some logic to a season that, due to its lack of actual dialogue, relies on so much interpretation to muddle our way through. I'm not saying this as a total criticism, because my neurodivergent self loves analysing things like this, but I can see why this season put so many off lol. Its been 1.5 months since I did my first run through of this season and I'm still finding new things I missed during my first watch.
Tagging folks below who might be interested but as always, keen to hear from anyone that wants to chat about this stuff:
My next meta will get into just how The Berzatto family is haunting Carmy in season 3...when I finally get around to finishing it. I'm saying it out loud here to force myself to get it done lol. Stay tuned!
This won’t be an overall long post, but this is technically another segment to my meta on the question about Claire and her strange and seemingly out of place connection to knowing the name of The Bear.
Everything has gotten only weirder because of the confirmation that Claire and Donna were somewhat connected since the first episode of meeting them with the scripts and interview articles.
I personally never found the connection to Donna/Claire straight away until the Fishes episode. Although, in the aftermath of my dissertation, the scripts, and the interviews, I’ve been looking at certain things with a different perspective.
We know that Donna called him Michael after being asked to go to the dinner table by Carmy. I speculated that this Logan persona could actually just be Mikey’s personality because of Carmy’s grief.
What’s generally dark about Claire’s character gets even worse when you think on the theory of Mikey telling Claire about The Bear. I believe I’ve talked about this to some degree but the scale or magnitude of its meaning almost went completely over my head.
Donna literally called Carmy after her eldest son when asked to go to the dinner table. Carmy can’t even be his own person without being compared to Mikey. If it was Mikey’s personality he was emulating for the Logan persona, this means that Carmy felt like he couldn’t be himself at the party and Claire didn’t realize it. She was, instead, entertained by it.
(Not to mention, Neil Fak called Mikey his best friend in the very first episode of the show. Who is Neil Fak’s best friend now?)
If Claire shares attributes with Donna, who has a history (no matter how brief) of not acknowledging Carmy’s care for her as his own, then how much has Claire been projecting Mikey onto Carmy like Donna?
Anyway, here’s a video compilation of Carmy/Mikey being Neil Fak’s best friend and the weird coincidences on my theory about the Logan/Mikey personality that I already talked about in a separate post but decided to do it here in video format:
Credit to @spywhitney for catching Cicero calling Mikey an animal!
Massive Update: I made this post on August 16th. Now, I have to update the things that just clicked for me. @fresaton made a reblog about Natalie, Claire, and Carmy on @whenmemorydies’s original post about the claw, the scrunchie and the prayer card. We’re going to talk about this here since I was going to post this anyway. This feels super speculative on my part but work with me here lol. I’m going to try to connect all the dots to literally all my previous metas about Claire.
The Dinner Table
In the episode where we constantly jump in time, did they potentially skip a scene between Claire and Carmy? He looks at his scar, which is something we know is connected to Mikey, before leaving to go to The Bear. Claire and Carmy also share a scene together about that particular scar before Claire talks about the injured girl.
I have two metas on that scene. The first being about the strange topic of glass between Donna and Claire and the second was about Claire and her weird connection to mold from the scripts which also happened to have a Donna/Claire parallel.
If he did have dinner with Claire, then the reveal of Mikey telling her about The Bear could’ve happened then.
Thinking on the second episode of season three, he mentioned how he wanted them to see what they’re capable of. Sydney immediately asked who those people are.
Sydney: “Why?”
Carmy: “So they can see what we’re capable of.”
Sydney: “Who’s ‘they’?”
In the first part of this meta that’s linked with the title above, I noticed Carmy did the same thing when Carmy and Claire were talking by the grocery store fridges. My previous thoughts will be in italics except the dialogue as always.
Carmy: “No, I don’t think we even…We didn’t even tell anybody what the name was.”
Claire: “You one hundred perfect told me the name.”
Carmy: “How could you remember the name?”
The question that Carmy should have asked is how she even knew it in the first place?
Notice he said he doesn’t think THEY (Carmy and Mikey) told anyone?
Carmy literally said in the s1 finale, he realized he didn’t even know anything about him. Why would Carmy be that confident in a person he admitted to not knowing? Was it disbelief?
Is it possible the “they” that Carmy is referring to could be Chef David, Claire, and Mikey? Especially when you think on what Carmy was thinking of in the season three finale.
What gets even stranger is what I said about the “Let it Rip” reference. I mentioned that Mikey could’ve been referenced in the second episode of season three because of the weird similarities to the season 1 finale panic attack scene before the thoughts of food calmed Carmy down and Sydney getting lost in the food before Tina intercepted it.
I kind of talk about Tina specifically and how she could be the physical mother figure to Marcus and Sydney to prevent them from getting possessed on @moodyeucalyptus’s post as well.
Another question is did Claire reference to something that Carmy knew wasn’t about him in the dinner scene the same way Donna called him Michael before going to the dinner table? I had also mentioned before that it was strange that Claire would just leave Carmy in the fridge without really caring about his health as a doctor. Does this mean she came back like Sydney did? There always seem to be mirroring going on.
(We also have Ted Fak saying that everyone else is good with Claire except Carmy in the Next episode.)
The timeline is very confusing to me. If Claire came back briefly, then they could’ve set up the dinner date potentially. I went to check on Claire’s text messages because it would make sense to see what messages were previously exchanged between them.
@fresaton, you mentioned that the dinner happened on 05-30-23, I personally couldn’t see a date to the texts but I read the messages as much I could and their last exchange (from what we know) is about friends and family. There’s also the fact that I have no clue when this scene exactly happened. This would have to be after the “dinner” scene right?
We see Carmy on the train and walking (fairly similar to how season three ended) while Claire takes off her makeup and cuddles with Kelly. Between that is Sydney apologizing to Marcus on the phone about his mother and Mikey asking about the restaurant idea Carmy has.
All of this to say, if there was a dinner between them then Claire and Carmy probably would’ve had to see each other physically before meeting for dinner.
The Hauntings Of The Berzatto Siblings
Before preparing themselves for the Christmas dinner and Donna, the Berzatto siblings are out sharing a cigarette before going into the chaos.
In previous metas, I’ve discussed how Claire and Carmy’s relationship always goes back to Fishes.
Now after @whenmemorydies and @fresaton’s metas, We’re going to look at the weird connections between them with cigarettes.
In the first installment of this meta, I noticed that Mikey goes outside and Richie notices it. I thought it had alluded to Claire finding out about The Bear because Carmy sees her outside on Christmas night.
I already talked about how Richie is a fox and a caterpillar who potentially slipped the prayer card into Carmy’s pocket like Natalie did with the money. Not to mention, Richie also witnessed the Berzatto siblings smoking outside of the house before going back inside.
Richie: “Yo! Is this some family shit I should know about?” (2x06)
Carmy apologized to Richie and said he loved him before squashing a cigarette. The only time we've seen Carmy actually smoke for season three was on Christmas night where the moment between Carmy and Claire took place and when they share a cigarette together.
In my dissertation about Claire, I also found some interesting dialogue between Richie and Mikey about their morning after story. This was after Mikey came back from being outside.
Mikey: “Things are really starting to spiral out of fucking control.”
Richie: “Oh, we are past the point of no return.”
Mikey: “It’s not good. And now it’s the next morning right? We’re like fucking rocked.”
Richie: “Rocked!”
Mikey: “Like, I look over at him, I’m like, well Jesus fucking Christ, man.”
Richie: “I’m looking at you and I don’t even recognize you at that point.”
Mikey: “It’s like a monster.”
Richie: “Yeah, cause you look like a fucking monster. Couldn’t even tell it was you.”
I had said this could be connected to s3 Carmy before the season aired. Carmy wasn’t very recognizable this season some would argue.
What if Mikey's haunting was The Beef and The Bear? He actively cut Carmy off when Carmy wanted to be apart of the family establishment. It gets even worse when you think on the jealously and resentment for Carmy being able to dream when Mikey couldn’t. Did Mikey tell Claire about The Bear in rebellion like Carmy did with the meal?
Did Carmy find out and that’s why he’s avoiding Mikey’s presence?
He, instead, wants to show what The Bear is capable of by subtracting and pushing. Is Mikey haunting the people around Carmy to get through to him? Mikey is sort of known for subtracting Carmy out of his life but pushes him when he thinks something is good for him.
Claire is also known for her pushing type of personality that caused her to become a very controversial character on the show.
For Natalie’s hauntings, it’s very interesting because we don’t actually see her smoke the cigarette before it jump cuts to Mikey smoking the cigarette. I’d assume Donna and Mikey are a major role in hers.
There was a connection I made to Natalie, Claire, Donna, and Carmy earlier.
Although, I also found parallels between Sydney and Natalie. Donna talks about a dream she had about a fish tank and when she woke up, her water broke (Natalie was born.)
I immediately had the idea that Natalie is a fish like Sydney. It feels speculative but something could be there. One thing I do know for sure though is that we don’t see Natalie or Sydney smoking the cigarette in their hands. It automatically cuts before we witness them smoking at all.
I’ve also talked about the parallel between Sydney, Luca, Claire, and Carmy. They both have best friend dialogue and a cigarette moment it seems.
For Carmy’s hauntings, it could be a whole combination of people and things, honestly. The Beef, The Bear, Chef David, Mikey, Claire, Sydney, Marcus, etc.
I’ve mentioned before that Carmy is the magician and Claire is the illusion but for the sake of my sanity, I’m not talking about that here. This is already getting far longer than I intended.
I had a brief theory about how the cigarettes could be representative of reality and avoidance for season three.
I talked about this with @thoughtfulchaos773 but I just haven’t gotten further into this yet. Although, I now might have a different theory on that. The Faks are involved in this too but I’m focused on The Berzattos at the moment. Maybe I’ll get into them later.
I have like two metas that I’ve been working on that’s a bit similar to this one as well. I just got consumed with this one very quickly.
On the topic of The Faks, @currymanganese has a meta on The Faks being Claire’s henchmen!
I’m also linking @whenmemorydies’s recent meta on Carmy, Natalie, and the Berzattos. I haven’t read it in its entirety but it could be similar to mine!
As always thank you so much for reading!! As I said before, this felt very speculative on my part. Maybe I'll make another meta to elaborate on everything. I hope this all made sense! Notice how I said in the beginning that this won’t be an overall long post? You could definitely tell I wasn’t planning all of this lmao. Oh well!
When walking his child home, they talk about what type of animal they’d be. The first thing that came to mind, was a caterpillar before changing it to a fox.
Richie: “Mmm. Catapult--[stutters] Caterpillar. It was the first thing that popped up into my head. Can I change my answer? I wouldn’t mind being a fox. That sounds like fun. I think they’re so pretty.”
They talk about science and industry briefly before getting interrupted. While rewatching this scene, it reminded me of my metas, Fourth Wall (being broken) & The New Paradigm which were inspired by @thoughtfulchaos773’s post with @tinfishlove and @moodyeucalyptus’s discussion in the reblogs of my post. Within those, it has the topic of paradigm shifts with a diagram illustration.
Eva: “Is it all science?”
Richie: “And industry. It’s more fun than it sounds.”
Paradigm shifts in industry often happen when new technology is introduced that radically alters the production process or manufacturing of a good or service. These shifts are key drivers in many of the processes that a society undergoes, such as the American Industrial Revolution or the information revolution since the 2000s.
In the business world, a paradigm shift is often a change in the perception of how things should be thought about, done, or made. A paradigm shift can require entire departments to be eliminated or created. In some cases, millions or even billions of dollars of new equipment need to be purchased while the old equipment is sold or recycled.
Scientists return to routine. Revolution becomes invisible.
Meta Filmmaking | & Meta Filmmaking || by @thoughtfulchaos773 were great posts that involved the paradigm shift!
After that, I started doing some research on the potential meaning of both caterpillars and foxes and here’s what I found:
Richie The Caterpillar
Caterpillars are a blessing on new ideas. They indicate promising outcomes to projects in their initial stage, and offer good juju in terms of fruitful completion of goals. Because of their dynamic process of metamorphosis, moths and butterflies are symbolic of transformation. By association, the caterpillar is a symbol of evolution and transformation too. Specifically, they convey a unique level of patience as they surrender to the process of transformation. Let’s face it, once a caterpillar begins the process of transforming into a winged beauty…there’s no turning back. In essence, the caterpillar is a symbol of never looking back on the old versions of ourselves. Rather, the caterpillar encourages plowing forward with ever-evolving, more brilliant versions of our beauty and potential.
Specifically, they convey a unique level of patience as they surrender to the process of transformation. Let’s face it, once a caterpillar begins the process of transforming into a winged beauty…there’s no turning back.
I wonder if it’s in reference to Richie’s patience on Carmy’s metamorphosis because without him, it would be next to impossible to progress himself. The fighting that occurred this season was very reminiscent of season one’s fighting.
In terms of character development, it felt like that’s where it lacked this season. When I first initially watched it, I had mentioned before that was due to Carmy being isolated in the walk in of his subconscious.
What if Richie is self aware of this lack of character development with everyone and desperately wants the transformation to happen already? Especially, when you think on catapillars and their patience for change and transformation. What if Richie's patience has been running thin?
@currymanganese has a theory about Richie being Christopher Storer’s avatar and @whenmemorydies have metas on Richie representing the audience & Christopher Storer.
Richie cares so much about the customer/audience, he’s willing to pull back the curtain to show us where the magic happens.
And if one of these theories are right to some extent, he’s aware of the audience and their role. I would also believe he knows their importance which is why he strives to get what the customer desires. Why would he care about Claire, if we, the audience, don’t care about her?
Caterpillars are a blessing on new ideas. They indicate promising outcomes to projects in their initial stage, and offer good juju in terms of fruitful completion of goals.
The old idea was Claire and the past, the new idea could be Sydney, Natalie, and himself for the future a bit based on @whenmemorydies’s meta.
We also have @thoughtfulchaos773’s meta on Richie being the director & observer of Carmy’s love life.
Is this the new project after the first one with Claire had failed? It seemed rather abrupt the way he stopped caring about Claire after it caused an argument with Carmy in the season two finale by the fridge in the first place. What if he rerouted his project into a more quiet role and started doing the work subtly? Which is why he explained the textbook sublimation and calling Carmy out for the behavior he dislikes.
Richie: “Sorry, Syd. It’s just textbook sublimation. Seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times.”
Richie: “Syd, it’s fine. Chef Carmen uses power phrases ‘cause he’s a baby replicant who’s not self-actualized which is maybe why he repeatedly referred to me as a loser.” (3x02)
He’d been pretty adamant on keeping up the good vibes in his “dojo” with him creating his own spin to the nonnegotiables.
He even added joy into it to make it clear as to what he wanted for the guests and maybe even the The Bear itself. With the offering of good juju in terms of fruitful completion of goals, there could be many to list for this one. The “goals” that Sydney mentioned before being corrected by Carmy, the potential project of directing Carmy’s love life, and the outcome/success of the restaurant, there’s plenty I’m not even mentioning!
I think it’s fair to say Richie had always been a fairly unserious person for the most part.
If it weren’t for the Forks episode, the appreciation for high fine-dining probably wouldn’t really exist which was ironically caused by Carmy pushing him to Ever in the first place because of Carmy’s love and belief in him.
He even had the super soaker and the piñata for the customer to which Carmy expressed his displeasure for.
Carmy said he hates surprises, and when Richie and Mikey bombarded him about Claire at Christmas, I’d argue that’s a pretty big surprise that wasn’t received very well. He’s never enjoyed surprises, which could explain how easy it was to cut out the amusement and enjoyments of his life, the real and found family he has at The Bear.
Carmy’s patience had lacked to which Richie gave a lot of to the other characters this season. His patience wasn’t even limited to The Faks. Richie just seems at the breaking point with Carmy.
In essence, the caterpillar is a symbol of never looking back on the old versions of ourselves. Rather, the caterpillar encourages plowing forward with ever-evolving, more brilliant versions of our beauty and potential.
Richie could be tired of watching Carmy going through this constant cycle. Which is why he’s lost his patience with him entirely and has possibly taken it upon himself to do some of the work behind the scenes. He could’ve watched so much of Mikey’s consistent spiral, he doesn’t wish to see it for Carmy. The moment he saw that the relationship for Claire didn’t work, he stopped caring for her entirely.
He took his ring off after Tiffany mentioned to their daughter that he’s alone most likely because he doesn’t want that for himself or even be perceived in that way.
We’ve even seen more meaningful scenes between Natalie and Richie this season. With Sydney, their relationship seemed a lot more closer than the previous seasons. Considering how Sydney had to be the bridge for both Richie and Carmy to communicate, it’s not that much of a shock that was the thing that could’ve made them closest. Not to mention, Richie gave Mikey’s note to Sydney which was sent by Carmy for approval and she suggested to Carmy to call Richie after their massive fight in the season two finale.
(3x02) - Sydney: “Okay, Richie, here’s what we’re gonna do. You got a problem, you got a question, you talk to me.”
Carmy: “Good.”
Sydney: “He does not exist.”
(3x04) - Natalie: “Hey, what is that?”
Richie: “Oh, Uh, Zen garden. Kyoto, Philosopher’s Path.”
Natalie: “Explain”
Richie: “Well, this uh—this director that I admire, he visited this. And when he got there, he was like ‘What is this? A bunch of just rocks and combed sand?’ He didn’t really, you know, know what to make of it, but then, slowly, he began to realize—”
Natalie: “Yeah. That the rocks are people. And we’re all separated.”
Richie: “Fucking yeah. Exactly. And that this garden is, in fact, an illusion of human nature, and how we are, all of us, alone in this world.”
(3x07) - Richie: [scoffs] “Dining room sounds like shit.”
Natalie: “Like, the acoustics?”
Richie: “No. It’s like, the soul, you know? It’s like--Service sounds like total chaos.”
Natalie: “Every day can’t be perfect.”
Richie: “Every day is like the Super Bowl. I could use a lightning bolt.”
Natalie: “Can’t control the weather.”
(3x04) - Richie: “You think, like, it’s better if I, like, back off?”
Natalie: “What do you mean?”
Richie: “Like, I don’t wanna back off, but is it confusing for her? Like, you know how everyone’s talking about how Frank is the shit, and, like…I don’t know. Maybe it’s weird that I’m, like, around.”
Natalie: “No, I think it would be weird if you weren’t around.”
Richie: “Yeah?”
Natalie: “Yeah. What does she think?”
Richie: “Tiff?”
Natalie: “No, Evie.”
Richie: “She thinks I’m alone.”
Natalie: “Are you?”
He's always talked about loneliness in season three. He probably feels Carmy’s isolation, even if it was made by Carmy’s own choices.
How insane would it be that Richie sees it within Carmy and knows that he’s been almost purposefully choosing it, making Richie take matters into his own hands? He could’ve been actively filling in the void that Carmy couldn't unless it was the Faks.
Carmy: “Move, move, move, move.”
Richie: “Oh, my God. Where’s the fucking fire?” (3x03)
Richie is very aware of how fast Carmy has been going. This sudden sense of urgency, for Richie, was seen as Carmy running away from his problems rather than facing them head on. It could also have a double meaning like Richie seeing and feeling the frigidness of Carmy’s personality in this season.
Caterpillars represent significant transformations and personal evolution because of their amazing metamorphosis into butterflies or moths. They serve as a reminder that life is a progression of stages and that, like the caterpillar, we are all capable of change. The caterpillar is a spirit animal that inspires us to embrace change, let go of outdated ideas and routines, and go through a metamorphosis in order to realize our full potential. As caterpillars carefully eat and get ready for their transformation, it represents patience and perseverance in the face of difficulties. (x)
Richie is a reminder to Carmy and the audience how change is a process that requires a lot of work, time, effort, and patience.
Change will always be a bit of an undertaking but I think Richie tries to push him into the direction that he suspects is best for him because of his personal experience with Mikey.
His lack of patience could also be the reflection of the audience. It would be dreadful to watch Carmy slowly change for the better when you’re used to a whole season of growth rather than an entire season of stagnant progression.
(3x02) - Richie: “Pea tendrils, 8:11 a.m. 8:09 a.m., snap peas. 8:15 a.m., I’m trapped in a prison of my own design.”
Carmy: “Ted, do you have to do that right fucking there?”
Ted Fak: “We gotta do this here. Light’s right here, Carm.”
Richie: “Maniac.”
Carmy: “Sorry, Ted.”
Richie: “‘Sorry, Ted’ That’s some real growth. Changing the menu every day. Sounds a bit like running away.”
Carmy has been running away for some time now. Richie most likely noticed how it was never really about the changing menu. This was Carmy’s attempt to substitute the changing of the menu rather than himself and his avoidance.
When it comes to caterpillars associated with promising ventures, we might keep in mind the elements of surprise, disguise and protection. Why? Caterpillars employ several neat tricks to protect them from predators. Various caterpillar colors make predators wary of eating them. Still other colors make the caterpillar blend into its surroundings, essentially making them invisible to hungry predators. Translated symbolically, a caterpillar sighting might imply the need to employ a little secrecy in our plans. Have you ever had a killer idea that you shared with someone…only to find out your confidant took your idea as his own? I know…it’s creepy, but it does happen. As a vessel of creative potential, the caterpillar asks us to keep our endeavors to ourselves until the moment is perfect for the grand reveal. (x)
I don’t think there was ever any doubt for Richie’s love for Carmy. He loves him so much but he probably doesn’t know how to show that without it turning into an argument. Especially considering how much of his patience for Carmy has been spread extremely thin. In result, he shows it quietly, falling into the background in Carmy’s life, like what he was thinking of doing for his daughter, with the other characters but I think he would have a reason and an agenda as to why.
Riche The Fox
Fox, as symbolism in literature, has been used in European and East-Asian cultures and stories for centuries. Foxes are represented as tricksters, sly or cunning animals. In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese folktales, foxes are powerful spirit beings. They are prominent characters in literature, media, films, and even games. The phrase as sly as a fox and outfox are inspired by ‘fox’ and mean that a person is cunning and can beat others in intelligence, respectively. The word ‘fox’ has its roots in the word ‘fuhsaz’ means fox in proto-germanic language, which is derived from the German word ‘Fuchs’; the Old Norse word ‘Foa’ and also the Sanskrit word ‘puccha’ means tail.
Foxes, inherently elusive and cunning creatures, symbolize situations or individuals that might be shrouded in deceit or false appearances. Therefore, when a fox crosses your path, it not only signals the necessity to be cautious, but also examines the people and situations around you with a discerning eye.
Remember, the focus in such situations is not on the fear of potential deception, but on the faith in divine guidance and wisdom. It's a call to elevate your spiritual discernment, to view circumstances beyond mere appearances, and to rely on God's wisdom and direction in navigating treacherous terrains. the seemingly incidental crossing of a fox's path could serve as a biblical reminder of the need for spiritual vigilance and discernment.
Foxes typically represent cleverness, luck, protection, independence, cunning, slyness, dreams, creativity, and wisdom.
At the core of the fox's symbolism lies the essence of cunning. As a master of strategy and wit, the fox exemplifies the power of cleverness in navigating life's obstacles. The spiritual medicine of the fox encourages us to think creatively, to approach challenges with ingenuity, and to find alternative solutions to problems. By embodying the fox's spirit of cunning, we can overcome adversities, outsmart adversity, and turn obstacles into stepping stones towards our goals.
Richie: “Sorry, Syd. It’s just textbook sublimation. Seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times.” (3x02)
Have you ever heard of the saying about magic tricks when you’ve seen already seen a magic trick to “never show someone the same trick twice.” ?
I had the thought process that because Carmy holds all the cards, that would make him the magican. But, I’ve also been contemplating about Richie knowing all of his tricks before and it got a bit confirmed with @thoughtfulchaos773’s great post and @fresaton’s excellent catch in the reblogs.
If Richie has seen and heard it all before to the point where he’s even going as far as calling Carmy out on the things he’s realized about him, then that could mean Richie has been the one to look out for?
We’ve never seen Carmy interact with the hair-claw on the countertop or the scrunchie in his apartment but he’s always interacted with the items in his pockets. That’s his one spot of vulnerability.
I think his tell was always what was in his pockets. The first one was given from Natalie. The second could’ve been Richie.
Foxes, inherently elusive and cunning creatures, symbolize situations or individuals that might be shrouded in deceit or false appearances. Therefore, when a fox crosses your path, it not only signals the necessity to be cautious, but also examines the people and situations around you with a discerning eye.
I suspect Richie isn't really who we think he is at times. He might have multiple faces that have been shown to us. He could be representative of an audience member, he could be Christopher Storer, he could be a fourth wall breaker, he could be a director to Carmy’s love life. Have we ever considered that he could be everything combined?
Foxes are known for their symbolism of false appearances, signaling the need to observe individuals with a more discerning eye. How many appearances of Richie could we have seen? Mirrors could create illusions could they not?
I think we were always meant to observe him very carefully. So, it begs the question: Who is Richie, really?
The implication of this symbolism provides an impetus for moral vigilance, pushing believers towards adhering to principles of honesty, integrity, and righteousness, while steering clear from traits that the fox embodies.
While foxes are known for their deceit, they are also known for their protection and wisdom. The deceit could be falling into the background and doing certain things “behind the scenes” but what if it’s more than that?
We’ve had the discussion of the horror elements with The Bear on @thoughtfulchaos773’s meta with the topic of possession in this season and theories on which characters could be getting possesed with @moodyeucalyptus’s meta.
Did he potentially slip that card into Carmy's pocket because he thinks Carmy needed the guidance? I've been messing with this idea that because foxes are known for false appearances, he would automatically know something is off with Carmy's relationship with Claire.
Perhaps, he sees the mirroring like we do?
Thank you to whoever read this! This was basically like three metas all in one place! This feels very speculative so feel free to tell me I’m wrong about this lmao. If I’m going to continue to write these type of metas then Natalie maybe being a miser's dream with a separate post about Marcus would be next. Richie was the first in the list I’ve made. (Also, I haven’t talked about the dreams aspect yet, still trying to understand that one before writing about it entirely and this was getting far too long.)
This meta is about the dialogue with the glass table and glass fish tank between Donna and Claire. I have other metas that aren't nessarily required but it would give some context.
The New Paradigm
Claire: Ominous Or Naive?
↓ text / spoilers for s3 below
I don’t remember if there’s any talk of glass in the other episodes but this parallel was strange when I first watched it. I also noticed the broken glass in the sink in the doors episode. Even one of the workers who washes the dishes, ended up being cut by glass. There were so many cuts this season too! The amount of people that ended up cut from a blade/or something was so jarring. I’m also pretty sure Richie shattered a plate by accident. Strangely, there’s a lot of cuts and broken glass this season.
I also thought it was interesting that Claire mentioned the Fourth of July, a day that fireworks go off. Where else did fireworks go off? At the house party with Carmy. Didn’t she also say that it’s one of the worst days? Potentially indicating that the day they had at the house party was the worst?
In my meta, “Claire: Ominous or Naive?”
I found a strange parallel between Claire and Donna. And it happened exactly at the house party.
here’s a bit of what I said:
when claire started caressing carmy’s face at the house party, it felt familiar to something else but i couldn’t quite put my finger on it until watching this episode. they’re both in the kitchen. they both led to a confrontation of sorts. they both (potentially) have mikey in the conversation. they’re both shot in this warm hue.
what were the writers intent here? does claire remind him of his mother?
is carmy avoiding claire in s3 the way he’s avoiding donna?
I even mentioned about how in the panic attack scene, Claire and Donna were weirdly side by side.
has anyone else noticed donna and claire were side by side during the panic attack the moment we get to the scene where claire is caressing his face at the house party? the same one i said how strangely it seemed to parallel each other?
in the panic attack, after the scene with claire caressing his face, it jumps straight to donna screaming. coincidence?
How strange they referenced the Fourth of July. Massive coincidence, I would say.
When Donna said she was looking at a fish tank, it immediately reminded me of chefkids post on the delicate fucking ecosystem. How bears eat fish. Was she amazed because of the amount of prey were right in front of her? Then of course she mentioned how the glass looked like it was going to split apart but she remained there without a panic. But what got to me the most was when she said her water broke and then Natalie was born. Does this mean Natalie is a fish like Sydney? I’m fairly certain she had worn a turtle necklace in one of the seasons. Was that the implication?
After that, I did a bit of research on glass and what it could mean. Here’s what I found on glass:
Glass holds diverse symbolism across cultures, evoking various meanings that have been interpreted in different contexts. One prominent symbol associated with glass is rebirth. The ability of glass to be melted down and reshaped into a new form makes it a representation of transformation and the cyclical nature of life. This symbolism highlights the idea of starting anew and embracing change.
Despite its fragility, glass also embodies resilience. It can withstand pressure and heat, demonstrating the strength to endure challenges and adversities. This dual aspect of fragility and resilience makes glass a symbol of vulnerability and the importance of handling things with care. Furthermore, the transparency of glass allows it to reveal what lies inside, which links it to the concept of integrity, honesty, and authenticity.
But what got to me the most was this:
Glass and Emotions -
Glass symbolism is often associated with various emotions, including passion, suffering, hope, love, and isolation.
sourced from symbolismguide.com
It’s fairly similar to how season three had been promoted and then how it actually played out. How strange.
Then I did research on the meaning of broken/shattered glass and here’s what I found:
Examining how authors use shattered glass to convey themes:
When writers talk about broken glass, they’re not just describing things; they’re using it to tell us important messages. It helps them talk about important themes like being strong when things are tough or how unexpected events can change everything. Each piece of broken glass in the story is like a puzzle piece that adds to the bigger picture and makes the story more interesting.
Uncovering the emotional and metaphorical layers in literary works:
In stories, broken glass isn’t just about what you see; it’s about how it makes you feel. Writers use broken glass to add more meaning to the story, like showing how relationships can be delicate or how challenges can make someone stronger. The broken glass idea gives stories a special depth, making readers think and feel a lot more about the characters and what’s happening in the book.
Connection between the fragility of glass and the human condition:
Glass can be tough, but it becomes fragile when it faces too much pressure. Similarly, people can be strong, but life’s challenges can make us feel a bit delicate. The broken glass helps us see that we all have both strength and vulnerability inside us, teaching us about the balance between being tough and sensitive in our own lives.
sourced from spiritmeans.com
Notice it says, “The broken glass helps us see that we all have both strength and vulnerability inside us, teaching us about the balance between being tough and sensitive in our own lives.” ???
Again, how strange.
( thoughtfulchaos773 is onto something with this fourth wall theory.)
thank you so much for reading! feel free to respond or disagree with me!
