The Bear season two features a touching moment between Richie Jerimovich and Uncle Jimmy, but if you weren’t playing close attention, its significance may have been lost on you.
The series, which aired on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK, follows chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (played by Jeremy Allen White) as he swaps fine dining restaurants for his family’s sandwich shop – The Original Beef of Chicagoland – after the death of his brother.
In the second season, Carmy, his sous-chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and “Cousin” Richie (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) strive for something bigger as they attempt to transform The Beef into a Michelin star establishment.
Season two features a number of key callbacks to previous episodes, but the inclusion of a chocolate-covered banana may have left some viewers confused. If you’ve been wondering about its significance, we’re here to explain.
Why does Richie give Uncle Jimmy a chocolate banana in The Bear?
Towards the end of episode six, ‘Fishes’, the Berzatto family and friends finally sit down for dinner and talk amongst themselves while waiting for matriarch Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) to join them. Richie’s then wife Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs) had been throwing up from pregnancy sickness, so Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) asks if she’s feeling any better, and she explains that all she can eat is a banana.
Uncle Jimmy then asks Tiffany if she’s ever had a chocolate-covered banana, before sharing a personal memory about the sweet treat.
“On the drive out here we actually passed the stand my dad used to take me to get ’em. I swear to god I could smell ’em, you know? And him,” Jimmy says. “It’s weird, right? We remember smells. Cologne. Anyway, it’s kinda been sittin’ with me, you know? Sittin’ on my chest. All of a sudden after all these years I’m missing that fat fuck? And here you are you’re eating a banana. Anyways it’s kind of funny.”
Richie wasn’t technically part of Jimmy and Tiffany’s brief conversation at that exact moment, but by the end of the season, it becomes clear that he was paying attention to every word.
In episode seven, Richie spends time at a high-end restaurant learning about the acts of service, the importance of listening, and remembering special moments and details. It’s not until the season finale, however, that he really gets to put his newfound skills to proper use.
In the final episode, when The Original Beef is finally relaunched as The Bear, Richie has a server bring Uncle Jimmy a surprise dessert in a golden box. Jimmy states that he didn’t order another course, but the server says: “Mr. Jerimovich insists”. He then opens the box to reveal a chocolate-covered banana, confirming that Richie had remembered Jimmy’s emotional words from years ago.
Taking in the thoughtful gesture, Jimmy then says: ” You, erm, you tell Mr. Jerimovich thank you for me.”
It’s thanks to writing like that, moments of real character development, and some truly Emmy-worth performances from the star-studded cast that The Bear season two has received rave reviews from critics.
In NME’s own four-star review, we wrote: “Rather than hone in on Carmy and his struggles, these new episodes develop the other characters further and give them a chance to grow… It’s another intense ride, but it’s served up so deliciously, you’ll definitely be craving more come the end.”
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