Bova made a surprising decision in its final season when it directly addressed the need for Carmy and Sydney’s love.
During the series’ premiere episode, which premiered Thursday, June 25, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) visited the restaurant and looked at the pictures in the staff office. He showed Pete (Chris WitaskePhoto by Sydney (Ayo Edebiriand Carmy (Jeremy Allen White).
“Are they dating?” he asked as Pete tried to answer, “I don’t think so but there are a lot of … there are some opinions.”
Fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting for The Bear to explore the romance between Carmy and Sydney since the show premiered in 2021. The highly controversial idea didn’t just leave viewers divided as the actors questioned whether their platonic partners should change their relationship to something else.
“They suffered a lot of trauma from both sides [was explored] – I don’t think that window is open,” Edebiri, 30, said to himself Us Weekly in January 2023. “But if that were the case, there would have to be two seasons of being the only ones treating each person before that would be an option.”
Edebiri clarified that he and White, 35, had not planned to test their characters as a couple. “I think when we did it, none of us thought about that,” he added at the time. “It was really fun to do something different [and] female relations.”
Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy Allen White in The Bear season 5.
FX on Hulu / Courtesy Everett CollectionCreator Christopher Storer he also weighed in on the show’s decision not to withdraw his colleagues. “We wanted to do something about friendship and collaboration,” he told Variety that month. “It’s really funny that that’s one of the things that people take away from themselves – from all the heavy stuff that goes on in the show! It was fun because Ayo and Jeremy, being friends of ours and great people, I think there’s this storm coming from both of them.”
Storer added: “From the beginning, it was like, ‘We’ve got to show people that they’re really good at their job and they’re pushing each other.’ Selfishly, I never saw a show that didn’t have a love plot and I was like, ‘That would be cool and interesting.'”
From The Bear to Abbott Elementary, actors have opened up about wanting more friendship than romance in their shows. Ayo Edebiri weighed in after fans saw potential sparks between Sydney and Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) in season 1. “They got a lot of trauma on both sides. [was explored] – […]
Instead, the show chose to put Claire (Molly Gordon) as Carmy’s love interest – to mixed results.
“I’m always a friend,” Gordon, 30, told Vanity Fair in 2023. “I’ve never played someone you fall in love with.
Gordon noted that White’s role “is a character that people feel very protective of, and it was controversial to bring a romantic element to the show. That was sometimes annoying, fascinating and interesting – to be a part of something that people have opinions about.”
All episodes of Bova are streaming now on Hulu.
