Why does Richie give Uncle Jimmy a chocolate banana in ‘The Bear’?

nme.com:

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.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?