r/TheBear

I'm not sure if people fully appreciate how amazing that character is. I'm only up to season 2 episode 8 (just finished), but he's incredibly well-written. With Mike, his role was the "yakker" which was perfectly fine in that "ecosystem" as he called it. With Mike, he belonged and all was good.

Mike dies, Carmen takes over, and everything is threatened. Richard feels worse than most of us would in this situation and they demonstrate it wonderfully. He doesn't have skills compared to others because his skill is entirely interpersonal. He's built to observe, mentally note and record, and interact accordingly. This means that he's noting everyone's skills to a level that most of us wouldn't. It also means he has a high need to belong and be part of the social fabric because it plays into what he's born to be so good at.

This leads to a lot of fascinating moments that I've repeatedly thought about as I've savored these episodes post-watch. Not exhaustive, but the ones that stand out to me (in no particular order):

1. His frequent citing of the "delicate ecosystem". He's not being a stubborn jerk and this isn't simply a self-serving bias. Yes, he has a need to belong and Carmen threatens that. However, he's also highly attuned to the others (e.g., Tina, Ebra) and knows that they don't want change.

2. Related to 1, he stops fighting on behalf of the "ecosystem" when Tina tells him that the changes are good. That is when he starts trying hard to work into the new social network. But "yakker" is not something that is needed in its current form. However, he is observing everyone else adjusting and thriving to the new status quo and he keeps trying every non-square shape to fit into the square hole and it doesn't work.

3. He absolutely felt it was a punishment no matter where Carmen sent him in Forks or what he'd be doing because he needs to belong to the group and this went into the opposite direction (temporarily). Similarly, until his lightbulb moment, no amount of praise, purpose-fulfillment, responsibilities, and so on would make him feel differently about it being a punishment.

4. He now realizes "yakker" did not fit into the new ecosystem, but what made him an effective "yakker" does produce the square peg that no one else can manage. No one else is a people person let alone observing others enough to know about their children, dogs, skillset, and so on.

5. That realization in 4 was so perfectly shown with the ledger at the Forks restaurant. Basically, he saw them frantically recording everything (e.g., history, eating preferences, dinner dialogue) that he's always done organically ("heard and resented"). It must have been wild for him to realize at that moment that what makes the high end restaurant that much more amazing is exactly what he brings to the proverbial table.

I love all of the characters, but that Richard is #1 for me.

Why is this episode so weird? The first season was pretty good and felt natural, but just from the first episode of the second season, it feels like the dialogue got hella cheesy and forced. It also feels way overly dramatic. It's like a completely different show now. Is the rest of the season going to be like this? No spoilers obviously.

Hi everyone!

So I had a quick question about the ending.

Is it implied that the actual Bear restaurant is closing at some point or is it barley surviving? I can’t tell what the uncle ultimately decided to do with it. Sorry if the answer was obvious.

There haven't been many shows that have made me feel so much watching. The characters failures and of course their successes I genuinely feel and was so invested in. It suddenly hit me why that band of degenerates were so damn likeable and why I wanted them to succeed so much.

They all had so much passion, dedication and gave work their 100%. I have a management job and my team is made up of lazy, selfish and incompetent people with no drive or ambition. They are entitled, deluded and overestimate their value. I absolutely hate being around them because I have such little respect for them professionally.

Watching season 5 it hit me that everyone at The Bear is the polar opposite of the people I work with. They are proof that you can come from all walks of life, have a million flaws, but passion and work ethic are such endearing qualities.

I loved the whole show front to back. I think an analogy I can make, loosely, is Ted Lasso.

Sure Ted Lasso is about a football (soccer) team. But it’s much more than that; it’s about the personal relationships of the characters and watching them grow over the course of the show.

I think the Bear is similar, sure season 1 and season 2 were fast paced and revolved around the restaurant more. I can also agree that season 3 and 4 were slower, but I think we got a lot of character development in those seasons. Also can mention the beautiful cinematography.

Just my two cents.

Ive never been more anxious, sad and hungry watching a show, how is this considered a comedy?

So I breezed thru the first 4 seasons pretty quickly and easily and the show was really good. Season 5 was unbelievably amazing. You feel every emotion a person can feel. I believe it may be the greatest season of a TV show. My wife hasn't watched it yet and honestly she only needs season 5, it's absolute perfection.

I haven’t read many threads yet about Season 5 so apologies if this is a repeat. I was disappointed in the lack of focus on Carmy in season 5, was anyone else? We had watched him close up for 4 seasons and then season 5 he takes a step back and the narrative was mainly about everyone else and the restaurant and not him. I understand they were leading up to the fact that he wanted to leave but we didn’t see any personal struggle with what he was going through other than a conversation or two.

I love the show and loved season 5 regardless but my only complaint is that I wanted to see more of his arc in season 5 than anyone else’s.

I also think the ambiguity at the end (I could be in the minority) is real and that he could have still left. Was the office scene the day after the big night or the day of the party? Because the day after the big night they all came in and worked including him even if we didn’t see them go through the night. I do wish we had seen the scene of them hearing the big news though. And lastly he could have smiled in the chair because he acknowledged his love for the place but that doesn’t mean he didn’t leave it. He did give away his prized notebooks which to me put a fine point on it that he didn’t want to keep them and still did in fact leave.

What are your thoughts about all this?

To me it's the fact that in Fishes, if you pay attention, you can hear Mike telling the same story he told about Ceres back in season 1

Also in Season 3 episode 1, in the montage showing the places that Carmy cooked, his backet has way more peas than Luca's, which serves to corroborate that the former is a better cook

To start on a positive note, I enjoyed watching the different characters train and learn their new roles for the restaurant, and the way it ties back to Carmy’s time in New York is cool. I’ve seen some people call season 2 a downgrade, and I don’t understand why when the episode like Marcus in Copenhagen and Richie Forks are some of the best so far. The scene with Marcus saving the man stuck under the fence was a little random though, maybe someone could explain if it was a metaphor or anything.

The Christmas episode was insane in a great way too. Even though the Berzatto situation is very extreme, I think a lot of people with big families can relate to the chaos of a family holidays. It’s good seeing more of Mikey and how he was already little unhinged and not as perfect as people said in season 1. And the guest stars in the family were fun to see. Seeing Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, a streets ahead reference later on made me realize the creator has some connection to Community.

But why is everyone so mean to Carmy, I know the dude has a bad habit of awfully lashing out during these high stress situations, but I don’t think he’s an asshole when unprovoked. And no one else is good at diffusing the situations either. I like all the characters for the most part, but when shit hits the fan, everyone is equally making things worse but when it’s all over only Carmy apologizes. In the finale, bro is locked in the fridge on the opening night of his restaurant for hours, and he’s venting to Tina about trauma. Then Tina just disappears and Claire is listening instead. Why would Tina not say she’s stepping away or that Claire was coming, or anyone else say anything, or even allow Claire back there, since so much of the season was about permits and not just anyone can be in a kitchen. And Carmy only said the stuff about Claire not being worth the distraction because Sydney is putting a bunch of pressure on him due to her own insecurities. I understand Sydney is smart, gives Carmy a lot of good ideas, and is second in charge of the kitchen, but the way I see it she needs Carmy way more than he needs her. I mean she decided on her own to join this Berzatto mess, and it’s Carmy and his family’s dream restaurant and money. She’s lucky Carmy is cursed by the plot and the restaurant if always falling apart or else he wouldn’t need help running things. Plus even though for him this was an idea that started with his brother, and he’s a super food genius that’s already been to the top, he lets Sydney add her own ideas and influences to the restaurant, but she seems more entitled than grateful about it. I don’t even dislike Sydney as a character but if Carmy wants to focus on Claire a little extra because he’s trying to have a relationship and be happy for the first time then just back off a little bit.

All that being said, I understand the true meta reason all the characters act so frustrating is so the show keeps its high stress atmosphere and drama. But maybe add in a true antagonist to the show that shakes things up so the characters aren’t always fighting each other just due to acts of god.

Do we have any clue what happened to him? I

was under the impression that he died when Mike, Carm and Sugar were very young and Cicero became their father figure

Richie was my favorite character by far. His growth (and struggles) as a person and professional felt very believable, unlike some of the other characters. So easy to root for him. Tina and Marcus too.

Fun interview with Ayo looking stunning

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she took initiative in 'Sheridan' and used quick thinking to improvise so that the beef doesn't close down for service because they were already in a tough spot financially. !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she gave Tina confidence and saw her when no one else really did. In fact, she took it a step further and asked her to be her sous & eventually bc Tina grew so much she became next in command to Syd with the finale season. All things, mind you, that was in part triggered by Syd!<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she also helped Marcus and gave him something to create tangibly that for the first time he got to see his value and it became a passion for him and not just wander aimlessly in his career and then being burdened with familial obligations. We find out in s2 that this is Marcus's life-- his work and then his duty to his mom. Put that alongside his discussion with Luca earlier on that season... !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she constantly believed in Carmy. Throwback to s1 with her coming in and just singing his praise, then again with her & Richie in the car in ep2 and I'm sure several times in between. She does it again in s4 when talking to his mom. !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she was the one who pitched the idea of Nat signing on & in doing so, Nat got to be part of something she was, in a way, always excluded from. Go back to her mini-monologue when she's talking to some guy on the phone about the restaurant and how she never wanted to be there but now she does and being scared of change and a whole bunch of other things she said. Can't remember the episode though.. !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she gives our MC exactly what he needs which is stability, accountability, & a whole host of other things. Talk about stability and her ability to pull this man out of several panic attacks even when she's not physically present. Talk about accountability and how in her holding him accountable, he's able to see beyond himself and comes to the realization in s4x10 that Richie's grief is so very similar to his and that just strengthens Richie & Carm's bond even more.!<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she officially (legally) brings Richie into the only family he's ever truly known in episode 'Goodbye', the family he's always wanted to be a part of but all of this complications around it with the Mikey of it all. The way Carm is able to hurt him by reminding him that he's an outsider and always will be (S2x10) or even Mikey almost punishing him for wanting a family of his own in a way (Gary) and how this want, this need to be part of the Berzattos is a very sore spot for him but who grants him the access to this wish of his that he needed for so long.... the worst character on the show !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet & takes no accountability (this one is one of the funniest i've heard of all the bad takes on her character btw) yet she does, in fact, take accountability for the pre-order mess in S3x10 with the scene with all the chefs sitting at the table, she calls herself Carmy's accomplice in that same season earlier on by the way, she apologizes for the miscommunication about the whole Shapiro situation in 'Goodbye' and those are just the ones off the top of my head. I'm sure there are a couple more... !<

>!she's the worst character on the show yet she's had tons of ideas that are actually good and sustainable for the restaurant!<

>!she's the worst character on the show and I guess the most recent thing in this season she's getting dragged for is that she let it slip that Carm was leaving. You can understand where Carmy is coming from and why he needs to step away & all the things that's led him to this realization bc of his complicated background and all that but you can't understand why she'd be upset about her business partner leaving. Let's keep all this in context, shall we? came to the restaurant to work & glean lessons from him bc he made her the best meal she ever had but then you have all of these complications in this partnership bc of his baggage and hers too. Then, you also have that this is all happening not too far off after having one aspect of a constant/stable person in her life and her almost losing that (her dad) and that's not to talk about her bad credit after the loss of Sheridan that she most likely never actually sat down and dealt with said loss & it meaning what it did to her bc of her previous experiences with bad bosses (again s1x5 titled 'Sheridan' ) she slightly delves into this. You can understand Carmy & Richie and see why they approach things the way they do but with Syd, your eyes are closed, your ear suddenly turn deaf, and she's not really important to the narrative or any of the characters even though she came into that restaurant and whipped that place into shape, right? !<and let's not mince my words, she's not the only person that elevated the place, but she did do a lot like a lot, a lot so the next time y'all are hating on her character & downplaying her, i'll just keep reminding you... i've always said this & it seems I need to keep repeating myself. SYDNEY HATRED IS OVERRATED. That character has done nothing to warrant the hatred that she's gotten by creepy 'fans' of the show

I'm sure there's much more that I can say about this topic but i'll stop there for today. You all who absolutely hate her are *well I can't say that unless I want to risk getting banned cause this sub gets real interesting at times* so instead of saying what I actually want to say, i'll just say y'all that hate her are weird as hell. I can understand indifference but hatred of such a sweetheart character (for the most part lol) is weird.... it just is!!!

Hi lovelies! I get to choose any scene from The Bear and talk about how it uses sound to elevate the moment. There are 100s of moments in this damn show that could be talked about, but I'm wondering if you guys have a specific moment that comes up for you!

If I go into specifics, I adore when shows use silence to really make the audience feel something, and with such a loud show, I'm trying to find a couple of moments where it does that, but I don't have time to sift through all the seasons; any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!

I’m surprised Carmy didn’t end up as being a mentor like Chef Terry or Chef Keller. He basically helped train the entire Bear Team and seemed to find peace in it. I hated that Carmy didn’t realize this himself and decided to leave the restaurant to work as an architect instead. I thought it would’ve been a more fulfilling ending to see himself as a mentor and end the cycle of trauma and PTSD like he himself experienced under Chef David Fields.

Huge fan of the show and loved Season 5. We haven’t watched the bonus episode that was released before Season 5, which I understand is more historical about Richie and Michael. Do you think we should watch this, or is it superfluous, having now watched all 5 seasons? How strongly do you feel we need to watch it?

Season(/10) - Favorite Episode

1. Season 2(10/10) - Forks
2. Season 1(8.5/10) - Braciole
3. Season 5(8/10) - Caramel
4. Season 4(8/10) - Bears
5. Season 3(7/10) - Napkins