Bolognese – As this episode begins, Claire (Molly Gordon) wakes up after spending the night with Carmen (Jeremy Allen White). He mentions today is the level 2 NICET exam which is a fire suppression exam. Carmy admits this is really nice. Then, he tells her how the suppression system works. Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) goes over to Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) who is working. Tina says the restaurant closed because some old b!tches couldn’t hack it. Ebraheim suggests they didn’t want things to change too much because they were afraid. Tina says that is why they surrounded themselves with people who take care of them. They discuss the possibility of Ebraheim returning to work.

It is two weeks until opening day. Carmen speaks to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) about the fire suppression test. They agree that they’re screwed if they fail the next test. Sydney thinks they need to be able to reset and adapt on a dime which is something she got from the book. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) approaches Carmen while wearing a suit and says he gets it. Nail Fak (Matty Matheson) tells Sweeps (Corey Hendrix) he really thought that was going to work. The fire suppression is working, but the gas won’t shut off. Sydney breaks off the handle to the fridge so she yells for Neil who says Carmen claimed he would handle it. Neil has to fix the gas line first. Sydney asks Marcus (Lionel Boyce) about returning and not saying hi.

Carmen interrupts to say he had a panic attack last night and told Claire about the time his mom drove a car through the house. He explains that he always hated cannolis and thought he could take them back. Sydney yells at Tina when the new hires arrive. Carmen is impressed with Marcus’s dessert. Then, Sydney tells Carmen that the new hires are Daniela, Josh, and Connor. Tina greets them outside. Natalie (Abby Elliott) calls about the test before noticing that Richie is wearing a suit. When Natalie learns that he wants to apologize, she calls Gary into her office to hear it. Richie says he didn’t know where he fit for a long time so he shoved himself into places where he didn’t fit.

Richie apologizes and says he thinks they could fit good together. He wears the suit because it makes him feel better about himself. Gary thinks Richie did a nice job. Neil interrupts to ask if his sister can come to the friends and family event. Natalie doesn’t seem interested in having him there. Richie wants to know if there is anything he can do to make Natalie’s life easier. Natalie thanks him for apologizing. Carmen speaks to Sydney about a possible recipe and uses sketches. When Sydney asks where they’re sourcing the prosciutto, Carmen says a homie from high school is running an Iberico account. He will hook it up. Claire sends a message reminding Carmen of the level 2 test. Carmen says he was talking to Claire last night and realized he might be hanging onto things too even though he doesn’t care much about them anymore.

He asks what is up with her. Sydney complains that Claire isn’t even his girlfriend, but she is helping arrange the menu. Carmen denies that. They argue until both apologizes. Sydney says she is tired. Carmen wants to know when he is messing up because he is really trying. Sydney knows he is trying because he is doing these beautiful drawings. She argues that he needs to decide whether this person is his girlfriend or not because that isn’t great. Richie and Natalie interview a woman who they might hire. Richie doesn’t think she is a good choice. Carmen finds Neil hiding. Neil says he ran two more tests and he just can’t figure it out. When Carmen asks if Claire is his girlfriend, Neil thinks so.

Carmen wonders if he should ask her. Tina receives an equipment delivery and learns that Richie is wearing suits now. Carmen and Neil talk about whether he wants Claire to be his girlfriend. Richie approaches Sydney who mentions his suit. He shows her something that Carmen thought might be nice on the line. Once she agrees, Sydney admits her family didn’t have a catchphrase because she was an only child. Nate learns they can come back in three weeks. If they fail, they’re really going to fail. Uncle Jimmy calls Natalie to ask her to meet him outback to avoid making a scene. Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) tells her that the appraisal on the lot came back and it wasn’t great. As long as the restaurant is closed, they’re going to get hammered on taxes.

It’ll be bad if they have to refinance because there is no money coming in. Jimmy makes it clear that they need to open in ten days. He tells her what he’d do if he had kids today and how he would try to protect them less. Neil asks Ebraheim about the old picture on the wall. It features Ebraheim, Tina, and Michael. He notices something so he yells Jewish lightning. Then, he interrupts Richie and pulls him to the side. Neil says Michael overrode the system because he tried to burn down the business for insurance money. Now, Neil thinks he can fix it. Then, they have 10 days before opening. The man arrives for the fire suppression test and everything seems to be working.

The business passes the test and Natalie is told she has a restaurant. Richie and Carmen agree on how to lay out the silverware before they begin working on the lighting levels. Carmen steps outside to call his girlfriend.

 

The Bear Review

This episode of The Bear again felt like a completely different show without the chaos, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Certain things are working extremely well with Richie’s redemption being very good. The whole thing with the suppression test was probably a moot point considering the restaurant had to reopen to keep the show going into future seasons.

It was good to see Ebraheim back and Sweeps at least get a couple of lines although these characters could be used a lot more. The dialogue is a bit weird sometimes like it was improvised with at least one character rambling regularly. Truthfully, the episode was a little dull like some of the others this season.

It just hasn’t been able to capture the same chaotic greatness that some of the episodes last season delivered. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Bear are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here.