The Bear – As this episode begins, Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) runs the ship. Natalie (Abby Elliott) sits down with Pete (Chris Witaske) to see what he thinks. He says it is awesome. She notices that the light above Jimmy is too hot so she gives Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) a note to tell him. When Richie checks with Jimmy (Oliver Platt), he is told everything is fantastic. Then, Richie goes over to Theodore (Ricky Staffieri) to remind him not to go back there. Claire (Molly Gordon) tells Richie that everything is great. Richie talks to Claire and her friend about being Carmen’s cousin and other things. Emmanuel Adamu (Robert Townsend) says he is blown away.

Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) brings out the soda since Emmanuel doesn’t drink. Carmen wants Josh (Alex Moffat) to take over for Tina, but they don’t know where Josh is. Carmen gets help from Marcus (Lionel Boyce) and takes over Josh’s station. Marcus apologizes to Sydney and thinks she has been weird with him all day, but Sydney denies that. They agree she should just forget it. Gary ‘Sweeps’ Woods (Corey Hendrix) learns that they’re running low on forks and everyone is using them. Natalie receives a note before asking Pete the odds that she’ll show. Pete begins praising the restaurant and saying he is proud of her. He doesn’t want her to set her expectations too high.

Pete relents and gives it a 75% chance that she won’t show. Richie interrupts to say they’re diving and the food is going too slow for all tables. He tells Marcus and the others. Natalie walks into the kitchen to complain about running out of forks. Gary is tasked with going out and buying more forks. Richie tells Carmen that Claire is there and recommends saying hi. Carmen yells for Josh and tells Richie that he doesn’t have time. Marcus ends up yelling at Sydney and asking if she is ignoring him because she is mad at him. Carmen quickly tries to calm them down. Natalie returns to Pete and says she appreciates him being so patient with her. Pete says she is easier because she loves this and isn’t as pissed all the time.

She has to leave to fix the toilet. Carmen says he has it, but Sydney wonders if this is the best time to do it. Sydney focuses on getting the T-bones started. She asks Neil to check on her father. As he leaves, he is stopped by Richie who says he is needed in the bathroom. Neil goes to the bathroom and gets yelled at by Natalie who is in there. Carmen serves Claire and her friend. He learns that their mom isn’t there and Natalie is wet because the toilet exploded. He tells her where to find a chef shirt. Sydney tells Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) that the T-bone isn’t right and she’ll have to do it again even though it’ll put them behind. She tells Tina to send it back and cook it again. Carmen isn’t happy to find out that the seven fishes are cold.

He tells her to refire while she complains that he was out there talking to whoever. After Sydney urges him to take it way down, Carmen apologizes. As Sydney goes back to the seven fishes, Carmen gets locked in the refrigerator because it is still broken. Richie comes in and learns about Carmen’s latest predicament. Sydney tells the chefs to hold the work while more orders are printed. Richie offers to chip in and help. He takes over and everyone begins knocking out the dishes while Carmen remains locked in the walk-in. Natalie comes to the kitchen and finds out about Carmy. Neil is told he’ll be out front even though he says it is scary out there. While they work, they hear Carmy bang on the door and curse.

Carmen remembers being ridiculed in the past. Pete briefly congratulates Neil before noticing Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) outside smoking. Pete tries to get her to come inside by telling her that Natalie is excited to see her. He thinks she’d be so proud of Natalie and Carmen. Donna asks him to go back in and pretend he never saw her. Pete asks what she means when she says she can’t take it. Donna loves them so much, but she doesn’t know how to show it. She doesn’t know how to say sorry. Donna says she doesn’t deserve to see how good this is. Pete ends up breaking the news about Natalie being pregnant only to discover that Donna didn’t know. She ends up leaving without going inside.

Richie remains in control. When he asks about the new kid, he learns that he disappeared. Marcus is tasked with finding him. Marcus finds him smoking meth outside and calls it wild. Pete gets emotional when Natalie sits back down with him. Marcus thinks he needs to fire Josh for that, but he needs to check first. Pete tells Natalie that he wouldn’t hold this one against her mother. Marcus thinks he has found something that will make things better between himself and Sydney. He tells her about Josh smoking crack in the alley. Josh said that is what makes him kick so much butt. Pete cries and tells Natalie that he loves her so much. Tina checks on Carmen who remains locked in the walk-in.

Carmen thinks he did this to himself. Sydney tells Marcus that he should fire Josh immediately. Richie asks for a surprise for table 51. Gary takes a gold box to Jimmy. Gary opens the box and unveils a chocolate banana. Jimmy asks Gary to thank Richie for him. Carmen says he is stuck in a refrigerator because he didn’t have reception when Tony called. As he complains, Claire and Kelly talk to Neil and Theodore about how incredible The Bear is. Neil doesn’t think this is a good time for Claire to go back and see Carmen. Carmy tells Tina that he failed them, but Tina calls that silly. Claire learns what is going on. The printer begins working again and Tiny notices. Carmen thinks the fridge guy’s name is Tony until Tina says it is Terry.

Carmen suggests he may not be built for this. Sydney asks Tina to check on the front so she can go outside to get some air. Sydney rushes outside and throws up near the dumpster. Carmen begins rambling about being a psycho and how he can’t be in a relationship. He says no amount of good is worth how terrible this feels. After he says it is a complete waste of time, Claire says she is sorry he feels that way. Richie runs into Claire and immediately realizes something is wrong. He confronts Carmen and asks what he said to her. As they begin arguing, Richie admits he can’t understand why Carmen just can’t let something good happen for once in his life. Carmen calls him a loser. Richie calls him selfish and asks where he was when they put his brother in the ground.

Carmen says he is a leech and he should’ve cut him out. Richie hopes he freezes to death. Once Richie leaves, Carmen listens to a voicemail message from Claire who says she always had a massive crush on him. She is proud of him and Michael would be too. Once he hears her say she loves him, Carmen drops the phone. Marcus receives a package from Luca and a note. A handyman begins cutting the door so Carmen can leave. Sydney continues vomiting outside. Her father runs over to check on her. He tells her that it was incredible. He believes it could be the thing after all. Marcus’s phone shows that he has missed several calls from his mom’s nurse. Carmen waits to be freed from the walk-in fridge.

 

The Bear Review

The finale of The Bear’s second season really fell in line with the previous episodes although it may have been a little sillier and slightly more annoying. The best episodes this season were Honeydew and Forks. Both could be watched separately since they’re almost stand-alone episodes while many of the other episodes could be skipped without missing too many important details. After all, the restaurant had to open up at some point and there had to be some type of drama.

Unfortunately, the drama really felt forced. What kind of an idiot gets himself stuck in the walk-in refrigerator and what idiots can’t or won’t get him out? How did these people manage to hire a crackhead when they’re trying to operate a high-class restaurant? There were signs of change in Carmen, but all of that was erased in this episode. The finale made the character very unlikeable so it wouldn’t be a surprise if viewers agreed with Richie about the whole freezing thing.

Many of the main characters have become whiny to the point that it is obvious they couldn’t function well enough to run a restaurant. The series has been pushing this angle from the beginning though because it wants Sydney at the helm of the ship. That wouldn’t necessarily be an issue if the performances were a little stronger, but some of them are not. The series became a little gimmicky when it felt the need to bring in all of these big names and create a whole side episode to fit them in.

That money could’ve been spent on creating a gripping story of growth and character development that might have continued into the next season. Instead, Carmen is right back to where he started and nearly everything that happened this season has been for nothing. Truthfully, there are many pretty pictures and fun scenes, but there just isn’t enough substance.

The highlights of the season were the characters that were often overlooked, including Marcus, Sweeps, Tina, and even Richie to some degree. With the restaurant finally reopened, we can only hope the guests will breathe new life into the story in the next season. The finale scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Bear can be found on Reel Mockery here.

Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.