Season 2 of FX's The Bear blew everyone's expectations out of the water, delivering on the promise of more stressful culinary action while also taking its time to breathe and slowly unwrap the human emotions behind its loudest characters. The Bear also expands its amazing cast, bringing in Jaime Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Will Poulter, and Robert Townsend. But the most notable addition to Season 2 comes from Molly Gordon, who portrays Claire, a character that completely shifts the dynamic of the new season.
Portrayed excellently by Molly Gordon, Claire is introduced in the second episode of Season 2 as a potential love interest for Jeremy Allen-White's Carmy, with both characters having known each other since their teenage years. Over the course of the season, their relationship grows from Carmy giving her a fake phone number to being the only person he feels comfortable confiding with about his grief for his brother. Surprisingly, Claire's character has come under fire by some critics, being described as a pure 'male fantasy,' however, these arguments drastically miss the point of her character.
Claire Is a Lens for the Audience Into Carmy's Grief
The Bear is a series that's defined by stress. Be it during a busy dinner service, a family Christmas get-together, or just trying to fix a fridge door, there is an overwhelming intensity in almost every scene, brought on by the brilliant performances and exceptional editing. Among all of that chaos sits Claire, the embodiment of calmness that allows the writers and the audience to dig deeper into Carmy's grief.
In Season 1, audiences were given some hints towards the dynamic of the Berzatto family before the tragedy, which mostly came by way of flashbacks and Jeremy Allen-White's amazing seven-minute monologue. However, through the perspective of Claire, viewers are given a much deeper look at the internal workings of the Berzatto family during a Christmas dinner.
The 67-minute-long episode, titled 'Fishes,' is not only the longest episode in the series but also the most intimate and revealing exploration of Carmy's family history so far. The episode explores the dynamics between various individual members of the Berzatto family (and extended family), including Carmy and Natalie's relationship with their mother – portrayed brilliantly by Jamie Lee Curtis – and the tension between Michael and Uncle Lee, which almost ends in a literal fight.
Hindsight is used as a tool in the episode, highlighting the drastic difference in the understanding of each family member's emotions and psyche during that dinner compared to years later, especially in the case of Michael, who gives the surface-level appearance of a lazy, angry drug adult, but hindsight allows us to see the torment and mental struggle underneath his charismatic persona.
A few episodes later, the flashback episode is recontextualized as not just being a random flashback for the audience but having been a conversation between Carmy and Claire, where he opened up about his brother to her more than he has to any other character in the show so far, even his sister.
Their Relationship Shows Carmy's Self-Destructive Nature
As well as humanizing the endlessly intense Carmy, Claire's overwhelmingly calm and positive persona also holds a mirror up to Carmy's negative qualities, most notably his tendency to self-destruct as a form of emotional protection. While stuck in the walk-in fridge in Season 2's final episode, Carmy confides in Richie and Tina that he feels like he sabotages himself.
This begins with Carmy discussing his neglect towards key elements of his restaurant, like the fridge door, but then diverges towards his relationship with Claire. Believing he is still talking to Tina, Carmy self-identifies the reason for his talent and his success in the culinary world as his ability to bury his emotions and close himself off, labeling himself a "psycho."
In his moment of self-destruction, Carmy places the blame for his problems, like his lack of focus towards the restaurant, solely on his relationship with Claire, and says that "no amount of good is worth how bad this feels." This line highlights Carmy's psychological necessity to turn every positive aspect of his life into a new stress.
After finding Michael's hidden money at the end of Season 1, Carmy uses it to put himself under a new type of stress in opening his own restaurant. He then turns his tranquil relationship with Claire and his progress towards overcoming his grief into an excuse for his lack of focus regarding the restaurant's opening, culminating with his confession in the fridge.
Some of the criticism about her character does make a note of these points. However, they imply that Claire's character lacks agency and depth and is purely a storytelling device for Carmy to express and deal with his grief. However, these critiques ignore one crucial detail about The Bear's storytelling style: the series is patient when exploring and expanding its supporting characters.
The key staff members of The Beef, like Marcus and Richie, get a lot of screen time in Season 1 and some exploration of their characters; however, it isn't until Season 2 that their stories become fully three-dimensional, with each character receiving an entire episode dedicated to them, alongside their growth throughout the main plot. This will likely be the case with Claire in future seasons, especially after the dramatic ending to Season 2.