With the success that The Bear has gained in both seasons one and two, we can expect and hope that there will be plenty more to come. Since writing is on hold right now due to the strike, we have time to think about what season three can hold for these beloved characters and what they might be up to by the time we see them again. Something this show has excelled at is the character development and focus on side characters, making you care about them and long for a backstory or a strong plot line. In season two, we got two character-focused episodes with Marcus in "Honeydew" and Richie in "Forks". They were both greatly accepted and, honestly, much needed for depth and growth for both characters.
That being said, there are plenty of other characters that deserve the same treatment, and we can only hope that they’ll receive the same love in the coming seasons. Side characters such as Fak, Tina, and Sweeps deserve an episode or, genuinely, just more screen time and dialogue to give us proper insight into who they are. With the Emmy nominations season one received these past few weeks, it doesn’t seem like The Bear is going anywhere anytime soon, and what a relief that is. Let’s take a look at ten characters we hope get more screen time in season three.
Pete
Pete is someone you either love or hate, and for a funny reason. In season one, our only interaction with Pete is through either Carmy or Richie, and it’s very clear how they feel about Sugar’s husband. Carmy seems to have had a somewhat breakthrough with Pete, as he lets him use his freezer when the power goes out at The Beef, but other than that, he’s not well accepted.
However, in season two, we see a different side of him as he talks to Donna outside The Bear during the finale. It’s emotional, and you’ll find yourself having a soft spot for Pete as he pleads with Donna to come inside, ensuring her that everything is going to be okay if she sits with him and Sugar. Then, when he starts to cry back at their table, he lies to Sugar about her mom, but for the right reasons, and because of that, we genuinely need to know more about Pete.
Tina
In the episode entitled "Pop", Tina has a truly beautiful moment in which she wows the audience with her rendition of "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" at a karaoke night at a bar she was invited to by her fellow culinary students.
This scene was so important to Tina’s growth because of how far she has come from the first episode of season one, from being resistant to Sydney’s way of cooking and Carmy’s way of leading to becoming Sydney’s sous-chef. It’s a wonderful full-circle moment, but we need more of Tina. We need her backstory, we need to see her interact with her crew more, and we need more of her singing.
Sugar
Sugar has been a big part of both seasons, especially now that she’s pregnant, and her storyline is semi-revolving around that, but she’s such a force in the restaurant as well as her family that she deserves more screen time. In "Fishes", we got to see the very messed-up and sad relationship she has with Donna, with Donna roughly grabbing Sugar’s face at one point to get her to stop talking.
Through it all, though, she still loves her mom, inviting her to the opening of The Bear even though it could have ended poorly. She’s kind-hearted, tough, and all in all, a great person that we need more of as the seasons progress.
Jimmy
Who doesn’t love Uncle Jimmy? Oliver Platt plays Cicero, aka Uncle J, who’s somehow related to the Berzatto family and seems to have an unending amount of money at his disposal. He comes around every once in a while and either offers helpful insight and advice or he’s asking for his money back, but either way, Platt is great as this wealthy character.
It’d be really interesting to learn more about Jimmy as the seasons go on, maybe to get a better understanding of how he came into so much money or to have more scenes between him and Carmy.
Michelle
Michelle, played by Sarah Paulson, was a welcome guest star in the very chaotic Christmas episode, playing Carmy’s cousin who flew in from New York City. She’s the type of cousin that you would definitely find yourself gravitating towards on a night like that, where everyone is arguing, and the food is taking forever. Michelle offers insight to Carmy and urges him to come stay with her in New York to continue his dream of cooking and not lose focus.
It’d be really great if we could see more of their relationship, maybe a flashback of Carmy living in the city with her and how that went. Whatever the case might be, we need more Sarah Paulson in The Bear.
Fak
Matty Matheson, an actual chef in real life, portrays Neil Fak, the handyman who helps around The Bear and squished his way into the Berzatto family. Fak is such a great character because not only is he the comedic relief, but he also offers a slice of reality to this high-tempered show. Four things can be happening at once, but suddenly a toilet explodes, and Fak comes sliding in to fix it, a jolly look on his face, before he starts to wrestle with Richie.
He’s hilarious; he eases the tension, and it would be interesting to see how they developed his character even more. Maybe even letting Matheson use his culinary skills?
Ebra
A character that has an incredible amount of potential is Ebra. In season one, we learned quite a bit about him: that he does the meat, that he was in the war, and that he loved Mikey. In this newest season, he disappears for most of the episode, upset that the restaurant changed so much, before eventually finding his way back.
Many viewers vocalized that they wished Ebra had an episode to himself, following what he did and where he was when he was away. He’s willing to learn the ServSafe program once he returns, and to better connect with such a great character, Ebra needs more screen time in season three.
Tiff
In the Christmas episode, we met a ton of the Berzatto family, but one of the members that really shined was Tiff, Richie’s ex-wife. She’s almost the opposite of the Richie we know and love, soft and kind, and she loves Taylor Swift. Their dynamic is really interesting in both episodes we see her in, with Tiff appearing once again in "Forks" as she awkwardly tells Richie that she’s engaged.
It’d be great to see either a flashback of the two of them, maybe the reason why they divorced, or a scene in which they come together after she’s married to the new man and Richie has to fully accept it. Ebon-Moss Bachrach and Gillian Jacobs had great chemistry on screen together, so it’d be great to see it again.
Angel & Manny
Angel and Manny seem like a package deal as the dishwashers of the restaurant, and since both of them are in almost every single episode, we deserve to know more about them. They’re often shown together, whether they’re washing dishes or sitting together during the family meal; their characters deserve development just like the others.
How do they evolve as the restaurant becomes more popular and elegant? Do they stay? We can only hope that in the next season, both of these side characters will become more developed and memorable.
Sweeps
Sweeps, aka Gary, is a really interesting side character because he pops up every once in a while but barely has any screen time, let alone dialogue, this season. He has a good scene in "Bolognese" when Richie is apologizing to Sugar for being a jerk and Sugar drags Sweeps into the room to witness the apology. It’s really all we have from him in that season—a reliable worker who cleans up nicely in a suit for opening night—but in order to really appreciate him, we need more of Sweeps.
In the third season, we hope that his character arc will hit and that we will see him in a bigger role with the restaurant.