This article contains spoilers for The Bear Season TwoThe hit HULU and FX show, The Bear, is back for a second season, and many people were curious leading up to the much-anticipated release of the sophomore season if it was going to live up to the hype. Rest assured, it certainly does. Season two of this wildly popular series did the right thing by moving forward with an additional ten episodes, taking the audience away from the chaotic kitchen scenes we experienced in season one and instead slowing it down and focusing on each individual character. It’s amazing, but every character in this show gets more development in season two, making you care about them more than you did in the first season.
With side characters getting their own episodes to showcase more of their background and details that make them who they are, it goes deeper into what makes The Bear one of the best shows on television right now. By pulling in different elements such as a love interest that doesn’t seem necessary until you figure out the bigger picture, Taylor Swift tickets, a chaotic Christmas, and multiple character arcs, The Bear season two is a masterpiece. Simply put, it is beautiful, chaotic, and a smash. Let’s take a look at ten reasons why season two lived up to the hype.
Marcus’s Episode
Episode four of season two was incredible because we got to see more of Marcus, the baker that works at The Beef, aka The Bear now, and his episode is very special. Sydney and Carmy have a great idea to send Marcus to Copenhagen to learn at Noma, the school that Carmy attended, in order for Marcus to get more inspiration and learn more skills as a professional baker. In this season, we also come to learn that Marcus’ mother is very sick, and his relationship with her is very tender throughout the episode since he’s worried she’ll pass when he’s halfway around the world.
Marcus grows more while he’s in Copenhagen, shadowing a baker portrayed by Will Poulter, whose cameo was much anticipated leading up to this episode. By the end of episode four, you feel closer to Marcus and have a better appreciation for him, especially when he heads back to Chicago and wows both Carmy and Sydney with what he learned. The Bear does a great job of making you attached to just about every character that appears on-screen, even if they’re not in every single episode.
The Christmas Episode
If you had to take several breaks while watching this hour-long Christmas episode, you are very much not alone. If you have a dysfunctional family that can’t go twenty minutes without arguing during a major holiday, you must’ve felt very uncomfortable during the episode entitled "Fishes". It’s five years prior to when Carmy is opening The Bear and four years prior to Mikey ending his life, so we’re able to get a look into the Berzatto family and all the other members that fit into this very chaotic mess. There are a big handful of great actors that make it into "Fishes", such as Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, and Bob Odenkirk.
This episode perfectly captures a family that’s on the brink of collapse, but also loves each other despite all the craziness. In this hour-long cooking and shouting fest, we also get to meet Tiff, Richie’s ex-wife, and the sweet moment they share while upstairs and laying in Donna’s bed, discussing their unborn child and if it’ll like them or not. You can’t help but wonder as you watch that scene: what went wrong?
The height of this episode comes when the family is finally gathered around the table, ready to eat, Donna is on her 20th cigarette, and Donna’s brother, Lee, and Mikey get into it. You’ll be shouting, "Don’t throw the fork!" as you hide behind your hands, waiting for even more destruction to ensue. This Christmas episode was much needed, as we got a look into why Carmy is the way he is, stemming from his mother.
Mikey's Return
Speaking of Mikey and that very tense Christmas episode, Jon Bernthal, who portrays the deceased older brother of Carmy and Sugar, made his return to the series. In season one, we meet him in episode six, entitled Ceres," and he’s only on-screen for a brief scene, lasting about four minutes. In season two, however, Mikey gets an entire hour to showcase that even four years before he took his own life, he was not okay. At all. At the start of the episode, he’s encouraging Sugar to leave their mother alone and not stir the pot, advice he should have taken himself when he starts to become unhinged when his uncle Lee starts ragging on him.
You watch on in slight horror as Mikey throws a fork at Lee at the dinner table, and you see the look of pure mania in his eyes as everyone at the table tries to calm him down. It’s especially sad when Cicero, his other uncle, directs Richie to stop Mikey from making a fool of himself, but Richie doesn’t know how to handle it because that’s his best friend.
Lee, played by the great Bob Odenkirk, taunts Mikey to throw another fork at him, and you’ll be shouting at your TV as you wait for him to do exactly that. Bernthal’s return was much needed, as the audience could begin to understand that killing himself was not a moment of impulse, but something he had been struggling with for years.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Involvement
The Christmas episode featured several cameos that’ll make you snap your fingers and aggressively point at your screen because, that’s that actor in that one thing! The best cameo, though, was without a doubt Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna Berzatto, Carmy’s mother, who’s an addict and is very bad at hiding it. Donna is an Italian mother at heart, but a raging alcoholic most of all, drinking bottles and bottles of wine as the night goes on and chain-smoking as she stirs the gravy. Throughout the night, you’ll be wondering if Carmy inherited what his mother has, which seems like a mix of manic depression and anxiety—and the answer is yes.
Curtis is haunting as Donna, bouncing from having a breakdown to taking care of Tiff. She loves Carmy, but she hates him for leaving her when he went to Copenhagen. She loves Natalie, but she hates her just to hate her because her daughter knows she’s majorly struggling. It’s devastating when Donna grabs Natalie’s face when Natalie is begging for her mom to let her help her, giving us more insight into what it was like to grow up in the Berzatto family. This was such an important role and such an important episode in season two, leading up to Carmy’s breakdown in the finale.
More Fak
Who doesn’t love Niel Fak? It’s impossible to hate the lovable handyman, who thankfully gets way more screen time in season two. Matty Matheson, who plays Fak and is also a producer of The Bear, absolutely nails this role as he forces his way into the Berzatto family and also The Bear. There are several funny moments between him and Richie, as they often get into arguments and physical altercations, but at the end of the day, they love each other with a certain tenderness that blinds Richie’s semi-toxic masculinity.
We see more of Fak, especially in The Christmas episode, where his brother, who looks just like him in matching sweaters and slicked-back hair, makes his first appearance. Fak’s relationship with Natalie is also very sweet; he often calls her "mom" when fighting with Richie, knowing that she’ll side with him no matter the topic. In the finale, we get to see more of Fak and Richie’s friendship as they get ready for the big night in the bathroom, both wearing suits and both looking dynamite, with Richie smoothing out Fak’s rat tail for him.
Natalie’s Pregnancy
In season two, we learn that Natalie is pregnant, which adds to the realness of this show and how realistic the plot lines are. Natalie at first doesn’t want anyone to know, but it’s obvious to the crew that something is going on; Richie is the most tuned in, offering her sprite on one occasion before the news is officially out. When she tells Carmy, it’s a very sweet and tender moment between the siblings as Sugar goes on this long rant about not wanting people to know and how she’s scared, and it’s going to be a good thing.
While she’s ranting, Carmy’s eyes are trained on her stomach, and his hand is slowly extending to her abdomen—a perfect moment between a brother and a sister who fight all the time but love each other two times over. As the restaurant gets rebuilt, Natalie’s pregnancy progresses, and it’s really neat to see how each character has their own moment revolving around it, especially when Sydney cooks an omelet for Natalie and later says that was the best part of her day.
Carmy’s Love Interest
In season one, The Bear seemed to pride itself on not having any romance in the show revolving around food, but in this sophomore season, they seemed to have changed their minds about the character Claire. She’s someone from Carmy’s past that enters his life unexpectedly once again at the height of his career with the opening of The Bear, and many fans of the show were not really liking the relationship between the two. Many people felt it was unnecessary and took away from what this season was accomplishing with other characters, but it all came to a head at the finale.
When Carmy gets locked into the walk-in by his own doing, he starts to freak out and lose it. He admits to himself that he shouldn’t be in a relationship and that he’s fine without receiving amusement or pleasure from life, not knowing Claire was on the other side of the door, listening. It’s almost a relief that they broke up, even though it was sad, of course, but hopefully, in season three, we’ll see a single Carmy dealing with the aftermath of what went down that night.
Tina’s Character Development
Tina, played by Liza Colon-Zayas, is one of the MVPs that make The Bear such a great watch. In the first season, she was apprehensive about change and didn’t have the best attitude when it came to Sydney joining the crew, but over time she had a change of heart. In a great scene in season two, episode one, Sydney decides to ask Tina if she would like to be the new sou chef at The Bear, to which Tina tearfully agrees.
It’s a great full-circle moment as the two share that special scene before both Tina and Ebraheim are sent to culinary school. While Tina thrives, Ebra drops out and goes missing for a bit, but we’re able to see some great development with Tina as she truly is in her element at the culinary school. When she’s invited out for drinks with the other students, she completely stuns as she grabs the mic at karaoke and performs such a beautiful song, not only wowing the people at the bar but the audience at home as well.
Jeremy Allen White’s Season Two Carmy
Jeremy Allen White has had a number of great roles in his acting career, such as Lip Gallagher in Shameless, but his portrayal of Carmen Berzatto on The Bear goes beyond anything else he has done. Season one was a knockout, but in season two, we see a more stressed and yet dignified version of Carmy this time around. He’s set on opening The Bear and having it work out, not only to honor Mikey, but also to not lose sight of what he loves—cooking. Carmy in season two is more understanding as he implements a way to communicate with Sydney by signing "I’m Sorry" in ASL when he gets out of control, which is often.
White has a beautiful monologue once again at an AL-anon meeting, where he expresses how he’s constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. You’re worried about him as each episode ticks by and more and more characters are getting developed, and redemption arcs begin, and he’s almost remaining stagnant. He gets into a relationship with Claire, and it essentially ruins him because he lets it destroy him, not because it isn’t good or something he doesn’t need. White is masterful as Carmy, and there’s truly no one else who could play this chef as well as he does.
Richie’s Character Arc
And the award for not only the best character of season two, but also the best character arc goes to Richie Jerimovich! You might’ve hated him in season one, which is understandable, but you cannot deny the fact that Richie has had an extreme makeover, not only in the physical sense but also mentally and emotionally. His episode entitled "Forks" is supreme, as we see him in a different setting than we are used to, one of America’s best restaurants, to learn how to stage. Richie is Richie at first in that episode, hesitant and swearing after every other word, but it’s fantastic once he starts to accept and actually starts to learn how to appreciate what happens at a restaurant.
The scene in which we see him interact with his daughter is very important because it’s clear he loves her so much and wants to be a better dad and also just a better person all around. He also secretly loves Taylor Swift, and you’ll watch on in delight as he belts out the lyrics to "Love Story (Taylor’s Version)" as he races home after a successful day of training. He manages to fix things with Sydney; he takes care of her dad on the big night, he gets Taylor Swift tickets for his daughter, and he manages not to be a jerk when his ex-wife tells him she’s engaged to someone else.
A devastating detail about Richie’s character is that he still wears his wedding ring even though they're divorced, and she’s moved on, giving you more insight into Richie’s way of thinking. Ebon-Moss Bachrach deserves all the snaps for Richie this season, and hopefully we’ll be seeing his name quite a bit when it comes to awards season.