Summary
- The first episode of
The Bear
‘s third season focuses on a retrospective look at Carmy’s journey in the culinary world. - The episode is slow-paced with minimal dialogue, featuring flashbacks of Carmy’s career and personal life.
- The slow, calmer pace allows viewers to appreciate the depth of Carmy’s character and sets the stage for the upcoming season.
The Bear is arguably one of the best shows on television right now. The anticipated third season premiered with all 10 episodes on June 26, and fans have been eating up every last one since. However, the first episode of the season, entitled “Tomorrow,” has a much different tone and pacing than every other.
It’s clear this is meant to set things up and ease fans into what would certainly be frantic energy throughout the remaining nine episodes. The unique episode is a welcome short respite from the typically energetic episodes, despite not being what anyone expected.
A Retrospective of Carmy’s Journey in The Bear
The inaugural episode of The Bear’s third season has very little dialogue, is snail’s pace slow, and features a series of flashbacks from previous events in Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) career as if they were brief recollections running through his mind. It’s a recap of the story up to this point, with events that played out in the previous two seasons as well as ones that were discussed but never shown in detail.
In the “Story of Carmy,” fans are taken on a retrospective look at his rollercoaster journey in the culinary world. In the memorable “Fishes” episode of Season 2, Carmy’s cousin Michelle (Sarah Paulson) urges him to stay with her in New York to pursue his dreams, learn the ropes in one of the best cities to do so, and cook up mouth-watering dishes. He takes her up on this offer, as revealed here, staying in her apartment while working away in restaurants. Eventually, just before the events in Season 1, he works under the tutelage of New York City executive chef David Fields (Joel McHale). Fans see more of David’s abusive behavior towards Carmy, who is always cool, calm, and collected. In the moment, it doesn’t seem to phase him. But it’s evident through the series that this does have a significant impact on Carmy’s confidence.
What’s interesting about some of the flashbacks is seeing Carmy go through the same grueling experience of doing mindlessly numbing jobs in the kitchen as Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) did when he was sent to stage at Ever. While Richie initially resents Carmy for sending him to do grunt work, a candid discussion with Chef Terry (Olivia Colman) later makes Richie realize Carmy sent him there because he believed in him. Now, after watching this episode, we know why Carmy trusted Terry with this task. In the flashbacks, Chef Terry, the restaurant’s executive chef, is far more encouraging than David. She’s also stern and exacting but confident in Carmy’s potential.
Also working alongside Carmy with Chef Terry is Will Poulter’s Luca, the now renowned pastry chef Carmy sent Marcus (Lionel Boyce) to train with in Copenhagen in The Bear Season 2. Luca recalled to Marcus during their training sessions that he always knew Carmy was better than him, which is visualized in these scenes. As the chefs painstakingly shuck peas for what seems like ages, filling a bucket and barely making a dent each time, Carmy is laser-focused on the task. His bucket is filled much higher than everyone else’s. He’s the star student, and a glimmer in Terry’s eyes shows she knows it.
“Have you ever been to Copenhagen?” she asks him, suggesting she’s the one who eventually sent him there, just as he did Marcus. Fans get to see bits and pieces of Carmy working in Copenhagen as well, fulfilling his dream to soak in as much knowledge from every facet of the culinary world as he can. There’s also a scene with a younger Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), still in culinary school, dining at the restaurant where Carmy works as a chef at the time. She is mesmerized by the dish and later tells Marcus it is the greatest meal she has ever eaten. It sets the stage for why she might put up with more than she should when it comes to Carmy: she respects him deeply on a professional level.
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The flashbacks are out of order, and they’re more about what Carmy felt in those moments, not necessarily what was actually happening. It ranges from exhaustion as he falls onto Michelle’s couch, Stevie (John Mulaney) spritzing air freshener to mask the odor of hours spent in a hot kitchen before tucking him in, to pursed lips of determination as he struggles to create a dish or complete a task that will yield praise versus criticism.
Back in present day, there’s a scene with Carmy on the fateful “morning after” the soft opening of The Bear, apologizing to Sydney for abandoning her at the most crucial time in their journey together. He also leaves a heartfelt apology phone message for Richie, though their personalities suggest this likely won’t be all that’s needed for a “we’re good, cousin” moment. It’s after this that Carmy draws up the list of non-negotiables that puzzle others. And having seen his journey now, it’s clearly inspired by everything he learned along the way.
Carmy’s Personal Journey in The Bear
The career retrospective is shown alongside Carmy’s personal journey, which is littered with trauma that haunts him throughout his work life. He’s seen leaving Chicago to go to New York for the first time, Sugar (Abby Elliott) giving him a tearful embrace and slipping money into his pocket to help him get started. She tells him she worries she’ll never see him again, and she was likely right had events not played out the way they did.
The flashbacks flicker to moments of a proud Mikey (Jon Bernthal) showing Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) photos that Carmy is sending him of the complicated and artistic dishes he’s preparing. “What is that?” Tina asks. “I have no idea,” Mikey replies, but he’s smiling ear-to-ear with pride, knowing his brother is better off, realizing the potential he always knew he had. There are darker moments leading up to the inevitable, too, like Richie having trouble getting Mikey to come out of his office, followed by the heart-wrenching call from Abby to Carmy to tell him that their brother is dead.
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The moments from his personal life are downright exhausting, from seeing Carmy sitting in the car, unable to bring himself to attend his brother’s funeral, to bits and pieces from that awful Christmas Eve party and emotional and intimate conversations with Claire. But to truly understand Carmy’s frame of mind, fans needed to dive into it. And that’s exactly what this episode accomplishes.
Most importantly, however, these moments show that Carmy not only wants to succeed, but he wants everyone around him to succeed as well. He has taken all the knowledge imparted to him throughout his journey and is passing it on to others. There’s Sydney, someone he views as a worthy mentee. Marcus, a man dealing with grief in a way Carmy is all too familiar with, but who Carmy knows has the passion and drive to rise above. And Richie, who, while temperamental, has come so far. Carmy knows he can be a better man and wants to make sure he sees that.
The biggest takeaway from the episode, in seeing why Carmy has done everything he has done, is that he recognizes how important it is for someone to have a person who believes in them, but also how crucial it is that they believe in themselves first.
Setting the Stage for The Bear Season 3
So, while the first episode was a massive departure for fans of the show who are familiar with the typically quick pacing, loud dialogue, and frenzied settings, the softer tone presents a journey through Carmy’s mind that shows that all the most heated moments emanate from a place of deep passion that has been brewing for perhaps longer than fans realizes. Carmy has worked so hard to get here. He has lost so much of himself and so much of what’s important to him. He can’t, nor won’t, give up. If he lost Claire, too, it can’t be for nothing.
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Unlike how the first episode of a show or show’s season sets its tone, for Season 3 of The Bear, Episode 1 sets deeper context and justifies emotion. Once fans wrap their heads around that, it’s brilliantly perfect. The episode isn’t so much about what Carmy has to prove as it is about why. Knowing what’s to come in the episodes that follow, it’s an episode fans might want to go back and re-watch to enjoy a serene moment of calm before another storm begins to brew. Because at The Bear, formerly The Beef, it’s always hot in the kitchen. Based on this episode, Carmy can take the heat and won’t accept anything less than perfection as a result. Stream episodes of The Bear Season 3 on Hulu.
