Carmy's family life was just as dysfunctional as his relationship status by the time The Bear season 2 came to a close - here's what went down.
The Bear season 3 is here, and a lot of people are sitting down to binge the iconic family comedy-drama that we just can't get enough of. Not a show to shy away from the grittiness of family life, the series has inherited trauma at it's heart - Carmy and his siblings Mikey and Natalie had a difficult upbringing, and Carmy disappeared to immerse himself in becoming a chef, while Mikey sadly succumbed to drug problems and ended his life.
Carmy and Natalie grudgingly reunite in shared grief, to reopen the restaurant Mikey left behind, The Beef, and reopen it as new venue The Bear. The realness and visceral nature of the story has left some wondering if The Bear is a true story, a question that will likely be asked again now the third season is airing. If you're about to watch the latest episodes, here's a full recap of everything you need to remember about season 2.
The Bear season 2 ending explained
The ending of The Bear season 2 sees many of the show's main characters wrap up their journeys. Most of the characters are happy, after an overall successful opening night for the restaurant, but the final scenes hint at some trouble around the corner for Carmy.
He spends much of the night locked in the walk-in fridge, after appearing to suffer a breakdown because of the pressure he put himself under and the trauma he suffered at the hands of his ruthless former boss. He laments that everything that has gone wrong in the restaurant is his fault, because he had gotten involved in a romantic relationship.
When opening night is over, Carmy checks his voicemail to find a message from new girlfriend Claire, who had a sudden urge to call him while she was at work earlier in the day. She tells him she's proud of him, and that his brother (who took his own life ahead of season one) would be too, before saying "I love you" for the first time. But after blaming his relationship for being the reason he took his eye off the ball, Carmy might already have ruined his chances.
Towards the end of the episode, Carmy's number two Sydney has also resolved the tension between her and dessert chef Marcus, after he asked her on a date. But what Marcus doesn't realise is that he's missed several calls from his ill mother's nurse, hinting that something might have happened to his bedridden mother, who he's been looking after all season.
Meanwhile, Sydney finally gets the moment of validation that she has been craving. Her father, who has visited the new restaurant for 'Friends and Family Night', finally accepts that working in a kitchen is what she was meant to do.
Richie also gets his moment in the spotlight, as the face of calm when things begin to go wrong in the kitchen. Despite being resentful that his close friend Mikey left the restaurant to Carmy, and resisting his new management style, he helps Sydney save opening night after Carmy gets locked in the fridge.
Another storyline that reaches a crucial point is Natalie's (aka Sugar). Her husband Pete spots, Donna, who is Sugar and Carmy's mother, smoking outside the restaurant. He tries to convince her to come in, but she refuses, not wanting to spoil the night. Pete mentions the baby to Donna, but when Donna doesn't know what he's talking about, he realises that Sugar never told her mum she's pregnant - her eventual season three childbirth episode also does great things for normalising the fear and mundane nature of birth (we've already watched the series.)
What happened at the end of The Bear season 2?
The final episode of The Bear sees the new restaurant open for 'Friends and Family Night'. And though the evening starts relatively calm, things quickly begin to go wrong in the kitchen.
One of the new hires, Josh, has gone missing, Marcus and Sydney are having trouble communicating after she rejected him, the restaurant has run out of clean forks, they're down 12 baskets of bread, and the clogged toilet has exploded on Natalie.
Meanwhile, Carmy is struggling with self-doubt and the criticism he faced in his past jobs, which leads to him hallucinating that his old boss is sitting in the back of the restaurant.
Things go from bad to worse when he ends up locked in the walk-in fridge that he'd been refusing to fix all season, after Marcus breaks the faulty handle off. As Sydney begins to panic, Richie steps up to help her and the pair manage to get everything under control.
At the end of the night, Carmy is still locked in the fridge and, believing Tina is on the other side of the door, blames himself for the things that went wrong because he had gotten into a relationship with Claire, leading him to neglect the restaurant. Little does he know that it's actually Claire on the other side of the door, having come back to check on him. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Carm" Claire says, leaving him shouting after her.
Just as Claire is on her way out, Richie comes in and he and Carmy berate each other through the fridge door, before Carmy checks his phone and listens to the voicemail from Claire, making him realise what he may have just lost.
What is the chocolate banana in The Bear
The chocolate banana in the final episode refers to episode six of The Bear season two, in which Uncle Jimmy talks to Richie's then-wife Tiff about how his dad would take him to a chocolate banana stand when he was a kid, something he remembers to this day.
Telling Tiff about the chocolate bananas, Uncle Jimmy says, "On the drive out here we actually passed the stand my dad used to take me to get 'em. I swear to god I could smell 'em, you know? And him.
"It’s weird, right? We remember smells. Cologne. Anyway, it's kinda been sitting with me, you know? Sitting on my chest. All of a sudden after all these years I’m missing that fat f***?"
Richie and Uncle Jimmy certainly haven't seen eye to eye during The Bear, but after the former's newfound appreciation for customer service, he arranges a special dessert for him, and sends the chocolate banana over on the house.
For more on navigating family situations, we look at the signs of a toxic mother, and the six phrases adult children need to hear from their difficult parents. If you struggle with some family members, boundaries in relationships with them are crucial.
