The entire third season of The Bear, the multi-award-winning kitchen drama, is landing on Disney+ tomorrow, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
Following the story of Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning fine dining chef who moves back to his hometown Chicago to take over his late brother’s beef sandwich shop, the show has won over audiences with its intelligent, unpretentious exploration of loss and pain, ambition and gentrification. The high-pressured kitchen makes for an intense backdrop for all the human drama.
For those just joining the show now, there are 18 excellent episodes in season one and two to get through – which might indeed seem like a bit of a mountain to climb. Luckily, the storyline is pretty easy to follow, and there are some excellent recaps bringing audiences up to speed pronto. Below, find out more about the main characters in the show.
Jeremy Allen White as Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto
The Bear is, first and foremost, a show about Carmy. At the start of the series, the sandwich joint is a mess – there are no food hygiene standards, staff are angry and unmotivated – and so of course, when Carmy comes barreling in, trying to modernise the place, there is a tonne of resistance.
But Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy has a real charm about him. He isn’t actually the posh, out-of-touch outsider his colleagues expect him to be. He was partly driven to excel by his estranged relationship with his drug addict brother Michael (who dies by suicide), and so, when he returns to Chicago, he is working through his guilt and his grief.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich
Lazy, stubborn and difficult Richie is by all appearances not a nice guy. But underneath his abrasive shell, he’s a softy, a man dealing with the grief of losing his best friend Michael and also coping with a messy divorce. He has a daughter, Eva, whom he feels he is failing.
He mishandles his pain, and it’s all too recognisable: “Like many viewers, I was drawn to Richie, in spite of all his anger and irrationality. Why? Because we know him. We know people like him. In some ways, we might even be him — especially if we’ve suffered profound loss,” wrote one reviewer.
When the Standard spoke to Moss-Bachrach last year he said: “You never know how anything is going to translate... Dysfunction translates, I guess.” As the show develops Richie and Carmy become incredibly close, fighting, shouting, and, eventually, helping one another.
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu
Ayo Edebiri won an Emmy for her performance as Sydney, a sous-chef at the sandwich shop. A Culinary Institute of America (CIA) trained chef – she paid her way through school working for UPS – she ends up working with Michael after her own business goes bust. Organised, ambitious and with a culinary background, she quickly becomes Carmy’s number two.
Oliver Platt as James ‘Cicero’ Kalinowski, aka Uncle Jimmy
A friend of the Berzatto family, Uncle Jimmy became involved in the business after lending Michael $300,000 to keep the sandwich shop afloat. In season one he offers to take the shop (which is called The Beef) off Carmy’s hands completely, but Carmy refuses and promises to repay the loan. In season two, when Carmy decides to transform The Beef into a fine dining restaurant, Uncle Jimmy helps out once again, this time lending $500,000.
Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina
Tina’s life has not been easy, but the tough and independent chef and mother, who is initially incredibly resistant to Carmy, starts to warm to her new boss after she recognises he actually wants to help. At the beginning though, she’s a total pain: she won’t follow any of the rules he tries to implement, won’t follow any of his cooking tips and won’t say “Yes chef”, – instead saying “Yes Jeff”. But Carmy doesn’t give up on her. Rather than firing her, he sends her to cooking school (in season two) and she eventually becomes Sydney’s sous-chef.
Lionel Boyce as Marcus
Marcus, a real sweetie, is also initially resistant to Carmy. But just like Tina, he comes to understand that Carmy actually just wants to improve everyone’s lives. A man who used to work at McDonalds and at a phone company, hardworking Marcus is the pastry chef at The Beef and his enthusiasm for his station is contagious. Naturally, as the shop modernises and evolves into a restaurant his role rapidly expands, and Carmy sends him to get extra training alongside a top Copenhagen chef.
Matty Matheson as Fak
Real-life Canadian chef Matty Matheson plays mechanic Fak in The Bear, as well as working on the show as a producer and consultant. Explaining that didn’t want to play a chef “because that’s stressful” – Matheson spent his entire career in kitchens before hosting some cooking-related TV episodes such as Viceland’s It’s Suppertime and Jimmy Kimmel Live! – his character never goes near a stove. Instead, Fak, a close friend of Michael’s from childhood, helps out Carmy with jobs around the restaurant. He is part of the construction team that expands the space in season two.
Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim
A Somali refugee, Ebraheim has worked as a cook at The Beef for years. In season two he is sent with Tina to culinary school, but stops attending – he feels out of place in the strict, sterile environment, and his insecurities are triggered. At the end of season two, he finds his place back at Carmy’s, running the sandwich take out window of the updated restaurant.
Jon Bernthal as Michael, aka Mikey Berzatto
Mikey Berzatto, Carmy’s brother, dies by suicide before the start of the first season. But as the show develops we see him in various flashbacks as we learn more about his relationship with his brother, friend and colleagues, his addictions and depression, and his charismatic presence.
Abby Elliott as Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto
Carmy and Mickey’s sister, Sugar, became estranged from Carmy in the years he spent working in New York. It means that when he rocks up in Chicago, she’s apprehensive about his plans to modernise the family sarny shop. But by season two, even though the siblings haven’t seamlessly reconnected, she is working as project manager for the restaurant expansion. She and her husband Pete (Chris Witaske), a friendly guy who rubs Cicero and Richie the wrong way, get pregnant in the show’s second chapter.
Molly Gordon as Claire
Claire, Carmy’s childhood sweetheart, grew up alongside the Berzattos, but lost touch as she grew older and went to medical school. Now an ER doctor in Chicago, she bumps into Carmy in a food shop and the two start up a romance again. The stress of opening the new restaurant starts to affect the relationship.
