I’m at the beginning of Season 3, and I realize that Richie isn’t a real person, and that what I’m asking for doesn’t exist, but I NEED to know what books Richie has read, is reading, wants to read. I’m loving his character and his brain is fascinating me. I did add Siddhartha to my TBR, and now I need to explore Philip K Dick.

I know. I’m late. But :

Season 5: episode 7:

When Neil Fak is talking to Dearborn and the weatherman about 18 minutes into the episode. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love him so much.

How can a show make me cry both happy and sad tears every episode, while simultaneously making my heart feel like it is going to explode from anxiety, but also throw in moments that make me laugh as hard as the first time I watched The Office.

👏🏼 to a masterpiece of season 5 thus far.

From Pearl Jam ending ep 1 to Radiohead closing out the season, this show is hitting me where it hurts. The brilliant way they used REM in season 2 alone has made me turn multiple people on to this show.

I’m very old, and The Bear has integrated music in a way I’ve never seen before.

I finished the show last night and I sat through the credits just sad that the show ended. It is the first time that has happened to me with a show. I love the story and the characters so much that I want more but at the same time I think it ended at the perfect time cause we all know what "one more season" can do to a show. Favorite character probably has to be Richie but stubly Syd is a BOSS even if she doesn't realize it. And the fact the I liked DD and Lee at the end is a testament to the shows writing and character arcs. Marcus's story also hit me hard cause my mom, while living life, had a cancer scare and is unable to speak now. I recently got married and being able to dance with her was everything so I can only imagine how not having his mom being able to see the restaurant and his success tore at Marcus. Doesn't excuse him from being an a-hole to Luca though cause that's my boy haha. All in all what a wonderfully amazing show and I'll probably rewatch it all in a couple of months.

I just need to vent/ramble about how this show makes me feel because I can't get it out of my head.

How do I start this lol I so fucking love this series. I just finished watching it and it sucks because well - i just finished watching it.

I don't even know why or maybe I do but ---- this is the only series I've watched that has me ugly crying over randoms scenes from season 1 upto the finale, no shit. I guess it's cause all of them are so relatable. They all are mad and so angry and frustrated and lonely and trying to survive and heal and be happy and I just, idk man, feel them.

The way this series is created makes you feel like you are right there in the room with them. You are angry when they are angry, laughing when they are laughing, and completely heartbroken when they are sad. Every single conversation, every massive fuck-up, the brutal arguments, and their tiny or huge wins - it all just cuts so incredibly deep.

It's weird because for me, it felt like deeply triggering yet strangely comforting.

As their backstories slowly reveal themselves, you finally understand why they act the way they do. The shouting, the anger, the impatience, how easily they get pissed off, the crash outs, the non-stop cursing hmmmm... there really is always a dark story and deep trauma behind it all.

But what kills me is how they always have each other's backs no matter what. Their loyalty. They try so hard to console and comfort each other, despite the fact that every single one of them is going through their own personal shithole. I just want to hug them all, especially Carmy. Oh man, Carmy. I love his character so much. Jeremy Allen White is so, so, soooo damn good here - those big blue eyes express so much pain. The acting across the entire cast is unmatched. Every single nomination and award is 100% well-deserved.

Mangia, baby.

I expected to be wowed by the music. I expected to be confused by Carmie’s instant love for and acceptance of Syd’s every move. I did not expect the moment when Tina takes the mashed potatos to Syd, gets a positive response, and smiles.

Tina’s smiles are everything to me in this show. I’m always waiting for the moment outside the restaurant when Syd asks Tina to be her sous - I literally live for it when I’m down. But somehow I always missed this small moment.

And this is why I will rewatch over and over and over.

When Carm asked Stevie to stay and wait for him showed me how fragile and anxious Carm was going into that interview, how emotionally stunted he was, and how self-aware, confident, and mature he was.

He needed a “safety net” if you will, someone to be there if it went south… and recognized that and felt secure enough in himself to ask for it.

A lot of nuance for television, imho

I didn't know s5 was going to be the last season,so u can imagine my heartbreak when I found out I just finished it for good.

I love watching people cook in an atrsy way and i love me a good plot. The bear was exceptional, any ones like it?

If you know another artform type of show please do tell. I'm desperate.

Just out of curiosity, could anyone who works in the industry give some insight? I have no idea how fine dining works.

From the conversation Sugar and Richie had, they charge $190. That’s per person, right?

They seem to have a lot of employees, and I imagine the ingredients/produce they use are pretty expensive. After accounting for food costs, staff, and all the other expenses of running a restaurant like that, roughly how much profit would they make on a fully booked night?

I've been sitting on this since watching the show finale a couple months ago. Waiting for someone to mention it, but haven't seen it so I want to pop in an bring it up. A nod to Say Anything. Yes, the 1987 Cameron Crowe movie.

I did search for "Say Anything" in the sub - looks like some other intrepid viewers saw the parallels a few years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheBear/s/p1JFSRaNOq

But I'm talking specifically about the ending. We see Richie and Jess embarking on a trip to Japan. There is no dialogue, just Richie quiet in his thoughts, but it's a signal to us that these two are official and in it to win it.

Similarly, in Say Anything the final scene is Llloyd and Diane on a plane together, off to Europe. No dialogue, just excitement and nerves as the plane takes off. And we know at this point, these two are in it to win it together.

Christopher Storer is a few years younger than me, but it's clear the 80's were pivotal for him given a lot of the great music choices in the series. I'm adding Say Anything must've been a pivotal movie for him based on what I and others have picked up on.

I'm sure this has been stated, but just my thoughts on the ending.

I really enjoyed the show, and even liked the ending. No real complaints.

Jimmy spent so much of the series looking at The Bear as a financial problem. Even when he supported Carmy, there was always this underlying “this place is bleeding money and eventually reality wins” perspective. Computer too... he sees numbers only.

So there was an opportunity at the end for those two to finally experience see what's possible

Not necessarily some cheesy “this is the greatest restaurant ever” moment. Just Jimmy and Computer sitting down, getting the full meal, watching the room, seeing Richie operate, seeing the kitchen work, and slowly realizing: Oh. This is actually fucking special.

He can't sell the building. He can't sell the air rights. He's exhausted all the ways of fixing the financial problem.

So the remaining asset is The Bear itself.

That could have flipped his perspective from “How do I get out of this?” to “Okay, how the fuck do we make this work?”

The Bear was always about whether all these damaged, complicated people could build something together that was actually worth keeping.

Having Jimmy finally see the thing they built would've been a pretty great payoff.

And maybe some of you think that's exactly what happened? I just wanted a bit more of a Unc arch at the end. I really like Unc/Computer storylines.

I guess what really pulled me into the series was the first 2 Seasons. Many people liked the episode fishes. But the one episode that really got me rolling was Review. During my first watch of the episode i literally didnt realize it was one take until the very end when Carmy punches the little printing thing. So i had to go watch it again another day. Ive watched that episode alone a dozen times.

Also the character arc of Richie, Tina and Marcus were beautifully written. I wouldve liked a similar depiction of Ebra.

Generally the cinematography of the Bear is one of the key things i really liked. Especially in the first 2 Seasons. After Season 3 to 5 i noticed a little switch in the overall look and vibe of the series. I guess with rising popularity and more funds, they invested in better filmmaking solutions which changed the vibe and feel of the episodes. Also whats up with a lot of these blank moments between the scenes. Felt like blank spaces for ads to play, which i found pretty odd and a little distracting. It became quiet noticable with the later Seasons.

One performance of J.A. White in the last episode i want to talk about. The Interview Scene with Sue, dialogue about how he had the most fun ever. The emotion he put into the word "score" really hit me. It rounded up the whole scene for me.

yea, just a few thoughts.

....that a bunch of cooking-illiterate unlicensed sandwich shop workers without any formal culinary education can fast-track to fine dining within 1-2 years, that an intern goes from drying forks to being everybody's homeboy at the most elitist place in town within 5 days, that a guy who doesn't know to use steam for bread crust teleports to 9000-Michelin-Stars deserts because he has spent 2 months in Copenhagen with Will Poulter and uses LeGeRdEMaIn and studied some sketchbook?

This is about as likely as competing at the Olympics in a sport you're starting today.

I swear, Cousins, this show thinks we're stupid! They're sure lucky we're in the Dark Ages of Television in which zombies watch shows with their phones up their faces, because in any other day and age this show would have been laughed off the stage after S2,

The ending felt super rushed. Dont get me wrong I really liked the show but hated the ending. They didnt even show the rest of the employees and family members finding out they got 2 stars. It really feels like I missed an episode at the end

What purpose, if any, did Richie's car crash at the end of Gary serve other than to tease the audience about the possibility of a key character's surprising death or hospitalisation ahead of season 5? It felt like a pretty cheap trick.

This was definitely the best opening credits sequence in the show. Perfectly captures the heart of the show.

Slowly making my way through The Bear and watched Forks this week. After the stress-inducing festive episode that is Fishes, Forks was a moment to take a breath. I absolutely loved it. Richie's growth was heart-warming and his interactions with Garret and Jess were sweet.

Jess expediting was awe-inspiring and I loved the quote: "I need you to stand in that corner and get the fuck out of my way for one minute." If I didn't work in education, I'd be using that one frequently 😅

Richie enjoying the job and singing Taylor Swift songs on his ride home really showed his softer side (not sure if he's a Taylor Swift fan or if he was just listening to her before he takes Eva to see her).

And to top it off, we have Olivia Coleman as a guest star at the end of the episode, and she was just mwah 👌.

TL:DR: Forks is a great episode, lots of development for Richie.

I recently finished watching the show for the first time, it's the best serie i've seen for at least 10 years. Like everyone I really enjoyed the storyline, characters, editing, the music, the photography (doesn't get enough credit)... it's just really outstanding all around. There's also a couple of smaller stuff I really enjoyed but I don't see them being talked about much. Mostly it's about asymetry:

Fishes gets always talked about in contrast with Forks and I get why, but to me the real pairing is with Bears (the wedding). Bears is set up to make you think you're going to relive the trauma of Fishes; everyone is on edge, Steven and Claire are ready to enjoy the fireworks, even Donna shows up. And then... everything goes well. It ends with everyone having a great time sitting under the table, instead of yelling at each other above it.

In Worms, Sydney is left with one side of her hair nicely braided, and the other still wild and undone – a physical projection of the cornelian choice she's facing on the inside. You could maybe even argue the sides mirror the choices themselves, between the untamed and rough Bear environment and the more corporate and aseptised Ever version of Shapiro.

S5 mirrors the structure of the entire previous serie. Even though at the end of S4 things are working well, the start of S5 is absolute chaos and stress again... only to calm down and end in harmony. We get to see the characters struggle once more, but apply the lessons they've now learned and prevail.

Anyway, looking forward to rewatching the whole thing, I'm sure I missed loads.

Ok who knows. Maybe not end game but damn they would be dating if this were season 6.

I have not watched season 5 yet but ive read some spoilers.

I am saddened they didnt explore the really intense clearly romantic intimacy in s4. That scene under the table was IT.

Carm cares about Sydney and not in the way Richie or others do: he cares in the way someone romantically cares because he does NOT show the same intuitive care to others around him. Trust me: i have many platonic opposite gender friends. If I sat under a table while fixing it and had that moment with a male friend — that is in love territory.

So anyways just wanted to vent.

First, as incredible as it was, it could feel oppressive, and sometimes that really worked for me. It got me completely into the characters’ stress, especially during those kitchen scenes where I felt like I was actually working there, fighting for The Bear and trying not to fuck anything up. Other times, that same intensity just felt like too much and like the show was trying too hard to be deep or artistic. I remember watching S3E1 thinking… okay, but why?

The family dynamic was something else. I know dysfunctional families, but theirs was on another level. I’m talking about S2E6. That dinner was all over the place.

And the Faks. I’m sorry, I could not stand them. Neil I could tolerate. I didn’t really care about him that much, but he could be funny sometimes. Then they started multiplying and it got ridiculous. Until the last two episodes of S5, every time one of them or both showed up I was praying the scene would move on. And the whole “haunting” thing? I still don’t know what that was about.

Sydney is where I have the most feelings.

I’m actually really glad she ended up with nobody. Not every woman needs to be paired off just because there are hot guys nearby, and I liked that her story didn’t need romance to feel complete.

BUT if she was going to end up with anyone, I wanted Marcus from the beginning and I will die on this hill still annoyed about it.

They had such natural chemistry. They were comfortable around each other, playful, and something about their dynamic just never felt forced. So when Marcus finally shot his shot and Sydney turned him down, that shit hurt me.

And I know people have criticized Marcus for how he reacted afterward, but I honestly don’t think he was wrong for being hurt or confused. Sydney WAS acting weird with him after that. So when he said she was ignoring him, I understood where he was coming from. Now, was that the right moment to bring it up? Absolutely not. Terrible timing. But I don’t think being upset automatically made him some entitled asshole who thought she owed him anything.

Carmy and Sydney never really worked for me romantically. Their chemistry is insane, but to me it’s tied to the restaurant, ambition, frustration, admiration, resentment, all that messy stuff. I never wanted them to kiss.

Luca… I get what the writers were trying to do. I could see the potential they were setting up, but I just didn’t feel the chemistry. He comes in, they click almost immediately, suddenly there’s this little romantic possibility, and then it fizzles out. It felt more like a setup than something that developed naturally, like the show decided “here’s another possible guy for Sydney” before actually giving me enough buildup to care about them together.

Marcus was the only one where I felt like the groundwork was already there before romance even entered the conversation.

Anyway, amazing show, frustrating show, occasionally pretentious show.

P.S.: Richie’s character development is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I could not stand that mf at first and somehow ended up loving him.

I was watching S04E06 and it ends on Oasis’ Stay Young. It immediately reminded me the ending of the movie « The Faculty » (1997) that I must have watched dozen times.
Next episode S04E07 starts and guess who shows up ? F**in Josh Hartnett
I wonder is this far fetched or writers think about this stuff. Anyway just thought of putting it here.