We follow Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, an award-winning chef, for the untold anxiety of running a restaurant. Hulu’s The Bear centers around Carmy’s struggle to run his brother’s restaurant after his unexpected passing. Season 1 introduced the family and environment that comes with this and the new sous chef and future partner Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri. And now we dive deeper into The Bear, Season 3, Episode 1 “Tomorow”.
The Bear, Season 3, Episode 1 “Tomorow Review
With season 2 building up to the highly anticipated opening night of their restaurant, The Bear, Carmy’s actions manage to get in his own way. The finale ends with a stressful cliffhanger on the future of the restaurant.
It is the day after friends and family night at The Bear, episode 1, Tomorrow, opens on an early Chicago morning, with Carmy by himself at his restaurant. Starting the day by rearranging chairs, removing the flowers, and taking down signs, as a means to process the events of the chaotic opening from the night before. We see that these few hours Carmy has to himself, he’s dedicating to improvements to The Bear. As he proceeds with writing a list of non-negotiables for The Bear, and further neglects himself.
The episode focuses on Carmy’s mindset by summarizing all the stressful situations he has gone through with his family and his brother. The toll it has mentally taken. His relationships and their fallouts. All the experiences and events that came with his career. To see every step that Carmy has taken to be the chef we see by season 3.
In His Head
In these moments before everyone comes in, we see the recurrent images of his past and present play. These clips of scenes are new but recognizable, as an audience knows the places and people from the previous season but never through Carmy’s experience. We see Carmy walking through the streets of Copenhagen, just like we watch the character of Marcus, a fellow chef in season 2. Carmy is living in the same boat refilling the same dog bowl. We see him work at the same restaurant, where Ritchie was given a week’s apprenticeship with the same Chefs. Moments of deja vu reoccur throughout, as a playback of the season before but more importantly as Camry memories.
Unresolved Baggage
In these memories, we are back at his mother’s house and it is Christmas, and we see his ex-girlfriend Claire, played by Molly Gordon, his mother’s image before the events of Christmas night flash again. Conversations with his brother Mikey, played by Jon Bernthal, about opening up a restaurant together as he laughs it off. Fragmented moments of saying goodbye to his sister Sugar, before he heads to New York for Culinary school weaved in periodically. The stress of the last restaurant and the abuse of its head chef palpated throughout. All while the episode seeps present-day updates on Ritchie, Clair, Marcus, and Sydney for perspective.
The last moments of the episode reveal a traumatic event yet to be addressed in the series, the events leading up to Mikey’s death and the funeral. Acting as a reminder that there is still a lot left for Carmy to acknowledge and unpack.
Carmy’s Journey
The episode emphasizes how heavily Carmy’s past still lingers with him today. both good and bad. On one hand, we see his culinary training, his work in various kitchens, the skills he’s acquired, and the talent he always exuded. However, the unaddressed grief of his past relationships haunts him in his present connections.
It’s this very combination of his neuroses and talent that gets the best of Carmy. We can clearly see the dedication and love Carmy has for food and cooking, but the environment of the kitchen and the pressure it puts on him acts as his trigger.
What he has been chasing is his calm and balance and to exist in his duality with himself. The answer to this is symbolized by his partner Sydney. It’s in the last moment of the episode when Carmy makes a change to the dish he has been working on throughout the episode for one plate, for that dish to be served to Sydney. A dish that she in an earlier season disclosed was one of the best things she had ever eaten. All while they were still strangers to each other, ending the episode on her first bite.
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The Bear stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Season 3 premiered on June 26, 2024. All episodes streaming on Hulu now.
