The Bear – Season 2 Episode 10 “The Bear” Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Bear

Episode 10 of The Bear’s new season begins with the opening day of the new restaurant. Or as Carmy called it, “dress rehearsal.” This is the night when they can make mistakes and learn from them. But everyone will be “Well served” (pun intended) if they don’t make any.

Everything begins well with Sugar and Richie at the front of the house and the floor managers going around the tables to make sure everything is alright. Sydney is running expo duty (ensuring the smooth and efficient flow of orders from the waiting staff to the kitchen.)

Time and accuracy; that is what the Bear is looking for. But time is not on the team’s side as they start falling behind. The jam-packed restaurant is buzzing with excited vibes but customers are waiting longer for food than they expected.

Sydney is running the show with Carmy right behind her, helping to organize things, but the cracks keep widening. It gets worse when Josh goes missing and with no one manning his station, Carmy takes the mantle. This has consequences on the fish which becomes unusable after it grows cold. There are more food issues when Tina’s steak is rejected by Sydney, meaning more preparation needs to be done.

Marcus takes over expo duty but is too slow and disorganized. Gary is sent out to fetch new forks, which Sugar, who is dealing with a clogged toilet, had reminded Carmy of. Marcus’ distraction results in them running out of bread! Then it gets even worse – Carmy locks himself inside the walk-in refrigerator. Such chaos!

How does Richie step up and manage things on the opening day?

Richie is the only one managing things like a champ. He is pleasant to all the guests and knows exactly what they want. He even sends a chocolate banana to his Uncle Jimmy. This is a reference to the “Fishes” episode where Jimmy mentioned how the dish and its smell reminded him of his father.

Richie even takes up expo duties and in the next five minutes, steadies the ship to bring them back on track. He is the perfect combination of inspiring, respectful, and enabling. The crew rallies behind him and works in unison to keep up their stations working efficiently.

In under five minutes, all the orders go out on time. Gary has got the new forks. Sugar has fixed the toilet and with Neil’s help, keeps the front of  house in order. Tina’s steak is okayed by Sydney but after serving up the perfect meal for her father, she rushes out and vomits profusely near the bins.

Elsewhere, Marcus finds Josh smoking meth in the alley and with Sydney’s permission, fires him.

Why does Donna refuse to come inside?

Pete, who is seen congratulating Neil, spots Donna nervously smoking outside. She appears unhappy and shaky when she sees him. Pete invites her in but Donna surprisingly refuses. She tries to turn back and leave but Pete wants to know why. He can’t understand why she wouldn’t want to come in to tell Sugar and Carmy how proud she is of them. It turns out that she is tormented by guilt and her own fears of ruining the night. Remnants from Christmas night five years ago are clear in her memory.

Donna confesses she doesn’t know how to apologize to them. It would be easier, she believes, if she didn’t step foot inside the restaurant. “I don’t deserve to see how good this is,” Donna says. “I don’t want to hurt it,” she adds.

Pete mentions Sugar’s baby to which Donna responds “Whose baby?” because she didn’t know Sugar was pregnant. Donna then leaves and a tearful Pete returns inside.

What does Sydney’s puking symbolize?

Nerves! The puking is a result of her stress and feeling fallible. While it is an unpleasant visual tool, it makes for a classic storytelling cue without wasting too much time or resources. Our girl Sydney has made it through one night and now, she knows she has to repeat this process again and again as she “belongs” here, as her father Emmanuelle told her.

Ending Explained:

Why is Carmy spiralling?

Carmy is crumbling under his deep-seated fear of failure. He already had negative thoughts floating around in his head from the time Uncle Jimmy told him he couldn’t have both The Bear and Claire. These thoughts caused his uncharacteristic mess-ups, such as forgetting to call the fridge guy which resulted in him getting stuck inside the refrigerator.

Carmy also starts spiralling when he spots a look-alike of his previous head chef (played by Joel McHale). He knows that every second counts – there are no ways around that reality of the restaurant business – and within the pressure, he starts noticing all his shortfalls.

He thinks of himself as a failure due to the abundance of mistakes – the botched artwork making it to the restaurant, the crooked labelling tapes on the boxes – and everything else! Tina tries her best to convince him otherwise.

Claire rushes inside when Neil tells her Carmy is stuck in the fridge. Carmy doesn’t realize she is present when he confesses a relationship with Claire was a mistake. She “feels sorry” for Carmy’s feelings and leaves teary-eyed after hugging and thanking Richie for his company.

Richie and Carmen’s spat explained:

Richie and Carmen explode at each other. A lot of insults are exchanged where Richie calls Carmy “Donna,” signalling his soulless, cold-heartedness. That single thing is enough to push Carmy over the edge to say the worst things. Right from calling him a “leech” to calling him a “failure who couldn’t hold on to his wife,” Carmy lays it all out on the table.

Richie says “I don’t understand why you can’t just let something good happen for once in your fucking life.” This confirms everything for Carmy in a single moment.

Carmy hears Claire’s voicemail, where among other things, she tells him that she “loves him” (for the first time). That is when he realizes his mistake; the horror of what he has done settles in his consciousness and pushes him deeper into his newfound crisis.

Who is Kristy? Whom is she texting at The Bear?

The season ends with a montage showing the reaction of different people to the opening night. Sydney walks away victorious and Marcus hangs up the “every second counts” plaque that Luca had sent him. Marcus’ phone keeps going off — he is being called by Kristy, his mother’s nurse. This does not look good for his bedridden mother.

Richie tries to fathom his crumbling relationship with Carmy. Even though it was a professional success, Richie looks like a defeated man. Carmen is finally let out of the fridge after a chainsaw cuts through its thick walls. He can finally come out but the real question is this: Does he want to?

The Episode Review

An eventful finale bookends The Bear’s exciting second season. It was a mix of bittersweet, huge personal wins, and crashing personal defeats. A lot of epiphanies and realities of the restaurant business dawned upon our beloved chefs.

Through moments of panic and frail tension, they made it through the night. The drama they endured to make that happen felt like an eternity. And yet, it was just one night. This is not the perfect end that the viewers wanted. But when has The Bear ever given us that?