The Bear – Season 2 Episode 5 “Pop” Recap & Review

Pop

Episode 5 of The Bear begins with yet another attempt by Sydney to get a dish up on the chaos menu. Tina works with her until the wee hours of the night. But once again, the end result is disappointing. How long will Sydney be able to take this before cracking? We are six weeks away from the opening and the renovation hasn’t taken giant strides. Ebra, who has been MIA, is seen chilling outside with a cigar in his hand. Tina reveals that Ebra hasn’t talked to him in days and she is worried about him.

Marcus is still in Copenhagen and does not feature in this episode. Carmy, Fak, and Richie are mapping the kitchen plan to optimize efficiency. Carmy wants to get to 5 seconds – the time it takes to go from the ovens to the islands – but is stuck at 7.

Like a diligent businessman, Cicero walks in to check on the renovation work. He is surprised to see the state of things and the meagre progress the crew have made. The problem for the day is that neither the plumbers nor the electricians can get to work until the drywall is installed. Cicero sounds off a warning to everyone. They are closer to failure than success and he predicts that come 6 weeks, he is not confident that they will be able to open successfully. In an effort to position themselves better for permits, Sugar asks Cicero for help in getting licences for alcohol.

Tina is overjoyed as Carmen gives her his own personal knife. This makes her even more confident when she uses it in culinary class, earning the praise of her teacher. She also gets invited out to a bar by her fellow students. Sydney’s frustrations with Carmy keep growing as he further avoids her work on the menu. For now, Carmy is more focused on Claire and reigniting the old sparks. He calls her to ask for her help in mailing the alcohol permits. The two discuss each other’s jobs and why they love them because of their gruesome nature.

Back at the restaurant, the work seems to be finally progressing. But they hit another obstacle as the HVAC won’t work due to an “amperage” problem. That means the current isn’t strong enough to power the machines.

After mailing the permits, which by their own admission was “anticlimactic,” Carmy and Claire hang out in her car. She talks about Michael and how Carmy was a shy person in high school when they dated. Carmy confesses he was intimidated by the number of friends Claire had. That was one of the reasons he didn’t approach her romantically at first. She invites him to go to a friend’s party who has just had a breakup. At the party, many people recognize Carmy and greet him warmly.

Tina surprises everyone with her majestic voice while singing karaoke songs. Back at the party, Claire and Carmy are about to kiss. Right then, they hear police sirens go off. Since it is illegal to burst fireworks in Chicago, the police have arrived at the scene to arrest the responsible persons. He takes her back to his restaurant. When they get there, they find Richie and Sugar fighting with each other and Sydney trying to play peacemaker in the middle. The fight is regarding Richie stealing electricity from their neighbouring store to get the amperage right. Carmy sends everyone home, including Fak who is happy to hear he and Claire are back together. The episode ends with Carmy passionately kissing her, something they weren’t able to do throughout the episode.

The Episode Review

‘The Bear’ continues the intervention in the personal life of the chefs with another insightful episode. Claire does seem like a healthy presence in Carmy’s life. But it cannot be denied that she is taking him away from work. “Every second counts,” which is plastered on their 3-month plan to open The Bear, is actually pulling the strings in the background. Meanwhile, Sydney is growing increasingly distant from the vision and second-guessing her own abilities.

That element of tension hasn’t surfaced yet. But it is a continuing source of excitement for us when it does. Season 2 has followed the established formula from the first season with a little more time away from the restaurant. It wouldn’t be surprising to see all of this kept up in the remaining episodes as we head into episode 6.