The dark comedy got an early renewal less than a month after its June 23 premiere. It comes as no surprise, considering the show’s critical acclaim. The Bear has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is already considered one of the best new shows of the year. The Bear follows an award-winning chef, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), as he returns to his hometown of Chicago to run the sandwich shop owned by his recently-deceased brother. He finds The Original Beef of Chicagoland a world away from fine dining, particularly in the resistance he faces from obstinate employees led by his brother’s best friend Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). To whip the place into shape, Carmy hires a young trained chef named Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and relies on her to impose a more orderly system in the kitchen. But the restaurant is a toxic stew that’s $300,000 in debt — and it’s ready to combust at any moment. Carmy struggles to deal with it all in the midst of his grief. Here’s everything we know so far about The Bear season 2.
The Bear season 2 release date window
FX officially renewed The Bear for a second season, though it has not set a release date, but gave a release window instead. Series co-creators Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo indicated The Bear season 2 will arrive next year. In a statement, they said, “We are so grateful to FX, our insanely talented cast, our crew who worked hard, fast and in the dead of winter, not to mention everyone who watched. And we can’t wait to bring you all back to The Bear in 2023."
The Bear season 2 cast
The Bear cast is led by Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a James Beard Award-winning chef who worked at “the best restaurant in the world, at least according to Eater.” He returns home to Chicago to run The Original Beef of Chicagoland, the restaurant owned by his brother Mikey, who committed suicide. Season 2 should bring back most of the main cast, including:
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard “Richie” Jerimovich, Mikey’s best friend and the shop’s managerAyo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu, a Culinary Institute of America chef who takes a job staging at Original BeefLionel Boyce as Marcus, the restaurant’s bakerLiza Colón-Zayas as Tina, a cookEdwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim, a cookOliver Platt as Cicero, Carmy and Mikey’s uncleAbby Elliott as Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto, Carmy and Mikey’s sisterChris Witaske as Pete, Sugar’s husbandMatty Matheson as Neil Fak, Richie’s friend and fixerJon Bernthal as Michael “Mikey” Berzatto, Carmy and Sugar’s brother (in flashbacks)
Season 1 also featured a few cameos, notably Joel McHale as Carmy’s former executive chef boss and Molly Ringwald as an Al-Anon meeting moderator. They may or may not appear again in The Bear season 2. Likely, season 2 will add some new faces to the mix. We may see more of Carmy’s relatives or fine dining restaurant co-workers, either in the present day or in flashbacks. The show may introduce family members of Richie, Sydney or Marcus (we’ve met Tina’s son Angel).
The Bear season 2 plot and season 1 ending explained
Season 1 ended with Carmy closing Original Beef and putting up a “coming soon” sign for a new restaurant called The Bear. Season 2 is expected to follow Carmy and the kitchen crew as they reorganize the place, come up with a new menu and open to the public. If you know anything about the restaurant industry (or have watched the Restaurant Wars episodes of Top Chef), you know that openings are incredibly stressful. They can make or break a new restaurant. Remember how tense the premiere episode was? Carmy could barely keep it together while running a going concern with cooks who’d been doing it forever. And recall episode 7, when he lost it over the disaster with a new online ordering system? Now, Carmy will bear (sorry) the responsibility opening his own place. The menu, decor and service are all on him. No pressure — haha, so much pressure. He’s at this point because of what happened in The Bear season 1 finale. After a stovetop fire that leaves Carmy dazed and confused, Richie finally gives him Mikey’s letter. It’s the recipe for a spaghetti dish, specifically indicating the use of the smaller size of canned tomatoes. Carmy sets to cooking “family,” the meal the kitchen staff shares before the restaurant opens. When he dumps the tomatoes into the pan, he discovers a wad of plastic-wrapped cash. He corrals the rest of the staff into opening dozens of cans, many of them filled with more wads of cash — to the tune of $300,000. It’s the money that Mikey borrowed from Uncle Cicero. He stashed it away, presumably so that Carmy could open his own restaurant. The whole thing invites a lot of questions — like, how did the money get into sealed cans? Why hide it there? And doesn’t Carmy have to pay back Cicero? For now, the family is chowing down and the Bear is opening sometime soon. Next: You can check out these 7 must-stream Hulu shows are 95% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes while we wait for The Bear season 2. And make sure to watch Boiling Point if you’re a fan of The Bear.
