The Bear Explained is a new documentary that tells the story of the final days of the Bear Stearns financial institution. The film follows the events leading up to and including its bankruptcy in 2008, and provides an in-depth look at what caused its downfall. The Bear Stearns story is one that has been told many times before, but The Bear Explained does a great job of providing a comprehensive overview of the events that led up to its bankruptcy. The film also interviews key players in the financial crisis, including regulators and executives from other banks who were impacted by Bear Stearns’s collapse. Overall, The Bear Explained is an informative documentary that provides a detailed look at one of the most significant financial crises in recent history. ..
It is a beautifully done show, with probably the only flaw being exactly what made it so good—that it was too fast in places. While not enough to disengage, it brings a sense of irritation to the viewer when the challenge is the pace of the story instead of the story itself. But it is a forgivable flaw, one we don’t mind too much, considering how it’s been a good while since we’ve seen such content.
The ending of The Bear season 1 answers questions about The Original Beef’s past and sets up the restaurant’s future under Carmy’s leadership. Developed for FX and Hulu by Christopher Storer, The Bear debuted on the Disney-owned streaming service in June 2022. It earned great reviews for its realistic portrayal of the chaos that comes from working in the food industry, as well as its depiction of someone dealing with anxiety and grief.
1 ending in a surprising fashion that leaves room for the Hulu release to continue in a brand new way.
The Bear Recap
‘The Bear’ sees Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto returning to his home in Chicago after his brother Michael “Mikey” Berzatto dies by suicide. Devastated by Michael’s death, Carmy hides his emotions and focuses on running their family restaurant, The Original Beef of Chicagoland, which their father started. However, Carmy struggles to find the finances to keep the place operating as the business is hanging on by a thread.
Carmy finds it challenging to organize the restaurant as per his lofty standards and fails to win the confidence of his staff at first. He recruits Sidney, a bright and talented sous chef who quickly proves that she brings a lot of value to the restaurant. Carmy’s cousin, Richie, who works at the restaurant, opposes Carmy’s new ideas and insists on sticking to their original methods. On the other hand, Carmy strives for consistency.
The struggling restaurant hits a new low after the health inspector assigns the outlet a C score. However, Carmy is determined to turn things around. Soon, Carmy’s dedication to his skill and the restaurant rubs off on the other cooks. Marcus begins to explore his passion for baking and tries new desserts. Sidney is hired full-time and takes on some major responsibilities in the kitchen. Tina, Ibra, and Gary fully commit to their jobs.
Carmy also tries to reconnect with his estranged family members, such as his Uncle Jimmy, who had loaned Mikey $300,000, and his sister, Sugar, who is concerned about Carmy’s mental health. On Sugar’s insistence, Carmy attends Al-Anon meetings to recover from his past traumas. Nonetheless, Carmy continues to struggle with anxiety.
Things finally start to look bright for the restaurant, and Carmy’s organization and changes benefit the business. However, after one bad day in the kitchen, Carmy realizes the restaurant is still hanging by a thread. Thus, Carmy is forced to confront the possibility of closing down the restaurant.
The Bear Ending: Does Carmy Close Down the Restaurant?
In the season finale, Carmy deals with his complex emotions about Michael’s passing. Carmy admits that he laments not being able to bid farewell to his brother. At the restaurant, the rest of the staff deals with the absence of Sidney and Marcus, who leave after an altercation with Carmy. Carmy tries to figure out what the KBL is and why Michael was sending it a large sum of money every month.
After Carmy almost ends up burning the kitchen during one of his panic attacks, Richie hands him a letter left behind by Michael. In the letter, Micheal expresses his love for Carmy with their family spaghetti recipe written on the backside. Thus, Carmy reinstates spaghetti on the menu and retrieves the tomato puree cans from the refrigerator. However, Carmy is surprised to learn that the can contains cash neatly stashed inside it.
Soon, the staff opens all the cans and retrieves the money Michael had stashed away for Carmy. Marcus and Sidney also return to the restaurant and resume their duties. With his dedicated staff behind him and the money left by Michael, Carmy has a bold idea. He closes down The Original Beef of Chicagoland, his family’s restaurant that he and his brother fought so hard to keep afloat. However, Carmy’s final message to restaurant patrons marks the impending arrival of “The Bear.”
The ending implies that Michael had stashed away the money borrowed from Jimmy through KBL to reconstruct the place. As Carmy notes, the brothers often spoke about their desire to start their own restaurant. It is also hinted that the original restaurant created a toxic family environment for the siblings and drove their parents to addiction. Thus, it symbolizes the prevailing traumas of the siblings.
Michael likely left the money so that Carmy could create something special at the place and fulfill their dream. In the end, Carmy does exactly that by closing the restaurant so that it can make way for bigger and better things without anyone associated with The Original Beef of Chicagoland forgetting about their roots.
The Bear Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail)
FX and Hulu’s The Bear season 1 ends by answering some questions about The Original Beef and Mikey’s past while also teasing a new future for Carmy.
The ensemble cast for The Bear season 1 is led by Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a talented young chef who leaves his position at the world’s best restaurant to take over his family’s sandwich shop in Chicago. He makes the surprising move after the death of his brother, Mikey (played by The Punisher‘s Jon Bernthal), and growing tired of the verbal and psychological abuse he endured from his former boss (Community‘s Joel McHale). Much of The Bear season 1’s story follows Carmy’s attempt to make The Original Beef better than a dirty yet familiar establishment in the Chicago neighborhood.
While Carmy’s “cousin” Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) attempts to keep The Original Beef the same as it has always been, Carmy’s ambitions are aided by new hire Sydney (Ayo Edebiri). The unlikely trio rarely see eye-to-eye-to-eye, as they argue about changes to the menu and work styles. Meanwhile, Carmy also stresses about the financial hardships Mikey’s decisions put The Original Beef in, leading them to experiment with to-go orders — which goes horribly. This all builds to The Bear season
What Is the Significance of the Spaghetti?
Spaghetti is one of the most popular dishes on The Original Beef of Chicagoland’s menu. However, after Carmy takes over the restaurant, he removes the dish from the menu, citing that it does not fit well with the menu and takes a long time to prep. Richie tries to explain the sentiment behind the dish, but a busy Carmy pays no attention to his words. However, after finding the recipe is among Michael’s final words to him, Carmy reinstates the dish on the menu, thereby making peace with his brother’s death and moving on in life.
In the final scene, the restaurant staff has their traditional “family time” meal, likely for the last time inside The Original Beef of Chicagoland. The kitchen’s chaos, toxicity, and abrasiveness are tossed aside as the staff shares a meal in a joyous and relaxing atmosphere. The group feasts on the spaghetti while Carmy imagines Michael looking on proudly from a distance. Carmy finally realizes that the spaghetti signifies the simple joy of feeding people, the pleasure of sharing a meal, and raising each other’s spirits. Thus, Carmy’s adventure comes full circle as he finally begins understanding the deeper and more emotional meaning behind running a restaurant.
What Mikey’s Letter To Carmy Says
One of the mysteries lingering over The Bear season 1 is what is in Mikey’s letter to Carmy. Early on in the season, Richie finds a letter addressed to Carmy on the floor behind the lockers. While he initially wants to give Carmy the letter, his anger gets the best of him as he puts Mikey’s letter back. The Bear season 1 finale finally has Richie bring the letter to Carmy’s attention when the young chef is at a low point. Jeremy Allen White’s character is understandably shocked to be handed a letter from his deceased brother and takes a moment alone before deciding to open it.
Mikey’s letter to Carmy in The Bear season 1 had a very simple message that Jon Bernthal’s character wanted to pass down. The front of the letter said, “I love you, dude. Let it rip.” These short two sentences were enough to make Carmy cry, as he looked up to his brother but grew resentful of him because Mikey never let him work at The Original Beef. The letter reminded Carmy that Mikey did love him, while the inclusion of his catchphrase “Let it rip” let him know that he believed in him to take over. The back of Mikey’s letter included the mysterious Family Meal Spaghetti recipe that Carmy failed to crack before.
The Bear’s Money In Tomato Cans Explained
After reading Mikey’s letter and getting the family recipe, Carmy decides that spaghetti is on the menu for family dinner. He follows Mikey’s recipe exactly, even using the 28-ounce cans of tomato paste that Bernthal’s cameo character claimed tasted better. The truth is that these smaller cans of sauce included a special surprise for Carmy. He finds a wad of cash buried inside the sauce and understandably is shocked to find it. He immediately calls Richie into the kitchen and gets everyone at The Original Beef to help open cans to find even more money.
The money in tomato cans in The Bear season 1 finale pays off one of the biggest questions Carmy had since taking over the restaurant. He found records of Mikey making large payments to a KBL Electric, but no one knew who this company was. The amount of money matched what Mikey borrowed from Cicero/Uncle Jimmy (Chicago Med‘s Oliver Platt). While it was thought that the character squandered all of this money, it seems he was saving it all along. A quick shot in The Bear season 1 ending shows “KBL” is on the bottom of the tomato cans, meaning Mikey was putting the money in them for safe keeping.
Why Carmy Finally Closes The Original Beef
The very end of The Bear season 1 includes a major decision from Carmy, as he finally decides it is time to close The Original Beef. His character arc throughout the first season sees him struggle with being in this environment and trying to fix the mistakes made by Mikey. With the bank and IRS potentially coming for his sister’s house since she is a co-signee for The Original Beef, she pushes him hard to close The Original Beef. After reading Mikey’s letter and finding the money that will get the Chicago mob off his back, Carmy finally feels like it is the right time to close the restaurant. This decision is aided by the knowledge that he has the support of his other chefs and plenty of ideas to make a new restaurant all their own — even if it means closing another recognizable piece of the Chicago city.
Why Sydney Returns In The Bear Season 1 Finale
The Bear episode 8 also deals heavily with what Sydney’s future is going to look like after she quit The Original Beef when Carmy yelled at her for how terrible the to-go orders were going. There was a possibility that the ambitious young chef who lacks patience could take a job somewhere else, while the closing of the bar near The Original Beef and the great review Sydney’s original recipe received even opened the door for her to potentially start a rival restaurant. Instead, The Bear season 1 ends with the Big Mouth voice actress’s character returning to the restaurant. Despite the bad blood that seemingly existed between them, Carmy’s apology over text and receptiveness to Sydney’s ideas when she comes back to get her last check ensure that she does not leave again.
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How The Bear Season 1 Finale Sets Up Season 2
While there is no formal announcement for The Bear season 2 at this stage, the end of season 1 certainly sets up where the story will go next. The decision to close The Original Beef and tease that a new restaurant named The Bear is coming says it all. The Bear season 2 will seemingly see Carmy move past the legacy of his family and begin a new venture that is all his own. He’ll have the support of Sydney and her inventive recipes to help make the place something special. That will likely be easier said than done in The Bear season 2, as new challenges will come with opening a new restaurant. However, The Bear season 1’s ending leaves Carmy and his chefs with an optimistic future.
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Final Thoughts: What Works For ‘The Bear’? Will There Be A Season 2?
The pace of the show is its strongest point, giving it a unique binge-able quality. It is not an exaggeration when we say that time flew by while we were watching this. When it comes to the question of “The Bear” Season 2, reports say that there will be one. That would probably explore Carmy’s adventure and further get to the root of their family’s problems. It could also highlight the challenges of living up to an iconic name in the food industry.
It is true when people say that food is a feeling rather than just something to sustain themselves. And that is why food always brings something personal to everyone. An industry based on that makes for a great show. While the first season was complete on its own, the way this was executed makes us excited to see how it will be expanded. We have high hopes and are eagerly looking forward to it.
