FX series, The Bear, opens the second episode of the second season, “Pasta”, showing the progress that the restaurant has made with the construction and new interior design. Following the previous episode, “The Bear,” it is visible to see that they’re just starting with the redesigning. With some new roles in place, who’s in charge of what brings stress to the chefs. This new change adds to them having tension. There are only 12 weeks left before opening day.
Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) discusses that both chefs, Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) and Ebraheim “Ebra” (Edwin Lee Gibson), should go to culinary school while the redesigning is going on so that they will be more skilled when they open The Bear back up. With Tina and Ebra going to culinary school, it brings more of a storyline to the two characters. Luckily, for them, they will be getting paid because it is built into the budget.
This episode will give the viewers more understanding of the two chefs and figure out what they could bring to the table. Tina encourages Ebraheim to take the classes and he agrees. The two of them have worked alongside each other for a long time, so there’s no doubt that they have a supportive relationship; at work and possibly in their personal lives. Ebra has a hard time getting comfortable at culinary school, trying his best to stay focused and do what he can. Even though he may be struggling with this new environment and role, he will not give up.
The two main female roles are given more screen time in this episode, which will surely be expected in all future episodes moving forward. Sugar (Abby Elliot) reveals that she is pregnant but has yet to tell anyone. She is now working full-time at the restaurant as a Project Manager. While everyone is doing their own thing, Sugar is working on getting the clogged toilet fixed. Sydney mentioned to Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) that her father wasn’t very supportive of her working at The Bear, which Carmy thinks is mostly because she didn’t get paid that well.
Sydney meets with her father, Emmanuel (Robert Townsend), at a diner for dinner, and he tells her about his father, mentioning that he was a mechanic. Emmanuel also voices his concerns about her job. While she was telling him about how they were finishing the menu, she seemed to be enthusiastic about how things were progressing. He advises her that she should have a backup plan, worrying that her career would be hard to keep up.
While Carmy is at the store, he runs into someone from his past. Claire (Molly Gordon) and Carmy were once a couple. As they stand there, talking about what is currently going on in their lives, he is shocked to learn that she remembers the name of the restaurant. He tells her that he was opening a restaurant and she says, “You’re doing the thing.” He didn’t know what she was exactly talking about, but in this scene, Claire said something that sparked something between the two of them.
Claire tells him that she loves the name and when he questions her about how she remembers the name, she says, “Because you’re The Bear, and I remember you.” At that moment, it wouldn’t be hard to miss that there is going to be something moving forward between them. Whether it is the two of them getting back together or becoming friends. Claire gets Carmy’s contact information from him, as viewers await to see what ends up happening between them.
Overall, this episode was a good one, but some things are different. This episode showed less of Carmy and more of everyone else. Of course, the others should be shown more in scenes, it felt like Carmy was pushed to the back of the episode, having only a few scenes. Only two or three of the scenes with Carmy seemed to be important for viewers to remember for the next episodes ahead. More problems have been added to the equation, which makes things harder for everyone. They just can’t catch a break, can they?
Rating: 8/10