In the FX series, The Bear, the fifth episode “Pop” starts the viewers off with Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) teaching Chef Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) a new recipe. The previous episode, “Honeydew”, ended with Marcus (L-Boy) being in Copenhagen, training under Chef Luca (Will Poulter), Carmy’s old friend. Chef Tina and Chef Ebraheim “Ebra” (Edwin Lee Gibson) were both taken to culinary school in episode 2, “Pasta.” Since then, now that they are back, while it seems that Tina had some success, it’s hard to tell if Ebra had some as well.
There’s a scene after Sydney and Tina, following over to the next day. Tina asks Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) if he’s heard from Ebra, which he hasn’t. This sends out worry because Ebra hadn’t been very motivated in the culinary program. Chef Gary “Sweeps” (Corey Hendrix) and Richie (Ebon-Moss Bachrach) are helping Carmy out with practicing the timing of movement in the kitchen. This is to help them make sure they’re cooking and sending out food in a timely manner. Timing is everything in the fast-paced environment of a restaurant kitchen, and practicing timing can be a real game-changer. It also helps them with mapping out where things will go in the kitchen, like stoves, ovens, and things of that nature.
Carmy’s uncle, Jimmy (Oliver Platt), comes in to see how much progress he’s made. He’s a bit disappointed with everything. He warns them that time is running out. It does help that the electricity, drywall, and plumbing haven’t all been fixed. They all have been having trouble getting in contact with the plumber, and they can’t do anything else until the plumbing. Faulty plumbing can result in leaks or water damage, which is a risk for electrical wires and chords. Damp walls caused by plumbing issues can cause the drywall to weaken or develop mold growth over time. So, they must get in touch with the plumber so that they can get everything else fixed once that’s done.
Tina calls Ebra and says that it’s been a while since they last spoke. In culinary class, Tina uses Carmy’s knife. He tells her that it’s now hers. Luckily, the knife has been doing a really good job with cutting. As a viewer, it’s easy to tell that she’s been having fun. Tina gets an invite to go out to a bar with her classmates.
As if the crew doesn’t have any other problems, there is another problem. They have an amperage, which means that all of the appliances are taking up and draining the power. Sydney is stressing out over the menu and because Carmy is gone, she’s having a harder time. While Sydney is focusing on finding new cooks and figuring out the menu, Carmy is focusing on everything else but those two things.
Carmy calls Claire (Molly Gordon) and tells her they should go somewhere else. They go to a post office and Carmy mails out an envelope. Sugar tells Sydney that Carmy was with her and Sydney asks about who she is, never hearing of her. Sugar, being the sister she is, tells Sydney that they were once in a relationship. There’s a scene where Carmy and Claire are in the parking lot, sitting in the car. They bring up some memories from the past, in high school, and middle school. As they talk, they bring up Carmy’s deceased brother Michael “Mikey” (Jon Bernthal). If any readers haven’t been keeping up on the show, ‘The Bear’ was owned by Mikey and once he passed, it got passed down to Carmy.
Carmy and Claire go to a party, which is brand new for Carmy. While Claire is comforting a stranger over a breakup, Carmy stands there, it’s obvious he feels out of place and a tad bit uncomfortable. Speaking of uncomfortable, Tina gets out of her comfort zone, deciding to go to the bar with her classmates. She sings a song on karaoke. She has a beautiful voice, which everyone in the bar takes notice of, keeping their eyes on her as she sings the song. The song happened to be “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” by Freddy Fender.
Claire asks Carmy why he gave her a fake number when they first bumped into each other a few episodes ago. He says, “I like you so much and I feel like I missed a lot.” He doesn’t give her a straight answer, but that’s what he says. Before they can kiss, the police come in, arresting the guy who set the party up. He was igniting fireworks in the backyard, which was in a suburban neighborhood. As the two of them go into the restaurant to show her around, Richie, Sydney, and Sugar are all arguing with each other. More so, the two ladies were arguing with Richie.
Once everyone is gone for the night, Carmy and Claire stay at the restaurant. In the end, the two of them kiss, which leaves the question of what will happen between the two of them during the rest of the season. There’s a slight chance that she will either be a distraction for Carmy or that she’ll be able to help with ‘The Bear’ before the opening.
Overall, this episode was packed with a lot of different scenes and it was a bit much. It wasn’t a bad episode, it was just one thing after the other. Will Sydney and Carmy finally be able to complete the menu? What will Ebra decide to do with his career?
Rating: 7.5/10