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Carmy is slowly, but surely letting go of the reins of “The Bear” – thus, also learning how to try to become a whole person outside of the kitchen. As a result, the restaurant staff is emerging from the doldrums of “Soubise” and coming more into its own in the third episode, “Scallop.” Ebraheim has taken the initiative on his own and consulted a business consultant named Albert (with a cool cameo from Rob Reiner). Richie has command of the front-of-the-house and makes a family’s snow dream come true. Sydney’s Scallop dish is a hit, and Richie bigs her up on it. (Hard to believe this is a duo where one person got stabbed in season one.)
All the while, Carmy is becoming more of a point guard who’s setting his teammates up for assists, rather than him going for 30 points a game. You see it when he cuts the beef sandwich for Richie. “Scallop” begins with shots of the running clock, accompanied by the “every second counts” mantra. As The Bear continues to scale down due to budget cuts, everything is becoming better. In “Groundhogs, Mikey and Carmy talk about their father and the s–hole Irish pub he loved to go to. There are points specifically in the third season where you wonder, does Chicago need the restaurant Carmy is trying to make? Especially considering the Beef window is the most profitable part of the business.
“The Bear” — “Scallop” — Season 4 Episode 3 (Streams Thursday, June 26th) Pictured: Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina,
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu, Sarah Ramos as Jessica, Corey Hendrix as Sweeps, Andrew Lopez as Garrett, Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto. CR: FX.
Maybe The Bear doesn’t make it, but it’s undoubtedly on the fully realized version where everybody is contributing to an uptick in success. The way through wasn’t Carmy having a meltdown in the freezer or the chaos menu. The first three episodes of Season Four are setting up a changing of the guard. (It feels like). While “Scallop” is continuing a trajectory, it holds two very important conversations. Both Marcus and Sydney are ignoring their fathers’ calls for different reasons. Carmy won’t talk about his. Speaking to Marcus (who thankfully interrupts him from breaking his cigarette fast).
Carmy says, “The true thing about restaurants is that you are never truly alone.” The Bear is a big, dysfunctional, and emotional family where people can retreat from the craziness of regular life into the unpredictability of the kitchen. The real question is, can you have a foot in both worlds? Sydney is currently wrestling with the decision of starting over again. At the end of “Scallops,” Carmy goes to Claire’s and tries to undo his mistake. There’s a nice comedic misdirect when he sees Ted. It would be typical sitcom fashion if Claire were to open the door first.
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It was never going to be that easy for Carmy and Claire to come back together – months had gone by before he apologized. Even then, Carmy takes a long time actually to say the words. For this relationship to repair itself, a readjustment of vulnerability will be necessary. Claire is not only truthful in saying how scary it was for her to be open to Carmy, but she’s now questioning herself for doing it. Carmy is nearing the point of revealing the person Claire has always wanted to see, but there are still steps to take to reach that level.
The call to Pete at the end is dubious, given the face of Carmy’s supposed growth in the early part of Season Four. Will he revert to old habits, where the restaurant becomes all-encompassing in his life, especially considering it might not be in two months? Either way, he’s going to have to choose a side.
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