Everything You Need to Remember Ahead of ‘The Bear’ Season 3

The Bear Is Open for Business

The crazy kids did it — after a season focused on an accelerated, insane 3-month renovation process, Carmy, Sugar, and Sydney successfully transformed The Beef into The Bear, a fine-dining establishment in the heart of Chicago. The soft opening for the establishment, seen in the Season 2 finale, had its fair share of issues — a line cook disappearing, a fork shortage, Carmy getting trapped in the fridge — but overall went off as a general success. How the crew adjusts to the day-to-day challenges and stresses of operating a restaurant of this size is sure to make up the bones of the third season. 

Marcus is About to Get Some Bad News

Sweethearted pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce) significantly levels up his game during Season 2, thanks to a trip to Copenhagen where he receives mentorship from Carmy’s friend Luca (Will Poulter). The season finale ends with him at a high after the successful opening of The Bear, and coming home to a gift from Luca; the final episode also teases some romantic feelings between him and Sydney, although it’s unclear if she feels the same way. But one of the episode’s final shots is a distressing tease for the future, as Marcus’ phone lights up with missed calls from the nurse looking after his mother, who’s been hospitalized for the entire season. 

Carmy and Claire-Bear Are on the Rocks

The majority of Carmy’s storyline in Season 2 is taken up by his budding relationship with Claire (Molly Gordon), a childhood friend he reconnects with. Although Claire helps the usually sour chef defrost, he also begins to neglect his responsibilities with the restauraunt, alienating him from Sydney.

The storyline comes to a head late in the season, when Carmy — after a stern warning to focus by investor Cicero (Oliver Platt) — begins blowing Claire off and ignoring her during the soft opening. During the disaster that gets Carmy trapped in the fridge, he goes into a spiral and rants that Claire ruined everything — unaware that she heard everything, or that she sent him a voicemail earlier that day telling him she loved him. Safe to say, the two likely won’t be sharing many romantic dinners when Season 3 premieres, but Gordon has been confirmed to reappear in the season, so expect Carmy to spend some time trying to make things up for her (no matter how much you may ship him with Sydney). 

Sugar Is Still Expecting

Early in Season 2, Carmy’s sister Natalie, or ‘Sugar’ (Abby Elliot), reveals to him that she’s pregnant. As the season takes place across a quick three month period, she’s still expecting her baby by the finale, and the Season 3 trailer features her looking more visibly pregnant. Expect her birth to be featured in the episodes to come — especially after the finale featured a scene where her husband Pete (Chris Witaske) accidentally told her and Carmy’s semi-estranged mother Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) about the baby. 

Cousin Is Classy Now

Of all the team members at The Bear, Richie probably has the most pronounced character arc during Season 2. Beginning as a surly, depressed screw-up who doesn’t believe in the changes happening to The Beef, Richie gets a new lease on life in the episode ‘Forks,’ where he trains at the restaurant Ever and finds a talent as a server and maître d’. The experience has a profound effect on him, causing him to make amends with Sydney and Sugar for his past actions and take charge as a responsible leader during The Bear’s soft opening. His new outlook also causes a clash between him and the still struggling Carmy, and the two get into an explosive argument in the finale that will likely leave their relationship in a tense state come Season 3.