Hulu’s dark comedy The Bear starring Jeremy Allen White releases its third season tonight. For fans of the award-winning series, it has been a long year of waiting since the release of season 2 in 2023, and many viewers find themselves needing a recap of last season’s foreboding end. As you prepare to binge the newest season, read on for a refresher of the past two seasons and for what to expect in season 3.
Season 1 and 2 Recap
The Bear follows young chef Carmy Berzatto (White) as he takes over his brother Mikey’s Chicago sandwich shop, The Beef, after Mikey’s tragic death. As Carmy grapples with his grief, he is also faced with challenges in his attempt to recover his brother’s restaurant.
Season one follows Carmy on his journey to reinvent The Beef. Throughout the season, he is constantly challenged by its remaining employees, including his brother’s best friend Ritchie (Ebon Moss-BachRach), who defies Carmy’s leadership, desperate to keep Mikey’s restaurant as it was. Carmy also brings on Sydney, played by Ayo Ebebiri, an accomplished chef who strives to impress Carmy but is constantly cast aside by Carmy’s obsessive need for perfection. Threatened by looming debts and poor work culture, Carmy desperately tries to save the restaurant and bring it to glory.
At the end of season one, Carmy saves The Beef by finding money his brother Mikey left in cans of tomato puree. With the funds to follow his dream, Carmy creates a new concept for the restaurant: The Bear.
From there, we move into season 2, where Carmy launches The Beef team into transforming the local sandwich spot into a high-class restaurant.
Season 2 also marks the transformation of multiple characters in the cast as Carmy sends his employees on individual journeys to better their craft, while he and Sydney remain in Chicago to create The Bear’s new menu.
Pastry Chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce) heads to Copenhagen to train under Luca, a chef at a world-famous restaurant. Ritchie heads to stage at a Michelin-star restaurant, where he is challenged to do brunt work for the restaurant — and learns to shed his arrogant persona and be open to the idea of starting over.
Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and Ebra (Edwin Lee Gibson) head to culinary school, where Tina thrives, but Ebra struggles to handle the pressure.
While rushing to prepare the restaurant for its upcoming opening, Carmy’s old flame Claire (Molly Gordon) reappears, distracting Carmy from his work, and leaving Sydney to pick up the slack. This conflict comes to a head during opening night, where Carmy’s distractions lead him to forget to repair a walk-in freezer, leaving him trapped during the restaurant’s most critical night.
Utterly in crisis, Carmy retreats into himself, lamenting that he cannot continue to pursue Claire and must focus solely on The Bear. Unbeknownst to Carmy, Claire is just outside the freezer and ends their relationship.
Season two’s tragic end leaves Carmy right back where he started: isolated and closed-off to everyone around him. Where the other characters are seemingly thriving with their new skills and able to effectively work as a team without their head chef, Carmy is completely lost.
What to Expect
For Season 3, fans can expect to see Claire’s return and a resolution to the tragic fight at the end of season 2. For the rest of the Chicago crew, The Bear is at an extremely important moment, needing to turn over profit in order to remain a business. With Carmy in crisis, it remains to be seen whether The Bear will continue to thrive — or fall under pressure.
Season 3 premieres Wednesday, June 26 on Hulu.
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