July 3, 2025 • 55 mins
The kitchen's still hot — and so are our takes. In this episode of Binge Yap Repeat featuring bestie Poonim Daya, we slice into Season 4 of The Bear. The tension is simmering, the performances are searing, and Carmy’s emotional journey reaches a boiling point (again). We talk about how the show balances anxiety-inducing realism with deeply tender character moments, whether Sydney is finally getting her due, and if Richie might just be the MVP of the season.
We also dig into the show’s ambitious one-off episodes, the return of some very familiar faces, and that ending — love it, hate it, or just hungry for more? Come for the TV breakdown, stay for the hot dish on family, failure, and fine dining.
BYR average rating: 7.5/10
Number of episodes: 10 (~6 hour runtime)
Binge in progress: Andor, Love Island USA Season 7, Survivor 47, How I Met Your Mother
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello fellow yappers, I'm Ruchi.And I'm Shalini and we're your
hosts. A binge, yap, repeat.
We're two best friends who spendan embarrassing amount of time
binge watching TV, and honestly,we just need to talk about it.
If you're here, we're guessing you do too.
Fair warning, this is a spoiler friendly zone.
We will be discussing lots of spoilers, so if you haven't
(00:24):
watched the show yet, hit pause,go binge, and come back when
you're ready to yap with us. And now it's yap time.
(00:46):
Hello everyone, welcome back to Binge Yap Repeat.
I am joined here by one of my best friends, Poonim.
Everyone say hi to Poonim. What the fuck is a Poonim?
This Poonam is here to discuss the bear with me today.
Yay. A show which we both love and
(01:08):
Ruchi does not watch. So.
It was only appropriate to bringon Poonam for this epic
discussion. I love the bear so so much.
You actually put me on to the show.
I watched, yeah. I think when Season 3 came out,
you told me or I was at your place when Season 3 came out and
(01:30):
then you watched the pilot with me so that I could get into the
show. Yes, yay, I forgot.
About that. But anyway, so yeah, today we'll
be discussing the bear and this season has a few overarching
plot lines. So usually we talk about talk
through this show's synopsis, but since we're already on
season 4, we're way past the series synopsis.
(01:52):
So the overarching plot lines ofthis season 1, the bear, the
restaurant, not the teddy bear, is up against the clock after a
less than ideal review in the Chicago Tribune.
And so the everyone on board is kind of trying to tighten up the
ship to see if they can survive.2 Sydney is facing a decision
(02:15):
about whether to stay at the Bear or join Shapiro at his new
restaurant. 3rd Richie's ex-wifeis getting married.
What's her name? Tiff.
Tiff. Tiffany.
Her name is Bree in Community. Yes, that's right.
OK, Tiff is getting married and Richie's kind of dealing with
(02:37):
his feelings around that. Carmi is starting to think about
what he wants and who he is outside of the restaurant.
Anything else? I mean, there were smaller plot
lines kind of in parallel, but Ithink that's a good summary of
the season. All right, great.
(02:57):
Well, I guess we can start with overall thoughts.
What did you think about this season overall?
I will say that I really like the season because I just feel
like the quality of the show andlike the characters in the show
make it feel like I'm coming back to like a family that I
(03:18):
love so much. I feel like there were in prior
seasons, maybe more like character specific, like growth
arcs, But I think it came together nicely in this season
where it's like kind of everyone's dealing with
something and you just see them all, like pushing forward in
parallel. The vibe of it, I feel like was
(03:41):
exactly what you expect out of the bear.
Like the ultra close-ups of people.
Yeah. And food and like almost ASMR
level of sound coming from a kitchen.
Yeah. And the cacophony of all the the
bersados and the facts and everyone else in this Chicago
community just yelling at each other, which I loved.
(04:03):
I always loved that too. So yeah, I think I came away
from the season pretty positively.
That being said, I did finish the season like two hours ago,
so I haven't had a lot of time to really like, sit with my
thoughts on the season. I feel like if the show decides
to not continue, it could be like a good close to the series.
(04:25):
But selfishly, I hope it continues because I want to see,
you know, where the bear goes from here.
The show, obviously, And the restaurant, yeah.
So yeah. Yeah, I agree with you.
I think it was so fun to be backin the world of the bear.
I just love the world to find dining in general and like,
(04:45):
learning little tidbits about, you know, oh, they need to put
out a pasta dish in less than 3 minutes if they want to stay on
the clock. Like the.
Some sommeliers need to know exactly the vintage and the type
of what, Like they. There's just so much that goes
into it. So I love that aspect.
I also loved being back in the Berzado family.
(05:07):
And yeah, I think I loved, like,Richie's kind of side plot of
trying to figure out the best speech of, like, bringing
everyone together as a family. Yeah.
His daily pep talks and he kind of lands on like everyone that
comes in as part of our family or something like that.
I feel like as a viewer, they'rebringing me in and I'm part of
(05:28):
the family too, you know. But I did feel at times kind of
what you said about how in priorseasons there was a lot of
character growth or like major plot lines were around the
growth of a character. I did kind of feel like this
season there wasn't that much ofthat.
(05:48):
Like I don't know that the plot really moved forward.
I feel like most of the movementof the plot happened in episode
1 or they bring in the non negotiables, the help from ever
and episode 10 where Carmi decides to leave and like in
between. It was just kind of like slice
of life of being in that restaurant.
(06:10):
Yeah, I can see that. Not that much moving, I
personally love being in that slice of life and so it was
enjoyable to watch. I just don't know if it was as
like plot driven as I wanted it to be.
Agreed. Agreed.
I mean, I think the overarching,like, restaurant is on a clock
and everyone's just trying to, like, figure out ways to
optimize and find opportunity like Ibrahim was doing.
(06:33):
But yeah, it wasn't like a majordevelopment point, like Marcus
going to Copenhagen and like, Richie dodging in, like, front
house question mark. Yeah.
Terminology. We do not come from the world to
fine dining, if you could not tell.
(06:53):
We're just happy to be involved when the dining happens.
What is the finest dining restaurant you've ever dined at?
Oh, one was a sushi place that you took me to in Seattle, which
was at that time in my life, by far the fanciest thing I've ever
experienced. We were what, like 22?
(07:15):
22 like broke out of college going to this restaurant where
the sushi chef was like the understudy person to Jiro.
Jiro dreams of sushi fame. Yeah, Sushi Kashiba.
Yeah. And then when I went back with
my now fiance, Michael had to, like, transfer money from our
(07:40):
savings to our checking account because we got the bill and we
were like, oh, no, Oh, no. It was like grad school, Dire
Straits. I don't know why we went to this
restaurant, but I was like, it was amazing.
We have to go. Yeah, So maybe that and maybe
another one I went to in Chicagorecently with some Co workers.
(08:03):
It was like I think like 8 courses called yoga and it was
really good. Everything was amazing.
I yeah, I saved the menu becauseI was like I'm going to remember
this forever. That was the night that I ate so
much that in my hotel room I hadto do like walking lunges
because I was. Around your bed before going to
(08:24):
bed. Nice. 10 out of 10 experience
how are you? I was actually going to say
Puyol and Quintanillo, which were two restaurants we went to
in Mexico City. My gosh.
Yeah. And yeah, I I feel like
actually, even though Quintanillo was more expensive,
(08:45):
Puyol felt like more of an elevated fine dining experience
to me. Puyol was the one we did first.
Yes, with the. Mole.
Yeah, I really liked Puyol and the company was fantastic.
Yeah, that was super, super good.
Yeah. And I would absolutely go back.
And like the service was excellent.
I remember we felt our table andwe were like this is the softest
(09:08):
stone. Yeah, ever felt it?
Just like all the detail. Yeah, OK, cool.
So back to the bear. Since you brought up Ebra and
his kind of side plot with the beef window, what were your
thoughts on that kind of plot development of like him going
out and finding opportunity and bringing in this like outsider
(09:31):
to the business I. I was kind of mixed on it
because one, I respect the hell out of him for, you know, I want
to contribute to the success of just the overall, like bear and
Beef combined sort of business situation.
And he's such like a driven character, so wholesome and
genuine and like his intentions and everything he does.
(09:54):
But like this outside guy, I don't know, I got a little bit
of like car salesman vibes from him.
I mean, obviously, you know, thebeef, the window is doing really
well and there's opportunity to expand without changing like
day-to-day setup. And so he comes to the idea of
like, like a mini franchise thing.
(10:15):
And I don't know, I feel like when you have something as
special as that, like maybe you could like dilute it a little
bit or like, what if Carmi's noton board?
Does he have like the authority to make these decisions
independent of the bear? So that's why I was like, I was
a little like, I don't know about this guy.
I'm a little sussed. I'm a little bit sussed.
(10:37):
Yeah, I felt similarly. I was a little confused why Ebra
thought to bring him in or like,yeah, just why?
OK, well, first of all, when they showed like the P&L
statement of like, okay, combined the bear is not doing
well. But if you break out the bear
restaurant from the beef window,obviously the beef window is
doing great. I was like, well, then there's
(10:57):
your answer. Do more beef.
Yeah. And then they took all season to
come to that conclusion. Yeah.
I was like, why? Why didn't Computer come up with
that? Why didn't Jimmy come up with
that? Yeah.
So I thought the solution was a bit obvious.
But then also, yeah, I was confused about, like, what's
Ebro's motive here? Is he trying to take the beef
(11:19):
away from the bear? Like, is he?
Yeah, I think. I think it turned out like he
was staying pretty loyal to Carmi, but like in the middle,
before he showed how he felt about karma, I was like, what's
he trying to do here? Is he trying to like, steal the
beef or like replicate the beef somewhere else?
So I was, I was a little confused about that.
But yeah. So it was nice to see Ebro's
(11:43):
shift in mentality from prior seasons to this one, because I
think what they showed was that in Season 2 when they're
training the rest of the beef staff to be like fine dining
chefs, well, the the former. Beef to be the bear staff, yeah.
Like everyone was pretty much onboard with upskilling, but Ebro
(12:05):
was so adamant about like, staying.
Staying as is. Yeah, staying as is like staying
simple. So I like that they showed that
shift of Yeah, I. Think he's really stepping into
the, like leadership of the beefand this is something that he
like was a part of in the prior life and is now like kind of
(12:26):
running operationally currently.So I feel like it's near and
dear to his heart. But yeah, to your point, like I
don't know what the like end game was.
I know it kind of seems like they're going to franchise the
beef and then that will kind of fund the bear, even if the bear
(12:47):
is constantly nonprofitable. Which is kind of funny.
I'm flat out. So maybe there's hope.
Maybe. There's hope.
Maybe there's hope. Maybe not having Carmi there
will actually help it be profitable.
Yeah, I do think that is true. Yeah, man's like, so for
complicate literally everything,but maybe that's why he's at
(13:09):
where he's at. He's at the top of his game, you
know. True.
Very true. He wouldn't.
It wouldn't be the bear without Carmi.
Exactly. It is true.
Which well. I guess we'll see.
We'll see what happens I guess. Going to Carmi's decision to
step away from the bear, how do you interpret his choice to
retire from the restaurant? Is it self preservation,
(13:32):
personal growth? Or is this another symptom of
like his PTSD running away from his problems?
I think it might be a combination like he still very
clearly carries this guilt aboutMikey with him and obviously
complicated relationships with like his mother and Claire Bear,
(13:54):
who's back in the picture. And so I think at the very
beginning of the season, Natalieor Sugar kind of sets it up or
she's like you, you used to loveit.
Like, you know, opening the question of do you still love
it? So I think personal growth for
sure where he's like, there is shit that I need to deal with
(14:14):
and it would only I could only what I don't understand is why
he thinks he could only do that outside of the restaurant
because like this is his baby. This is his him and his
brother's dream, right? I would take a lot to step away
from that. I went back and forth on it a
little bit to your point, in my opinion, like the bear is not
(14:35):
the bear without Carmi as like aNexus.
You know, that's what it the plan is for the next season.
Like, does he find some resolution in his personal life
and processing as many demons? Yeah.
Does he make a return? I don't know.
(14:56):
I guess we. Have to wait and see.
Yeah, I agree. I think I was I was kind of
thinking to myself like is this a decision of strength or is
this a decision of weakness? His decision to step away.
I I definitely think he tends tolike martyr eyes himself a lot.
He's like, oh, like I'm, I'm theworst.
(15:17):
So like I need to step away or like I need to stop doing
everything. And it's like, well, no, What
would be helpful is if you just like did things and did them in
a way that was helpful. It's like maybe not new dishes
every day, maybe new dishes every month, every week.
Like, I think, yeah, I don't know, I really like that one.
There's there's something in between creating new dishes
(15:40):
everyday and fucking up operations and quitting.
And Kari is not. Extreme yeah, and they you know
I think Richie was just like Oh yeah, you run away like you're
good at that yeah I was like is this just him stuck in this
pattern of like build up to thisthing thing is achieved have a
(16:00):
crisis leave right you know so. Yeah, I'm, I'm curious to see,
yeah, how he is involved next season.
Hopefully there is a next season.
As of right now, the Bear has not been renewed for a fifth
season. Interesting.
So, yeah. So I guess we don't know if
there will be a season 5. Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop,
(16:20):
whoop. Just a small oopsie doopsy
Eppers. As of yesterday, July 1st, FX
has confirmed that there will bea season 5 of the Bear.
So as of recording the episode with Poonam there was no
confirmation. But as of July 1st we have
confirmation there will be a season 5 S Enjoy.
(16:43):
And with that, back to the show.If there is a season 5, I'm
curious to see how Carmi will beinvolved.
Random question for you, why does everyone treat Neil Fak
like a baby bubble? I never understood that I feel.
Like, because he just like his attitudes and the way he talks
(17:08):
and the way he interacts with like the world around him is
very like childlike. But I also think that maybe
that's something that just carried from their childhood,
that he is this like sweet baby Angel little boy, but he's also
like like 40 years old, always walking like this because he
(17:31):
doesn't know what to do with hishand.
He's. Like this is a nice place.
This is nice. This is a fancy place.
It's like stop doing shit with your hands.
Also tasting the wine and it's like Skittles.
It's not Skittles. No, not Skittles.
It's not Skittles. Easily one of my favorite
characters. Yeah, because of just like the
(17:52):
Comic Relief the facts provide. Oh my God, all the facts are so
hilarious. I loved when Brie Larson came.
Well, I, yeah. Yeah.
I loved when Natalie Sugar was talking about Francie Fact every
time. She was like, oh Francie fucking
fact. Natalie, Natalie.
(18:13):
And then when Brie Larson does come in, she's like.
Fancy fucking fat that was that was on site for Natalie like and
I don't think we don't ever findout what happened.
She just says that her best friend betrayed her, right?
And both of them feel like them.Feel that way which I thought it
was so funny at a wedding just like Natalie just on site just
(18:38):
getting into and wastes no time.And we find out they did hook
up. Question mark Yeah, that seemed
to be like randomly thrown in the middle of their like, epic
beef at a wedding. No pun intended.
Yeah. And then Pete was like, are you
(18:59):
in love with her? And Sugar's like, no, so cute.
Well, yeah, I love Brie Larson. I thought she played Francie
back so well. I love how she's giving her
brothers a pep talk about their girls are like she's so mean to
her girlfriends. She's like, can I like be the
real thing? And she's like, no.
(19:20):
You boys, I love you boys so much.
You've got to get your head. It's like, oh damn.
OK, one thing I wanted to get your thoughts on.
So maybe this is a hot take. I kind of felt like a lot of the
things that happened this seasonwere kind of fan service.
Like for example, I think bringing in the people from
(19:42):
ever. We had Sarah Ramos, who's like
Richie's kind of love interest. And then like the two, the two
guys that Richie stodged with. And then we have Luca, a dessert
chef. I don't know if I found that
super realistic because, like, the bear obviously can't afford
them. Yeah, they're staging, so they
(20:04):
don't have to be paid. But like, in what world would
they agree to that? Why are they doing charity for
this restaurant? I don't know.
I feel like the vibe that I got and I don't know how realistic
it is, obviously, but I, I feel like it's about the
relationships. And it's like, once you're in
with like the community, then it's this, you know, you came in
(20:29):
stash and learned a lot and we developed this relationship
professional or, you know, even personal to a certain extent of
like friendships. And like, I am willing to come
do this to come like help you out, even if it's temporary.
Because we know that the, like gang that Richie hung out with
that restaurant closed. It was Olivia Coleman's
(20:51):
restaurant ever. Yeah.
Whatever her character's name was.
I don't. Remember.
And like Luca. I mean, I don't mind seeing Luca
on the screen. Hot Chef agreed.
Baking agreed. But This is why I was like.
Fancy. I could.
I could see that. But it sounds like, you know,
like Luca and Carmi work together or he worked under
(21:13):
Carmi. So there's like a relationship
there. And he's already back in
Chicago, so maybe this is something he does to fill the
time. Is he making money?
What's going on in his life? I have.
How is he paying the bill? No idea because as far as I am
aware rent in Chicago is also not cheap based on my friend
(21:37):
having recently moved apartments.
So yeah, I don't. I don't know how realistic that
is. Like ever superstar team if they
hadn't come in. Oh my God Sarah Ramos is such a
wizard. I actually forgot her character.
Name Jess. Jess.
Yeah, definitely a wizard. Also kind of psychologist,
(21:59):
Therapist. Richie, like really able to like
cut through what he's trying to say or ask for.
I love that. And then the the last fanservice
moment, but it actually mimickeda scene from Season 2.
That was my favorite, like, scene from this entire show was
when they did the VIP treatment for the family whose daughter
(22:22):
just recovered from cancer. Yeah.
And they, like, did the whole beef window or beef sandwich
special and like, gave her snow and stuff.
It really mimicked that scene from Season 2 where they, like,
bring, was it Lou Malnati's pizza or something, some sort of
famous deep dish pizza in Chicago to the people dining at
(22:42):
ever. And then they were like, you did
not hear me say that. And they're like, so happy.
And that's kind of Richie's first time where he feels like
so much pride over what he does.So yeah, as a fan, I loved
seeing the snow scene. But then as a critic, I was
like, are they just like recreating scenes that we loved
from other seasons? I could see that.
(23:05):
I mean, yeah, I mean, maybe it'sjust kind of doubling down or
emphasizing just like how much Richie has grown in the role.
And it's like, well, now I know to do this.
And he gets to be creative aboutwhat he thinks would be the most
meaningful. And I kind of got a suspicion
from that scene that like that guy dining alone who saw it was
(23:26):
like going to be a critic. Yeah, me too.
But I was like, I don't think that was the guy that called Nat
at the end of the season. So maybe it was just like, you
know, somebody who happened to be at the restaurant saw this
and was like, wow, that was really freaking nice.
So, yeah, I don't know. But I, you know, it warms the
heart when you see, well, Richieget so much out of doing this
(23:48):
for people and just the thought that goes into it.
Yeah, I did love that scene actually.
I totally forgot about that guy who they spend so much time on
at the end because they they like set it up in the prior
episode that the the critic, theMichelin critics usually change
their name every time they go toa restaurant.
(24:08):
It sometimes happens to be a street of the city they are in
at the time. And then the Uber driver comes
and says Mr. Clark. So then I looked up if Clark is
a street in Chicago and it is a very long St. in Chicago that
like runs basically down the entire downtown, It's like, oh,
that's what they're trying to do.
(24:29):
But then it never came back to him.
So I don't know, maybe that maybe that'll happen in Season 5
if we get a season. Because I feel like it was after
that episode where Neil Fax saw that, it was like, oh, this is
the food and wine guy that's like on the reservation list
who's coming. Yeah.
And so like, that's how Marcus gets the Rising Stars award or
(24:51):
something of that sort. So yeah, that's a good, good
point. I don't know.
Like why? It was such a weird detail that
I thought would come back, but then it ended up being kind of
erroneous. I mean, maybe it's laying some
groundwork for the future. I don't know again if there is
even a season 5, so I I hope so.Let's talk about Sydney a little
(25:13):
bit. So her storyline this season was
a dealing with her decision of whether to stay at the bear or
leave and join Shapiro at his new restaurant.
B Her dad gets sick in the middle.
CI guess like I don't even know if we can call this C Maybe like
X is that I feel like they were kind of setting both Marcus and
(25:37):
Luca up to be love interest for her and like various maybe this
season. Marcus.
Marcus from season 1 yeah for sure yeah.
Then at the end of last season, she and Luca are, like, talking
a lot at the final ever. And they, like, have a really
long one-on-one discussion. And then he comes to her place
(25:58):
after with, like, the big party where everyone's like, making
frozen pizza and stuff. Yeah.
And they show them talking. And then this season, the one
conversation they had I thought was pretty flirtatious.
She's like, oh, we cannot affordyou.
And then he's like. There he says chives.
Funny. How did you make that word into
two syllables? That's right.
He has the Chives conversation. Yeah.
(26:23):
And so, yeah, I thought that waspretty flirtatious.
So I was like, oh, OK, we're going to get like some
interesting love triangle shit because obviously Marcus may be
holding a torch for her a littlebit, but nothing came of it.
I guess they never came back to it.
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I thought it was
interesting. I guess I can never really tell
because Eddie Berry, Is that howyou say it?
(26:45):
I think so. It's so good at playing just an
awkward person. So sometimes I never get like,
does she harbor feelings like that for anyone?
Because I remember reading maybeit was after Season 2 or Season
3, Like, is there going to be something between Sid and Carmi?
(27:06):
And then, like, Claire came intothe picture and were like, guess
that. So, yeah, I don't know.
That is interesting. Yeah, so I don't know, maybe
that'll be another Season 5 plotline, Who knows?
I mean, at this point we could basically write it ourselves.
Yeah, OK, so that's one Sydney plot line.
The other one is her decision tostay at the bear.
(27:29):
Yeah. What did you think of that whole
conundrum? I.
Feel like she was leaning towards taking it for most of
the season and then the wedding episode happens and I think for
her that was almost a reminder of like they are this.
Absolutely. That shit, crazy, chaotic
(27:51):
family. But it's it's her family now.
Like she's part of it. She was under the table with the
rest of the aunties and uncles, hanging out with the little girl
who didn't want to dance. You know what I mean?
Yeah, So I feel like, you know, it makes sense that that is
something that's so important toher that she would want to stay,
(28:13):
even though, you know, it is a little bit of a sinking ship.
I did think it was really, really funny in the episode
where she's hanging out with hercousin getting her hair done and
the calls from Shapiro and just,I don't know if you could call
them microaggressions, but just pop.
It's like, oh, have you seen good hair?
Like, doesn't know that, you know, her hair appointment's not
(28:34):
going to be just an hour and stuff like that.
And she's like. Oh, thank you.
But yeah, you didn't have to. OK, OK.
It's like any like when he's talking about the vision for the
the kitchen and he's walking herthrough, he's like bring all
these like Afro Caribbean flavors and he like points at
her and her face is like, OK, yeah.
(28:56):
So I don't know if maybe that was something that they didn't
want to make too obvious, but it's something that maybe she
would think about. Like this guy sometimes says
stuff that, you know, well meaning, but like, maybe like
not the most appropriate. Yeah, you know, discussion to
have. That was a.
Really good point. I do think, I do think that was
(29:18):
very intentional of the writers to put in there.
And I think from her perspective, I could totally see
her being like, well, at the bare, I am another like, I'm a
family member. I don't feel like they see me
any different than they see anyone else in this family.
Versus with Shapiro, it's like, oh, I am the Afro Caribbean
(29:40):
like. Representative, Yes.
He is using me to execute on this vision he has for a very
diverse kind of performative thing.
Yeah. And even if it's
well-intentioned, it's just uncomfortable.
And she just feels like more a part of the family with the.
Bear. Yeah, and she brings it up when
she's having her rant, her metaphor rant to her niece about
(30:02):
the sleepover. Yeah.
Where she's like, what is, like,this chaotic family?
But, you know, when it's good, it's really, really good.
And, you know, do I want to, like, start over somewhere else?
And that's probably another decision.
And yeah, you know, the niece was just like, sounds like you
should go to the sleepover that has pizza.
Like it's not about the pizza. Suck pizza sounds pretty good to
(30:24):
me. Like, just the fact that she was
pushing back on like what the niece was saying was like, maybe
deep down she already kind of knew.
Yeah, I feel like that too. It's like her heart was telling
her to stay but her head was like, that's a stupid decision.
Yeah. Consider other options and then
yeah, I agree that the wedding like really solidified it.
Yeah. And then at the end when, you
(30:46):
know, Carmi was just like, oh, yeah, you're just like waiting
to get out of here. Like, I don't know what exactly
pegged her as a flight risk because I don't think that she,
you know, she invested a lot of time in the development of the
bear and everything. And like, obviously she's very
stressed, but she came to work with Carmi.
(31:06):
Yes. Like that was the whole
intention of like, how she got, you know.
Yeah, she's. Joined the movie.
In the 1st place, yeah. So I I was a little confused
about that, and maybe Carmi was just bringing that up because
Shapiro had called him, which I thought was a little shady.
Yeah. Like super.
Shady. I guess they're if they're
friends or whatever, but like. Super shady.
(31:30):
Yeah. So like, that was clearly an
emotional move of Shapiro. Yeah, but I guess he called
Carmi before she had told him a decision.
That's just stupid of Shapiro todo.
It's like you're kind of sabotaging yourself.
Or just like, you know, it's manipulative.
Like I'm going to plant this seed in Carmi's mind that
(31:52):
Sydney's not all the way in, in the fair, and that could
fracture that relationship and, you know, get her to my side.
And Carmen's reaction to that isjust like, put her into the
contract and take himself out. Oh, Carmen, like, I just think
(32:13):
if for Shapiro to have done that, that was a huge risk of
Harmi telling Sydney that he knows that she's talking to
Shapiro. And then Sydney would be like,
so I can't trust Shapiro. I'm never going to go work for
him. That would be my reaction.
And then they mentioned in like the last of like, we never got
to talk about this, but I'm like, how much time has passed
(32:36):
that they didn't have the opportunity to just have a quick
one-on-one somewhere in the kitchen or outside the
restaurant or, you know, work? At the wedding.
Like I have to imagine and the clock had, you know, the hours
on it. If I just took the time to
divide by 24, give me the days. That's two months.
(32:58):
In span OK, two months. So they didn't have a chance to
talk about this for two months? I know or even one month like.
After she gets back after her dad has his heart attack, yeah.
Communication. Not karmy.
Strong suit? No, also not Sydney.
Strong, strong suit her in the empty basketball court.
(33:20):
Like if you miss this then you are a failure, blah blah.
Sydney the The overthinker, Yeah.
Sydney Oh my God. And then her calling Shapiro.
I was cringing so. She had like her professional
voice on and I was like, oh. God.
So that's all I wanted to say. Yeah, Yeah.
(33:42):
Thank you again. So in the episode where Sydney's
getting her hair done and she and her niece go to the store,
and then they talk about gummy worms, and Sydney's like, I ate
so many that my teeth hurt. And then at the end, you see her
eating it. Yeah.
(34:03):
And she's like, I thought maybe that was a symbol for her
experience at the bear or like, she's so in on it, but too much
of it actually comes back and hurts her.
Or the thing that she loves the most is also the thing that
hurts her. Yeah, which I feel like is also
(34:23):
applicable to Carmen. Yes, very true.
Yeah, very true. Yeah.
So maybe it's just like the bearas this toxic passion.
Yeah, you know. Yeah.
But yeah, that's a good point. I have to say I love that
episode. I thought it was so funny when
her cousin was just like, oh, yeah, there's there's no more
(34:46):
hair. I need to run out and get some.
It's just the slow slow turn in horror with like only 3/4 of her
hair dye and then goes to talk to this 11 year old.
I felt so seen because I don't know how to talk to children.
She's just hanging by the door. Hey buck ass half done hair.
(35:08):
So good I burst out laugh. She has to put on a beanie to go
out in public. Poor girl going out in public in
the middle of a hair appointment.
Oh, my gosh. But in a way, that episode to me
was Sydney reconnecting with herfamily.
Yeah. And just like how nice it is to
(35:29):
be surrounded by like your people, you know, and even if it
took a little bit to break the eyes with her knees, it took a
little bit of convincing of her cousin that, you know, 3 Fridays
from now, we're going to go out,we're going to call the other
cousin and it's going to be a rager of a night.
Like, you know, stuff like that.Like, I think it was also a good
reminder for her of like, familyis important.
(35:51):
And so maybe that also like factored into her, into her
decision. Yeah, totally.
Importance of family at work andin life yeah like people who.
See, you for who you are are notwhat you do. 01 line that I
really loved was between Luca and Marcus.
(36:11):
They're having a conversation and Marcus is like, I feel like,
what did he say? It was something like, if you
don't have your life together, you can't, like, you can't make
good food or something. But then Luca was like, another
way to look at it is that our work tastes the way it does
because of what happened in our life to get here.
(36:32):
Yeah. And I love.
The mess, Like if there's mess in your life, there's mess in
the work you do or something. Yes, yeah, that's what Marcus
says. Yes, I loved that line from
Luca. Yeah, that's so.
True you are. You are a product of your
experiences, both good and bad. Getting through whatever trials
(36:54):
and tribulations gets you to thepoint where you can create these
beautiful things. Absolutely.
And also, like, Carmi wouldn't be the artist that he is without
all of the issues that he has. Yeah.
And his upbringing and, you know, his dry to get out and
spend some time with French Laundry with the other guy from
community who yelled at him. Like, yeah.
(37:17):
Yeah, so many actors from community the show.
I'm waiting for Danny Pootie. Danny Pootie season 5 my.
God, yeah. First, Danny Pootie lived in
Pasadena. That was also the college town
where Poonam and I went to college and we saw him.
Everywhere in the Trader Joe's parking lot, running next to
(37:41):
campus. Yeah.
A true local, yeah. What's that?
There's There's an episode of How I Met Your Mother.
Where is it Maury Povich or something where it's it's like
you have you're not a real New Yorker until you see Maury
Povich and I feel like you're not a true Pasadena I.
Until you see Danny Pootie. Danny Pootie in The Dirty Dina.
(38:05):
Let's go get that man to Chicago.
Oh did you notice that the computer was like in head to toe
rate this? Year.
I was like where did this come from?
Is this man from Oakland, CA? Maybe, I don't know, he was
fully dripped out in Raiders fangear and I don't know if they
(38:28):
ever explained that. Did he get this much screen time
in prior seasons? Because I feel like I don't
remember seeing computer this much.
Definitely not this much. I feel like we saw him every now
and then and I wasn't totally clear on his role.
Yeah, relationship. I just knew he was like money
guy. Yeah, like finance numbers guy.
(38:49):
Yeah, but I don't know, when Ebru was talking to that guy
about the beef, he was just likeI just gave him like, you know,
tables with numbers and colored charts and stuff.
And you know, I was like, oh, OK, either way, computer kind of
hilarious side character just like, you know, shows up,
(39:12):
installs a clock decked out in Raiders.
Gear, Where did he come from? Where did he go?
No one knows. Cotton Eye Joe in the very first
episode. Just a funny line when they're
talking about the issues they have and someone's like, oh,
well, three people quit and they're like, who quit?
(39:34):
And someone's like Eric, Debbie and Davine Garvey and sitting
here both like who the fuck are Eric, Debbie and Davine?
They're like, Davina was chill, Erica's OK.
One thing that really frustratedme was that after Harmony has
this big moment, he's about to take the train home and then
(39:57):
he's like. Wait.
This isn't what I want to do. And he you see him running,
running, running. And that was the same episode
where someone points out to him that he hasn't seen his fucking
niece yet. Yeah.
And so I was like, he better be going to his niece right now.
But no, of course he goes to Claire.
Bear. Claire Bear.
I'm not a huge fan of Claire Bear's character.
(40:18):
Really I I don't know if this isa hot take.
She feels like such a one-dimensional character whose
only purpose is to show Carmi Like there is this other world
outside of the restaurant where it's like, you know, you can
absolutely connect with another human being outside of a
(40:39):
kitchen, but outside of that, her character makes no sense to
me. I get that she's a doctor, love
that for her we stand a qualified queen.
Why is she picking up the phone like randomly throughout the
day? Like, I don't think that that's
how doctor shifts work. I thought that you know.
(41:02):
You. Can only really chat on your
break and I can't imagine it's that long.
But for a busy doctor and a busychef to just be calling each
other, having these deep conversations and then being
like, ha ha, insert like kind offlat coke and just disappear
again until I know she shows up and he's like, Oh my God, it's
(41:24):
so I'm not Sophie. Claire Bear's at this wedding.
I know, yeah, I know. Our friend Emily also does not
like her, but it's because she thinks Emily said that.
She thinks Claire thinks she's prettier than she is.
(41:45):
Which? I, you know, like the fact said
it. I think Jimmy said it and then
maybe even Richie said it was just like, Oh my God, Claire is
so gorgeous. Yeah, she's so pretty.
I'm just like, it's not that she's.
Not me. Yeah, she is.
A very attractive woman. I just feel like there's so much
hype around her and I don't get to see why.
(42:08):
She seems like such a flat character that's just like a
foil to carbon. Yeah, I wonder if it's because
everyone else in all those people's lives are hot messes
and she's clearly got her shit together and is conventionally
attractive. She just doesn't, you know,
everyone else in the show is a character.
(42:29):
Yeah. Their personality, they have
their quirks. They have their fears.
Yeah, they had their journeys. And she's just kind of there.
Yeah, I agree with that. I don't think her character was
very much ducked. I liked how they showed Donna.
So Carmen's mom trying harder, right?
(42:51):
Like, so she's sober for a year.She's trying to reconnect with
Carmen. She acknowledges just, you know
how mean and fucked up of a childhood she gave those 30.
Hello. What did you think about that?
Yeah, Bruce, we have a friend joining.
Hello. Hello.
(43:12):
I know. So, yeah.
I mean, I thought that that was that was really nice because I
think that so many people in theshow carry guilt for Mikey, the
mom, Richie Carmi, you know, like maybe even that to a
certain extent. Yeah.
Like they all carry that. And so I feel like it was nice
(43:32):
to see some sort of healing resident.
Obviously, you know, it's not. They're not going to be best
friends after one conversation and one very fancy chicken meal
he makes for his mother. But, you know, it lays the
groundwork. And maybe that's why Carmen's
just, like, maybe I should take a step back.
And, like, my mom, of all people, is working on herself.
(43:55):
So maybe that's something I should, too.
But even just, you know, coming back to the central theme of
like family, the interpersonal dynamics of the wedding episode,
like this episode was twice as long as the other episodes in
the season. This was this season's 7 fishes.
Yes. Yes, and it felt it was just as
(44:15):
chaotic in a way, especially with Nat and Prince.
Oh my God. Yes.
But it felt like, you know, morepositive, more wholesome.
Yeah. No one drove a car through the
wall. Correct.
So I feel like in a way, it's like there's some growth that is
(44:36):
happening in the background thatI think is maybe inspiring the
characters in the show. Yeah.
You know, take a step back and think about where they are in
their in their lives and their identities.
Yeah, I do think it's like it's a sign of growth for all the
characters that we've moved from7 fishes in Season 2 to the
(45:00):
wedding. What?
What was that episode called? Bears.
Yeah. That is a show of the growth
that all the characters have gone through.
Yeah, there was one line from Donna where she's talking to
Carmen and she's like, I don't know you and you don't know me.
And I did that and, you know, she wants to be in his life.
(45:21):
And I thought that that was a huge thing for Carmen.
Yeah. But yeah, the only other thing
that I had on my notes was our girl.
Tina, when the pressure is off, can make a sub three minute
pasta. That's our girl.
OK, I was. Gonna ask about that.
So yeah, I was wondering what they were trying to show that.
(45:42):
So was it that when she doesn't know she's being timed she can
perform in under 3 minutes? Yeah, but when she's stressed
out, it takes longer. Yeah, cuz that interesting.
That was the conversation she had with Luca, where he was like
when I worked for Carmen, he hadme searing Wagyu steaks.
He's like when I would practice at home with literally anything,
like I would nail it, but as soon as it was Wagyu and as soon
(46:05):
as it was here in the kitchen, like it was just such a mess.
And so I feel like he was tryingto say like, you know, it's the
pressure sucks, but at a certainpoint you kind of like push
beyond it. And if you can use it to help
you versus using it as like a block, then, you know, you're
(46:27):
capable of so much. So I think that the thing that
him ingested with the secret timer, yeah.
And stuff like that was, you know, to show her that you are
absolutely capable of this thing.
The thing being, you know, some 3 minute pasta.
But for a character that we loveso much, the only one who's
willing to tell Carmy shit straight, like for her to
(46:48):
achieve this. And you can just see the pride
in her eyes and the confidence it gives her.
So I does. She was to know that she did it
in under 3 minutes. So at the at the end, they're
like, oh, like, can you put the plate over there?
And then I think somebody leavesthe timer next to the stone that
she was cooking at. So she sees 2:59 and she just
(47:09):
like starts to like smile and, you know, and no one even
acknowledges, no one says a single thing, but it's like they
have each other's backs. They scream at each other so
much, but you know without a doubt that they are there for
each other. Whatever it takes.
Yeah, which I love. So sweet.
(47:29):
I love Tina. I love Tina.
I'm so happy she got her three minute pasta.
Me. Too.
Who is your favorite character? On the show, I was thinking
about this a lot. It's so hard just to have one.
I feel like there's tears of characters like Sydney I will
always have an extremely soft spot for.
(47:51):
I think the facts are just so funny.
I think they are just so out of pocket outrageous.
There's nothing to do with the rest of the show.
But at one point it just cuts tothem in the parking lot.
Like we're quietly just like, screaming at each other.
Yeah. I feel like Sid and then maybe
Tina, Marcus, definitely Marcus is up there.
(48:14):
Yeah, maybe those 3. Yeah, those are great.
I, I think Richie will forever be my favorite character.
He has been my favorite character since his STAJ episode
in season 2 and I just I love him so much.
What he's had as a character andas a person, as a father.
(48:36):
Yeah. As like, head of front house and
everything. Like incredible chef's kiss.
No, no, It's love, Richie. Chef's kiss, no pun intended.
Weird this episode. Yeah, I'll never forget in that
in that episode where he stashesthat ever when he like hears the
people talking about how they want deep dish pizza and then he
(48:57):
like goes running into the kitchen and he's like shit.
And she's like quiet, please quiet.
And then he announces what he wants.
And then he's like, can I go serve it to them?
Can I go serve it to them? And then she's like.
Go get him, Richie. And I was like, that'll that's
like one of the best episodes oftelevision for me ever.
(49:18):
Oh. Yeah, I think that one was ever.
Oh, no, pun intended. Jesus, Yeah, no, it was, I hard
agree. So good.
And as a character, like you canreally see him take on
responsibility after the review.It's just like they said, it was
like chaos. And it's like I really dropped
the ball and working so hard on his pep talks and stuff like
(49:41):
that. Like, just doing everything in
his power to, you know, be the best he can be because he's
found his place. Yeah.
And I think that for him, he as a character, might have been a
little bit aimless, especially after, like, Mikey Pass.
I think it was good that, you know, they showed his growth
(50:02):
over the course of the whole show.
Yeah. Love him.
Love. Richie cool.
Well, what would you rate this season?
Actually I'm curious what you would rate each season if you
remember season. One I remember really liking but
it being like like uncut gems level of chaos.
So maybe like A7 or an ace. Two I thought was maybe
(50:27):
somewhere around there. I feel like I don't remember it
as clearly, but for those like stand out episodes three I
thought was a little bit more serious in nature, but you still
got to see like significant growth in some of the
characters. So I would put it at maybe like
(50:48):
7 and 8 this season. I'm going to say maybe 7.
So like still a really stellar season, not the best.
Maybe like seasons one and two, or 2:00 and 8:00.
Yeah, yeah, I think I'm with youdirectionally.
I think seasons one and two weredefinitely my favorite.
(51:10):
Season 2 was for sure my favorite.
I would have probably put that at like a nine or so season 3 I
think like dropped off a little bit.
Granted I did binge seasons one through 3 all at once cuz I so.
You can have more comparison. Yeah, so I think like once
season 3 started, I was like, OK, I can tell.
Like there were a few years between season 2 and Season 3.
(51:32):
It feels a little different. So I think I would have given
that one like a 7 as well, probably.
I would give this season an 8. I think it was so great being
back in the world. I thought the acting was so
amazing across the board, they say.
So much with just their facial expressions.
Yes, the face acting is so good and.
(51:55):
Whoever does the lighting for the show, I feel like at this
point they know the angles to shine a light on.
Jeremy Allen White's Oh my goodness.
Blue blue, they're. Like White Walker eyes.
Glowing in half of his scenes. Especially when he was under the
table looking at Claire, I was like the blue is bluing.
(52:15):
I was going to say in the very first episode where he's talking
to Mikey in the flashback and it's like the sun from the
window over the sink, he's just like hitting his eyes not to
sink the stove. And it's just like hitting his
eyes at that angle. And I was like, people have blue
eyes sometimes, so intense, so intense.
(52:36):
Like that blue eye filter. Yeah.
OK, So yeah, binge in progress. This is our segment to where we
talk about what else we're watching outside of the show
that we just covered. So Poonam, what are you binging
right now? Well, Mike and I just finished
Andor, which for any Star Wars fans is basically the lead up to
(52:58):
the events of Rogue One. Phenomenal shattered me
emotionally and I will be thinking about that show for a
very long time. On the completely opposite end
of the spectrum, Love Island Baby.
Love Island USA season 7. Yes, I am not caught up.
I think I watched maybe the first week of episodes like I
(53:23):
made it past the first after sunso I have quite a bit of
catching up to do but I have so much FOMO for all like the tik
toks and the Instagram and the memes.
Same, I am watching Survivor 47 with my sister.
This is like Survivor season of my life right now.
I've been watching Survivor withmy sister for a few months now,
(53:44):
but we've now moved on to season47 and I'm also rewatching How I
Met Your Mother just because I was due for another.
Yeah. I feel like I kept hearing
references and I was like, man, it's been, it's been like over a
year I think since I rewatched it, so it's time.
Is that your annual rewatch show?
(54:05):
So probably, yeah. Because I guess Gilmore Girls is
like my perpetual We Watch show.We know.
And that How I Met your mother is like, yeah, about once a year
I'll go. It's just so much faster to get
through. Yeah, yeah.
That's. True.
All right. Well, thanks for joining us,
Poonen. For having me, I'm super excited
(54:27):
to to be on the podcast and thenlisten to us talk to each other
again on my commute. Yay, thanks for yapping with us.
If you loved this episode, have some hot takes we missed, or if
you've got a show you're dying for us to binge next, follow us
on socials we're at, Binge Yapp,Repeat.
(54:48):
Until next time, happy bingeing.
Hello fellow yappers, I'm Ruchi.And I'm Shalini and we're your
hosts. A binge, yap, repeat.
We're two best friends who spendan embarrassing amount of time
binge watching TV, and honestly,we just need to talk about it.
If you're here, we're guessing you do too.
Fair warning, this is a spoiler friendly zone.
We will be discussing lots of spoilers, so if you haven't
(00:24):
watched the show yet, hit pause,go binge, and come back when
you're ready to yap with us. And now it's yap time.
(00:46):
Hello everyone, welcome back to Binge Yap Repeat.
I am joined here by one of my best friends, Poonim.
Everyone say hi to Poonim. What the fuck is a Poonim?
This Poonam is here to discuss the bear with me today.
Yay. A show which we both love and
(01:08):
Ruchi does not watch. So.
It was only appropriate to bringon Poonam for this epic
discussion. I love the bear so so much.
You actually put me on to the show.
I watched, yeah. I think when Season 3 came out,
you told me or I was at your place when Season 3 came out and
(01:30):
then you watched the pilot with me so that I could get into the
show. Yes, yay, I forgot.
About that. But anyway, so yeah, today we'll
be discussing the bear and this season has a few overarching
plot lines. So usually we talk about talk
through this show's synopsis, but since we're already on
season 4, we're way past the series synopsis.
(01:52):
So the overarching plot lines ofthis season 1, the bear, the
restaurant, not the teddy bear, is up against the clock after a
less than ideal review in the Chicago Tribune.
And so the everyone on board is kind of trying to tighten up the
ship to see if they can survive.2 Sydney is facing a decision
(02:15):
about whether to stay at the Bear or join Shapiro at his new
restaurant. 3rd Richie's ex-wifeis getting married.
What's her name? Tiff.
Tiff. Tiffany.
Her name is Bree in Community. Yes, that's right.
OK, Tiff is getting married and Richie's kind of dealing with
(02:37):
his feelings around that. Carmi is starting to think about
what he wants and who he is outside of the restaurant.
Anything else? I mean, there were smaller plot
lines kind of in parallel, but Ithink that's a good summary of
the season. All right, great.
(02:57):
Well, I guess we can start with overall thoughts.
What did you think about this season overall?
I will say that I really like the season because I just feel
like the quality of the show andlike the characters in the show
make it feel like I'm coming back to like a family that I
(03:18):
love so much. I feel like there were in prior
seasons, maybe more like character specific, like growth
arcs, But I think it came together nicely in this season
where it's like kind of everyone's dealing with
something and you just see them all, like pushing forward in
parallel. The vibe of it, I feel like was
(03:41):
exactly what you expect out of the bear.
Like the ultra close-ups of people.
Yeah. And food and like almost ASMR
level of sound coming from a kitchen.
Yeah. And the cacophony of all the the
bersados and the facts and everyone else in this Chicago
community just yelling at each other, which I loved.
(04:03):
I always loved that too. So yeah, I think I came away
from the season pretty positively.
That being said, I did finish the season like two hours ago,
so I haven't had a lot of time to really like, sit with my
thoughts on the season. I feel like if the show decides
to not continue, it could be like a good close to the series.
(04:25):
But selfishly, I hope it continues because I want to see,
you know, where the bear goes from here.
The show, obviously, And the restaurant, yeah.
So yeah. Yeah, I agree with you.
I think it was so fun to be backin the world of the bear.
I just love the world to find dining in general and like,
(04:45):
learning little tidbits about, you know, oh, they need to put
out a pasta dish in less than 3 minutes if they want to stay on
the clock. Like the.
Some sommeliers need to know exactly the vintage and the type
of what, Like they. There's just so much that goes
into it. So I love that aspect.
I also loved being back in the Berzado family.
(05:07):
And yeah, I think I loved, like,Richie's kind of side plot of
trying to figure out the best speech of, like, bringing
everyone together as a family. Yeah.
His daily pep talks and he kind of lands on like everyone that
comes in as part of our family or something like that.
I feel like as a viewer, they'rebringing me in and I'm part of
(05:28):
the family too, you know. But I did feel at times kind of
what you said about how in priorseasons there was a lot of
character growth or like major plot lines were around the
growth of a character. I did kind of feel like this
season there wasn't that much ofthat.
(05:48):
Like I don't know that the plot really moved forward.
I feel like most of the movementof the plot happened in episode
1 or they bring in the non negotiables, the help from ever
and episode 10 where Carmi decides to leave and like in
between. It was just kind of like slice
of life of being in that restaurant.
(06:10):
Yeah, I can see that. Not that much moving, I
personally love being in that slice of life and so it was
enjoyable to watch. I just don't know if it was as
like plot driven as I wanted it to be.
Agreed. Agreed.
I mean, I think the overarching,like, restaurant is on a clock
and everyone's just trying to, like, figure out ways to
optimize and find opportunity like Ibrahim was doing.
(06:33):
But yeah, it wasn't like a majordevelopment point, like Marcus
going to Copenhagen and like, Richie dodging in, like, front
house question mark. Yeah.
Terminology. We do not come from the world to
fine dining, if you could not tell.
(06:53):
We're just happy to be involved when the dining happens.
What is the finest dining restaurant you've ever dined at?
Oh, one was a sushi place that you took me to in Seattle, which
was at that time in my life, by far the fanciest thing I've ever
experienced. We were what, like 22?
(07:15):
22 like broke out of college going to this restaurant where
the sushi chef was like the understudy person to Jiro.
Jiro dreams of sushi fame. Yeah, Sushi Kashiba.
Yeah. And then when I went back with
my now fiance, Michael had to, like, transfer money from our
(07:40):
savings to our checking account because we got the bill and we
were like, oh, no, Oh, no. It was like grad school, Dire
Straits. I don't know why we went to this
restaurant, but I was like, it was amazing.
We have to go. Yeah, So maybe that and maybe
another one I went to in Chicagorecently with some Co workers.
(08:03):
It was like I think like 8 courses called yoga and it was
really good. Everything was amazing.
I yeah, I saved the menu becauseI was like I'm going to remember
this forever. That was the night that I ate so
much that in my hotel room I hadto do like walking lunges
because I was. Around your bed before going to
(08:24):
bed. Nice. 10 out of 10 experience
how are you? I was actually going to say
Puyol and Quintanillo, which were two restaurants we went to
in Mexico City. My gosh.
Yeah. And yeah, I I feel like
actually, even though Quintanillo was more expensive,
(08:45):
Puyol felt like more of an elevated fine dining experience
to me. Puyol was the one we did first.
Yes, with the. Mole.
Yeah, I really liked Puyol and the company was fantastic.
Yeah, that was super, super good.
Yeah. And I would absolutely go back.
And like the service was excellent.
I remember we felt our table andwe were like this is the softest
(09:08):
stone. Yeah, ever felt it?
Just like all the detail. Yeah, OK, cool.
So back to the bear. Since you brought up Ebra and
his kind of side plot with the beef window, what were your
thoughts on that kind of plot development of like him going
out and finding opportunity and bringing in this like outsider
(09:31):
to the business I. I was kind of mixed on it
because one, I respect the hell out of him for, you know, I want
to contribute to the success of just the overall, like bear and
Beef combined sort of business situation.
And he's such like a driven character, so wholesome and
genuine and like his intentions and everything he does.
(09:54):
But like this outside guy, I don't know, I got a little bit
of like car salesman vibes from him.
I mean, obviously, you know, thebeef, the window is doing really
well and there's opportunity to expand without changing like
day-to-day setup. And so he comes to the idea of
like, like a mini franchise thing.
(10:15):
And I don't know, I feel like when you have something as
special as that, like maybe you could like dilute it a little
bit or like, what if Carmi's noton board?
Does he have like the authority to make these decisions
independent of the bear? So that's why I was like, I was
a little like, I don't know about this guy.
I'm a little sussed. I'm a little bit sussed.
(10:37):
Yeah, I felt similarly. I was a little confused why Ebra
thought to bring him in or like,yeah, just why?
OK, well, first of all, when they showed like the P&L
statement of like, okay, combined the bear is not doing
well. But if you break out the bear
restaurant from the beef window,obviously the beef window is
doing great. I was like, well, then there's
(10:57):
your answer. Do more beef.
Yeah. And then they took all season to
come to that conclusion. Yeah.
I was like, why? Why didn't Computer come up with
that? Why didn't Jimmy come up with
that? Yeah.
So I thought the solution was a bit obvious.
But then also, yeah, I was confused about, like, what's
Ebro's motive here? Is he trying to take the beef
(11:19):
away from the bear? Like, is he?
Yeah, I think. I think it turned out like he
was staying pretty loyal to Carmi, but like in the middle,
before he showed how he felt about karma, I was like, what's
he trying to do here? Is he trying to like, steal the
beef or like replicate the beef somewhere else?
So I was, I was a little confused about that.
But yeah. So it was nice to see Ebro's
(11:43):
shift in mentality from prior seasons to this one, because I
think what they showed was that in Season 2 when they're
training the rest of the beef staff to be like fine dining
chefs, well, the the former. Beef to be the bear staff, yeah.
Like everyone was pretty much onboard with upskilling, but Ebro
(12:05):
was so adamant about like, staying.
Staying as is. Yeah, staying as is like staying
simple. So I like that they showed that
shift of Yeah, I. Think he's really stepping into
the, like leadership of the beefand this is something that he
like was a part of in the prior life and is now like kind of
(12:26):
running operationally currently.So I feel like it's near and
dear to his heart. But yeah, to your point, like I
don't know what the like end game was.
I know it kind of seems like they're going to franchise the
beef and then that will kind of fund the bear, even if the bear
(12:47):
is constantly nonprofitable. Which is kind of funny.
I'm flat out. So maybe there's hope.
Maybe. There's hope.
Maybe there's hope. Maybe not having Carmi there
will actually help it be profitable.
Yeah, I do think that is true. Yeah, man's like, so for
complicate literally everything,but maybe that's why he's at
(13:09):
where he's at. He's at the top of his game, you
know. True.
Very true. He wouldn't.
It wouldn't be the bear without Carmi.
Exactly. It is true.
Which well. I guess we'll see.
We'll see what happens I guess. Going to Carmi's decision to
step away from the bear, how do you interpret his choice to
retire from the restaurant? Is it self preservation,
(13:32):
personal growth? Or is this another symptom of
like his PTSD running away from his problems?
I think it might be a combination like he still very
clearly carries this guilt aboutMikey with him and obviously
complicated relationships with like his mother and Claire Bear,
(13:54):
who's back in the picture. And so I think at the very
beginning of the season, Natalieor Sugar kind of sets it up or
she's like you, you used to loveit.
Like, you know, opening the question of do you still love
it? So I think personal growth for
sure where he's like, there is shit that I need to deal with
(14:14):
and it would only I could only what I don't understand is why
he thinks he could only do that outside of the restaurant
because like this is his baby. This is his him and his
brother's dream, right? I would take a lot to step away
from that. I went back and forth on it a
little bit to your point, in my opinion, like the bear is not
(14:35):
the bear without Carmi as like aNexus.
You know, that's what it the plan is for the next season.
Like, does he find some resolution in his personal life
and processing as many demons? Yeah.
Does he make a return? I don't know.
(14:56):
I guess we. Have to wait and see.
Yeah, I agree. I think I was I was kind of
thinking to myself like is this a decision of strength or is
this a decision of weakness? His decision to step away.
I I definitely think he tends tolike martyr eyes himself a lot.
He's like, oh, like I'm, I'm theworst.
(15:17):
So like I need to step away or like I need to stop doing
everything. And it's like, well, no, What
would be helpful is if you just like did things and did them in
a way that was helpful. It's like maybe not new dishes
every day, maybe new dishes every month, every week.
Like, I think, yeah, I don't know, I really like that one.
There's there's something in between creating new dishes
(15:40):
everyday and fucking up operations and quitting.
And Kari is not. Extreme yeah, and they you know
I think Richie was just like Oh yeah, you run away like you're
good at that yeah I was like is this just him stuck in this
pattern of like build up to thisthing thing is achieved have a
(16:00):
crisis leave right you know so. Yeah, I'm, I'm curious to see,
yeah, how he is involved next season.
Hopefully there is a next season.
As of right now, the Bear has not been renewed for a fifth
season. Interesting.
So, yeah. So I guess we don't know if
there will be a season 5. Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop,
(16:20):
whoop. Just a small oopsie doopsy
Eppers. As of yesterday, July 1st, FX
has confirmed that there will bea season 5 of the Bear.
So as of recording the episode with Poonam there was no
confirmation. But as of July 1st we have
confirmation there will be a season 5 S Enjoy.
(16:43):
And with that, back to the show.If there is a season 5, I'm
curious to see how Carmi will beinvolved.
Random question for you, why does everyone treat Neil Fak
like a baby bubble? I never understood that I feel.
Like, because he just like his attitudes and the way he talks
(17:08):
and the way he interacts with like the world around him is
very like childlike. But I also think that maybe
that's something that just carried from their childhood,
that he is this like sweet baby Angel little boy, but he's also
like like 40 years old, always walking like this because he
(17:31):
doesn't know what to do with hishand.
He's. Like this is a nice place.
This is nice. This is a fancy place.
It's like stop doing shit with your hands.
Also tasting the wine and it's like Skittles.
It's not Skittles. No, not Skittles.
It's not Skittles. Easily one of my favorite
characters. Yeah, because of just like the
(17:52):
Comic Relief the facts provide. Oh my God, all the facts are so
hilarious. I loved when Brie Larson came.
Well, I, yeah. Yeah.
I loved when Natalie Sugar was talking about Francie Fact every
time. She was like, oh Francie fucking
fact. Natalie, Natalie.
(18:13):
And then when Brie Larson does come in, she's like.
Fancy fucking fat that was that was on site for Natalie like and
I don't think we don't ever findout what happened.
She just says that her best friend betrayed her, right?
And both of them feel like them.Feel that way which I thought it
was so funny at a wedding just like Natalie just on site just
(18:38):
getting into and wastes no time.And we find out they did hook
up. Question mark Yeah, that seemed
to be like randomly thrown in the middle of their like, epic
beef at a wedding. No pun intended.
Yeah. And then Pete was like, are you
(18:59):
in love with her? And Sugar's like, no, so cute.
Well, yeah, I love Brie Larson. I thought she played Francie
back so well. I love how she's giving her
brothers a pep talk about their girls are like she's so mean to
her girlfriends. She's like, can I like be the
real thing? And she's like, no.
(19:20):
You boys, I love you boys so much.
You've got to get your head. It's like, oh damn.
OK, one thing I wanted to get your thoughts on.
So maybe this is a hot take. I kind of felt like a lot of the
things that happened this seasonwere kind of fan service.
Like for example, I think bringing in the people from
(19:42):
ever. We had Sarah Ramos, who's like
Richie's kind of love interest. And then like the two, the two
guys that Richie stodged with. And then we have Luca, a dessert
chef. I don't know if I found that
super realistic because, like, the bear obviously can't afford
them. Yeah, they're staging, so they
(20:04):
don't have to be paid. But like, in what world would
they agree to that? Why are they doing charity for
this restaurant? I don't know.
I feel like the vibe that I got and I don't know how realistic
it is, obviously, but I, I feel like it's about the
relationships. And it's like, once you're in
with like the community, then it's this, you know, you came in
(20:29):
stash and learned a lot and we developed this relationship
professional or, you know, even personal to a certain extent of
like friendships. And like, I am willing to come
do this to come like help you out, even if it's temporary.
Because we know that the, like gang that Richie hung out with
that restaurant closed. It was Olivia Coleman's
(20:51):
restaurant ever. Yeah.
Whatever her character's name was.
I don't. Remember.
And like Luca. I mean, I don't mind seeing Luca
on the screen. Hot Chef agreed.
Baking agreed. But This is why I was like.
Fancy. I could.
I could see that. But it sounds like, you know,
like Luca and Carmi work together or he worked under
(21:13):
Carmi. So there's like a relationship
there. And he's already back in
Chicago, so maybe this is something he does to fill the
time. Is he making money?
What's going on in his life? I have.
How is he paying the bill? No idea because as far as I am
aware rent in Chicago is also not cheap based on my friend
(21:37):
having recently moved apartments.
So yeah, I don't. I don't know how realistic that
is. Like ever superstar team if they
hadn't come in. Oh my God Sarah Ramos is such a
wizard. I actually forgot her character.
Name Jess. Jess.
Yeah, definitely a wizard. Also kind of psychologist,
(21:59):
Therapist. Richie, like really able to like
cut through what he's trying to say or ask for.
I love that. And then the the last fanservice
moment, but it actually mimickeda scene from Season 2.
That was my favorite, like, scene from this entire show was
when they did the VIP treatment for the family whose daughter
(22:22):
just recovered from cancer. Yeah.
And they, like, did the whole beef window or beef sandwich
special and like, gave her snow and stuff.
It really mimicked that scene from Season 2 where they, like,
bring, was it Lou Malnati's pizza or something, some sort of
famous deep dish pizza in Chicago to the people dining at
(22:42):
ever. And then they were like, you did
not hear me say that. And they're like, so happy.
And that's kind of Richie's first time where he feels like
so much pride over what he does.So yeah, as a fan, I loved
seeing the snow scene. But then as a critic, I was
like, are they just like recreating scenes that we loved
from other seasons? I could see that.
(23:05):
I mean, yeah, I mean, maybe it'sjust kind of doubling down or
emphasizing just like how much Richie has grown in the role.
And it's like, well, now I know to do this.
And he gets to be creative aboutwhat he thinks would be the most
meaningful. And I kind of got a suspicion
from that scene that like that guy dining alone who saw it was
(23:26):
like going to be a critic. Yeah, me too.
But I was like, I don't think that was the guy that called Nat
at the end of the season. So maybe it was just like, you
know, somebody who happened to be at the restaurant saw this
and was like, wow, that was really freaking nice.
So, yeah, I don't know. But I, you know, it warms the
heart when you see, well, Richieget so much out of doing this
(23:48):
for people and just the thought that goes into it.
Yeah, I did love that scene actually.
I totally forgot about that guy who they spend so much time on
at the end because they they like set it up in the prior
episode that the the critic, theMichelin critics usually change
their name every time they go toa restaurant.
(24:08):
It sometimes happens to be a street of the city they are in
at the time. And then the Uber driver comes
and says Mr. Clark. So then I looked up if Clark is
a street in Chicago and it is a very long St. in Chicago that
like runs basically down the entire downtown, It's like, oh,
that's what they're trying to do.
(24:29):
But then it never came back to him.
So I don't know, maybe that maybe that'll happen in Season 5
if we get a season. Because I feel like it was after
that episode where Neil Fax saw that, it was like, oh, this is
the food and wine guy that's like on the reservation list
who's coming. Yeah.
And so like, that's how Marcus gets the Rising Stars award or
(24:51):
something of that sort. So yeah, that's a good, good
point. I don't know.
Like why? It was such a weird detail that
I thought would come back, but then it ended up being kind of
erroneous. I mean, maybe it's laying some
groundwork for the future. I don't know again if there is
even a season 5, so I I hope so.Let's talk about Sydney a little
(25:13):
bit. So her storyline this season was
a dealing with her decision of whether to stay at the bear or
leave and join Shapiro at his new restaurant.
B Her dad gets sick in the middle.
CI guess like I don't even know if we can call this C Maybe like
X is that I feel like they were kind of setting both Marcus and
(25:37):
Luca up to be love interest for her and like various maybe this
season. Marcus.
Marcus from season 1 yeah for sure yeah.
Then at the end of last season, she and Luca are, like, talking
a lot at the final ever. And they, like, have a really
long one-on-one discussion. And then he comes to her place
(25:58):
after with, like, the big party where everyone's like, making
frozen pizza and stuff. Yeah.
And they show them talking. And then this season, the one
conversation they had I thought was pretty flirtatious.
She's like, oh, we cannot affordyou.
And then he's like. There he says chives.
Funny. How did you make that word into
two syllables? That's right.
He has the Chives conversation. Yeah.
(26:23):
And so, yeah, I thought that waspretty flirtatious.
So I was like, oh, OK, we're going to get like some
interesting love triangle shit because obviously Marcus may be
holding a torch for her a littlebit, but nothing came of it.
I guess they never came back to it.
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I thought it was
interesting. I guess I can never really tell
because Eddie Berry, Is that howyou say it?
(26:45):
I think so. It's so good at playing just an
awkward person. So sometimes I never get like,
does she harbor feelings like that for anyone?
Because I remember reading maybeit was after Season 2 or Season
3, Like, is there going to be something between Sid and Carmi?
(27:06):
And then, like, Claire came intothe picture and were like, guess
that. So, yeah, I don't know.
That is interesting. Yeah, so I don't know, maybe
that'll be another Season 5 plotline, Who knows?
I mean, at this point we could basically write it ourselves.
Yeah, OK, so that's one Sydney plot line.
The other one is her decision tostay at the bear.
(27:29):
Yeah. What did you think of that whole
conundrum? I.
Feel like she was leaning towards taking it for most of
the season and then the wedding episode happens and I think for
her that was almost a reminder of like they are this.
Absolutely. That shit, crazy, chaotic
(27:51):
family. But it's it's her family now.
Like she's part of it. She was under the table with the
rest of the aunties and uncles, hanging out with the little girl
who didn't want to dance. You know what I mean?
Yeah, So I feel like, you know, it makes sense that that is
something that's so important toher that she would want to stay,
(28:13):
even though, you know, it is a little bit of a sinking ship.
I did think it was really, really funny in the episode
where she's hanging out with hercousin getting her hair done and
the calls from Shapiro and just,I don't know if you could call
them microaggressions, but just pop.
It's like, oh, have you seen good hair?
Like, doesn't know that, you know, her hair appointment's not
(28:34):
going to be just an hour and stuff like that.
And she's like. Oh, thank you.
But yeah, you didn't have to. OK, OK.
It's like any like when he's talking about the vision for the
the kitchen and he's walking herthrough, he's like bring all
these like Afro Caribbean flavors and he like points at
her and her face is like, OK, yeah.
(28:56):
So I don't know if maybe that was something that they didn't
want to make too obvious, but it's something that maybe she
would think about. Like this guy sometimes says
stuff that, you know, well meaning, but like, maybe like
not the most appropriate. Yeah, you know, discussion to
have. That was a.
Really good point. I do think, I do think that was
(29:18):
very intentional of the writers to put in there.
And I think from her perspective, I could totally see
her being like, well, at the bare, I am another like, I'm a
family member. I don't feel like they see me
any different than they see anyone else in this family.
Versus with Shapiro, it's like, oh, I am the Afro Caribbean
(29:40):
like. Representative, Yes.
He is using me to execute on this vision he has for a very
diverse kind of performative thing.
Yeah. And even if it's
well-intentioned, it's just uncomfortable.
And she just feels like more a part of the family with the.
Bear. Yeah, and she brings it up when
she's having her rant, her metaphor rant to her niece about
(30:02):
the sleepover. Yeah.
Where she's like, what is, like,this chaotic family?
But, you know, when it's good, it's really, really good.
And, you know, do I want to, like, start over somewhere else?
And that's probably another decision.
And yeah, you know, the niece was just like, sounds like you
should go to the sleepover that has pizza.
Like it's not about the pizza. Suck pizza sounds pretty good to
(30:24):
me. Like, just the fact that she was
pushing back on like what the niece was saying was like, maybe
deep down she already kind of knew.
Yeah, I feel like that too. It's like her heart was telling
her to stay but her head was like, that's a stupid decision.
Yeah. Consider other options and then
yeah, I agree that the wedding like really solidified it.
Yeah. And then at the end when, you
(30:46):
know, Carmi was just like, oh, yeah, you're just like waiting
to get out of here. Like, I don't know what exactly
pegged her as a flight risk because I don't think that she,
you know, she invested a lot of time in the development of the
bear and everything. And like, obviously she's very
stressed, but she came to work with Carmi.
(31:06):
Yes. Like that was the whole
intention of like, how she got, you know.
Yeah, she's. Joined the movie.
In the 1st place, yeah. So I I was a little confused
about that, and maybe Carmi was just bringing that up because
Shapiro had called him, which I thought was a little shady.
Yeah. Like super.
Shady. I guess they're if they're
friends or whatever, but like. Super shady.
(31:30):
Yeah. So like, that was clearly an
emotional move of Shapiro. Yeah, but I guess he called
Carmi before she had told him a decision.
That's just stupid of Shapiro todo.
It's like you're kind of sabotaging yourself.
Or just like, you know, it's manipulative.
Like I'm going to plant this seed in Carmi's mind that
(31:52):
Sydney's not all the way in, in the fair, and that could
fracture that relationship and, you know, get her to my side.
And Carmen's reaction to that isjust like, put her into the
contract and take himself out. Oh, Carmen, like, I just think
(32:13):
if for Shapiro to have done that, that was a huge risk of
Harmi telling Sydney that he knows that she's talking to
Shapiro. And then Sydney would be like,
so I can't trust Shapiro. I'm never going to go work for
him. That would be my reaction.
And then they mentioned in like the last of like, we never got
to talk about this, but I'm like, how much time has passed
(32:36):
that they didn't have the opportunity to just have a quick
one-on-one somewhere in the kitchen or outside the
restaurant or, you know, work? At the wedding.
Like I have to imagine and the clock had, you know, the hours
on it. If I just took the time to
divide by 24, give me the days. That's two months.
(32:58):
In span OK, two months. So they didn't have a chance to
talk about this for two months? I know or even one month like.
After she gets back after her dad has his heart attack, yeah.
Communication. Not karmy.
Strong suit? No, also not Sydney.
Strong, strong suit her in the empty basketball court.
(33:20):
Like if you miss this then you are a failure, blah blah.
Sydney the The overthinker, Yeah.
Sydney Oh my God. And then her calling Shapiro.
I was cringing so. She had like her professional
voice on and I was like, oh. God.
So that's all I wanted to say. Yeah, Yeah.
(33:42):
Thank you again. So in the episode where Sydney's
getting her hair done and she and her niece go to the store,
and then they talk about gummy worms, and Sydney's like, I ate
so many that my teeth hurt. And then at the end, you see her
eating it. Yeah.
(34:03):
And she's like, I thought maybe that was a symbol for her
experience at the bear or like, she's so in on it, but too much
of it actually comes back and hurts her.
Or the thing that she loves the most is also the thing that
hurts her. Yeah, which I feel like is also
(34:23):
applicable to Carmen. Yes, very true.
Yeah, very true. Yeah.
So maybe it's just like the bearas this toxic passion.
Yeah, you know. Yeah.
But yeah, that's a good point. I have to say I love that
episode. I thought it was so funny when
her cousin was just like, oh, yeah, there's there's no more
(34:46):
hair. I need to run out and get some.
It's just the slow slow turn in horror with like only 3/4 of her
hair dye and then goes to talk to this 11 year old.
I felt so seen because I don't know how to talk to children.
She's just hanging by the door. Hey buck ass half done hair.
(35:08):
So good I burst out laugh. She has to put on a beanie to go
out in public. Poor girl going out in public in
the middle of a hair appointment.
Oh, my gosh. But in a way, that episode to me
was Sydney reconnecting with herfamily.
Yeah. And just like how nice it is to
(35:29):
be surrounded by like your people, you know, and even if it
took a little bit to break the eyes with her knees, it took a
little bit of convincing of her cousin that, you know, 3 Fridays
from now, we're going to go out,we're going to call the other
cousin and it's going to be a rager of a night.
Like, you know, stuff like that.Like, I think it was also a good
reminder for her of like, familyis important.
(35:51):
And so maybe that also like factored into her, into her
decision. Yeah, totally.
Importance of family at work andin life yeah like people who.
See, you for who you are are notwhat you do. 01 line that I
really loved was between Luca and Marcus.
(36:11):
They're having a conversation and Marcus is like, I feel like,
what did he say? It was something like, if you
don't have your life together, you can't, like, you can't make
good food or something. But then Luca was like, another
way to look at it is that our work tastes the way it does
because of what happened in our life to get here.
(36:32):
Yeah. And I love.
The mess, Like if there's mess in your life, there's mess in
the work you do or something. Yes, yeah, that's what Marcus
says. Yes, I loved that line from
Luca. Yeah, that's so.
True you are. You are a product of your
experiences, both good and bad. Getting through whatever trials
(36:54):
and tribulations gets you to thepoint where you can create these
beautiful things. Absolutely.
And also, like, Carmi wouldn't be the artist that he is without
all of the issues that he has. Yeah.
And his upbringing and, you know, his dry to get out and
spend some time with French Laundry with the other guy from
community who yelled at him. Like, yeah.
(37:17):
Yeah, so many actors from community the show.
I'm waiting for Danny Pootie. Danny Pootie season 5 my.
God, yeah. First, Danny Pootie lived in
Pasadena. That was also the college town
where Poonam and I went to college and we saw him.
Everywhere in the Trader Joe's parking lot, running next to
(37:41):
campus. Yeah.
A true local, yeah. What's that?
There's There's an episode of How I Met Your Mother.
Where is it Maury Povich or something where it's it's like
you have you're not a real New Yorker until you see Maury
Povich and I feel like you're not a true Pasadena I.
Until you see Danny Pootie. Danny Pootie in The Dirty Dina.
(38:05):
Let's go get that man to Chicago.
Oh did you notice that the computer was like in head to toe
rate this? Year.
I was like where did this come from?
Is this man from Oakland, CA? Maybe, I don't know, he was
fully dripped out in Raiders fangear and I don't know if they
(38:28):
ever explained that. Did he get this much screen time
in prior seasons? Because I feel like I don't
remember seeing computer this much.
Definitely not this much. I feel like we saw him every now
and then and I wasn't totally clear on his role.
Yeah, relationship. I just knew he was like money
guy. Yeah, like finance numbers guy.
(38:49):
Yeah, but I don't know, when Ebru was talking to that guy
about the beef, he was just likeI just gave him like, you know,
tables with numbers and colored charts and stuff.
And you know, I was like, oh, OK, either way, computer kind of
hilarious side character just like, you know, shows up,
(39:12):
installs a clock decked out in Raiders.
Gear, Where did he come from? Where did he go?
No one knows. Cotton Eye Joe in the very first
episode. Just a funny line when they're
talking about the issues they have and someone's like, oh,
well, three people quit and they're like, who quit?
(39:34):
And someone's like Eric, Debbie and Davine Garvey and sitting
here both like who the fuck are Eric, Debbie and Davine?
They're like, Davina was chill, Erica's OK.
One thing that really frustratedme was that after Harmony has
this big moment, he's about to take the train home and then
(39:57):
he's like. Wait.
This isn't what I want to do. And he you see him running,
running, running. And that was the same episode
where someone points out to him that he hasn't seen his fucking
niece yet. Yeah.
And so I was like, he better be going to his niece right now.
But no, of course he goes to Claire.
Bear. Claire Bear.
I'm not a huge fan of Claire Bear's character.
(40:18):
Really I I don't know if this isa hot take.
She feels like such a one-dimensional character whose
only purpose is to show Carmi Like there is this other world
outside of the restaurant where it's like, you know, you can
absolutely connect with another human being outside of a
(40:39):
kitchen, but outside of that, her character makes no sense to
me. I get that she's a doctor, love
that for her we stand a qualified queen.
Why is she picking up the phone like randomly throughout the
day? Like, I don't think that that's
how doctor shifts work. I thought that you know.
(41:02):
You. Can only really chat on your
break and I can't imagine it's that long.
But for a busy doctor and a busychef to just be calling each
other, having these deep conversations and then being
like, ha ha, insert like kind offlat coke and just disappear
again until I know she shows up and he's like, Oh my God, it's
(41:24):
so I'm not Sophie. Claire Bear's at this wedding.
I know, yeah, I know. Our friend Emily also does not
like her, but it's because she thinks Emily said that.
She thinks Claire thinks she's prettier than she is.
(41:45):
Which? I, you know, like the fact said
it. I think Jimmy said it and then
maybe even Richie said it was just like, Oh my God, Claire is
so gorgeous. Yeah, she's so pretty.
I'm just like, it's not that she's.
Not me. Yeah, she is.
A very attractive woman. I just feel like there's so much
hype around her and I don't get to see why.
(42:08):
She seems like such a flat character that's just like a
foil to carbon. Yeah, I wonder if it's because
everyone else in all those people's lives are hot messes
and she's clearly got her shit together and is conventionally
attractive. She just doesn't, you know,
everyone else in the show is a character.
(42:29):
Yeah. Their personality, they have
their quirks. They have their fears.
Yeah, they had their journeys. And she's just kind of there.
Yeah, I agree with that. I don't think her character was
very much ducked. I liked how they showed Donna.
So Carmen's mom trying harder, right?
(42:51):
Like, so she's sober for a year.She's trying to reconnect with
Carmen. She acknowledges just, you know
how mean and fucked up of a childhood she gave those 30.
Hello. What did you think about that?
Yeah, Bruce, we have a friend joining.
Hello. Hello.
(43:12):
I know. So, yeah.
I mean, I thought that that was that was really nice because I
think that so many people in theshow carry guilt for Mikey, the
mom, Richie Carmi, you know, like maybe even that to a
certain extent. Yeah.
Like they all carry that. And so I feel like it was nice
(43:32):
to see some sort of healing resident.
Obviously, you know, it's not. They're not going to be best
friends after one conversation and one very fancy chicken meal
he makes for his mother. But, you know, it lays the
groundwork. And maybe that's why Carmen's
just, like, maybe I should take a step back.
And, like, my mom, of all people, is working on herself.
(43:55):
So maybe that's something I should, too.
But even just, you know, coming back to the central theme of
like family, the interpersonal dynamics of the wedding episode,
like this episode was twice as long as the other episodes in
the season. This was this season's 7 fishes.
Yes. Yes, and it felt it was just as
(44:15):
chaotic in a way, especially with Nat and Prince.
Oh my God. Yes.
But it felt like, you know, morepositive, more wholesome.
Yeah. No one drove a car through the
wall. Correct.
So I feel like in a way, it's like there's some growth that is
(44:36):
happening in the background thatI think is maybe inspiring the
characters in the show. Yeah.
You know, take a step back and think about where they are in
their in their lives and their identities.
Yeah, I do think it's like it's a sign of growth for all the
characters that we've moved from7 fishes in Season 2 to the
(45:00):
wedding. What?
What was that episode called? Bears.
Yeah. That is a show of the growth
that all the characters have gone through.
Yeah, there was one line from Donna where she's talking to
Carmen and she's like, I don't know you and you don't know me.
And I did that and, you know, she wants to be in his life.
(45:21):
And I thought that that was a huge thing for Carmen.
Yeah. But yeah, the only other thing
that I had on my notes was our girl.
Tina, when the pressure is off, can make a sub three minute
pasta. That's our girl.
OK, I was. Gonna ask about that.
So yeah, I was wondering what they were trying to show that.
(45:42):
So was it that when she doesn't know she's being timed she can
perform in under 3 minutes? Yeah, but when she's stressed
out, it takes longer. Yeah, cuz that interesting.
That was the conversation she had with Luca, where he was like
when I worked for Carmen, he hadme searing Wagyu steaks.
He's like when I would practice at home with literally anything,
like I would nail it, but as soon as it was Wagyu and as soon
(46:05):
as it was here in the kitchen, like it was just such a mess.
And so I feel like he was tryingto say like, you know, it's the
pressure sucks, but at a certainpoint you kind of like push
beyond it. And if you can use it to help
you versus using it as like a block, then, you know, you're
(46:27):
capable of so much. So I think that the thing that
him ingested with the secret timer, yeah.
And stuff like that was, you know, to show her that you are
absolutely capable of this thing.
The thing being, you know, some 3 minute pasta.
But for a character that we loveso much, the only one who's
willing to tell Carmy shit straight, like for her to
(46:48):
achieve this. And you can just see the pride
in her eyes and the confidence it gives her.
So I does. She was to know that she did it
in under 3 minutes. So at the at the end, they're
like, oh, like, can you put the plate over there?
And then I think somebody leavesthe timer next to the stone that
she was cooking at. So she sees 2:59 and she just
(47:09):
like starts to like smile and, you know, and no one even
acknowledges, no one says a single thing, but it's like they
have each other's backs. They scream at each other so
much, but you know without a doubt that they are there for
each other. Whatever it takes.
Yeah, which I love. So sweet.
(47:29):
I love Tina. I love Tina.
I'm so happy she got her three minute pasta.
Me. Too.
Who is your favorite character? On the show, I was thinking
about this a lot. It's so hard just to have one.
I feel like there's tears of characters like Sydney I will
always have an extremely soft spot for.
(47:51):
I think the facts are just so funny.
I think they are just so out of pocket outrageous.
There's nothing to do with the rest of the show.
But at one point it just cuts tothem in the parking lot.
Like we're quietly just like, screaming at each other.
Yeah. I feel like Sid and then maybe
Tina, Marcus, definitely Marcus is up there.
(48:14):
Yeah, maybe those 3. Yeah, those are great.
I, I think Richie will forever be my favorite character.
He has been my favorite character since his STAJ episode
in season 2 and I just I love him so much.
What he's had as a character andas a person, as a father.
(48:36):
Yeah. As like, head of front house and
everything. Like incredible chef's kiss.
No, no, It's love, Richie. Chef's kiss, no pun intended.
Weird this episode. Yeah, I'll never forget in that
in that episode where he stashesthat ever when he like hears the
people talking about how they want deep dish pizza and then he
(48:57):
like goes running into the kitchen and he's like shit.
And she's like quiet, please quiet.
And then he announces what he wants.
And then he's like, can I go serve it to them?
Can I go serve it to them? And then she's like.
Go get him, Richie. And I was like, that'll that's
like one of the best episodes oftelevision for me ever.
(49:18):
Oh. Yeah, I think that one was ever.
Oh, no, pun intended. Jesus, Yeah, no, it was, I hard
agree. So good.
And as a character, like you canreally see him take on
responsibility after the review.It's just like they said, it was
like chaos. And it's like I really dropped
the ball and working so hard on his pep talks and stuff like
(49:41):
that. Like, just doing everything in
his power to, you know, be the best he can be because he's
found his place. Yeah.
And I think that for him, he as a character, might have been a
little bit aimless, especially after, like, Mikey Pass.
I think it was good that, you know, they showed his growth
(50:02):
over the course of the whole show.
Yeah. Love him.
Love. Richie cool.
Well, what would you rate this season?
Actually I'm curious what you would rate each season if you
remember season. One I remember really liking but
it being like like uncut gems level of chaos.
So maybe like A7 or an ace. Two I thought was maybe
(50:27):
somewhere around there. I feel like I don't remember it
as clearly, but for those like stand out episodes three I
thought was a little bit more serious in nature, but you still
got to see like significant growth in some of the
characters. So I would put it at maybe like
(50:48):
7 and 8 this season. I'm going to say maybe 7.
So like still a really stellar season, not the best.
Maybe like seasons one and two, or 2:00 and 8:00.
Yeah, yeah, I think I'm with youdirectionally.
I think seasons one and two weredefinitely my favorite.
(51:10):
Season 2 was for sure my favorite.
I would have probably put that at like a nine or so season 3 I
think like dropped off a little bit.
Granted I did binge seasons one through 3 all at once cuz I so.
You can have more comparison. Yeah, so I think like once
season 3 started, I was like, OK, I can tell.
Like there were a few years between season 2 and Season 3.
(51:32):
It feels a little different. So I think I would have given
that one like a 7 as well, probably.
I would give this season an 8. I think it was so great being
back in the world. I thought the acting was so
amazing across the board, they say.
So much with just their facial expressions.
Yes, the face acting is so good and.
(51:55):
Whoever does the lighting for the show, I feel like at this
point they know the angles to shine a light on.
Jeremy Allen White's Oh my goodness.
Blue blue, they're. Like White Walker eyes.
Glowing in half of his scenes. Especially when he was under the
table looking at Claire, I was like the blue is bluing.
(52:15):
I was going to say in the very first episode where he's talking
to Mikey in the flashback and it's like the sun from the
window over the sink, he's just like hitting his eyes not to
sink the stove. And it's just like hitting his
eyes at that angle. And I was like, people have blue
eyes sometimes, so intense, so intense.
(52:36):
Like that blue eye filter. Yeah.
OK, So yeah, binge in progress. This is our segment to where we
talk about what else we're watching outside of the show
that we just covered. So Poonam, what are you binging
right now? Well, Mike and I just finished
Andor, which for any Star Wars fans is basically the lead up to
(52:58):
the events of Rogue One. Phenomenal shattered me
emotionally and I will be thinking about that show for a
very long time. On the completely opposite end
of the spectrum, Love Island Baby.
Love Island USA season 7. Yes, I am not caught up.
I think I watched maybe the first week of episodes like I
(53:23):
made it past the first after sunso I have quite a bit of
catching up to do but I have so much FOMO for all like the tik
toks and the Instagram and the memes.
Same, I am watching Survivor 47 with my sister.
This is like Survivor season of my life right now.
I've been watching Survivor withmy sister for a few months now,
(53:44):
but we've now moved on to season47 and I'm also rewatching How I
Met Your Mother just because I was due for another.
Yeah. I feel like I kept hearing
references and I was like, man, it's been, it's been like over a
year I think since I rewatched it, so it's time.
Is that your annual rewatch show?
(54:05):
So probably, yeah. Because I guess Gilmore Girls is
like my perpetual We Watch show.We know.
And that How I Met your mother is like, yeah, about once a year
I'll go. It's just so much faster to get
through. Yeah, yeah.
That's. True.
All right. Well, thanks for joining us,
Poonen. For having me, I'm super excited
(54:27):
to to be on the podcast and thenlisten to us talk to each other
again on my commute. Yay, thanks for yapping with us.
If you loved this episode, have some hot takes we missed, or if
you've got a show you're dying for us to binge next, follow us
on socials we're at, Binge Yapp,Repeat.
(54:48):
Until next time, happy bingeing.
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