The Bear Spinoff Gets Rid Of The Show’s Biggest Problem

By TeeJay Small
| Published 20 seconds ago

FX’s The Bear is one of the most frustrating shows on TV right now. After delivering two seasons of top-tier television, the show seemingly went too mainstream, causing a series of behind-the-scenes issues which effectively ruined both season three and four, in my opinion. Thanks to studio interference and writer turnover, the narrative of The Bear has completely stagnated over the past few years, resulting in long, drawn-out montage sequences, season-long arcs that go nowhere, and a show that focuses more on “vibes” than strong characters and interesting material.

On occasion, The Bear will do a standalone episode that isolates these issues and gets us back on track. Season three’s flashback episode “Napkins,” which focuses entirely on Tina, is a great example of this. Likewise, the brand new spin-off episode “Gary,” which has been released on Hulu as a standalone project, manages to cut out all of the most annoying parts of The Bear, including the presence of its protagonist, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), and give us something we can actually enjoy watching.

No Carmy? No Problem!

At its core, The Bear is a show about a struggling restaurant run by a whiny little emotionally stunted crybaby named Carmy. Despite being an exceptionally talented chef, Carmy is tormented by his trauma, which includes his mother’s bipolar disorder, emotional abuse from his former boss, and the loss of his brother, Mikey, who took his own life before the narrative kicked off. I’m not trying to minimize any of these things, because that’s obviously a lot for a person to take on. Still, I just don’t buy Carmy’s emotional process, which offers a lot of cinematic style over substance.

In the first season, Carmy frequently clashes with fan-favorite character Richie, portrayed by Fantastic Four‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Richie was Mikey’s best friend before he died, and he carries a massive chip on his shoulder. In “Gary,” we get to see a bit more of that relationship during the good old days, before everything fell apart. We’ve caught glimpses of this before via brief flashbacks, but we’ve never had this much time to sit with the lifelong friends and watch them develop their bond, which is central to The Bear’s tone.

A True Bromance Breakdown

“Gary” specifically follows Richie and Mikey (Jon Bernthal) as they embark upon a road trip from Chicago to Gary, Indiana. On the way, they jam out to some tunes, share a few laughs, and even find themselves in an emotional tug-of-war that recontextualizes some of Richie’s edgiest moments from the first season of The Bear. By the end of the hour-long special, we see just how codependent their relationship had become, and how their relationship was challenged by Mikey’s worsening drug addiction. For my money, it’s the best thing to come out of the show since season two’s “Fishes.”

One of the reasons that “Gary” works so well is that the special eliminates Carmy as a character. Fans of The Bear have complained for years that Carmy is the least interesting element of the show, especially since his entire arc now revolves around this idiotic idea that no man has the ability to manage a job and a girlfriend at the same time. Truly revolutionary stuff. Instead of focusing on a guy that really just needs to go to therapy, “Gary” highlights a pair of relatable men who are stunted by their own bromance with each other, and unable to let it go due to their own self mythologizing nostalgia.

A Creative Partnership That Makes Sense

Another reason that “Gary” feels like such a breath of fresh air is that the special was actually written by Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal themselves. The pair of actors have incredible chemistry together both as performers and creative minds, which can likely be attributed to their many shared projects.

Before they were best buds on The Bear, Moss-Bachrach and Bernthal played another dynamic duo in Netflix’s The Punisher series. Since then, they have maintained a real-life friendship and performed on stage together multiple times. They’re currently slated to lead a Broadway rendition of Dog Day Afternoon together in June.

“Gary” feels like the first step in getting The Bear back on track. The special has tons of heart, some amazing feel-good moments, and a fair share of gut-punches that perfectly deliver on what made the first two seasons of the series work. Now that we know season five will be the show’s last, we can only hope that Christopher Storer and crew conclude things gracefully, with enough love and care for the characters to reach “Gary’s” high-water mark. “Gary” is streaming on Hulu now.