'The Bear' Ending Explained: Did Carmen make his restaurant a success or succumb to the pressure?
The highly anticipated cooking-based dark drama series ‘The Bear’ has finally released globally on Hulu. All eight episodes were released on the same day. The series surely ended up taking audiences on an intriguing and mouthwatering ride - filled with lipsmacking food, mixed with exceptional performances and topped with dramatic emotions.
The story is about chef Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who comes home to Chicago after his brother Mike’s death and takes charge of their family’s iconic restaurant ‘The Original Beef of Chicagoland’. It’s a story about his journey in which his chefs also become a part of his extended family, of opening up as person to the Al Anon about his life and his brother as well.
Over the course of the eight episodes, we see Carmy’s relentless drive and zealousness coupled with the struggle of making things better bring about a total image makeover for the restaurant. In the seventh episode, we see the restaurant finally running smoothly and consistently under the able guidance of Carmen and Sydney; but things go downhill when both of them aren’t in sync resulting in a heated verbal spat, sending the entire team of chefs working in the kitchen into disarray as orders keep piling up, following which Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) quits working at the restaurant.
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Is Carmy successful in making the restaurant a really thriving and bustling food paradise? Let’s see what happened in the finale episode of ‘The Bear’.
Did Carmen finally get the courage of going to Al Anon ?
In the last episode, we see Carmen going to Al Anon and confessing that back in childhood he and his late brother Mike were really close, and cooking was the only passion which brought them together, since it was their shared dream of opening their own restaurant with a cool vibe and theme.
Carmen also added that while his late brother was open and vivacious as a person, he was more on the quiter side. He also added how it hurt him to see that his relationship with his late brother became really strained to the point that Mike became cold and closed off to him. Mike also didn’t allow him to come inside their family restaurant a few years back and also used to constantly mock and degrade him for not being good enough. Carmen said it hurt him so bad and that he ended up becoming a chef who worked at the most successful hotels across the globe; and he became really good at it, but all he wanted to do was show his brother that he'd become a successful person.
Did Carmen open up on why he tried so hard to save the family restaurant?
In the speech at the Al Anon, Carmen says he tried diligently and relentlessly to fix the restaurant as he thought he could make an attempt to fix the irreparable damage that brought a huge strain between him and his late brother, and also because the restaurant meant a lot to many people.
What happened to Carmy’s family restaurant ‘The Original Beef Of Chicagoland’?
Towards the end of episode eight, we see Carmen in the kitchen trying to cook something and bringing a tomato paste can to use in his recipe. As soon as he opens it and puts it in the pan, he finds wads of cash inside it and calls his cousin Richie and all the other chefs to help him in opening the cans. Together they open the cans and find tons of money inside it. Sydney, who’s come to collect her last salary from Carmy, comes inside the kitchen and Richie tells her to grab a can opener and help them.
The last episode of ‘The Bear’ brought the entire season to a perfect ending quite beautifully. The series was a poignant and enigmatic story of how Carmy comes to Chicago initially with the aim of saving his family’s restaurant, but ends up finding himself again towards the end, and speaks up at Al Anon about why he tried so desperately to save the restaurant in the first place, and why he became a chef along with highlighting the strained bond between him and his late brother Mike who made him feel worthless.
It’s also a story of how the chefs also end up becoming his extended family. It’s a story of their shared dreams, struggles, emotions and chaos that makes them all feel alive and constantly charged up and the happiness of feeding food to their customers.
This ending makes us believe that there could be a second season in the offing, where the makers could explore the arc of Carmy life after ‘The Original Beef Of Chicagoland’ closes; in the end we see him putting a board which says ‘The Bear is coming'. This could be a cliff-hanger for fans and could lead to a second season.