The Bear Celebrates a Chaotic Christmas in a Star-Studded Instant Classic
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Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 6 of The Bear.
Christmas came early on The Bear with a wildly entertaining flashback episode that felt like a sled ride down a very steep hill… but it gifted us with a stocking full of guest stars, too.
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Season 2’s sixth episode takes place about five years prior to the rest of the season, with Carmy joining Natalie and his still-living brother Mikey for a Christmas family dinner. Natalie and Mikey are already taking refuge outside after Natalie made the grave mistake of asking their mother if she’s OK. (Apparently, that is an unforgivable sin in this household.) Carmy calls them back inside — “I don’t know how to deal with these people” — before joining them for a cigarette. And yes, the scene inside is absolutely chaotic, with family members everywhere yelling, arguing and laughing — and they’re played by big-name stars like Bob Odenkirk (as uncle Lee), Sarah Paulson (as cousin Michelle) and John Mulaney (as Michelle’s boyfriend Stevie). Happy holidays to us!
But the best gift of all is Jamie Lee Curtis as Carmy’s mother Donna, who is frazzled in the kitchen preparing a many-coursed dinner by herself, including the traditional Italian feast of the seven fishes. Donna chain-smokes and guzzles wine while complaining that Carmy only comes home once a year: “Too fancy for us.” (He’s working as a chef in Copenhagen at this time.) We meet Richie’s (then) wife Tiff, played by Gillian Jacobs, who’s pregnant with their daughter and has to lie down upstairs after feeling nauseous. There are stains on the kitchen ceiling somehow, and multiple timers are buzzing loudly at the same time — so Carmy feels right at home. (This is explaining a lot, actually.)
Mikey and Richie tease Carmy that they just saw “the love of your f–king life,” aka Claire, and she’s “hot as balls” now. Richie tends to his wife, and they talk about becoming parents. “Do you think she’ll like us?” Richie asks. Aw, they seem happy… what happened to them? He also pulls Jimmy aside and confides in him that he doesn’t want to make sandwiches for the rest of his life. He asks Jimmy for a job and to teach him about business, and Jimmy says he’ll think about it… “maybe.” Michelle smokes a joint in the bathroom with Neil and his brother, raving about living in New York City, while Donna reveals that Natalie’s nickname is “Sugar” because she once put a cup of sugar into gravy instead of salt and make it “taste like Hawaiian Punch.”
Carmy tells Mikey he has ideas for the sandwich shop and wants to work there, but Mikey tells him to stay away, because the place is a nightmare. We learn that Carmy is staying in the same houseboat in Copenhagen where Marcus is now staying, and Carmy presents his brother with a sketch drawing of what their restaurant together could be: “We could do this… Let it rip.” When Carmy walks away, though, Mikey chokes back tears. Michelle tells a long story about bears, and Lee thinks they’re talking about the Chicago Bears… and in the kitchen, Donna is rapidly losing it.
In between cigarettes and gulps of wine, she sobs to Natalie that no one is helping her — even though she yelled at everyone to get out of her kitchen. She asks Natalie to get her father’s gun so she can shoot herself, “because I don’t think anyone would f–king miss me.” Stevie makes the mistake of trying to help, but she screams at him to go away. Mikey starts telling a story about a wild night out, but Lee interrupts to say he’s heard it before, adding that Mikey should spend his time drawing up a business plan instead. Natalie’s boyfriend Pete shows up with a tuna casserole… but that would make eight fishes, not seven, and Donna is going to be pissed. So Natalie just throws the casserole tray out the front door into the snow.
Michelle invites Carmy to stay with her in New York instead of staying here (“This isn’t good for your head”), but Carmy can only tell her: “I’ll try.” As they all sit down for dinner, Tiff thanks Jimmy for giving Richie a job, and Richie tries to stop her — but Jimmy gallantly tells her he did give Richie a job, but he just wants to keep it quiet for now. Carmy checks on his mom, and she’s a mess, whining in between sobs that “nobody out there gives a s–t about me… I make things beautiful for them, and no one makes things beautiful for me.” When he tries to comfort her, though, she snaps at him: “Why are you treating me like a child? Do we have a problem?” He retreats to the dinner table, but things aren’t much better out there.
Lee starts to explain the feast of the seven fishes, but Mikey throws his fork at him, and then Neil’s fork, too. They start arguing, with Mikey yelling that this is his father’s house and Lee calling him out for living with his mother and borrowing money from everybody. Mikey picks up another fork, and Lee dares him to throw it, leading to a tense standoff, with Natalie begging Mikey to stop and Lee repeatedly telling him, “You’re nothing”… until Donna finally comes to the table. Stevie gives an awkward but heartfelt toast to the seven fishes and how making all those fishes shows people how much you love them. Donna sobs at this, and then Natalie makes the mistake of asking her if she’s OK. Uh-oh. Donna unloads on her (“Do you know how much I f–king hate when you ask me that?!”), screaming obscenities and smashing plates before running off. Mikey finally throws his fork at Lee, and they stand up to fight, with the rest of the family trying to separate them — when a car crashes through a wall in the next room (!!!). Donna is behind the wheel, laughing to herself as Mikey yells at her to open the door and Carmy numbly stares off at a nearby plate of cannolis, seemingly zoning out as a defense mechanism. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Got thoughts on that very memorable Christmas episode? Or anything else from Season 2 of The Bear? Hit the comments below and share.
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