The Bear Season 2's Big Christmas Episode Is A Star-Studded Anxiety Attack
This post contains major spoilers for "The Bear" season 2.
"The Bear" season 1 is solid all the way through, from start to finish, but the episode that likely stands out to most people is episode 7, "Review." In that episode, the staff of The Original Beef of Chicagoland struggles to keep up with an avalanche of orders following a recently published positive review. It's pure chaos, filmed to resemble one long unbroken shot as the characters yell, scream, shout, and then scurry around the kitchen like chickens with their heads cut off.
When I sat down to watch "The Bear" season 2, I wondered: how were they going to top "Review" this season? Would they even try? The answer is yes. Episode 6, "Fishes," is season 2's answer to "Review," and it might be even more intense. While it doesn't rely on one unbroken shot, the episode does up the ante, clocking in at slightly over an hour. That means we're given a solid hour of anxiety-inducing panic, with the end result resembling a horror movie. And it's a Christmas-set horror movie, too, as the characters gather in a flashback for Feast of the Seven Fishes, a seafood-heavy holiday tradition.
"Fishes" is bound to go down as one of the best "Bear" episodes. It's also one of the most star-studded.
What a cast!
As I watched "Fishes" for the first time, I found myself turning into the meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV from "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood." Because one by one, the episode introduces us to members of a party, and nearly every partygoer is played by a familiar face. This is a family gathering, and all of these characters are related, either by blood or by friendship, to lead character Carmy (Jeremy Allen White). When "The Bear" starts, Carmy's brother Michael, played Jon Bernthal, has died by suicide. But since this is a flashback episode, Michael is still very much alive and at the party. Also at the party: Cousin Michelle, played by Sarah Paulson; her partner Stevie, played by John Mulaney; Uncle Lee, played by Bob Odenkirk; and Gillian Jacobs as Tiffany, who is still married to Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) at this point in time.
But the pièce de résistance of the group ends up being Jamie Lee Curtis, playing Donna, mother to Carmy, Michael, and their sister Natalie aka Sugar (Abby Elliott). Curtis, fresh off her Oscar win, really sinks her teeth into the role of a frantic, wine-swilling Italian-American mother. We watch as she turns the house's kitchen into a war zone, cooking away as the other partygoers mingle and converse.
Throwing all these famous people into one episode is overwhelming at first, and it could've all backfired in a big way — chalked up to stunt casting. But everyone here fits perfectly into their respective parts, and we almost immediately start to buy into the idea that these characters are family. The entire episode perfectly captures the vibe of a manic holiday party where everyone has had just a little too much to drink.
And then things get intense. Really intense.
Forks and cars
As mentioned above, "Fishes" is this season's answer to "Review," which means you can expect lots and lots of intense moments that make you want to rip your hair out. Unlike having to deal with a rush of orders, "Fishes" deals with the characters' own inner troubles. It's clear that mental illness runs through the family, and at one point we see Michael by himself, barely able to hold back tears.
Later, Carmy freaks out when he learns that Michael ran into one of Carmy's crushes and "put in a good word" for him. Carmy chalks this up to Michael messing with him, but Michael insists his intentions were noble. Later, Michael is in the midst of telling a story when he's interrupted by Uncle Lee, who (somewhat rudely) informs Michael that they've all heard this story before, countless times. This seems to flip a switch in Michael's brain, and later, as the group sits around the dinner table waiting to eat, he begins chucking forks directly at Lee's head — an action that causes everyone at the table to grow understandably nervous.
But the real anxiety of the evening radiates from Curtis' Donna, who keeps getting drunker as the night wears on. She spends almost the entire episode in the kitchen cooking the seven fishes, and whenever anyone comes in offering to help she quickly, and loudly, shoos them away — only to then complain that no one is helping her. By the time the meal is served, she's frazzled and out of it, and when Natalie asks if she's okay it triggers a kind of breakdown, with Donna lashing out at the room — only to then leave and drive her car through one of the walls of the house.
It's intense to the extreme. So much so that I found myself unable to sit still; I squirmed in my seat as all of this unfolded in manic fashion. And I was taken with how the episode ends, first with a close-up of Carmy's face and then a slow zoom-in on Natalie as she looks utterly horrified and perplexed. It's a horror movie ending, and by the time the show cuts to the credits (complete with a Weezer song!), you'll be exhausted and reminded that "The Bear" is one of the best things on TV right now.