The Bear Just Dropped A Surprise Flashback Episode With Jon Bernthal And You Can Stream It Now

While we wait for the fifth and final season of "The Bear," you can watch the show's first-ever standalone prequel episode, "Gary," featuring Ebon Moss-Bacharach and Jon Bernthal as Richard "Richie" Jerimovich and Michael "Mikey" Berzatto, respectively. That episode is streaming on Hulu right now and dropped on the service as a total surprise for fans of Christopher Storer's high-octane restaurant-centered dramedy.

Richie, a "cousin" to the Berzatto clan, is a major part of "The Bear" as he works alongside protagonist Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) to run the fine dining restaurant The Bear, formerly a sandwich shop operated by Mikey and Richie. Mikey is typically only seen in flashbacks (including the star-studded anxiety attack that is Season 2's "Fishes"), as his death by suicide is the catalyst that begins the entire series and brings Carmy home from his work at a Michelin-starred restaurant to take over said sandwich shop, The Original Beef of Chicagoland (casually referred to as "The Beef"). Still, things are icy between Richie and Carmy at first because, in the wake of Mikey's death, Richie is angry and grief-stricken over the loss of his best friend and resentful of Carmy, whom he views as taking Mikey's rightful place. Across the past four seasons of "The Bear," though, we've watched Richie and Carmy become a team ... so, now, we get to see the original duo, Richie and Mikey, in action in "Gary."

"Gary" is written by Moss-Bacharach and Bernthal with Storer directing, and the Emmy winning Moss-Bacharach announced the surprise drop on his Instagram right as it hit Hulu as a standalone project.

So, what is "Gary" about, and where does the name come from? That would be a road trip from Chicago (the setting of "The Bear") to Gary, Indiana — which is only about a 40-minute drive depending on traffic. Richie mentions that Jimmy "Cicero" Kalinowski (Oliver Platt), the money behind the fine-dining venture on "The Bear" whom everyone refers to as "Uncle," is behind this whole thing, and the contents of the taped-up box that he and MIkey are set to deliver in "Gary" remain a mystery for most of the episode. Still, there's an undercurrent of discomfort here; not only does Richie have a gun with him, but he's also constantly checking in with his girlfriend Tiff (Gillian Jacobs, a regular who plays a small role throughout "The Bear"), who's about to give birth. (Notably, in the show's present-day, Tiff and Richie are no longer together but co-parent their daughter Eva ... and in "Gary," Mikey off-handedly mentions that he likes that name for a baby girl.)

When the two get to Gary, they end up with a few hours to kill and play some pickup basketball with some kids, hang out at a local diner, and, of course, get into trouble day-drinking at a bar. (That bar is also where Mikey absconds into the bathroom to enjoy some illegal substances.) The push and pull between them is basically constant — even as Mikey praises his best friend and brother-in-arms as Richie prepares to be a father, he tells a bar full of people that Richie will be a horrible dad to his unborn daughter — and just like the rest of "The Bear," it's fascinating, uncomfortable, and great storytelling. 

You can watch "Gary" on Hulu now, with "The Bear" Season 5 arriving very soon.