Despite what the Golden Globes will try to tell you, The Bear is a drama series first and foremost, and there has been no shortage of conflict and interactions throughout it. As much as the show has been about the restaurant industry, it’s equally focused on the mental health of those behind it, and no scene displays that fact better than the moment when Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) collapses in the hospital after her father nearly died of a heart attack. Unlike many monologues, it’s messy and incoherent by design, and this level of raw emotion is something we’ve never seen from Sydney before. Rather than wallowing in pity, it’s a real and genuine outpouring of grief, but the support Sydney earns both during the moment and later on reminds us that having your own found family can be just as valid as your dysfunctional and biological one.
‘The Bear’ Has Always Been About Mental Health
As a show, The Bear has a relatively simple concept, being primarily about one man running a restaurant after the death of his brother by suicide before it begins. There is no overarching villain like a rival chef to contend with here and the story is not particularly grand or epic, but that is also the whole point. At its core, The Bear is about a small group of people trying to make sense of their lives. Often, as in reality, that can lead to hilarious outcomes, but it’s also a deeply stressful environment for everyone involved. Even outside the titular restaurant, the characters have to deal with crises at home, constant family drama, and trying to live in a big city like Chicago, and those are just the good days. When things go wrong, the stakes can feel existential, and it’s far worse when tragedy strikes without any real warning.
Since it started, The Bear has earned much acclaim for the way it accurately depicts the restaurant industry, but its portrayal of mental health is also very relatable too. Given the circumstances when the story begins, it’s natural that trauma would be a recurring theme in the series, but Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is far from the only protagonist who is affected. Everyone has to deal with their own inner demons at some point in the story, and the notorious family gathering in “Fishes” shows just how deep some of these scars can go, but it also manifests in smaller things. This new season has plenty of great episodes, but one of the most striking is “Worms” due to its focus on Sydney and her life at home. The scale of her conflict is relatively small, reuniting with her cousin and deciding whether to switch jobs, but it hints at how much stress has also been building in Sydney’s mind for so long. When the dam finally breaks, the results can feel very shocking and profound.
Ayo Edebiri Takes Her Performance as Sydney to Another Level
One of the things that makes The Bear feel so real is the quality and portrayal of its dialogue, which often defies what we might normally see on television. Unlike the clean and crisp discussions we’re used to seeing, characters here often stutter, interrupt each other, and struggle to articulate their emotions in the short timespan of a single scene. This is, after all, the same season that devoted an entire finale to three people talking, simply because that is just how long it took for everything to be said. That alone might have been the most impactful scene of the season, if not for what came before, when Sydney finds her father in the hospital and ultimately breaks down sobbing in the hallway.
Arguably, no other performer on The Bear understands their character more than Ayo Edebiri does with Sydney, as she has written and directed several episodes for the series already. Until now, however, we have never seen her tasked with the magnitude of the scene before her in the hospital. We’ve seen Sydney be vulnerable with others, but not to this extent, and she has to do it with another character who she hardly even knows. Edebiri not only has to get the tears flowing, but keep our attention over long takes with a monologue that doesn’t cut away from her, all while conveying exactly what her sick father means to her. A scene like this lives or dies on the back its performances, and it shows how much trust the team has placed in Edebiri to get it right under such high pressure. Yet, even after everything, she does it all at once, and the results are completely stunning.
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The show is best when it centers its existing characters.
‘The Bear’ Shows Us the Importance of an Emotional Support System
As incredible as Ayo Edebiri with her performance in this scene, her onscreen partner Molly Gordon is also stellar as Claire Dunlap, who witnesses Sydney at her most vulnerable. At first, it looks like they have little in common, but the pair find a way to bond over their own struggles in life, and Claire is able to push Sydney to move forward during a difficult time. For Sydney, the idea that it’s OK to grieve, even when the worst outcome has been avoided, is a unique lesson to learn, and it’s truly moving to see her get help from possibly the most unexpected source. That willingness to be vulnerable is something she realizes she must cherish, and it’s a major step as she becomes the true leader of the restaurant by the end of the season.
Crucially, it’s not just Claire who gives Sydney the emotional support she so desperately needs, but everyone in her work life. While her father absolves her of any guilt by noting his heart attack was inevitable, Carmy tells her it’s OK to leave her post and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) persuades the rest of the crew to rally around Sydney. In a season that has been so focused on healing, it’s quite fitting that the most emotional breakdown triggers just as much support as it does hardship. As Sydney tells Carmy later, they’ve truly become a family, and with that kind of love, anything is possible.
The Bear
- Release Date
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June 23, 2022
- Network
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Hulu
- Showrunner
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Christopher Storer
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Jeremy Allen White
Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto
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Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich
