SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “The Original Beef of Chicagoland,” the series finale of “The Bear,” now streaming on Hulu.
The real restaurant was the friendships they made along the way.
That’s basically the hyper-earnest thesis of “The Bear,” which aired its series finale on Hulu on Thursday. Sure, the titular restaurant can sear a critically acclaimed scallop, but it’s always been about the people making, serving and eating the food. That’s what makes it all mean something. The Bear “has something” that no other restaurant has, says Will Poulter’s Luca in a clichéd farewell monologue. And what’s that? “Family.”
In the penultimate episode of “The Bear,” Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and co. survive a brutal service that threatened to be their last. A thunderstorm, supply issues and too many reservations pushed the kitchen staff to the brink. And Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), who has bankrolled the restaurant as it upgraded from an italian beef shop to a fine dining establishment, is out of cash. (He had even sold his watches to stay afloat.)
The entire season to that point had taken place over the course of one evening, and, in a breath of fresh air, the finale spans the days following that calamitous — but ultimately successful — service. Natalie (Abby Elliott) informs Richie he’s been invited to join an international hospitality seminar in Japan, and she and Carmy urge him to board his first-ever flight and go.
