tomorrow never dies
‘The Bear’ Season 3 Premiere, Explained
Did you have trouble following the time jumps and setting changes in that poetic first episode showing us a cross-section of Carmy's adult life? We break down all the whos, whats, whens, and wheres
This post contains spoilers for the Season Three premiere of The Bear, as well as spoilers for when certain scenes appear again later in the season. All of Season Three is now streaming on Hulu.
Calling this article “The Bear Season Three premiere explained” perhaps feels like we’re missing the point, doesn’t it? On the most obvious level, there’s nothing to explain about “Tomorrow.” It’s a Carmy Berzatto origin story, but we already know Carmy’s origin: He was raised in an emotionally broken family, revered his older brother Mikey, studied under some of the world’s greatest chefs, was the psychological pincushion for Joel McHale, came back to Chicago after Mikey killed himself, and took over the struggling family business. “Tomorrow” fills in a few blanks, but it’s much less interested in telling us what happened than in making us understand how all of it felt to Carmy. It’s a vibe, not a mystery.
So, why are we here?
Well, Carmy spends much of the episode in various kitchens, real and fictional, wearing similar uniforms. Between that and the non-chronological nature of the storytelling — which follows Carmy from his first cooking job through his return to Chicago following Mikey’s death — fans who love The Bear but haven’t obsessively studied up on its hero’s career path might feel a little lost by the end. So here’s a breakdown of most of what we see in “Tomorrow,” according to where the action takes place.
THE BEAR (Chicago)
When is this happening? A bit in the time immediately after the end of the Season Two finale, but mostly the following morning.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? In the finale flashbacks, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is with Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), his uniform jacket undone. The following morning, Carmy arrives to The Bear clad in a blue sweater, and later changes into a white short-sleeve tee and blue apron.
What happens here? Immediately after the finale, Carmy apologizes to Sydney for abandoning her by getting locked in the walk-in, then leaves an apologetic message on Richie’s voicemail for the things he said. The morning after, Carmy arrives in the empty restaurant, cleans it up, drafts his list of “non-negotiables,” and begins experimenting with new dishes, all of them inspired by things he learned on the earlier stops of this mini-biography. We also see Carmy in his apartment studying a burn scar on his palm, and Marcus (Lionel Boyce) lying in his late mother’s bed hours after she died. Pain and grief are inescapable to them both.
THE FRENCH LAUNDRY (Yountville, California)
When is this happening? We are at the very start of Carmy’s career as a professional chef — the first day, in fact. He is staging — a.k.a. doing an internship, like Richie did briefly at Ever back in Season Two’s “Forks” — under the legendary Thomas Keller.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? It’s Carmy and Keller, no other characters of note. Carmy is wearing a white chef’s jacket and a blue apron, with the name of The French Laundry embroidered on the jacket, visible just above the top of the apron.
What happens here? Not a whole lot, at least in the context of “Tomorrow.” The season finale offers us a full version of the scene where Keller shows Carmy how to properly truss a chicken and remove its wishbone.
EVER (Chicago)
When is this happening? After Carmy’s time at The French Laundry.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? Carmy is working alongside Chef Andrea Terry (Olivia Colman), Luca (Will Poulter), and Adam (Adam Shapiro). A similar uniform to French Laundry, but without the embroidered name.
What happens here? Carmy rises quickly through the ranks, impressing Chef Terry first with his knack for shucking peas, and soon enough with his general aptitude and creativity. He begins as a peer of Luca and Adam, and is eventually overseeing them. It’s not smooth sailing: Andrea has to scold him a few times, both for being too loud and aggressive in giving orders to Luca, and for undercooking a dish. On the whole, though, she’s terribly impressed with him.
NOMA (Copenhagen)
When is this happening? After Carmy has worked at Ever for a while, since Chef Terry sent him to Copenhagen to broaden his skills, much like Carmy does for Marcus in Season Two.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? We see Carmy watching real-life Noma head chef René Redzepi, but mostly we’re just following Carmy (clad in a dark blue T-shirt and apron) as he works alongside a bunch of anonymous Noma employees.
What happens here? Carmy basks in the peace and beauty of Noma and its farm, enjoys his stay on the same houseboat where Marcus lived in Season Two, and takes note of how Redzepi uses photo collages to inspire new dishes. He later texts a photo to Mikey (Jon Bernthal), who shares it with Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), in a scene we’ll see in greater context in the season’s sixth episode.
BERZATTO FAMILY HOME (Chicago)
When is this happening? During Carmy’s time at Noma — specifically, the Christmas trip home that we saw in Season Two’s “Fishes.”
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? Carmy’s wearing a blue rugby shirt, and he’s surrounded at various points by most of the characters who were in “Fishes.” In the one significant piece of new material — since much of this is archival “Fishes” clips — he is standing with Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bacharach), Ted Fak (Ricky Staffieri), and Neil Fak (Matty Matheson), and near Claire (Molly Gordon).
What happens here? Again, most of this is just quick clips from the earlier episode, but we do see the group watch a flatbed tow truck haul away the car that Carmy’s mom crashed into the living room at the end of “Fishes,” with Claire shooting a sympathetic glance at her future boyfriend.
O’HARE AIRPORT (Chicago)
When is this happening? Before Carmy moves to New York to begin the next phase of his career — though whether this is before he begins to work with Daniel Boulud or with David Fields is not made entirely clear.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? Carmy is with his sister Natalie (Abby Elliott), wearing a winter jacket and a backpack.
What happens here? Natalie sees Carmy off on his trip, worried about her baby brother, and tries to convince him to take some money from her for the trip. Before they part, she tells him, “Let ‘er rip, Bear,” and when he’s on the plane, he discovers that she sneaked the cash into his jacket pocket while he wasn’t looking.
DANIEL (New York City)
When is this happening? Unclear. It would seem to fit sometime in between French Laundry and Ever, since Carmy’s interactions with Daniel Boulud are similar to his with Thomas Keller — a raw kid eagerly learning from a master. But when he tells Chef Terry about his culinary background, the only things he mentions are his time staging at French Laundry, and his childhood hanging around The Original Beef of Chicagoland. So let’s just place it here, since we know he went straight from Ever to Noma, and since he went from his next stop back to Chicago for good.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? As with French Laundry, it’s really just Carmy (wearing full chef’s whites and sometimes a toque) and a famous real-life chef.
What happens here? Boulud shares some of his craft with Carmy (yes, chef, we “hear the music”), who is thrilled with the opportunity. We also see Carmy crashing on the couch of family friend Stevie (John Mulaney), who lives in New York. So that could be taking place while he’s working at Daniel, and/or it could be taking place at our next professional stop.
EMPIRE (New York City)
When is this happening? Immediately before the events of Season One.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? Carmy wears a white chef’s jacket with no apron, and works for David Fields (Joel McHale).
What happens here? Carmy suffers various forms of verbal abuse from David. Sydney, enjoying an expensive New York trip during her culinary school days, tries Carmy’s hamachi with blood orange dish, which in the Season One finale she describes to Marcus as the greatest meal she’s ever eaten. While David is bullying him again, Carmy screens calls from Natalie until she texts him “CALL ME” in all caps, and informs him that Mikey is dead.
THE ORIGINAL BEEF OF CHICAGOLAND (Chicago)
When is this happening? At various points in Season One, but also during the events of this season’s sixth episode.
Who’s there, and what’s Carmy wearing? Carmy in various outfits, but most frequently a white shirt. Other characters in archival clips, Mikey and Tina in a piece of a new scene.
What happens here? Mostly this is repurposed Season One material, but we do get that preview of Mikey and Tina’s conversation. The episode also gives us a few other glimpses of the Original Beef crew away from the restaurant, including a concerned Richie banging on Mikey’s door at home, and everyone gathered for Mikey’s funeral. Well, almost everyone: As established in the series premiere, Neil Fak didn’t come to the funeral — we see Ted comforting Richie’s ex-wife Tiffany, played by Gillian Jacobs — while a shattered Carmy couldn’t make himself get out of the car, and observed the whole thing from across the street.