"Bears" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American comedy-drama television series The Bear. It is the 37th overall episode of the series and was written by Joanna Calo and directed by series creator Christopher Storer. It was released on Hulu on June 25, 2025, along with the rest of the season.
The Berzattos arrive at Tiff's wedding, with Richie bringing Sydney along for emotional support. Cousin Michelle (Sarah Paulson) briefly and awkwardly encounters Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) before going upstairs to spend some quality time with bride Tiffany before she has to fly back to New York for rehearsal for one of her acting jobs. Carmy panics upon seeing Donna again, but is rescued by Richie and Syd, and then finds a moment to himself in an unused room somewhere on the property, where he runs into Lee (Bob Odenkirk). Lee reveals to Carmy that he and Mikey became friends before the latter's death, and insists that Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) is working on improving herself. Sydney sits with Donna and speaks positively about working with Carmy; Donna leaves the wedding with Lee soon after. Syd debriefs Carmy on her talk with Donna, and Carmy introduces Cousin Stevie (John Mulaney) to his "friend Syd," and three talk about how Carmy crashed on Michelle and Stevie's couch when he worked in New York. Frank begs Richie's help in consoling his daughter Eva (Annabelle Toomey), who is hiding under a table to avoid performing a planned dance with Frank. Richie, Frank, and Claire (Molly Gordon) get under the table to talk to her, and are gradually joined by most of the Berzattos, Tiff, the Faks, Marcus (Lionel Boyce), and Chester (Carmen Christopher), who used to work for Frank's mom. The group takes turns opening up about their fears. Claire and Carmy reconnect afterwards, while Natalie and Francie (Brie Larson), revealed to be former best friends and who were once romantically involved, reconcile. Ted tells Kelly (Mitra Jouhari), Claire's roommate and his current girlfriend, for the first time in their relationship that he loves her. Neil Fak tells Claire that he thinks she is pretty but then denies it seconds later. Evie agrees to dance with her incoming stepfather "Waldo," and Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) reassures Tiff that she will always be a Bear no matter what. The episode ends with Tiff and Richie dancing together, Tiff overcome with emotion, and Richie smiling down at her and embracing her. Richie returns home alone but overjoyed.
Production
Casting
Series creator Chris Storer and actor Brie Larson first met approximately 15 years ago, and renewed their acquaintance at awards shows where both The Bear and Larson's Lessons in Chemistry were nominated. According to Vanity Fair, Storer offered Larson the part of Francine Fak in "early 2024."[1] Larson said, "I created this backstory that she was a micro-influencer, because I was constantly caring about my appearance and taking selfies. I see a version [of the show] where that part comes into play and is helpful in the future for the restaurant."[1]
Costume designer Courtney Wheeler's favorite wedding looks were from Nat and Francie because there is a "light cottage-core vibe happening, and we thought it would be so funny if they wore these sweeter silhouettes, because they are absolutely trash-talking the shit out of each other. Francine's wedding dress is from Silkie, and Sugar's wedding dress is from Ganni."[3]
Claire's dress was a Victoria Beckham-brand V-neck midi dress in the color bordeaux.[4] Kelly and cousin Michelle Berzatto both wore Ulla Johnson dresses; Kelly wore the Gisele, and Michelle wore the Devon.[5][6] Donna wore a Dries Van Noten silk shirtdress.[7]
Sydney wore a "really cool water-blurred camo two-piece set" from the Meryll Rogge spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection.[3][8] Sydney's strappy heels for the wedding were the Marion Parke Lottie 85 Sandal.[9] Her earrings were the Donuts design from Agmes.[citation needed]
Sound recording
Due to a combination of the scene blocking and the costuming of the cast, the audio team could not use lavaliere microphones or boom microphones to record sound for the under-the-table scene.[10] A total of 32 microphones, including 16 wired into holes drilled in the table, along with two sound mixers, were necessary to create the soundscape and capture all the dialogue for the "under the table" shots.[11] Sound producer Scott D. Smith reported that dialogue editor Evan Benjamin "was rather astonished when he received thirty-two channels [of recorded sound], which was well in excess of even the most complicated scenes we had done to date."[10]
Filming
According to Larson, "The scene with my two brothers where they're saying that I'm never nice to their girlfriends—that was just one take, completely improvised."[1]
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone commended the actors who play the Berzatto siblings for pulling off big moments of very different tones. On the exaggerated comedy of Nat versus Francie: "Credit obviously to Brie Larson for absolutely going for it with this performance, when her comedic chops have been called upon less and less the bigger her career has become, and for also trying to fit into the show in a way that John Cena—as another Fak—didn't bother to last season. But the subplot's also a potent reminder that Abby Elliott was once an SNL castmember and [is] a gifted comic actress."[13] On the drama side of the fence, Sepinwall wrote, "[Bob] Odenkirk and Jeremy Allen White stage a spectacular little duet as Lee opens up to Carmy about all he's been through since they last saw each other. It's hard to choose which is the more powerful moment: the slight break in Lee's voice when he tells Carmy, 'Sometimes, to break patterns, you gotta...break patterns, man,' or the look of astonished hope on Carmy’s face when he realizes Lee is telling the truth about Mikey being proud of his little brother."[13]
The A.V. Club gave "Bears" an A− grade, with Jenna Scherer commenting, "It's a classic entry into the wedding-episode canon, complete with reunited exes, estranged relatives, and dishy revelations. It also represents a pivotal moment for our big three characters: Carmy exorcising his demons, Sydney's priorities coming into focus, and Richie realizing he's not as alone as he thinks."[2]
Vulture's Marah Eakin rated it five out of five stars, writing, "I think the resolution I liked the most in this episode happens around Richie, who went into the wedding after essentially having a panic attack in the alley, chain-smoking while peppering Sydney with Philip K. Dick quotes. Inside, though, he ends up bro-ing down with Frank, who it turns out is also desperately jealous of Richie's relationship with his daughter and deeply afraid that he's going to be a shitty stepdad to Eva. Richie is pretty generous to calm him down and teach him about parenting game face when he could have leaned into his selfish desire for his daughter’s love, and it's clearer than ever that Richie has become a much better person than he was when The Bear started."[14]
A. J. Daulerio of Decider.com rejected the episode as an improbable stack of contrivances and, more broadly, felt that it betrayed the initial premise of the series:[15]
I know—it's weird and unnecessary to be so thoroughly annoyed by a TV show that is, for the most part, very entertaining or at the very least, interesting to watch. What I enjoyed the most about the first and part of the second season was that the Berzatto family disease lacked an easy solution and the writing never allowed for that to happen. This was what made it an important show, in my opinion, especially for adult children of alcoholics who rarely get to see the weight that they carry displayed on TV so thoughtfully. But, man, like what on earth is the point of laying that groundwork only to dig it up and toss it our faces with these inane Fak subplots and then resolve some of life's heavier moments at a ding-dong wedding? Life just doesn't work that way. Everybody knows that—the writers know that. That's the point, right? That everything falls apart.[15]
The New Republic was similarly critical, arguing that "the big Berzatto episode doesn't earn its run time—an hour and nine minutes!"[16]
Retrospective reviews
In 2025, Vulture ranked "Bears" as 10th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, describing it as "just plain fun."[17]
TVLine listed Larson's appearance as Francie as one of the top TV cameos of 2025.[18]
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