Next (The Bear)

"Next"
The Bear episode
Sunrise over Chicago
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 2
Directed by	Christopher Storer
Story by	Christopher Storer Courtney Storer
Teleplay by	Christopher Storer
Featured music	"Save It for Later" by Eddie Vedder (Nice Dream)" by Radiohead
Cinematography by	Andrew Wehde
Editing by	Joanna Naugle
Production code	XCBV3002
Original release date	June 26, 2024 (2024-06-26)
Running time	27 minutes
Guest appearances
Oliver Platt as Jimmy "Cicero" Kalinowski Robert Townsend as Emmanuel Adamu Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim Ricky Staffieri as Theodore Fak Corey Hendrix as Gary "Sweeps" Woods
Episode chronology
← Previous "Tomorrow" Next → "Doors"
The Bear season 3
List of episodes

"Next" is the second episode of the third season of the American television comedy-drama The Bear . It is the 20th overall episode of the series and was written by series creator Christopher Storer from a story he co-wrote with co-executive producer and culinary producer Courtney Storer, and directed by Christopher. It was released on Hulu on June 26, 2024, along with the rest of the season.

The series follows Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing Italian beef sandwich shop. In the episode, Carmy's "non-negotiables" list causes chaos in the restaurant.

Plot

Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) introduces the "non-negotiables" list to the restaurant, explaining that he is hoping to elevate the restaurant to higher profile by aiming for one Michelin star. Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), however, is taken aback by the list, especially for a section where it is revealed that the menu is changing every day. Carmy also gives her a "vesting agreement", wherein they will discuss her stake at the restaurant so she can "push" him and vice versa.

Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) arrives annoyed that Carmy reorganized the dining room without consulting him, and grows more upset when he reads the non-negotiable list. Their argument escalates as Richie questions Carmy's apology, and Richie goes as far as to mock Carmy for failing in his relationship with Claire. As Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) and Cicero (Oliver Platt) arrive, the staff gets into arguments over the structure. It is also revealed that some of the employees have quit their jobs, citing a "dysfunctional" environment. The conflict ends as Marcus (Lionel Boyce) arrives, and they get to work to get his mind off his mother's death.

Carmy approaches Marcus, and is surprised when he quickly accepts the "non-negotiables" list unlike the rest of the staff. Carmy offers his condolences, and Marcus deduces that he was meant to be in the kitchen when his mother died, feeling that was what she would've wanted. He is intent in making the restaurant work, and asks Carmy to "take us there." Carmy agrees to do it.

Context

• Carmy promises Sydney, "We're gonna get a star," meaning a starred restaurant recommendation in the Michelin Guide for Chicago. Carmy has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants before and, in the more innocent early days of season two, Syd expressed a desire to create a Michelin-level restaurant. Restaurateurs interviewed by The New York Times suggested that Carmy's change-the-menu-every-day plan is a great way to not get a star because the constant changes drag down the speed and confidence of service, but conversely the "dream weave" of Super Soakers for "Tuesday surprise" and piñatas for birthday celebrations (as seen in "Doors"), and the overall level at which Carmy and Syd run the kitchen suggested to one restaurant owner, Arjav Ezekiel, that "the way they operate their restaurant feels like they're trying to get more than one star—that level of intensity is probably shooting for two or three." ^[1]
• When Carmy tells Syd that he altered one of the dishes and she recognizes the change as a "Boulud nod," this refers to a "crisp paupiettes of sea bass in Barolo sauce" dish that "uses thinly sliced potatoes as a crust for a skinless fillet, and Mr. Boulud has in turn credited a mullet dish made by Paul Bocuse as his inspiration." ^[2] This is the same dish Boulud teaches Carmy in the flashbacks in "Tomorrow." ^[3]
• Richie says that Neil Fak's suit is made of a "fresco wool." Fresco wool is a high-twist wool with excellent breathability and wrinkle resistance. ^[4]
• The book they give Sweeps, The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert, written by Richard Betts and illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton, is indeed a scratch-and-sniff book. ^[5] Per NPR, there is an elegant simplicity to the book, which pares a 100-smell "wine aroma wheel" down to four basic categories: fruit, wood, humus, and other. ^[6]

"Are you writing time codes on the tape now?" "Detail and specificity, yes." "Pea tendrils, 8:11 a.m. 8:09 a.m., snap peas. 8:15 a.m., I'm trapped in a prison of my own design."

This section is an excerpt from Sheridan (The Bear) § Tape.[ edit ]

"Sheridan" is the first episode where Carmy demonstrates cutting tape (rather than tearing it). When Food & Wine writers were indexing Carmy's bookshelves for an article "our editor-in-chief...said on Slack when he saw the semi-incoherent shelving: 'Curious as to why Carmy obsesses over the perfect tape edges à la Sean Brock but not more rhyme or reason for his bookshelves.'" ^[7] An Eater writer speculated that Carmy uses 3M painter's tape; his preference for green is less common than the use of blue and is probably inherited from his old boss Chef David Fields (Joel McHale). ^[8] The New York Times' Wirecutter section surmised it was green FrogTape multisurface painter's tape. ^[9] Thomas Keller, of the French Laundry and Bouchon and Per Se, is known to prefer neon green tape. ^[10] According to Food52, some professional kitchens have strict tape rules, such as: "...the tape has to get cut with a pair of scissors in a straight line, with a small tab folded over for ease of removal. On it should be written the product name, date, and initials of the person who packed the container." ^[10] Precise taping is thought to promote mental clarity in the kitchen and attention to detail in the dishes prepared and served at the restaurant. ^[10]

• The mention of Resy.com (as in "Francie Fak just made a rezy") was a paid product placement. ^[11]
• Carmy has Natalie transcribe and distribute his list of non-negotiables. ^[12] He tells Sugar of his list: "That's how restaurants of the highest caliber operate...we gotta be excellent everyday." ^[13] And he tells Sydney that it's "so they can see what we're capable of." (Sydney then asks "Who's 'they'?" but never gets an answer.) ^[13] He tells Richie that the goal is "detail and specificity." ^[13] Vulture suggested an alternate motive: "Hey, what if this list is actually just Carmy yelling at himself in a bullet-point format?" ^{[12] [a] [b]}
  1. Respect tradition
  2. Push boundaries
  3. Shirts perfectly pressed
  4. Personal hygiene
  5. Know your shit
  6. Break down all boxes before putting them in dumpster.
  7. No surprises
  8. Never repeat ingredients.
  9. Technique, technique, technique ["Spelled wrong but whatever."]
  10. Change menu every day.
  11. Constantly evolve through passion and creativity.
  12. Of the place
  13. Vibrant collaboration
  14. Not about you
  15. Less is more
  16. Details matter
  17. Perfect means perfect
  18. Consolidation and speed
  19. Confidence and competence
  20. Focus [underlined]
  21. Pursuit of excellence
  22. No excuses
  23. In + out service
  24. Service
  25. Time
  26. [Carmy does not want to ever run out of teaspoons.]

Production

Development

In May 2024, Hulu confirmed that the second episode of the season would be titled "Next", and was to be written by series creator Christopher Storer from a story he co-wrote with co-executive producer, culinary producer, and sister Courtney Storer, and directed by Christopher. ^[15] It was Christopher's ninth writing credit, Courtney's first writing credit, and Christopher's 14th directing credit. ^[16]

Writing

When questioned over Sydney's interaction with Carmy over the agreement, Ayo Edebiri explained, "I think she's always balancing his validation and his style of communication, because he will do a gesture but not necessarily say what he's thinking or feeling. So I think even though he does [assure she's a partner], it's actually quite complicated. She's sort of like, 'Is that true? You're offering me this thing. But what does it actually mean?'" ^[17]

Costuming

Sydney wears a scarf from the Cary Collection covered with 1950s lithograph-style illustrations of vegetables and other ingredients and their associated calorie counts. ^[18]

Filming

Among the people, locations, and scenes pictured during the working-class Chicago title sequence are D'Amato's Bakery and Subs in West Town, the Chicago Tribune printing plant, a Zamboni driver and a skate sharpener at Johnny's Ice House, Schneider Deli in the River North neighborhood, Lou Mitchell's near West Loop, cooks and servers at The Original Pancake House, Firecakes Donuts, rowers sculling on the Chicago River, flower arranging at LaSalle Flowers, coffee roaster Metric Chicago, Tortello in Wicker Park, the Vienna Beef manufacturing plant, Jim's Original near South Loop, Chiu Quon Bakery in Chinatown, Martyrs' nightclub, a "hotel maid vacuuming stairs," Gabby's Barber Shop, empanada chain Cafe Tola, Paulina Market, Wabash Seafood, employee Max spraying down the Tamale Spaceship food truck, Engine Co. 65 and Truck Co. 52 of the Chicago Fire Department, Kasia's, the Lincoln Park lagoon, Alexander's Restaurant, Roeser's Bakery, and Birrieria Zaragoza near Midway Airport. ^{[19] [20] [21]} All of these scenes play under Eddie Vedder's cover version of "Save It for Later," and over the course of the montage, "Some of the workers even smile at the camera. In some ways, this song is used as a love letter to the essential workers of Chicago, many of whom have been hard at work for hours while the rest of teeming masses are still dozing peacefully in their bedrooms." ^[22]

The scenes involving the main cast were filmed in just two days, with the first day filming the first 20 pages of the script, while the remainder was filmed the following day. Jeremy Allen White loved the episode's ending, saying "Stepping outside yourself, looking at Marcus and getting Marcus's thumbs up when he says, 'Take us there,' the writing in that episode is so beautiful. It was just so easy." ^[23]

According to cinematographer Andrew Wehde, one of the visual goals for season three was to "introduce sunlight...with Carmy working at the island...by himself, we were using large-source tungsten lights to bring in that sunlight as if it's reflecting off the high rises. It looked like the sun was a big orange light blooming through the front window, and it felt like it was pushing all the way into the back of the restaurant. That was the big change, adding that warm sun into the restaurant, knowing that Carmy's changing, he's evolving, and that time is moving forward." ^[24]

Music

Featured in the episode are an Eddie Vedder cover of "Save It for Later" by The Beat, and "(Nice Dream)" by Radiohead. ^[25] Vedder, who was born and spent his earliest years in Evanston, Illinois, regularly plays the song in live sets but this version was recorded in studio "specifically for The Bear." ^[26]

Critical reviews

Jenna Scherer of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "After an oddly sluggish season premiere, "Next" returns us to the show's baseline. Whereas "Tomorrow" roved the world and was extremely light on dialogue, "Next" restores the frenetic, overlapping rhythms that first made us fall in love with The Original Beef: a freewheeling jazz beat, the alto sax screeching with rancor even as the bassist strums a steady heartbeat of unconditional love." ^[27]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone praised its opening sequence and wrote, "What could at first just feel like a collection of glorified establishing shots turns into something else when many of the people begin waving at the camera. For a few minutes, the verisimilitude of the rest of The Bear goes away, and we are watching people excited to be on TV, and proud to have their hard work recognized by this show. The Bear is always a love letter to the people who make and serve our food, and who clean up after us; it's just more openly doing that in this montage." ^[28]

Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "The show keeps inserting these shots of Carmy basically vibrating with adrenaline and stress, and while that could just be how Carmy is, it's also kind of threatening. There's no way he can sustain this pace, this pressure, and this level of stress. Something's going to have to give." ^[29]

A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "It's easy to forget, but The Bear is billed in most awards-show categories as a "comedy," and sometimes it can even pull it off despite its swirling darkness. "Next" gets off to a promising start with a visit from one of Carmy's sleazy neighborhood pals who's there to drop off micro radishes and collect money in an envelope." ^[30] Josh Rosenberg of Esquire wrote, "With our road map officially set, we'll see how it plays out when the restaurant opens its doors. Say what you will about the disarray, but I'm excited for the courses ahead of us. Hopefully, we just won't have to wait until season 4, episode 10 for Carmy to learn that he doesn't have to go it alone." ^[31]

Retrospective reviews

In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Next" at 28 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point, commenting that the "chaotic back-and-forth the morning after [Carmy and Richie's] friendship fell apart isn't the most unpleasant thing that happens on The Bear, but it's perhaps the most needlessly unpleasant thing that happens on The Bear." ^[32] ScreenRant ranked "Next" 17th out of the 28 episodes produced through the end of season three, describing it as the "actual" season premiere after the dream-like "Tomorrow." ^[33]

In 2025, Vulture ranked "Next" as 37th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, commenting that the episode "has so many 'no, fuck you!' undertones and so much out and out aggression that it's almost hard to watch." ^[34]

See also

• List of The Bear episodes
• The Bear season three
• Previous episode: "Tomorrow"
• Next episode: "Doors"

Notes

1. The printed list, visible in a season-four episode, has some variations from what's visible of Carmy's notes in "Tomorrow" and what Natalie, Sydney, and Richie read aloud in "Next".
2. Richie unveils his own list of non-negotiables in "Doors," centering on "razzle-dazzle and the dream weave." ^[14]

References

1. Quittner, Ella (July 3, 2024). "How Would the Restaurant in 'The Bear' Work in Real Life?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 7, 2025.
2. Quittner, Ella (July 3, 2024). "Did You Find These Easter Eggs in 'The Bear'?". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
3. Childress, Tyler (July 26, 2024). "Chef Daniel Boulud Speaks On His Cameo in 'The Bear'". Boca Raton Magazine. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
4. Dougherty, Michael B. (2024). Esquire the Handbook of Men's Style: A Guide to Looking Good. New York: Hearst Home Books. p. 26. ISBN   978-1-958395-03-5.
5. Dunne, Carey (October 22, 2013). "A Scratch-N-Sniff Book For Budding Wine Snobs". Fast Company. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
6. Doucleff, Michaeleen (October 18, 2013). "Scratch 'N' Sniff Your Way To Wine Expertise ... Or At Least More Fun". NPR. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
7. Kinsman, Kat; Ram, Chandra. "We Hit Pause Over and Over So You Can Own Carmy's Library—Here's Every Real Cookbook Spotted on 'The Bear'". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on June 12, 2025. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
8. Makalintal, Bettina (June 28, 2024). "How to Shop 'The Bear' Aesthetic". Eater. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
9. "'The Bear' Is Back. Here's Every Wirecutter Pick We've Spotted in Carmy's Kitchen". The New York Times. June 28, 2024. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
10. Stephens, Leslie (February 2, 2016). "The Kitchen Habit Professional Chefs Can't Stand". Food52. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
11. Weprin, Alex (June 26, 2024). "Stella Artois, Chef? How 'The Bear' Added in Brand Deals for Season Three". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
12. Chaney, Jen (June 28, 2024). "The Bear's Non-Negotiables, Ranked by Negotiability". Vulture. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
13. admin (June 27, 2024). "The Bear - S03E02 - Next | Transcript". Scraps from the loft. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
14. Maitland, Hayley (July 9, 2024). "Making Sense of 'The Bear' Season 3 With Ebon Moss-Bachrach". Vogue. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
15. "(#301-310) "Season 3"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
16. "The Bear - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
17. Campione, Katie (June 27, 2024). "'The Bear': Ayo Edebiri Weighs In On The "Journey" Of Sydney & Carmy's Business Partnership In Season 3". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
18. Kirsty (June 13, 2024). "The Bear: Season 3 Episode 2 Sydney's Calories Head Scarf". Shop Your TV. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
19. "Here are the Chicago restaurants featured in 'The Bear' Season 3, including a suburban spot". NBC Chicago. June 28, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
20. Schwartz, Amelia (July 2, 2024). "Every Single Restaurant Featured in 'The Bear' Season 3". Food & Wine. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
21. Worthington, Clint (July 19, 2024). "Chicago Restaurants Dish On Their Cameos In 'The Bear' Season 3 Montage". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
22. Rosenfield, Rachel (June 27, 2024). "'Save it for Later' The Bear: Eddie Vedder's Cover Of The English Beat Classic Features Prominently In 'The Bear' Season 3 Episode 2". Decider.com. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
23. Radish, Christina (June 27, 2024). "'The Bear's Jeremy Allen White & Abby Elliott Share Their Favorite Season 3 Episodes". Collider . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
24. "Cinematographer Andrew Wehde: 'The Bear' season 3 episode guide". Panavision. September 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
25. Hibbs, James (June 27, 2023). "The Bear season 3 soundtrack: Every song in the Disney Plus drama". Radio Times . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
26. Bains, Prabhjot (July 5, 2024). "The Best Needle Drops from The Bear's Third Season". RANGE. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
27. Scherer, Jenna (June 28, 2024). "The Bear recap: "Non-Negotiables"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved June 28, 2024.
28. Sepinwall, Alan (June 27, 2023). "'The Bear' Season 3 Is Everything You've Been Waiting For and (Maybe Too Much) More". Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
29. Eakin, Marah (June 27, 2024). "The Bear Recap: Take Us There, Bear". Vulture . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
30. Daulerio, A.J. (June 27, 2024). "'The Bear' Season 3 Episode 2 Recap: "Next"". Decider . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
31. Rosenberg, Josh (June 27, 2024). "The Bear Season 3, Episode 2 Recap". Esquire . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
32. Wigler, Josh (July 8, 2024). "Every Episode of 'The Bear,' Ranked". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
33. MacArthur, Greg; Lealos, Shawn S. (June 30, 2024). "The Bear: All 28 Episodes, Ranked from Worst to Best". ScreenRant . Retrieved November 5, 2025.
34. Eakin, Marah (June 27, 2025). "Every Single Episode of The Bear, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved October 9, 2025.

External links

• "Next" at IMDb
• S03E02 – "Next" – Transcript
• Hulu (July 11, 2024). FX's The Bear: Season 3 Episode 2 Title Sequence (Video). Retrieved January 11, 2026– via YouTube.