"Pop" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American television comedy-dramaThe Bear. It is the 13th overall episode of the series and was written by Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, and directed by executive producer Joanna Calo. It was released on Hulu on June 22, 2023, 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 decides to accompany Claire to a party, while The Bear undergoes more reparation plans.
Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) continue developing the menu. While Tina is improving at culinary school and bonding with her younger classmates, she is worried when Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) starts skipping classes and cannot get through to him. With 6 weeks before opening, the restaurant continues facing more problems, as the contractors are waiting for others to finish so they can properly start working.
Cicero (Oliver Platt) visits The Bear, and is aghast at the decaying state. Despite already going over-budget, Natalie (Abby Elliott) convinces him in lending a further $50,000 for the repairs and permits. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) leaves to mail a liquor license application in Winnetka, with Claire (Molly Gordon) agreeing to drive him there. Afterwards, she convinces him in accompanying her to a friend's party. Carmy feels nervous as he never went to a party before, but ends up having fun with Claire's friends. Apologizing for giving her a fake phone number, Carmy decides to make up by showing her the restaurant.
They arrive at The Bear, where Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has been scolded for trying to steal electricity from the neighbors. After introducing them to Claire, they all leave them alone so Carmy can show the kitchen. After Fak (Matty Matheson) interrupts their meeting, Carmy forces him to leave. He returns with Claire, and they share their first kiss.
Context
Tina needs a knife for culinary school, and Carmy gives her his knife ("yours, chef"), which is a high-end, hand-forged Yoshimi Echizen knife imported from Japan, and usually only available in the United States through a single shop in Beverly Hills, California.[1]
Sydney tries to start a conversation with Carmy about what she's learned from the Coach K book she carries through the season, but Carm does not engage.[2]
According to a restaurateur, the issue with the amperage that led Richie to try to pirate some electricity from the neighbors is that "Every [restaurant] space has a maximum allotment of electricity your panel receives and can distribute to your appliances throughout the space. If you exceed it, you can blow a circuit or blackout your panel. In episode 5 of season 2, the restaurant faces a dilemma: there isn't enough power for the HVAC (heating and air conditioning unit), a major amperage suck. Amperage is determined by the size of the electrical cable feeding power into your space (either from a powerline, or often in cities, from an in-ground cable) so you either need to make do with what you have, or change it, which in New York means getting Con-Ed to come and dig into the concrete to switch out a thicker cable."[3]
The same restaurateur commented about the Carmy–Claire pairing, "The old adage is it's basically impossible to date outside the field. The hours and lifestyle are simply too difficult to contend with against someone who works a 9–5. The show makes a smart decision to pair Carm off with a doctor, who gets the insane schedule and stressful work environment."[3]
Production
Development
In May 2023, Hulu confirmed that the fifth episode of the season would be titled "Pop", and was to be written by Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, and directed by executive producer Joanna Calo.[4] It was Levitsky-Weitz's second writing credit, and Calo's fifth directing credit.[5]
Filming
The karaoke scene was filmed at Alice's in Avondale.[6] Having dropped out of culinary school, Ebra enjoys a cigar and contemplates Lake Michigan from the Chess Pavilion at Lincoln Park.[7]
Director Calo prepped for the shoot by watching Chicago-centric teen films like Sixteen Candles and Risky Business.[8] Calo told NJ.com she thought in terms of "a gorgeous close-up with some glowy light is just very classic romantic comedy, which is what I was really trying to reference," and intentionally framed Claire with "a cutout in the wall, signifying a shift in focus for the chef."[8]
Composers Jeffrey Qaiyum and Johnny Iguana did something different for the opening scene where Sydney, in company with Tina, is iterating a dish in the wee hours. To create a nightmarish, repetitive, claustrophobic sound, they recorded and then layered and looped chopping sounds, scraping utensils, and clinking wine glasses in Qaiyum's home kitchen, which, per Qaiyum "was a really fun session because I could bring the mics up to the kitchen and record. So we chopped different vegetables and different fruits, because you get a different sound, different cutting boards. We did the really close mic-ing of the stove lighting. You hear that in the background."[14]
Critical reviews
"Pop" received highly positive reviews from critics. Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "After he takes his leave, Carmy and Claire finally kiss as the Replacements' 'Can’t Hardly Wait' swells. It's a perfectly romantic moment, and one The Bear plays off with sweetness and maybe just a touch of 'kissing in an empty shell of a restaurant' sexiness. Yes, Chef, indeed."[15]
A. J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "Sydney introduces herself to Claire and attempts to talk Chaos Menu with Carmy but quickly exits when it's clear he's more interested in swanning Claire around the dilapidated fire hazard, The Bear. Once everyone finally leaves, Carmy and Claire make it all official."[16] Arnav Srivastava of The Review Geek gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "That element of tension hasn't surfaced yet. But it is a continuing source of excitement for us when it does. Season 2 has followed the established formula from the first season with a little more time away from the restaurant."[17] Karl R De Mesa from Show Snob wrote, "What a rare, feel-good episode in a, so far, very high stress season."[18]
Rafa Boladeras of MovieWeb named the episode as the ninth best of the season, writing "'Pop' is a transitional episode of the show, as most of the stories of the season keep going along. [...] This is also the episode where we see Carmy and Claire on an almost-Before Sunrise date, as they start to get to know each other better, reveal more intimate details about themselves, and even go to a party (something the chef has never done before)."[19] Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic named the episode as the weakest of the season, writing "The second season of The Bear didn't have any misses, but the least interesting installment of the season probably goes to the midseason episode, 'Pop.'"[20]
Retrospective reviews
In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Pop" at 27 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point, commenting that it is "a perfect illustration of why The Bear is among the best shows around right now; the lowest-rated truly is better than the highest-rated of most other active series."[21] ScreenRant ranked "Pop" 16th out of the 28 episodes produced through the end of season three, describing it as a more restful episode and commending Tina's unexpected karaoke triumph as a highlight.[22]
In 2025, Vulture ranked "Pop," which it described as being primarily about the "burgeoning love story" between Carmy and Claire, as 28th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear.[23]
In 2024 ScreenRant listed the scene where Nat pretends to be a dumb helpless girl (in order to persuade Uncle Jimmy to pull some strings for them) as fifth-funniest in the series to date: "Nat butters up Uncle Jimmy, which works like a charm, and the funniest part of the scene is Carmy and Richie spectating. As Sugar exits, she whispers, 'Go fuck yourself' to them, and Carmy hilariously comments, 'That was fuckin' gross, Sugar.'"[24]
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