Production
Writing
The title refers to a type of semi-sentient naturalistic cyborg called a replicant that was introduced into popular culture by Blade Runner . [1] Richie has a long-standing interest in science fiction generally and the works of Philip K. Dick specifically. [2] In season three Richie called Carmy a "baby replicant who's not self-actualized." [3]
Richie mentions Sylvester and the Magic Pebble , a children's book by William Steig.
In this episode, Carmy tries twice to tell Sydney about the changes to the partnership agreement (which later trigger the crisis of "Goodbye") but he is interrupted twice, once by the arrival of baby Sophie, and once by the news of Sydney's dad's cardiac incident. [4]
Richie talks about how the old Beef was "rocking," and the vibe at the Bear is not the same. Carmy modeled the Bear on Thomas Keller restaurants (among others), about which New York Times food editor Melissa Clark wrote in 2024, "Phones glowed as the diners I witnessed snapped more photos of themselves at their hard-to-get table than of the food on their plates. No one giggled." [5]
Filming
Sydney's basketball court scene was filmed at Margaret Hie Ding Lin Park on the near south side. [6]
Carmy toured Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio house museum in Oak Park, Illinois. [7] The scenes were filmed over the course of one morning in early 2025. [7] The historical site's digital communications manager, Christine Trevino, conducted the onscreen tour, pointing out and explaining key details of the building design and history to Jeremy Allen White and The Bear crew. [7] The cast and crew were granted special permission to interact with objects and furniture that are usually off-limits to visitors and were permitted to film in the typically closed-off kitchen and balcony of the drafting room. [8] Carmy views some of the "house's most resonant details including the barrel-vaulted ceiling, and stained-glass skylights, as well as the kitchen's old stove and wood-grained dining room." [9]
The show also filmed the Arthur and Grace Heurtley House, one of Wright's Prairie School designs, and the Nathan G. Moore House, which was originally built in a "half-timbered Tudor style but gained idiosyncratic features such as Mayan- and Gothic-inspired motifs after a fire in 1922." [10] [11] The Heurtley House and the Moore House are across the street from each other, on the same street as the Wright Studio, on Oak Park's Forest Avenue. [10] While standing on the sidewalk in front of the Heurtley House, "it seems like a moment [Carmy] made a decision." [8]
Costuming
Natalie wears Sophie in an ErgoBaby-brand baby carrier. Carmy wore Nike Cortez shoes to the Al-Anon meeting. [12]
Casting
Kate Berlant guest stars as Georgie, a participant in Carmy's Al-Anon group who shares about an alocasia houseplant and/or living with her brother's addiction. [13] Berlant's story mirrors the struggles of more familiar characters as they confront "the complicated relationships they have with those who are closest to them: the broken trust, the bitterness, and the self-destructiveness that festers owed to those things." [13] The Bear creator Christopher Storer was an executive producer on Berlant's FX comedy special Cinnamon on the Wind. [14]
Music
The songs featured in the episode are "Let Me Live In Your City (Work In Progress)" by Paul Simon, "Slip Away (A Warning)" by Lou Reed and John Cale, "Hope the High Road" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, "Looking Into You" by Jackson Browne, and "Pull the Cup" by Shellac. [15] About the use of "Let Me Live in Your City," The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Some of the show's richest moments happen when the characters step away from the kitchen. Paul Simon's [song] plays as Carmy drives alone, the camera catching the undersides of bridges and blurred city scenes—like seeing the world through a dirty windshield. He visits the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, a sequence that flirts with travelogue territory but ultimately pulls us closer to him. With no dialogue, Simon's warm, conversational vocals overlaying Carmy's quiet wandering makes the scene feel unusually intimate." [16]
Critical reviews
The Daily Beast called Berlant's four-minute monologue a "highlight of the season." [13]
Richie's line "Who wants to melt some provolone on a fuckin' baby right now?" was deemed especially memorable by The A.V. Club. [17] Vulture felt that the episode simultaneously highlighted that although Richie is hilarious he also nurses an ongoing bitterness: "...Richie doesn't know how to have an adult conversation with a male he's related(ish) to. He seems to only know how to throw syllabic grenades, dropping lines about Carmy's supposed fear of refrigerators..." [18]
The pairing of Rob Reiner and Edwin Lee Gibson was called a "comedy dream team." [17]
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