Sophia Michaels
In “The Bear” season one, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto moves to Chicago to take over his family’s sandwich shop, The Beef, after inheriting it from his brother, Michael. While in New York, Carmy worked at the best restaurant in the city and was a rising star in the world of fine dining. But when he moves back to Chicago, his new, strong-willed staff couldn’t care less about his acclaim and aren’t thrilled about his grand ideas to change the restaurant. But as the series progresses, the staff (and Carmy) come around, they start to work more efficiently together, the kitchen gets cleaner, and it becomes clear that — even through all the yelling and fighting — they have grown together and created a fantastic menu.
The penultimate episode of season one contains mostly screaming as the chefs try to get a handle on their new to-go ordering system. Carmy freaks out and lashes out at his sous chef, Sydney, and his baker, Marcus (Lionel Boyce), both of whom end up quitting. However, by the end of the finale, they return to The Beef. Carmy apologizes to them, but it’s clear there’s a lot to work through between the three.
Near the end of the season, Carmy and co. find a ton of money hidden in the tomato cans, left by Carmy’s brother, Michael. Earlier in the finale, it’s revealed that Michael and Carmy always envisioned opening a restaurant together called The Bear. At the end of the episode, Carmy posts a sign at the door saying The Beef is closed and The Bear is coming soon.
In season two, Carmy, Sydney, Richie, Carmy’s sister Natalie (Abby Elliott) and the rest of the crew try to transform the restaurant into The Bear. They create a ruthlessly fast timeline and face tons of challenges when it comes to renovating and retooling the space.
