Sundae (The Bear)

"Sundae" is the third episode of the second season of the American television comedy-drama The Bear. It is the 11th overall episode of the series and was written by Karen Joseph Adcock and Catherine Schetina, 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, Sydney visits different restaurants to try dishes, while Carmy starts spending time with Claire.

The episode received critical acclaim, with Ayo Edebiri receiving praise for her performance.

Plot
At an Al-Anon meeting, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) opens up about his plans for the restaurant. He is not intent on finding time for fun or amusement, as he has been feeling stressed out. Later, he is called by Claire (Molly Gordon), who got his real number from Fak. She asks for help in moving her mother's stuff, and Carmy actually accepts.

As they need to get out of their routine and sample food at other restaurants for their menu, Carmy and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) make plans to visit restaurants across the city. However, Carmy is unable to accompany Sydney due to helping Claire, so Sydney is forced to do the trip by herself. She also exchanges some conversations with some of her colleagues in the restaurants, with one remarking that she needs a partner to work with. While exhausted, she eventually comes up with a pasta dish from all the different dishes she tried during the day.

She returns to The Bear, finding Carmy already there. She discovers that Carmy and the staff have removed a wall due to space concerns, upsetting Sydney as she was not involved in the decision. With a colleague's help, Sydney cooks the pasta dish at a restaurant, but she is disgusted by its taste.

Development
In May 2023, Hulu confirmed that the third episode of the season would be titled "Sundae", and was to be written by Karen Joseph Adcock and Catherine Schetina, and directed by executive producer Joanna Calo. It was Adcock's second writing credit, Schetina's second writing credit, and Calo's fourth directing credit.

Music
The episode included songs, such as "Goodbye Girl" by Squeeze, "Secret Teardrops" by Martin Rev, "Twenty-Five Miles" by Edwin Starr, "Future Perfect" by The Durutti Column, "Make You Happy" by Tommy McGee, and "I Like the Things About Me" by Mavis Staples.

Release
The episode, along with the rest of the season, premiered on June 22, 2023.

Critical reviews
"Sundae" received critical acclaim. Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "Has any fictional show made its city's food scene look better than The Bear's? Granted, that's not hard with Chicago, which has not just some of the best fine dining in the whole country but also some of the best street staples, counter classics, and everyday fare. That's made pretty clear in “Sundae,” which is not just a great episode of TV but also a showcase for some of the city's most down-home and delicious eateries."

A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "She's about to plate her food, swirling the green splatter she daydreamed about earlier. She takes a bite. BLECH. She's facing a real dilemma and wonders if she's destined for a life of flagging down airplanes." Arnav Srivastava of The Review Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The world from Sydney's eyes seems so different. Episode 3 of The Bear's new season experiments with storytelling with a fresh twist." Karl R De Mesa from Show Snob wrote, "this is absolutely a great episode for the character development of Sydney, letting the viewer get to know her in different situations and lights, especially the way she needs to control events that usually spiral out of control. It's a big fear response and she defaults to it unconsciously."

Rafa Boladeras of MovieWeb named the episode as the fifth best of the season, writing "This is a great Ayo Edeberi episode; one that tries to illustrate how creativity works, while also planting a seed of distrust between her and Carmy, as most of those incredible cooks she visits warn her about what some bad partners can do to your career and restaurant." Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic named the episode as the fifth best of the season, writing "It was one of Ayo Edebiri's strongest installments and gave us more insight into Sydney and how others in the culinary world perceive her outside of that of The Bear through this mouthwatering food tour throughout Chicago."

Accolades
TVLine named Ayo Edebiri as the "Performer of the Week" for the week of June 24, 2023, for her performance in the episode. The site wrote, "On Hulu's kitchen dramedy, Edebiri's sous chef Sydney typically serves as a loyal lieutenant to head chef Carmy. But Season 2 took the time to delve deep into the show's rich supporting cast, and Edebiri got a sumptuously shot showcase of her own in Episode 3 as Sydney wandered the streets of Chicago searching for culinary inspiration."