The Bear: 10 best episodes that prove it’s TV at its finest

When The Bear showed up back in 2022, it felt like a spark that set off an unexpected fire nobody saw coming. A half-hour show about a tired sandwich shop in Chicago did not look like it would pull people in, but it did. Now, four seasons later, everyone still talks about Carmy’s fridge meltdown or Richie singing Taylor Swift alone in his car or which random guest star showed up and stole a scene.

What makes The Bear hit so hard is not just the shouting or the slammed doors. It is the small stuff that sticks. A broken cook tries to peel mushrooms while Olivia Colman listens, or Sydney eats alone just to clear her head. Some moments push the story like a runaway train, while others make you sit still and watch someone breathe through pain.

Picking just ten episodes is rough because even the ones that fall flat have a piece worth saving. These ten do what the show does best. They pull you close, they slap you awake, and they remind you that this mess of food and family and second chances is not about perfection; it is about people trying to stand up and do better tomorrow.

---

The Bear: 10 best episodes that prove it’s TV at its finest

1) Fishes (Season 2, Episode 6)

Christmas dinner with the Berzattos turns into a slow bomb ticking away in plain sight. Donna tries too hard to make everything perfect, but the cigarettes and yelling prove she is close to breaking.

Jamie Lee Curtis' Donna unravels while Mikey and Uncle Lee rip into each other. Sarah Paulson' Michelle and her partner, John Mulaney's Stevie, try to calm the storm but fail hard. Donna drives her car through the living room wall when words stop working. Fishes explains why Carmy and Richie carry so much wreckage later on.

---

2) Review (Season 1, Episode 7)

One long shot traps you inside the Beef kitchen during a day that feels like it never ends. Syd’s online orders flood the line, and the printer never quits while Carmy shouts and Richie curses about forks.

Marcus zones out and misses the chaos until Richie gets stabbed by accident, which only adds to the mess. Wilco’s “Spiders” hums in the background like a warning. Review shows why this place must change because nobody can work like this forever, and you feel it in your gut as it spins out.

---

3) The Bear (Season 2, Episode 10)

Opening night for the Bear starts with hope, but cracks fast when Carmy gets locked inside the fridge alone. He screams at Claire through the door, without knowing she hears him, saying she holds him back.

Richie takes over the expo and proves he is more than comic relief while Syd holds the line together. Cicero wipes away a tear over a chocolate banana. Pearl Jam plays as plates fly out. The Bear looks like a win, but it feels like everyone’s faith breaks under too much weight.

---

4) Forks (Season 2, Episode 7)

Richie shows up at Ever wearing a tracksuit and leaves in a pressed suit because shining forks teaches him pride he never felt before. Watching him scrub silver all day makes no sense until he sees that every tiny thing matters when people spend big money on dinner.

He blasts Taylor Swift alone in his car and smiles wide like a kid who just found hope again. His run to Pequod’s for deep dish proves he can solve problems when it counts. Forks makes Richie feel like the real soul of the show because he learns how to care.

---

5) Braciole (Season 1, Episode 8)

Carmy stands up at Al-Anon and tells strangers how Mikey made him feel small, even though Mikey made everyone else feel loved. Richie passes him Mikey’s note that only says, I love you, dude. Let it rip, which means more than any speech.

Finding money stashed in cans gives Carmy a way out of debt and the spaghetti ties the past to what comes next. Loss mixes with hope at that table. Braciole works because it shows how messy love keeps people moving when grief wants to stop them.

---

6) Ice Chips (Season 3, Episode 8)

Natalie goes into labor and wants her mother to be there, even though everyone knows Donna brings as much pain as help. Abby Elliott shows every ounce of fear and exhaustion as Natalie tries to push through it all.

Jamie Lee Curtis' Donna hovers near the hospital bed, half comfort, half chaos. The whole episode takes place in that small room, but it feels huge. Sugar becomes a mom and stays someone’s broken child all at once. Ice Chips proves the show understands family wounds never fully close.

---

7) Honeydew (Season 2, Episode 4)

Marcus leaves Chicago to stage in Copenhagen, where Luca teaches him pastry tricks but also shows him that calm can be powerful. Will Poulter makes Luca steady but never smug. Marcus walks the cold streets, tastes wild flavors, and remembers who he wants to be.

He calls home about his sick mom because that keeps him real. Shots of dark roads and late-night cafes say more than words. Honeydew lets Marcus breathe and build his own vision before he flies back to the Bear with new skills and new guts.

---

8) Worms (Season 4, Episode 4)

Sydney spends one day away from the kitchen, stuck babysitting her cousin’s kid TJ, who rolls her eyes but slowly softens. Ayo Edebiri’s script shows that Syd is more than stress and knives.

They buy snacks, talk about boys, and wander streets that remind Syd she has a life outside the line. Chantel’s messy house makes Syd’s empty flat hit harder. TJ helps Syd find a break she did not know she needed. Worms works because it finds truth in cheap food and teenage side-eye.

---

9) System (Season 1, Episode 1)

The pilot drops you into Carmy’s world without asking for permission. One second he fights a bear in a dream the next, he cuts meat before sunrise. Richie storms in yelling while Marcus tries to bake something decent.

Sydney shows up wanting more than small gigs. Cicero’s debt hangs over every word. Carmy’s old life as a fancy chef peeks through but never feels safe. System holds you in that sweaty kitchen so you taste the stress and understand why these people need something bigger to live for.

---

10) Bears (Season 4, Episode 7)

Frank and Tiffany’s wedding brings everyone together in one loud room that holds grudges and new starts. Gillian Jacobs beams as Tiff. Josh Hartnett makes Frank kind without being dull. Brie Larson finally shows up as Francie Fak and fits right in.

Carmy talks to Uncle Lee for the first time since that Christmas blowup. Richie sits under a table and tells Cicero what scares him most. Even Donna lurks outside looking like an old ghost. Bears ties old wounds to fresh hope that maybe they can all hurt each other less one day.

---

Follow Soapcentral for more updates.