Plot: A few years before The Bear, Richie and Mikey go on a trip to Gary, Indiana
Review: With the upcoming fifth season to conclude The Bear, there are only a handful of episodes left in the tales of Carmy, Richie, and their found family at the Chicago restaurant formerly known as The Original Beef. For four seasons, the eclectic ensemble of The Bear has proven time and again to be amongst the best on television and that includes the memory of Carmy’s older brother, Mikey, whose suicide initiated the narrative of The Bear in the first place. Announced today by star Ebon Moss-Bachrach on social media, a special one-shot episode of The Bear has debuted online that takes the story back to before the series began. “Gary” is a special, standalone entry in the story of The Bear that focuses on the friendship and brotherhood of Richie and Mikey that adds more context to the emotional core of the series while also delivering memorable performances from Jon Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach.
Set in 2019, three years before the series premiere of The Bear, “Gary” find Mikey (Jon Bernthal) bringing his best friend and “cousin” Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) on a road trip from Chicago across the Indiana border to the titular city. Grumpy and wanting to get things done while Richie wants to goof around, Mikey is reluctant to listen to Richie’s mixtape or deviate from their schedule. Richie is doing what he can to have fun before his wife, Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs), delivers their baby. Richie even promises to be home by 5:15 that evening to keep Tiffany calm. When they cross into Gary, both Mikey and Richie end up going on a brief journey of self-discovery that involves drinking forties on the hood of their car, joining some teens for some pick-up basketball, and spending time at a bar where they drink with some locals.
The hour-long episode only references The Beef, its employees, and some Berzatto family members in passing as it focuses entirely on the bond between Mikey and Richie. The episode serves as background on the two and adds layers to the eventual suicide of Mikey as well as how much Richie grows through the four seasons of The Bear. The two lifelong friends know each other to a degree that few other characters in the series know each other with the trip featured in “Gary” coming up a few times, notably in The Bear‘s third season episodes “Legacy” and “Ice Chips”. It also helps that Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach have been friends for over twenty years with Bernthal’s casting coming as a suggestion from Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The two actors worked together in several projects, notably the Netflix series The Punisher and are currently starring together on Broadway in a revival of Dog Day Afternoon.
The core of “Gary” is an examination of the volatile mental state of Mikey. His deppresive personality and suspected mental illness are hinted at further as the episode moves from emotional extremes showing Mikey angry, then very energetic and happy, then back to somber before an explosive outburst creates a rift between him and Richie as the episode comes to a close. The cast of the episode references Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), for whom Mikey is doing a delivery job in Gary, but the supporting players are all new to the series. Acclaimed actress Marin Ireland portrays a love interest for Mikey while character actor T.J. Jagodowski plays a bar patron. Most of the heavy lifting is done by Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach who appear in almost every scene together outside of a brief few scenes highlighting each actor on his own.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal co-wrote “Gary” which is a satisfying short film regardless of the connections to The Bear. Directed by The Bear showrunner Christopher Storer, “Gary” features a lot of non-actors in brief roles that highlight the Midwestern charm of the Indiana birthplace of Michael Jackson and John Mellencamp. Like the way Chicago is showcased on The Bear, “Gary” elicits a down-to-Earth and bluecollar feel while giving both Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal some outstanding opportunities to continue their acclaimed acting prowess from The Bear and their other extensive filmographies. With very little music outside of a mixtape made by Richie and some songs played in a local restaurant and bar, there is a timeless quality to the episode that works without anyone needing to have seen a single episode of The Bear.
As a standalone episode of The Bear, “Gary” ends with a quick glimpse of the present day showing Richie in a car on a rainy day reflecting on the trip showcased through the episode. Alluding to his grief and longing for his lost friend, the final moments of the episode end with a cliffhanger that will either lead directly into the fifth and final season of The Bear or could connect to more standalone episodes leading up to the next full season of the main series. Either way, “Gary” is a powerful addition to the existing seasons of The Bear and shows the writing and acting talents of Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The two performers know each other as well as they know these characters and their extensive work on stage informs how this episode feels like a one-act play. This is worth watching for fans of great acting as well as anyone who wants to see how to make a short film engaging, beautiful, emotional, and completely engrossing.
“Gary” is now streaming on Hulu/Disney+.