You Know Who Returns on the ‘The Bear’ S3, E8
I can practically see The Bear creator Chris Storer pacing back and forth in the writers’ room for season 3. “Okay,” he says, hand rubbing his chin. “What can we film just like we film a night of service at The Bear, but, like, way more fucking stressful than that?”
“Traffic!” someone screams.
“More mother-daughter fights!” shouts another.
From the back of the room: “Childbirth!”
Well, someone decided to do all three at once, and that’s how we ended up with the gem that is season 3, episode 8, “Ice Chips.” Episode 7 saw Sugar’s (Abby Elliott) water break in the parking lot of a home-improvement store—she’s alone, by the way!—and episode 8 begins with a sweaty, frantic, calling-but-no-one-is-picking-up drive through rush hour in Chicago. Sugar tries to contact Carmy, Sydney, and even Claire to no avail, leaving her with one last resort. She calls the woman who once drove her car into the side of her childhood home, also known as... Mom.
That's right! The 2024 Emmy nominations haven't even dropped yet—Jamie Lee Curtis is expected to receive a Best Guest Acting nod for her turn as Mrs. Berzatto in season 2—and Curtis is already already back. And if you had any doubt, the actress takes this bottle(ish) episode as another chance to go absolutely batshit as the summation of every Italian American mother who has ever existed throughout human history. Since most of the episode is simply a tight shot of Mrs. Berzatto and Sugar trading quips and blows in the hospital room, Curtis has plenty of room to play.
Her awards-season highlight reel includes but certainly isn't limited to: the line deliveries of her various hee-hee-hees!, squeezing Sugar’s butt as she’s having a contraction, laughing like a thirteen-year-old boy when her daughter asks to keep her pubic hair, and, simply, “Give me. The drugs.”
Of course, this is The Bear, so a not-insignificant part of this episode is devoted to breaking the endless cycle of generational trauma. With both Sugar’s and Mrs. Berzatto’s defenses at a (relatively) healthy level, the former takes the chance to actually speak up for herself. Why didn’t she call her mom for help at first? “I just didn’t want all the stuff you bring with you,” Sugar says. Mrs. Berzatto understands. When Sugar admits, “I don’t remember your mom,” we even learn that Mrs. Berzatto had a tough upbringing herself. “You wouldn’t want to.” Sugar clearly appreciates her mother's love and care—and for once, The Bear seemingly fixes a longstanding beef.
Throughout episode 8, Mrs. Berzatto individually remembers giving birth to her three children, in chronological order: Michael, Carmy, and Sugar. Both of the Berzatto boys, she says, struggled to come out—she goes as far as to imply that Michael didn’t want to enter the world, which sobers both of them. Meanwhile, with Sugar, she had a very psychotherapy-friendly dream: I’ll save the details, but Mrs. Berzatto remembers seeing a beautiful fish tank. She was sad to walk away from it but found solace in the fact that other people would experience and enjoy the sight, too. Take from that what you will, but maybe Mrs. Berzatto feels that—between Michael, Carmy, and Sugar—she ultimately raised a generation of Berzattos that’ll leave the world better than she did.
One last thought: After about forty minutes of Sugar’s and Mrs. Berzatto’s bedside antics, we’re relegated to the waiting room when Baby Berzatto is born! Maybe we’ll learn the kid’s (hopefully) old-school Italian name in episode 9. My money’s on Giulia.
You Might Also Like
