Let's Talk About That Cameo in 'The Bear' Season 3
Matty Matheson in Season 3 of "The Bear" Credit - Courtesy of FX
Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers for season 3 of The Bear.
The Bear may be one of TV’s most stressful shows, but it always manages to maintain a level of fun—especially in how the show incorporates characters played by various celebrities. Season 3 of The Bear, which dropped on Hulu on June 26, is no different, with an exciting celebrity appearance in episode 5.
Season 2 of The Bear was filled with appearances from several well-known faces, largely thanks to the anxiety-inducing flashback Christmas episode that introduced audiences to a bulk of the Berzatto family as the matriarch, Donna (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), attempts to prepare the traditional Italian-American Feast of the Seven Fishes. As she drunkenly stumbles around the kitchen, smoking cigarettes and yelling at her family, we are introduced to Uncle Lee (Bob Odenkirk), Cousin Michelle (Sarah Paulson), Stevie, Cousin Michelle’s partner(John Mulaney), and Richie’s ex-wife Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs).
Read More: The Bear Adds Even More Star Power in Season 2 With These Guest Stars
While season 3 doesn’t have quite as many cameos, episode 5 does feature a good one. In the episode, the restaurant staff is preparing to welcome a photographer to take photos of the restaurant for their first restaurant review. Neil (Matty Matheson) and Ted (Ricky Staffieri) are in the dining room when their brother, Sammy, played by John Cena, drops by to help them buff the floors while taunting them relentlessly. Sammy gets upset with Ted for stealing SD cards and says he will “haunt” him until he “says the password." As Sammy, Cena fits right into the controlled chaos of The Bear.
The photographer comes in to take photos of the dining room set up and Sammy continues to “haunt” Ted even though his brothers plead for him to end the bit. Eventually, he wears Ted down into saying the password.
But it's The Bear, so there are some larger issues at play during Sammy's visit. The photographer asks the chefs to prepare the duck dish that is going to be highlighted in the review, but Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) has his mind set on changing the menu every day, and no one remembers the version of the dish he made when the reviewer dined at the restaurant.
Read More: The Bear is More Delicious Than Ever in Season 2
The bigger problem: they don’t have any duck. Chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) tries to figure out who can be trusted with the mission to get some duck and since Sammy doesn’t seem busy and looks somewhat reliable, they ask him to do it. “What kind of duck? Freshwater? I saw one in the park,” he says.
Amid a staff working constantly to prevent daily disaster and rising tensions with Carmy’s Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), who is upset with the restaurant's rising costs and unprofitability, Cena’s Sammy arrives just in time to relieve some pressure.
Write to Moises Mendez II at moises.mendez@time.com.
