The Primetime Emmys were held on Sunday, September 17th. Naturally, viewers were prepared for a second year of The Bear potentially sweeping the comedy categories. (See the winners here.) However, the episode that I would argue is the show’s strongest to date, “Forks” wasn’t specifically nominated in the writing or direction categories. Therefore, I find myself needing to honor what is not only my favorite episode of the series but one of my favorite episodes from television ever.
Season two of The Bear has an overall theme of evolution and supports this with several character-centered episodes. Most of these characters have clear arcs, where their pre-existing roles at The Beef are being refined much in the same way as the restaurant itself.
The one person without a place is Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and “Forks” becomes an exploration of making rapid character growth believable to an audience.
Richie used to be a character that annoyed me to no end. He’s the classic disinterested member of a group project that every straight-A student dreads. Unlike his coworkers, the death of The Beef restaurant doesn’t feel like a win. While everyone else’s role in the collective betterment is clear, Richie feels like being sent to stage at the Ever restaurant is a punishment “for being ancillary.” Everywhere he turns, the people that mean the most in his life are embracing the high brow. Even his ex-wife, Tiff (Gillian Jacobs), is moving on to a better life with her new fiancé, while Richie still wears his old wedding ring. In this way, Richie becomes a stand-in for The Beef: something to move on from.
While a character who is a hindrance to progress would not normally be enjoyable to watch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Richie with a buried sadness that invokes the viewer’s empathy. This aura of dejection about Richie’s place in life battles with his obstinate streak. It prompts the realization that what’s at stake if Richie ignores this opportunity – it is not the success of The Bear restaurant but Richie’s relevance to the people he loves. The first ten minutes of the episode establish Richie as a potential failure who is actively becoming a relic. However, “failure,” as the quote from Coach K foreshadows, “ is not a destination.”
The destination rather is Ever, where Richie is forced to forge relationships with those who don’t share an emotional history with him. They too remind him that they are moving on without him, and they don’t need him to drink the metaphorical high dining “kool-aid.” This lack of reaction to Richie’s usual antics forces him to observe his environment and understand the people in it. Through server Garrett (Andrew Lopez), Richie realizes that there are people in the culinary space who don’t care about food or business, but rather about acts of service. It’s not that being fancy and adhering to a structure has more value, but if the point is honoring others, why not go through the extra effort?
In the show’s strongest scene, Richie finally meets the revered Chef Terry, who is played with brilliant subtlety by Olivia Coleman. They talk about parents, military service, and failure, all while tediously peeling mushrooms. When Richie asks why someone as important as her would do a task so menial, Chef Terry replies, “Time spent doing this is time well spent.” While she’s directly discussing the physical task of preparing the mushroom, the implication is that her meaning also applies to her conversation with Richie; connecting with people is worth doing.
Through this conversation, the “Every Second Counts” signs that loom over the Ever kitchen are contextualized not as a demand for efficiency, but rather as a reminder that there is value in every task. While a kitchen has a hierarchy where a head chef is more important than a stage, there is respect attached to any aim for excellence.
Fundamentally, The Bear has never been a show about chefs or cooking. It’s been about the connections between people, and the value of putting in your best work to achieve something as a collective. Through “Forks”, Richie learns the value of acts of service not only for customers but for his role – he is the glue that holds together the personnel of the business as it evolves from The Beef to The Bear. Additionally, “Forks” allows for the evolution of The Bear restaurant to feel hard-won. While every other character-specific episode is fueled by pre-existing passion, “Forks” is about Richie finding passion in what he previously thought were unskilled tasks.
Despite being the highest-rated episode of the series on IMDb, “Forks” potential spot as an Emmy contender was taken by “Fishes”. Although technically excellent and devastatingly addictive to watch, “Fishes” stretches to the point of breaking the classification of The Bear as comedy. However, “Forks” relies on the humor of juxtaposition, with a Chicago man’s anthem being found in a Taylor Swift needle drop. It writes punchlines featuring prim and proper servers of a Michelin-star restaurant shouting expletives after guessing the correct sauce. While I can’t blame Emmy voters for recognizing “Fishes,” it’s a shame that “Forks” gets the shaft.
Regardless of the Emmys, “Forks” is crafted to shape the character of Richie into more than a supporting role. It emphasizes his importance to the titular restaurant and accentuates the overall theme of The Bear – change by a collective toward a goal is worth every second. For that, The Bear and I will always owe a piece of ourselves to “Forks”.
Article Courtesy of Sasha Raquel
Photo Credit to FX