Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
From a trip to Copenhagen to a surprise roster of celebrity guest stars, The Bear Season 2 is jam packed with jaw-dropping moments. But nothing — not even the stressful, star studded hour-long episode “Fishes” — is a bigger flex than Chef Terry’s reveal in Episode 7.
Throughout Season 2, Will Poulter, Molly Gordon, Sarah Ramos, Alex Moffat, Mitra Jouhari, Adam Shapiro, Robert Townsend, and Joel McHale graced our screens. Real-life Chicago chefs including Donnie Madia, Rob Levitt, Dylan Patel, and David Posey made cameos. And Episode 6 alone featured powerhouse performances from Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, Sarah Paulson, Gillian Jacobs, and more. I’ll admit that I didn’t think The Bear could raise the shock factor any higher after those “Fishes” cameos, but the casting department outdid themselves in “Forks” by having Ebon Moss-Bachrach share a single scene with the one, the only…Olivia Colman!
After training at Chef Terry’s restaurant for a week, Richie (Moss-Bachrach) wanders around the kitchen looking for polish during his final shift and finally meets the culinary master. The camera pans up from a random pair of hands gently peeling mushrooms to the owner of said hands: OLIVA FREAKING COLMAN. I straight-up screamed! My editor spat out his toast! Nothing could have possibly prepared us for such a random, iconic flex. And we weren’t alone in our shock.
The legendary English actor who’s recently starred in Heartstopper, Great Expectations, and Secret Invasion (and was just cast in Paddington in Peru!) is on screen less than five minutes, but her character has a major impact on Richie and teaches him the importance of time well spent. After she invites him to peel mushrooms alongside her, the two open up about their parents and Chef Terry tells Richie how she achieved her successful career. Her journey — ripe with arrogance, failure, anger, depression, and self pity (much like Richie’s) — reminds him that it’s never too late to start over and motivates him to enter a new era of self-improvement.
Before Chef Terry leaves, she also tells Richie that Carmy believes in him, which boosts his confidence even more. Though her scene was short, Chef Terry ultimately played an important role in the season and Richie’s future. But if we’re being honest, The Bear could have cast A-N-Y-O-N-E to play her. The sheer fact that someone as talented, beloved, and high-profile as Colman agreed to be on the show to peel mushrooms with a knife and utter a few lines of dialogue is a strong testament to the show’s quality. And though I initially feared Colman’s star power would be too distracting, after observing Chef Terry’s sincerity and sweet, patient temperament for a few seconds, it became clear she was a perfect person for the job.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Moss-Bachrach said he was just as surprised as viewers when he found out Colman agreed to appear in his episode. “They said she was going to do it, and I was still a little bit surprised when she showed up on set. I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is real,'” he said. “It was great. I mean, she’s such a good actor. When she showed up she said in her perfect, beautiful accent, ‘Oh, I do hope I don’t screw anything up. I really hope that they like me,’ and I was like, ‘OK, stop it, you’re Olivia Colman. Come on.'”
And with that, Moss-Bachrach perfectly summed up The Bear‘s biggest Season 2 flex. She’s Olivia Colman. COME ON!
The Bear Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.
