The Bear S2: Jon Bernthal Improvised A Crucial Moment During The Big Episode 6 Argument
Contains spoilers for "The Bear" Season 2 Episode 6, "Fishes"
Fans of "The Bear" knew that Carmy Berzatto's (Jeremy Michael White) late brother Mikey is played in flashback by Jon Bernthal, but going into Season 2, they probably didn't know Bernthal was set to return to the series. Return he does, though, in the season's grounding sixth episode, "Fishes," which strays from the current-day narrative to show exactly what holidays were like in the Berzatto house... and to say they were rough is an understatement. According to Bernthal, though, one of the most physically propulsive moments was unplanned — specifically, when he flips the table at Uncle Lee (guest star Bob Odenkirk).
After confirming to Variety that the forks Mikey keeps flinging at Lee's head were plastic, Bernthal revealed, "Oh, the table flip definitely wasn't scripted. But it's still a testament to Chris [Storer]. I was like, 'Hey, man, you gotta let me kind of go crazy at least once!' I do a lot of action stuff and I'm aware of how big of a reset that it is, where the food is meticulously laid out and it's so specific and is a character within itself. He definitely gave me the green light. It's funny when you work with directors, especially in TV, because sometimes they'll give you the green light, but then be like, 'Just maybe save it 'til the end.' Chris was like, 'Go do you.' I think the funnest thing for me really, in that scene, was to be off camera and just to keep that intensity, keep that fight going with Bob and see everybody else's reaction. It was just such a joy to do."
Jon Bernthal welcomed the opportunity to spar with Bob Odenkirk
Beyond the histrionics of Carmy and Mikey's mom Donna — played by recently minted Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis — the other big conflict pops up between Mikey and Uncle Lee, played by Bob Odenkirk. As the family waits for Donna to come sit down for their annual Feast of the Seven Fishes, which they share every Christmas, Lee and Mikey really get into it. Bernthal also raved about working with the comedy legend turned dramatic powerhouse, saying Odenkirk got just as invested in their fight as he did.
"With Bob, I'm such a huge fan of his," Bernthal said. "I thought it was just such a perfect choice. He was so down to come at me, and vice versa! When you have an environment like that, everyone is willing to be a little bit dangerous, because there's so much trust. There's so much love and everybody's so dedicated. The goal starts to then be, OK, how can I shock this person? How can I scare this person? How can I do something that they'll never expect? How can I lose myself within this? When you create an atmosphere that's that unbelievably creative and that unbelievably safe, danger is not a hard thing to find. It was really fun! It was like great theater work, and it's really rare.
Beyond that, much of this intense episode was heavily scripted, according to Jon Bernthal
We know, from Season 1 of "The Bear," that Mikey ultimately takes his own life, and in "Fishes," we start to see the cracks in the facade of the eldest Berzatto brother. His relationship with Carmy was definitively tense; he's clearly angry with his brother for moving abroad to become an upscale chef, and when the two have a difficult discussion in the pantry, Mikey stays behind when Carmy leaves... and hits himself in the face. It's a devastating moment, and it's also incredibly revealing — and according to Bernthal, it was definitely in the script.
"A lot of it was scripted," Bernthal said. "It's a real testament to Chris, who wrote the episode. When he leaves him there, 99.9 shows out of 100, as soon as Carmy leaves that pantry, you go with Carmy. To stay on Mikey and be with him, it defies so much of how we do television, in terms of perspective and whose point of view we're really looking at. It's a private moment with this character that we know doesn't exist. They give him two — the moment that he's sitting there waiting for him, suggesting that he's feeling the buzz of the pills that he just took, but more importantly, afterward: They leave him there to sit in that pain, and to show it. That moment was understanding that this dream was never going to happen, this was never going to work because he knew where he was headed. He knew where he was going."
Season 2, Episode 6 shows a side of Mikey fans haven't seen yet
Bernthal makes it quite clear throughout the article that he was thrilled to return to work on "The Bear," especially after forming a friendship with showrunner and creator Chris Storer as well as his connection to real-life friend and on-screen best friend Ebon Moss-Bacharach, who plays Richie. He also clearly welcomed the opportunity to delve further into Mikey's psyche, despite how deeply sad the character is.
"What I was super grateful for in this round with Mikey is when you look at perspective and you look at what happened last season with that little scene they had, Carm was almost looking at him on a pedestal," Bernthal says of his character's brief appearance in Season 1, which was just Carmy remembering his brother. "Through the lens of memory, it was this beautiful celebration of this guy. But this year, they really showed the other side — his ugliness, his damage, his hurt, his pain, the parts of him that didn't quite sync up. And to get a little bit of a glimpse into how hard the world was for him, it's bold storytelling. It's people who aren't afraid to dig into the wound of their own personal history. I think you really got to see his hurt, his pain and his damage, and he doesn't want his brother to be a part of that."
Season 2 of "The Bear," including the incredibly stressful sixth episode, is available to stream on Hulu now — and whether or not Bernthal will return in the future is anyone's guess, but Bernthal is definitely down to do so.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).