Next (The Bear)

Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) introduces the "non-negotiables" list to the restaurant, explaining that he is hoping to elevate the restaurant to higher profile by aiming for one Michelin star. Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), however, is taken aback by the list, especially for a section where it is revealed that the menu is changing every day. Carmy also gives her a "vesting agreement", wherein they will discuss her stake at the restaurant so she can "push" him and vice versa.

Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) arrives annoyed that Carmy reorganized the dining room without consulting him, and grows more upset when he reads the non-negotiable list. Their argument escalates as Richie questions Carmy's apology, and Richie goes as far as to mock Carmy for failing in his relationship with Claire. As Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) and Cicero (Oliver Platt) arrive, the staff gets into arguments over the structure. It is also revealed that some of the employees have quit their jobs, citing a "dysfunctional" environment. The conflict ends as Marcus (Lionel Boyce) arrives, and they get to work to get his mind off his mother's death.

Carmy approaches Marcus, and is surprised when he quickly accepts the "non-negotiables" list unlike the rest of the staff. Carmy offers his condolences, and Marcus deduces that he was meant to be in the kitchen when his mother died, feeling that was what she would've wanted. He is intent in making the restaurant work, and asks Carmy to "take us there." Carmy agrees to do it.

• Carmy promises Sydney, "We're gonna get a star," meaning a starred restaurant recommendation in the Michelin Guide for Chicago. Carmy has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants before and, in the more innocent early days of season two, Syd expressed a desire to create a Michelin-level restaurant.
• When Carmy tells Syd that he altered one of the dishes and she recognizes the change as a "Boulud nod," this refers to a "crisp paupiettes of sea bass in Barolo sauce" dish that "uses thinly sliced potatoes as a crust for a skinless fillet, and Mr. Boulud has in turn credited a mullet dish made by Paul Bocuse as his inspiration."^[1] This is the same dish Boulud teaches Carmy in the flashbacks in "Tomorrow."^[2]
• Illiteracy or...Freudian slip? When offering her a partnership in the restaurant, Carmy tells Sydney that there is a vetting schedule, correctly a vesting schedule. Vetting implies that one or the other is checking to see if someone is a quality candidate for something; vesting implies that once she signs, her stake in the restaurant would go from promised to actualized over a predetermined period of time, such as 25 percent annually for four years. Vesting is usually deployed to incentivize high-value employees to commit to an enterprise long-term.
• Richie says that Neil Fak's suit is made of a "fresco wool." Fresco wool is a high-twist wool with excellent breathability and wrinkle resistance.^[3]
• Syd and Carm's original conception of the restaurant was "two-tops, booths." ^[4] Richie and Carmy squabble because Carmy replaced many of the four-tops (tables that seat up to four people) with two-tops.^[5]

"You can leave the city of Chicago out of it."

• "Every day, Jeffrey Ballet?"
• The book they give Sweeps, The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert, written by Richard Betts and illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton, is indeed a scratch-and-sniff book.^[6] Per NPR, there is an elegant simplicity to the book, which pares a 100-smell "wine aroma wheel" down to four basic categories: fruit, wood, humus, and other.^[7]

"Are you writing time codes on the tape now?" "Detail and specificity, yes." "Pea tendrils, 8:11 a.m. 8:09 a.m., snap peas. 8:15 a.m., I'm trapped in a prison of my own design."

• The mention of Resy.com (as in "Francie Fak just made a rezy") was a paid product placement.^[12]
• Carmy has Natalie transcribe and distribute his list of non-negotiables.^[13] He tells Sugar of his list: "That's how restaurants of the highest caliber operate...we gotta be excellent everyday."^[14] And he tells Sydney that it's "so they can see what we're capable of." (Sydney then asks "Who's 'they'?" but never gets an answer.)^[14] He tells Richie that the goal is "detail and specificity."^[14] Vulture suggested an alternate motive: "Hey, what if this list is actually just Carmy yelling at himself in a bullet-point format?"^[13][a][b]
  1. Respect tradition
  2. Push boundaries
  3. Shirts perfectly pressed
  4. Personal hygiene
  5. Know your shit
  6. Break down all boxes before putting them in dumpster.
  7. No surprises
  8. Never repeat ingredients.
  9. Technique, technique, technique ["Spelled wrong but whatever."]
  10. Change menu every day.
  11. Constantly evolve through passion and creativity.
  12. Of the place ["Is that what you think mise en place means?"]
  13. Vibrant collaboration
  14. Not about you
  15. Less is more
  16. Details matter
  17. Perfect means perfect
  18. Consolidation and speed
  19. Confidence and competence
  20. Focus [underlined]
  21. Pursuit of excellence
  22. No excuses
  23. In + out service
  24. Service
  25. Time
  26. [Carmy does not want to ever run out of teaspoons.]

In May 2024, Hulu confirmed that the second episode of the season would be titled "Next", and was to be written by series creator Christopher Storer from a story he co-wrote with co-executive producer, culinary producer, and sister Courtney Storer, and directed by Christopher.^[16] It was Christopher's ninth writing credit, Courtney's first writing credit, and Christopher's 14th directing credit.^[17]

When questioned over Sydney's interaction with Carmy over the agreement, Ayo Edebiri explained, "I think she's always balancing his validation and his style of communication, because he will do a gesture but not necessarily say what he's thinking or feeling. So I think even though he does [assure she's a partner], it's actually quite complicated. She's sort of like, 'Is that true? You're offering me this thing. But what does it actually mean?'"^[18]

Sydney wears a scarf from the Cary Collection covered with 1950s lithograph-style illustrations of vegetables and other ingredients and their associated calorie counts.^[19]

Among the people, locations, and scenes pictured during the working-class Chicago title sequence are D'Amato's Bakery and Subs in West Town, the Chicago Tribune printing plant, a Zamboni driver and a skate sharpener at Johnny's Ice House, Schneider Deli in the River North neighborhood, Lou Mitchell's near West Loop, cooks and servers at The Original Pancake House, Firecakes Donuts, rowers sculling on the Chicago River, flower arranging at LaSalle Flowers, coffee roaster Metric Chicago, Tortello in Wicker Park, the Vienna Beef manufacturing plant, Jim's Original near South Loop, Chiu Quon Bakery in Chinatown, Martyrs' nightclub, a "hotel maid vacuuming stairs," Gabby's Barber Shop, empanada chain Cafe Tola, Paulina Market, Wabash Seafood, employee Max spraying down the Tamale Spaceship food truck, Engine Co. 65 and Truck Co. 52 of the Chicago Fire Department, Kasia's, the Lincoln Park lagoon, Alexander's Restaurant, Roeser's Bakery, and Birrieria Zaragoza near Midway Airport.^[20][21][22] All of these scenes play under Eddie Vedder's cover version of "Save It for Later," and over the course of the montage, "Some of the workers even smile at the camera. In some ways, this song is used as a love letter to the essential workers of Chicago, many of whom have been hard at work for hours while the rest of teeming masses are still dozing peacefully in their bedrooms."^[23]

The scenes involving the main cast were filmed in just two days, with the first day filming the first 20 pages of the script, while the remainder was filmed the following day. Jeremy Allen White loved the episode's ending, saying "Stepping outside yourself, looking at Marcus and getting Marcus's thumbs up when he says, 'Take us there,' the writing in that episode is so beautiful. It was just so easy."^[24]

According to cinematographer Andrew Wehde, one of the visual goals for season three was to "introduce sunlight...with Carmy working at the island...by himself, we were using large-source tungsten lights to bring in that sunlight as if it's reflecting off the high rises. It looked like the sun was a big orange light blooming through the front window, and it felt like it was pushing all the way into the back of the restaurant. That was the big change, adding that warm sun into the restaurant, knowing that Carmy's changing, he's evolving, and that time is moving forward."^[25]

Songs featured on the soundtrack of the episode include an Eddie Vedder cover of "Save It for Later" by The Beat, and "(Nice Dream)" by Radiohead.^[26] Vedder, who was born and spent his earliest years in Evanston, Illinois, regularly plays the song in live sets but this version was recorded in studio "specifically for The Bear."^[27] One Christian writer commented on the use of the song that "I found it interesting to listen to this track through the experience of Sydney, Carmy's chef de cuisine at The Bear. As she weighs the cost of agreeing to a partnership with Carmy, we see why it's such a difficult decision for her. Sydney wants to be a part of her coworkers' lives and learn from them. In a plot thick with miscommunication, I am reminded how good these people are to each other when their common goal in the kitchen is focused on nurturing talents and passions. The Bear—both as a restaurant and a show—doesn't work unless everyone grows together."^[28] As described by American Songwriter magazine, the Eddie Vedder version "takes less of a ska approach to the opening phrases and more of a quiet, anticipatory lead-up to Vedder's vocals...[not] quite as brash as the original. The English Beat version definitely has more of a brit-rock flavor, while Vedder's version is firmly rooted in U.S. grunge."^[29]

Jenna Scherer of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "After an oddly sluggish season premiere, "Next" returns us to the show's baseline. Whereas "Tomorrow" roved the world and was extremely light on dialogue, "Next" restores the frenetic, overlapping rhythms that first made us fall in love with The Original Beef: a freewheeling jazz beat, the alto sax screeching with rancor even as the bassist strums a steady heartbeat of unconditional love."^[30]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone praised its opening sequence and wrote, "What could at first just feel like a collection of glorified establishing shots turns into something else when many of the people begin waving at the camera. For a few minutes, the verisimilitude of the rest of The Bear goes away, and we are watching people excited to be on TV, and proud to have their hard work recognized by this show. The Bear is always a love letter to the people who make and serve our food, and who clean up after us; it's just more openly doing that in this montage."^[31]

Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "The show keeps inserting these shots of Carmy basically vibrating with adrenaline and stress, and while that could just be how Carmy is, it's also kind of threatening. There's no way he can sustain this pace, this pressure, and this level of stress. Something's going to have to give."^[32]

A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "It's easy to forget, but The Bear is billed in most awards-show categories as a "comedy," and sometimes it can even pull it off despite its swirling darkness. "Next" gets off to a promising start with a visit from one of Carmy's sleazy neighborhood pals who's there to drop off micro radishes and collect money in an envelope."^[33] Josh Rosenberg of Esquire wrote, "With our road map officially set, we'll see how it plays out when the restaurant opens its doors. Say what you will about the disarray, but I'm excited for the courses ahead of us. Hopefully, we just won't have to wait until season 4, episode 10 for Carmy to learn that he doesn't have to go it alone."^[34]

In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Next" at 28 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point, commenting that the "chaotic back-and-forth the morning after [Carmy and Richie's] friendship fell apart isn't the most unpleasant thing that happens on The Bear, but it's perhaps the most needlessly unpleasant thing that happens on The Bear."^[35] Screen Rant ranked "Next" 17th out of the 28 episodes produced through the end of season three, describing it as the "actual" season premiere after the dream-like "Tomorrow."^[36]

In 2025, Vulture ranked "Next" as 37th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, commenting that the episode "has so many 'no, fuck you!' undertones and so much out and out aggression that it's almost hard to watch."^[37]

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