Flashback to an intense and heated Christmas dinner in the Berzatto family.Flashback to an intense and heated Christmas dinner in the Berzatto family.Flashback to an intense and heated Christmas dinner in the Berzatto family.
- Sydney Adamu
- (credit only)
- Marcus
- (credit only)
- Tina
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian: Festa dei sette pesci) is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve with dishes of fish and other seafood.
- GoofsIn the kitchen while cooking dinner, Donna thinks Natalie looks sick and yells at Michael to get her some Brio-shee, referring to an Italian lemon flavored antacid similar to Alka Seltzer. A family as Italian as the Berzattos would never pronounce Brioschi as "brio-shee." It is pronounced "brio-ski."
- Quotes
Stevie: Okay. Um... Listen. Everyone's asking what this... What is the seven fishes or why do we do it?
Donna Berzatto: Mm-hmm.
Stevie: And I think I know what my definition is. Uh, as soon as I think of it. It's a chance to... be together and to take care of each other. And to eat together. And there's seven fishes, which means you have to make seven entirely different dishes. Seven entirely different ways. And that takes a lot of time. And... I think spending that time and using that time on the people that we love is how we show them that we love them. And maybe we eat too much... and we definitely drink too much and we say too much without listening. But... tonight we... we're gonna eat seven fishes... which is absurd. Uh... But we have to take extra time to do it and we have to chew more and we have to listen more. And, uh, we only get to do this tonight one time. So... I, by the way, love it. I love being here. Thank you for having me every year at this. I look... I very much look forward to this. And I love you. I'm very in love with Michelle. And I'm not gay like you guys asked a lot. But I was thinking about what... what you said about bears and how they're aggressive. They're aggressive, but they're kind. They're sensitive. You guys have been so kind to me. You let me hang out with you every holiday. I don't have a family like this and... I'm really grateful that, um, you make space for me at this table and you make time for me on the holidays. May God bless us and keep us safe in the New Year. And please give Michael the strength not to throw that fork. Amen.
- Crazy creditsInstead of showing all the credits at the end as usual, some are shown at the beginning.
- SoundtracksIt's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
(uncredited)
Written by Edward Pola and George Wyle
Performed by Andy Williams
It's strange; I adore 'The Bear' but, based off of Season 1, it has the capacity to produce an episode that is so far beyond its average quality that it's borderline miraculous. The Bear is a brilliant show. But this episode? An absolute hall-of-famer.
The penultimate episode of last season, the 20-minute one-shotter? One of the finest episodes of television ever. That isn't to say that 'The Bear' isn't great outside of these anomalous episodes. But every once in a while, the show decides to suddenly fire on all cylinders and deliver some of the most intensely dramatic sequences ever committed to screen. And when it does this, it's hard to think of many shows that have ever done it better.
I sometimes refer to 'The Bear' as a drama-comedy that is infused with a somewhat uniquely claustrophobic tension. 'Fishes' catapults that description into the stratosphere and pulls off an episode that will almost certainly make you shiver with dread. You cannot watch this without feeling uncomfortable.
The ensemble is great. I always refer to Carmine as the heart of the show but this episode proves that it can transcend him. 'The Bear' isn't carried by a protagonist, if it ever was. It is carried by incredible writing and wondrous filmmaking. I adored this. I really hope we find our way back to another episode with the Berzattos if there is to be a Season 3.
Side Note: It would be unfair to call this episode all-out tension without at least mentioning the hilarity of the Faks and the tug-at-your-heartstrings look into Richie's ex-marriage. And a big shoutout to Bob Odenkirk. Love that guy. This show really can do it all.
- bayleykedar
- Jul 7, 2023
Details
- Runtime1 hour 6 minutes