The Bear – Season 3 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Ice Chips

Episode 8 of The Bear Season 3 starts with Natalie trying to drive herself out of a traffic jam all while feeling her labour cramps. When nobody from The Bear picks up her phone, Nat gets frustrated and calls her mother. DD arrives along with all her _ and Nat desperately asks her to keep things calm.

At the hospital, DD chats more about motherhood with the nurse. When Natalie tells the doctors she doesn’t want an epidural, DD argues that she should get one. Eventually, though, Natalie thanks DD for coming over and DD thanks her for asking. Soon, she has her first contraction and DD helps her through it.

After that, DD brings up the fact that Nat never told her about the baby. Instead, Nat asks her to continue her story about giving birth to Michael. She talks about how she had to walk herself to the hospital while she was in labour and how Michael was twisted up inside her but ultimately it was a smooth birth.

Nat then asks about Carmy and DD begins that story. She says the kids’ father was there and asking for a sedative for himself. And Carmy took a very long time and she had to move around a lot. Then Nat has another contraction and once again, DD helps her through it. She then goes out to get Nat some ice chips and comes back just as Nat is having another painful contraction. Both of them enjoy the ice chips.

The doctor comes in and tells Natalie that it’s going to be a while before the birth begins. She considers taking some oxytocin to help fasten the process and decides to even think about an epidural. As DD comforts Nat, she says that she thought Nat didn’t want her around. Nat says it’s just the stuff that DD brings with her. DD says she’s trying to leave it all behind. Nat admits that DD scared them as kids and she doesn’t want her baby to be scared the same way.

Natalie then opens up about her worries and how she used to make herself sick in order to make DD feel better. She just wants her daughter be okay and to be a good mother herself and DD assures her she is going to be one. Another contraction comes and goes and then DD feeds Nat more ice chips. As DD holds her and hugs her, they both laugh about how weird it is.

This time, Nat asks about her own delivery. DD says a few days before she was due and her husband wasn’t around, so she slept early. She then had a dream about a giant but beautiful fish tank in a grey city. The tank looked like it was going to break apart but she wasn’t afraid. When she woke up, her water broke and she went to the hospital. Uncle Jimmy’s first wife met her there and played a song for her and just like that, DD had Natalie. DD looks at Nat a few moments longer and says she’s beautiful. Nat asks which song and DD plays ‘Baby, I Love You’ by the Ramones.

Just then, Pete arrives and hugs Natalie. DD quietly slips out of the room. Pete hugs DD and thanks her. Pete goes back inside and DD walks away. Later, the Fak brothers join DD in the waiting room and remind her she’s going to be a grandma at the end of Episode 8 of The Bear Season 3.

The Episode Review

Episode 8 of The Bear Season 3 works as another standalone piece, focusing on the short segment of time that DD and Natalie spend together in the hospital. The episode is meant to be a slow, slice-of-life story and in that sense, it works really well. Their conversations effectively explore Nat’s hesitations about her mother and DD’s own remorse and desire to be a good parent. At the same time, the little anecdotes about the Berzatto children’s births make for short and sweet interludes.

Abby Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis are absolutely fantastic in this one, especially considering the long seconds of silence where they just look at each other and smile or cry. Each one’s stellar performance supports the others and together they offer a wonderful look at a complex mother-daughter relationship. Within the grand scheme of season 3, there are a couple of episodes that feel slow and could have used a faster pace or a snappier script, this is not one of those.