Spoilers

Who saw this coming?

A prequel episode of The Bear dropped on Hulu this week starring Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The episode, which is leading into the final season of the Bear later this year, sees the two friends on a “mission” for their Uncle Jimmy delivering a box to Gary, Indiana.

Jon Bernthal is an amazing actor. This gave him an opportunity to dive deeper into the character of Mikey prior to his suicide which was a kick off of the show The Bear.

Set five years prior to the first season, this show had a look at the relationship between the “cousins” and each man’s issues.

The scene where Mikey verbally attacked Richie in the bar was brutal and heartbreaking. The show was able to give us examples of Mikey’s mental illness without making it obvious.

Even more than that, the end of the show left us with a cliffhanger, as Richie, seemingly back in the present day, gets t-boned by another car. Did something horrible just happen to Richie heading into season five?

The duo were unbelievable together and their acting skills were on display for this hour episode. It is amazing that it just appeared without any huzzah or promotion.

It was a powerful episode that was written by Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach.

I’m not sure if this is considered an episode of The Bear or if it is something of its own. Either way, this was a great surprise.