'The Bear' Drops Surprise New Episode on Hulu

Ahead of The Bear's fifth and final season, set to premiere on June 25, the award-winning FX series has released a previously unannounced episode on Hulu.

The new episode, titled "Gary," is a prequel episode following best friends Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Jon Bernthal), with the latter character's off-screen death being the catalyst for the beginning of The Bear Season 1. Per its official logline, "Gary," set during a work trip to Gary, Indiana, "takes a look at "the two friends' complicated relationship, uncovering new layers of Mikey's mental state while offering crucial insight into the man Richie is when audiences first meet him in Season 1 - adding emotional context that reframes their story from the very beginning."

As the episode takes place before The Bear, which debuted in 2022, "Gary" is not listed along with other episodes on the streaming service. Instead, it is listed as a standalone title, like a short film, on Hulu. This is similar to HBO's two special Euphoria episodes, titled "Trouble Don't Last Always," and "F*ck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob," released in 2020 and 2021, respectively - two spin-off episodes between Seasons 1 and 2 that aren't essential to the plot of the seasons.

Directed by The Bear creator Christopher Storer, "Gary" is also co-written by Moss-Bachrach and Bernthal. Earlier today, just hours after the release of the episode, The Bear and FX confirmed Season 5 would indeed be the last, which guest actress Jamie Lee Curtis had previously stated in interviews.

"The fifth and final season of The Bear picks up the morning after Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie and Natalie ‘Sugar' (Abby Elliott) discover that Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) has quit the food industry, leaving the restaurant to them," FX said in a new statement regarding the new season, premiering next month. "With no money, the threat of a sale and a torrential storm in their way, the new partners must band together with the rest of the team to achieve one last service, hoping they'll finally earn a Michelin star. Ultimately, they learn that what makes a restaurant ‘perfect' might not be the food, but the people."

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 5:15 PM.