If you thought the usual culinary hijinks of The Bear season 3 have been stressful, add childbirth to the mix. Yes, those weren't false labor pains plaguing Natalie (Abby Elliott) at the end of episode 7. Those contractions are very real and very painful, made even worse by the fact that the mom-to-be is alone and stuck in gridlock Chicago traffic on her way to the hospital, and nobody — not Pete (Chris Witaske), not Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), not Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), not Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — is answering their f***ing phone. So, a desperate Nat does the unexpected: she calls mom.
Of course, Mom, a.k.a. Donna "DeeDee" Berzatto, is memorably played by Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis, introduced to viewers in the season 2 episode "Fishes." And in "Ice Chips" — a near-bottle episode directed by show creator Christopher Storer and written by Joanna Calo — both Curtis and Elliott are luminous in a moving meditation on motherhood and the mess we make while trying to figure it all out.
Donna meets her daughter in the hospital parking lot and already Natalie is thinking this is a mistake: Donna, having done this three times, knows all about the power of rhythmic breathing and is raising Nat's blood pressure with all of her hee-hee's and hoo-hoo's. Finally, the pressure boils over: "I need the baby to come into a calm and relatively normal environment, which I know is f***ing beyond foreign to you," she tells her mother. "But I'm begging you for this ultra specific time... to chill the f*** out." (Actually, her speech was way longer and more expletive filled but you get the gist.)
And though Donna is initially skeptical about Natalie's birth plan — no epidural, just dim lights and some music, prompting an unsurprising "Are you out of your f***ing mind?" from the Berzatto matriarch — she's supportive of her daughter's choice. If Natalie doesn't want to be numb during the experience, then she'll be there for her. But as someone who's been around the block, this particular block hurts like a "motherf***ing b****," Donna can't help but add.
Continuing her crowdsource of birth stories, Natalie asks her mother about her own in between contractions. While birthing Mikey (Jon Bernthal), Donna was alone but felt good and strong, the pain like "a shooting star" through her being. Michael was so twisted up inside the womb, she says, it was like he wanted to stay in there. The women take a beat, remembering the son Donna lost. Carmy's birth was harder, she says — the kids' father was there but she wished he wasn't, since he kept panicking and asking the staff for sedatives. (Dad did have a nice butt though, Donna jokes, saying that Nat inherited his behind.)
In between the labor history, the obstetrician arrives to check on Natalie. She's only five, maybe six centimeters dilated, so all she has to do now is wait. But what if she doesn't want to wait, she asks. As Nat ponders over whether she wants to take Pitocin to speed things along, the doctor is called out to remedy crashing newborn vitals, made even more concerning by the loud screams of a mother nearby. It's harrowing stuff, enough to scare Natalie into changing up that birth plan of hers. Epidural it is.
The ongoing chill between the mother and daughter melts as they bond over cups of ice chips. When Donna asks Natalie why she didn't initially tell her about the pregnancy, Nat is honest with her: "I just didn't want all of the stuff that you bring with you." She doesn't want her child scared the way she was scared growing up. Acknowledging how much of their relationship is marred by generational trauma (when Natalie says she can't remember Donna's mother, she soberly replies, "You wouldn't want to"), Nat tells her their dynamic isn't healthy, that all of her worries — that Pete will leave her, whether the baby will be okay, if she'll be a good mother — are f***ed up. But Donna is steadfast: "I'm right here," she assures her.
And she's there to tell Natalie her own birth story. After falling into the "deepest, fastest sleep," Donna vividly dreamt of a big fish tank in the middle of some hybrid city that was sort of Chicago, sort of New York. When she woke up, her water broke. Jimmy's first wife took her to the hospital and played the song "Baby, I Love You" by The Ronettes. "And then, Natalie," Donna tells her daughter, beaming at her like she's been transported back to that very day. Donna pulls out her phone and plays the tune for her, both women in tears as they listen to the lyrics.
Then Pete finally arrives. To give the soon-to-be parents their space, Donna graciously slinks out into the hallway, but not before her son-in-law runs out to thank her for being there for Natalie. She continues to be there, waiting for her grandchild's arrival in the waiting room with some appreciated support from the Fak brothers, Neil (Matty Matheson) and Ted (Ricky Staffieri).
We don't get to meet the little cub before the credits roll, but as The Ronettes croon on, it's clear Grandma DeeDee already loves the little one, and the daughter who brought them into the world.
All 10 episodes of The Bear season 3 are now available to stream on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
