Twitter Is Obsessed With Richie’s Taylor Swift Moment On The Bear

The Bear Season 2 mainly revolves around getting the titular restaurant up and running, but it also includes a few side quests, like Marcus learning about new desserts from a very handsome chef in Denmark. Richie also got a chance to apprentice at a new restaurant in Episode 7, “Forks” — which could also be retitled “Richie (Taylor’s Version).”

Indeed, references to Taylor Swift are sprinkled throughout the season leading up to Episode 7. While talking to his young daughter, Eva, Richie apologizes for being Swiftie-d out. “I love you. And Eva, I love Taylor Swift too,” he says. “I just needed a break, you know?”

Ebon Moss-Bachrach told Screen Rant it was a day-of addition by co-showrunner Christopher Storer. “I was like, Oh my God, that’s such an incisive piece of dialogue where you just see everything, and it felt so true,” he said. “I was really impressed as Chris, who has no children, came up with such an insightful piece of a dad in the car.”

Later in the season, he tries to score tickets to the “Cruel Summer” singer’s concert (a timely, relatable challenge) and ultimately succeeds. In a flashback episode, it becomes clear where his daughter’s obsession began: Episode 6’s “Fishes” sees Eva’s mom (then pregnant with her) sporting a 1989 t-shirt.

Being surrounded by Swifties seems to have rubbed off on Richie — because during his apprenticeship, “Love Story” plays over a montage of him studying and testing his restaurant savvy. Then, after a successful night, we see Richie driving home while singing the song at the top of his lungs.

It’s a relatable vibe for those who know the power of driving to Swift’s music. Viewers took to Twitter to express their love for the feel-good scene — and Richie’s Swiftie era, in general.

As several viewers pointed out, the scene wasn’t just extremely fun to watch — it also served as an important milestone for Richie’s character development. As @brittbrenner put it, it shows him “fall in love with working in a real restaurant.” @halesinparis said he’s “falling in love with the industry and what it’s all about.”

Moss-Bachrach did tell Collider that Swift “features thematically throughout the season,” so it definitely seems that her music (and that song in particular) was used to say something specific about Richie’s journey. And it worked!

@hosseiri has just one request: show Richie and Eva at the concert in The Bear Season 3, please.