Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Bear’ On FX On Hulu, Where A Fine Dining Chef Tries To Keep His Family’s Italian Beef Joint Afloat After A Tragic Death

Whenever we watch a show like Kitchen Nightmares or something similar, where we get a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of a restaurant, we always wonder just how anything gets out the swinging kitchen doors. It all feels like chaos, but there is a hierarchy and a “system” in place that ensures things do get to people’s tables. Now imagine if someone coming from the fine dining world comes to a city-favorite casual place — say, an Italian beef joint in Chicago — and tries to shake up the “system.” That’s the premise of the new FX on Hulu series The Bear.

THE BEAR: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A man walks across a bridge at night and gingerly approaches a cage with a bear in it. He slowly opens the cage, and the bear attacks. Then he wakes up in the middle of a restaurant kitchen.

The Gist: Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) has inherited his family’s restaurant, The Original Beef Of Chicagoland, after the tragic death of his brother Michael. His background is in fine dining, and he was a rising star in that world, having won a James Beard Award and other recognition. And what he’s finding at the family’s Italian beef joint is that everyone there is used to the traditional “system” of how things were done, and that Michael left them without a lot of cash flow.

We see this during a frantic morning where he gets 10 percent of the beef delivery he was expecting to get, simply because he didn’t have the money for more, and he has to barter some vintage jeans for more. While he tries to get the beef for the day made, he tries to attract a crowd with a social media announcement for a video game tournament. He also brings in Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), a culinary-school trained sous chef, to help him out.

Meanwhile, Richie Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), the restaurant’s manager and Michael’s best friend, keeps telling Carmy that the fine dining training has made him a snob, which is why he’s trying to change the “system” and do things like take the crowd-favorite spaghetti off the menu. Richie also wonders why Carmy is calling everyone “chef”.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Anyone remember when Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential was made into a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper? The Bear reminds us of that.

Our Take: The Bear is labeled as a “comedy”, but to be honest, we saw very little that was laugh-out-loud in the first episode. What we saw was desperation, anger, resentment, and mourning. We also saw how the kitchen in a city institution like The Original Beef of Chicagoland works like a family, and how doing things they way they have always been done is so ingrained in how the kitchen operates that any variation throws things into chaos.

For instance, Marcus (Lionel Boyce), who bakes the rolls, resists Carmy’s technique to make the rolls less crumbly — until he sees the results. Dedicated line cook Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) loses her shit when Carmy uses her regular pot. She also completely mistrusts the presence of Sydney. All of this is communicated in swirling, loud dialogue that really communicates how crazy a restaurant kitchen can get.

Creator Christopher Storer (Ramy) does a good job of capturing that crazy vibe, and how, despite the conflicts and yelling, how the food gets served and the customers leave satisfied. Will there be darkly funny moments during the show? Sure; Richie shoots a gun to get the video game fans under control, and calls them “Incel, QAnon, 4chan, Snyder Cut motherfuckers.” Richie and the rest of the “family” will likely be a good source of profane, dark laughs. But we’re pretty sure there’s going to be more brooding than anything else, which is fine with us if we see more examples of The Original Beef thriving against the odds and despite the chaos.

Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.

Parting Shot: After Richie berates Carmy into making the spaghetti dish, we see Carmy opening cans of sauce, then slamming something into the trash out of frustration.

Sleeper Star: Abby Elliott plays Carmy’s older sister Natalie, nicknamed “Sugar.” It does seem like she’ll get more involved in the business, but wants a more significant relationship with Carmy.

Most Pilot-y Line: “It’s a fighter and a fuckin’ scroller!” says Fak (Matty Matheson), Carmy’s friend and the restaurant’s fix-it guy, about the obscure game that Carmy wants to use to get some extra revenue.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Bear is more dark comedy than a laugh riot, but its anarchic style and family vibe make for a kinetic show that might have some surprises in store for its viewers.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.