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The Bear

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The Bear was THE surprise hit of Summer 2022. More or less dumped as one big batch of content under the “FX on Hulu” banner in late June last year with little in the way of advance promotion or hype, the series became a word-of-mouth sensation, surprising just about everyone (including, presumably, the network’s PR people) and racking up some impressive accolades along the way (like a Golden Globe for star Jeremy Allen White). Other standout performances came from the Ayo Edebiri as aspiring jefe Sydney (the actor destined to be featured in EVERYTHING soon) and Ebon-Moss Bachrach, who plays the lovable meatball dipshit, Cousin Richie. Thanks to the frenetic, anxiety-inducing pace of the camerawork, most on display in the smashing, fritzing madness of Episode 7 (“The Review”), all shot in one 17-minute take. It also has a cast willing to embed itself into the restaurant’s netherworld. (Both Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri took culinary arts classes and restaurant internships to appear game-ready.) It all came together to create a wire-tight, dark, and highly entertaining TV show whose second season comes with high expectations — just like the fictional restaurant itself.

Brief catch-up: The Original Beef, the run-down Chicago sandwich shop previously owned and operated by Carmy’s brother, Mike, a drug addict who died by suicide, was a dump. All of the season story arc started off as a rescue mission where Carmy would swoop in with his Michelin-level restaurant training to salvage his dead brother’s beloved sandwich store, but it turns out it was more of a tear-down. The Original Beef was deeply in debt, with finances tied up in brother Mike’s (Jon Bernthal, who only shows up in ghostly flashback form) drug habit but also drowning due to a $300,000 cash loan Mikey took from his mob-adjacent Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt). The place needed to go, but the people inside it needed to stay. So the Original Beef was closed, enter…The Bear.

The Bear Season 2 Episode 1 (“Beef”) begins coldly, in peak Chicago February, where we find Marcus, the linebacker-sized pastry chef, sitting next to his mother’s hospital bed in a dark room, where he attempts to warm her hands while she sleeps. He then heads out to his car, does a couple of healthy scrapes on the icy windshield, and heads off to the Original Beef.

Next, we have a close-up of the demolition taking place — the Original Beef sign being torn down as Bruce Hornsby’s “The Show Goes On” twinkles along as the camera pans over the relevant players. We’ve got Syd and Carmy, obviously. Then a close-up of their sister, Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto, signaling that her role is about to expand.

As Carmy breathlessly rattles off all trouble spots that need to be fixed, the expenses are rising as is the enormity of The Bear. Grand total so far for kitchen renovations: $95,000.

Noticeably absent at this meeting is Richie, but he’s quickly summoned by Carmy–“CUZ-ZIN!” That incantation alone feels like the official starter’s pistol for Season 2.

Carmy finds Richie in the basement, morosely flipping through family albums. “You ever think about purpose?” he asks Carmy, who politely reminds him that he has no time for this when the math suggests it costs $1,000 per hour for self-reflection inside the restaurant.

Devoid of a breakthrough, we move quickly to the mounting problems and certificates and inspections and taxes that need to be taken care of and, by virtue of her nagging about all of this because she’s co-signed on the lease, Natalie gets nominated by Sydney for the job of project manager. Even the darkest clouds get put to work.

“We’ve got to stay calm and take this step by step,” says Carmy, confidently, fully flexing both his vascular forearms and the basset-hound charm which won him a Screen Actor’s Guild Award and, perhaps a new wife named Jennifer Coolidge. But it’s obvious right away that the new restaurant is even a gargantuan risk.

High-minded literary types will find metaphors everywhere in the crew’s rebirth/rebuild/renovation (something re-), but despite the optimism and commitment to change, the walls are closing in. Or, in the case of the doomed staff, the walls are eating them alive:

Alarms are blaring, adding to the sense of foreboding doom and the massive undertaking about to take place. The tomato can jackpot money won’t cover the cost of the renovation, so Carmy, Syd, and his sister are forced to ask Oliver Platt for another $500,000 infusion. This is a drastic shift for Carmy of season 1, who spent the majority of his time fretting and smoking and yelling about the direness of his existence. But now he’s wide-eyed and confident that he and his crew of lovable fuck-ups can make The Bear profitable in 18 months’ time. Sydney ups the ante and dangles the promise of a Michelin Star: “This is going to be a destination spot.”

As the alarm continues to blare, Uncle Jimmy goes from politely intrigued to all-in as the alarm system is finally shut off. “When do you open?”

“Six months,” says Carmy.

Tina gets asked to become a sous chef under Jeff Sydney. Will these crazy kids make their dream come true and create Chicago’s next great destination dining experience? The stakes are high.

The very optimistic six months-to-open timeline that was promised to Uncle Jimmy suddenly became ASAP as Carmy, Syd, and Natalie whip out their Sharpies and their giant day calendars to get things moving. The camera zooms in on EVERY SECOND COUNTS. The three of them sit back and stare at the calendar, prepping for the stakes they’ve raised, as the seconds start to tick by.

THE BEAR SEASON 2 EPISODE 1 EVERY SECOND COUNTS

THE BEAR SEASON 2 EPISODE 1: LEFTOVERS

QUESTIONS I HAVE ABOUT EASTER EGGS:
- Why was older brother Mike a Boston Red Sox fan?
- Why was there a Rounders poster in the basement?
INCREDIBLE MIDDLE-AGE DAD NEEDLE DROP: “Handshake Drugs” by Wilco. Wilco made several appearances in the first season, most notably “Via Chicago” off of the Summerteeth album. But this time around we go to Tweedy’s ode to shady deals and shady dealers.
CARMY ARM PORN: You’re welcome.