9/12/2023 0 Comments Harmony bear bearDozens of tomato cans (labeled with KBL on the bottom) are full of cash Michael was setting aside to pay off debt. When Carmy makes the spaghetti for the staff ahead of service, he learns what Michael was trying to show him all along. He also left Carmy the recipe to his family style spaghetti, which includes using the countless 20 ounce cans of tomatoes Carmy has always wondered why they are stored in the restaurant. Richie finally turns over a letter to Carmy that Michael left for him before his suicide, encouraging Carmy to “let it rip,” the same advice he used to give his younger brother when they were younger and facing challenges. Michael wasn’t the most organized or attentive manager to the business side of the restaurant, so Carmy can’t make heads or tails of some of the expenses, the orders that come in, and the mysterious frequent payments to KBL Electric where he finds large sums of money is being funneled. But while Carmy battles the quality and consistency of the food, he also battles Richie who wants nothing to change (clearly because his home life is an absolute unpredictable wreck), battles his reluctant co-owner sister Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (played by SNL alum Abby Elliott) who wants Carmy to face the reality of Michael’s suicide, and battles the crippling $300,000 debt they owe their uncle for bailing out the restaurant during COVID. The traditions and work ethics of the incumbent staff are deep-seeded and require mountainous effort to get them to slightly change course. Michael left the restaurant and all its financial and infrastructure issues to Carmy, who was voted Food and Wine’s Best Young Chef, much to the chagrin of Michael’s best friend Richie (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach in a breakout role) and the diverse, but long-standing staff of The Beef.Īll season, Carmy battles his desire (and training) for The Beef to be perfect. We intensely feel the stakes of the popular Chicago restaurant, The Beef, which was run by Carmy’s brother Michael (Jon Bernthal in a cameo appearance) until his suicide a few months prior. The heightened emotional response The Bear elicits is due to a number of things. If you spent any time working in a hectic restaurant in years past, this show forced you to relive some of that PTSD. But have you spent much time with Stress TV? If The Bear didn’t invent the genre, it certainly perfected it. I’m sure you’ve heard of and seen plenty of Cringe TV before. I discovered a new genre of “comedy” that focuses on family dynamics, high-stress environments, and the less-than-fine part of fine dining. The combination of those two recommendations convinced me to fire up the stovetop on The Bear and fly through the eight-episode season. I, however, fall firmly into the word-of-mouth category as I just happened to stumble across some contacts on Twitter discussing the show, and a family member was checking it out. If you want, take all that with a healthy pinch of kosher salt, but those are pantheon-level television numbers. The Bear has a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 91% audience score. How did a show go from almost zero buzz to its peak popularity seemingly overnight? Mostly through critical reviews and word of mouth. The show was also nominated for Best/Outstanding Comedy Series for each of those awards. When the pop-culture dust settled, the show won a Golden Globe, SAG Award, and Critics Choice award, all for Jeremy Allen White’s portrayal of Carmy (his family also refers to him as “Bear”). But very few people were prepared for what happened next. On the backs of impressive performances throughout the entire cast and an easily digestible plot, the show quickly became a critical darling. In the streaming age where it’s damn near impossible for non-intellectual property, non-tentpole shows to break free from all the digital noise, The Bear seemingly came out of nowhere in the summer of 2022 to become an instant phenomenon. Just as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto and his crew will attempt to turn a Chicago culinary institution like The Beef into a successful new restaurant called The Bear, FX hopes that the popular formula of family-style tension and kitchen drama they created can be replicated when there aren’t any actual customers to serve. The following recap and review contains spoilers for The Bear Season 1 (created by Christopher Storer and directed by Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo)Īs FX on Hulu prepares for the second season of its all-of-a-sudden smash hit, The Bear, to drop on June 22, there are parallel questions running through both the plot of the show and the production behind last summer’s biggest surprise.
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