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The Beef and Grief

Season one of ‘The Bear’ proved a sleeper hit and people are still napping on one of the best shows currently airing (Disney+, out this week in the UK). The show centres on Carmy, a skilled fine dining chef, who returns home to Chicago to helm his family’s sandwich shop following a tragic loss. Season two progresses the plot, investigating small business management, familial obligations, and a determined kitchen staff. It also deals with grief and self-discovery.

A show about the day-to-day life of a Chicago sandwich shop and restaurant. How can a show with such a small scope last two seasons? By doing just that. Focussing down on the micro, the characters and human beings navigating the chaotic world of hospitality and life.

Yes Chef!

The triumph of The Bear doesn’t come from every episode. If I had one complaint, it’s that in both seasons the initial dishes act as an appetiser to the later main courses. But when the main episodes of the series are served, I’ve rarely seen episodes like it. The season one episode ‘The Review’ starts a pan simmering, and the one-shot style pacing dials up the tension till everything comes to the boil.

The best episodes in season two were when the show focused on one story or character.. In ‘Fishes’ a flashback episode with a star-studded cameo cast provides key insight into side characters, with the run-time doubled. The risk taken with the second season, with such major faces taking on guest roles, is that it pulls the viewer from the moment. What stops it is top class acting. Whatever the part calls for, the actors deliver. The credits roll in ‘Fishes’, leaving the viewer drained from the rising tension throughout the episode.

The very next episode ‘Forks’, the best of the show, flexes in the other direction. It follows one of the hearts of the show, forty-five-year-old Richie, who lacks purpose and navigates a world racing away from what he knows. I’ve watched it twice more while writing this post. It’s a feel-good triumph of direction, writing, acting, and theme that leaves you beaming after the prior episode’s tension. The journey and growth both the viewer and character are taken on in thirty-minutes can only be described as a masterpiece in execution.

Every Second Counts

Not since ‘Mr Robot’ have I encountered a television show quite like ‘The Bear’. Mr Robot had a habit of breaking boundaries with television,   When it delivers, it blows the majority of television out of the water. ‘The Bear’ serves a rich blend of nuanced character development, heartfelt storytelling, and culinary passion. It’s a rare slice of television that deftly combines the tension of a kitchen, the raw emotions of loss and its aftermath. It’s a feast for the eyes and I can’t wait to see where they go next.

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