"The Bear" Review - Season 1 Staging

Frenzied, chaotic, and full of figurative grease splatter, The Bear is a story of family loyalty, beating the odds, and messy kitchens that spill over to life.

Jul 03, 2023

Source: Looper / Chef Sydney and Carmen “Carmy” Berzotta aka “The Bear”

A Family in Disrepair

In The Bear from FX on Hulu, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) returns from living his best haute cuisine chef life in NYC to run his family’s greasy spoon in Chicago, a beef restaurant aptly called “The Beef,” which had been managed by his addict brother, Michael (Jon Bernthal), until Michael’s recent suicide.

Reeling from his grief from his brother’s death (Michael is the charismatic, loud alpha to the quiet, pensive, and discerning Carmy), Carmy keeps his brain and body as active as humanly possible, funneling all his frenetic energy into The Beef.

Carmy’s signature look is uncombed, unruly mane and that “I just got out of bed” wide eyed, but tired gaze. He’s like a disheveled buddha.

Carmy’s hell-bent on cleaning up the kitchen at lightning pace speed, bringing operational order to the restaurant and instilling in his staff a pride of purpose for what they do. It’s an uphill climb for him. His ally in getting to the break even point is the newly hired, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), who shines as an impatient, but skilled and passionate chef, and his kitchen staff, notably the gruff and compassionate Tina, baking enthusiast and sweetheart Marcus, and the wise and experienced Ebra.

Source: Random Things & Stuff / Richie and Carmy share a cig out back.

Carmy’s main obstacle in manifesting a positive trajectory for the restaurant is his “cousin” Ritchie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who one would quickly label, with his quick-tempered, runs hot, only makes poor decisions, and has one way of communicating - confrontationally - as “bad news.” In fact, his ex and the mother of his child, uses the moniker “Richie Bad News” as his contact name in her cell.

The main plot of Season 1 centers around Carmy getting the restaurant running more smoothly while saddling a ton of his brother’s debt, reuniting with his estranged family, which includes sister, “Sugar” played with grit and a tough love sensibility by Abby Elliott, and at Sugar’s prompting, attending Al-Anon meetings to start the healing process as Michael’s hard living and tragic dying has left an indelible mark.

The Nitty-Gritty of the Show

There’s not too much focus on the backstories of the characters in the first season. Rumor has it that season 2 corrects this problem. We are first presented to all of these vibrant characters, as if they just dropped from the sky into a chaotic kitchen scene or family event without much context and this makes for a jarring first few episodes, with the audience left to decipher all that’s going on and be comfortable with not knowing. There’s also a lot of chef back of house (BOH) jargon happening at every second so before you embark on Season 1, read up on the key phrases that you’ll need to know in the chef vernacular so you don’t get distracted from the rest of the show. This knowledge will pay off in dividends for you.

Side Note: There were times watching episodes 1-3 where I vacillated in thinking if I would have pushed myself to continue the series if not for all the critical acclaim this show has amassed, particularly with Jeremy Allen White, a standout on the U.S. version of Shameless as Lip, in a banner year, winning both a Golden Globe and a SAG for his performance as Carmy. The show also won an cast award at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards for “Best New Scripted Series.” And the ensemble is powerful in this with each of the chefs and actual or like family members working or not working well together as the script calls for.

My take: White’s Al-Anon monologue in episode 8, the season finale, sealed the deal for me on the question of him earning these awards. His vulnerable, raw and self-effacing performance is the first real emotional glimpse we get of what’s going on inside the cerebral, quiet Carmy.

Source: Netflix / Jeremy Allen White accepts SAG, saying, ‘I love actors, I love what I do and I feel so lucky to get to do it.’

There’s been comparison between The Bear and the show Atlanta also from FX and on Hulu, in which Donald Glover’s character, the young Earn, returns home to Atlanta, not unlike Carmy’s own voyage. In both shows, the format of each episode acts nearly as a standalone in the greater arc of the season and series so that you could watch each episode without any knowledge or a prior one. They both share run times as well - averaging around 30 minutes per episode.

Pressure Cooker

Do you remember the pace of the 90s show ER? There were times watching Season 1 where I actually felt my heart race in much the same way as when a patient would flatline (i.e. when Sydney spills a vat of veal stock effectively rendering “floor stock” as a viable food or Carmy lets the stove fire rage and waits for the kitchen to go up in flames). It’s intense. It’s also very good. It’s the polar opposite to the controlled and meticulous precision of the chef ecosystem present in the film, The Menu, which I reviewed back in January. (Read here) Although it’s clear in flashback scenes that Carmy has swam in these kitchen waters and has the know-how to manage the sharks. Joel McHale has a wonderful cameo as a NYC chef.

Where Season 1 fell short was with the focus on the character of the polarizing Richie and the Richie-Carmy dynamic. I get that with his brother Michael gone and Richie being the glue between his brother and him, he’s hard pressed to let him go, but man, he’s a troubling level of self-destructiveness that you just have to deal with and inevitably root for. But then I ask myself why I need to cheer him on.

There’s a strong theme of “chosen family” here but this is not in a way a healthy attachment. Still, Richie adds comic relief in moments, and the heaviness of this show needs a counterweight balance. I’d argue that Syd’s tell-it-like-is abruptness is more writing-time worthy, but let’s see if Richie redeems himself more as the story unfolds.

Season 2 Review Forthcoming

For those of you who also like to break up your seasons’ watching, I’ve intentionally separated out reviews for Seasons 1 and 2. Stay tuned for this.

In the Meantime, Bring on the Comments

Kindly Agree to Disagree - Is Atlanta a decent comparison show to The Bear or am I way off my rocker? What other shows come to mind in The Bear comparison or genre analogous categories?
Season 2 Soothsayer Predictions - Yes, Season 2 has dropped as of last month, but if you like to live off the grid meaning you keep yourself entirely detached from your Google feeds and any social media, what are some of the things you are hoping for? Any predictions?
Summer Lovin’ - What are you watching this Summer? Are you excited for the 5th Indiana Jones movie (Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny) and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie with Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie releasing next weekend?
So much pink in the trailer, not to mention the range of music from Dua Lipa to the Indigo Girls. At casa Lisogorskys’ Boston, as part of our July 4th patriotic duty, we’re embarking on an Indiana Jones marathon this weekend.
Ripped from the Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark archives and this student’s mad love for Harrison Ford’s Jones: