If you’ve ever worked in the service industry, you know the thrilling chaos of restaurant life. If you can’t stand the heat, you may want to stay out of the kitchen, but you’ll be missing one of the tastiest treats on television.
Season 2 of “The Bear” dropped all 10 episodes on Hulu on Thursday, and while you are free to binge the entire 10-course meal, I prefer to savor these episodes in multiple sittings because I respected Season 1 so much.
Created by Christopher Storer (producer of “Eighth Grade” and director of “Ramy”), the intense comedy-drama series follows an acclaimed New York City chef named Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who inherits a Chicago sandwich shop after his brother Michael’s suicide. He must use his fine-dining skills to transform the gritty joint into a success, while mourning the loss of his sibling and the guilt of moving away.
Jeremy Allen White masterfully carries the show on his tattooed shoulders, sweating through his white t-shirt and blue apron, while calling out orders to his unruly kitchen staff. White deservedly won Best Actor at both the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, but the prizes oddly came in comedy categories. It’s a puzzling phenomenon since “The Bear” is more stressful than hilarious and White’s performance hinges on grief more than punchlines.
The zingers belong to Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie Jerimovich, who made us want to punch him in the face for his man-child outbursts in Season 1. He spits more off-color jokes in Season 2, but vows to mature as he questions his purpose. We’re also gaining empathy for kitchen staffer Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), who made Carmy’s life a living hell by calling him “Jeff” instead of “chef” in Season 1, but now has a chance to improve her station in Season 2.
Far more likable is the underdog duo of Marcus (Lionel Boyce), a talented chef experimenting with dessert recipes, and Sydney Adam (Ayo Edebiri), an aspiring apprentice determined to climb the ladder. Edebiri was the real standout of Season 1 with a performance that earned her a guest spot as Quinta Brunson’s sister on “Abbott Elementary” (2022), so we’re thrilled to see her character gaining even more responsibility in Season 2.
Of course, the most important character remains the joint itself, which was modeled after the real-life restaurant Mr. Beef in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. Turns out, the show’s creator frequently visited there because he was friends with the owner’s son. Season 2 opens with Carmy and crew renovating the restaurant under a new name, The Bear, now looking like a construction war zone with drywall, plywood and tools galore.
Casual viewers may be confused about why the new restaurant is suddenly strapped for cash right out of the gate, saying, “Wait, I thought they solved their money problems last season? Wasn’t that the surprise payoff?” I could have used a “previously on” montage to start this season, so you might want to go back and watch Season 1, particularly the scenes with Uncle Jimmy Cicero (Oliver Platt), who remains a major investor in the operation.
The expensive renovations are a way to add conflict for Season 2. So far, the storytelling is as skilled as Season 1 but without the headache of characters shouting in hot kitchens. The chaotic claustrophobia allowed for brilliant filmmaking, namely a hectic 18-minute single-take in the penultimate episodes as order tickets furiously printed out and a staffer got stabbed, all with the mise-en-scene of pasta-sauce cans in the background (jackpot, baby).
I still wish that Hulu released these episodes in weekly installments to maximize the social-media conversation like “Succession,” rather than dropping them all at once. Like many TV series, “The Bear” probably would have been best as a self-contained miniseries — the ending was already perfect — but in the world of television there are always more orders to fill. Thankfully for us, the paying customers, the service at this restaurant is first rate.
Who says busboys can’t be poets?
