The first season of The Bear leaves viewers with a somewhat dreamy ending. The lead actor Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a talented young chef, inherits his family's sandwich shop following the suicide of his brother Michael (Jon Bernthal). Along with the restaurant staff and his family, Carmen lives under the emotional trauma caused by Michael's death. In the midst of dealing with the sorrow and loss, they gradually find out about the baffling and foolish acts that Michael committed prior to his passing. For instance, Michael borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) in the name of expanding the restaurant business, but it appears that he did not use the money for that purpose. As such, Carmy has to repay his debt, which further impacts the restaurant business that was originally barely surviving. However, in the season's final episode, Carmy discovers that Michael had hidden the money in an unopened can of tomatoes. It turns out that he had actually planned to expand the family business. The season concludes on a hearty, hopeful, and unusually peaceful note.
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If you have watched the entire series, its snippets or trailers, you will know why such peace in the show is deemed "unusual". Much of the time in the first season is spent in the Original Beef of Chicagoland where Carmy, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the other restaurant staff navigate through unexpected challenges — from hiccups as small as as running out of beef patties to make sandwiches, dealing with damaged gas pipes and managing a surge in takeaway orders; to problems as huge as incurring hefty debts and Carmy and his chefs having to race against time. In highly chaotic and exhausting work environment, tensions run high and tempers flare as the characters face constant pressure to meet orders and address issues both in and out of the kitchen.
As I began to watch the first episode of The Bear Season 2, I was once again greeted by the familiar stifling tension. After being nominated the Best Musical/Comedy Series for the Golden Globe Awards, the cast lineup for this season grew grander, with the inclusion of two Oscar awardees, Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman, as well as other talented actors like Bob Odenkirk and Sarah Paulson. This enriches the show's casts and gives it more room to expand its narrative potential. Although this season revolves around Carmy, Sydney, and Carmy's sister, Natalie (Abby Elliott), who officially joins them, as they go through an arduous process of renovating their new restaurant The Bear, I would like to focus on the sixth episode titled Fishes. This star-stubbed episode is particularly noteworthy as it gathers all guest actors of the show.
Christmas Dinner Turned Nightmare
Strictly speaking, Fishes should be considered a special episode. Unlike most episodes of The Bear, which run for about 30 minutes, Fishes lasts over an hour and offers Berzatto's retrospective on a tension-filled and extremely dramatic Christmas dinner with his family as they bicker over the table. It happened 256 weeks, close to five years, prior to the official opening of the new restaurant. Then, Michael was alive, Richie had not given birth to her daughter and Carmy was still working at a fine dining restaurant. Nevertheless, the pace of and emotions in Fishes blended in perfectly with remaining episodes of The Bear. In fact, the 60-minute-long episode is a conflation of the unseen pressure, pent-up frustration, and subdued feelings in The Bear. I highly recommend you watch Fishes if you are planning to catch just one episode of The Bear Season Two this year.
Christmas dinners often reveal a family's true dynamics. Fishes exposes the conflicts within the Berzatto family, painful struggles that each character is experiencing and their resentment towards each other entirely. The key figure is none other than Donna, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. She is the mother of Carmy, Natalie, and Michael and the core of this big family. She can whip up a table of delicacies for Christmas dinner but flies into a rage easily, where she will lose control and start swearing. After witnessing Donna's unpredictability, we now know who he could have possibly inherited his culinary skills and anxiety from. Jamie Lee Curtis puts up an amazing performance by bringing the audience into Donna's world that is at the brink of collapse during her close-up shots and evoking empathy among them.
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The family conflict culminiates in the crossing of swords between Uncle Lee (Bob Odenkirk) and Michael over the dinner table. They have had too much fury and disgust towards each other that it has reached a point where they will get just physical. Meanwhile, cracks within the family are mended after another relative, Stevie (John Mulaney), delivers a heartwarming and touching Christmas speech. Yet, any attempt at reconciling the family proves to be futile when the fight between Uncle Lee and Michael reignites and Donna rams the car into the house. Fishes will almost certainly resonate with victims of a nightmarish family dinner, and provide a glimpse into the life of an inharmonious family.
Achieving Self-actualization and Deconstructating Success
A lot has been discussed about how realistic The Bear's kitchen set-up is compared to an actual one. Additionally, the toxic masculinity trait embedded in the restaurant and service industry protrayed in the show has triggered much controversies. The release of the one-shot film Boiling Point in 2021, which captures a chaotic night in a one-star restaurant also sparked similar discussions. In reality, right after Hell's Kitchen made it big as a competitive cooking reality show, the pressure and wrath of working in the kitchen are no longer a secret. What impresses me most about The Bear is the enduring passion and devotion displayed by Carmy, Sydney, Richie, Markus (Lionel Boyce), Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) and the other characters although they have to deal with the highly stressful work in the kitchen.
As the story shifts its focus to the restaurant's revamp in Season 2, it also goes into details about each character's inner feelings and development. Tina, who regarded Sydney's standardized kitchen management with disdain in the first season, gets thrilled over her promotion to sous chef. Markus's trip to Denmark has evidently helped him greatly in his journey to becoming a more professional patissier. Sydney and Carmy transforms into more reliable and rational business partners as they constantly work through challenges together. Carmy is also getting the hang of managing his own emotions. The character that leaves the deepest impression is Richie. Previously an off-the-wall and unreliable person, he discovers his strength and passion in the latest season— waitering.
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If The Bear was simply telling a story of a group of people investing time and effort to pursue their dreams and finally achieving them, it would have been maniupulated by the ideology of success. However, what distinguishes it from other shows is the fact that the characters are still far from achieving what is conventionally know as "success" despite the hardship they have gone through and hardwork they have put in in pursuit of their dreams. When Tina sang Before The Next Teardrop Falls with such affection, I couldn't help but shed a tear. The story is bittersweet and hits close to home, making it difficult not to feel emotional.
In the final episode of The Bear Season 2, problems continue to arise one after another after the newly revamped restaurant opens for business. After surviving the gruelling first day of operations, everyone felt more than just the joy of success. Carmy's hesitancy when dealing with his business and relationship left Claire (Molly Gordon), who has a crush on him, heartbroken; Sydney suffers from persistant vomitting due to the tremendous pressure; and exhusation is written all over Richie's face after a busy night. But the story does not end there. Instead, it goes beyond the theory of consequentialism. The characters are enjoying the process of achieving self-actualization by loving what they do. This breakthrough serves to deconstruct and rebel against the culture of toxic masculinity which values outcome and success. It encourages us to pursue our dreams bravely, without necessarily believing that success is a must-have. This enables people to liberate themselves from the misconception that only success is important.
The Bear delves into the intricacies of the human experience and highlights the challenges of surviving in an unpredictable world that appears to be in disarray. With a well-crafted script and inventive staging, The Bear represents a true masterpiece that will certainly enthrall and motivate its audience for years to come. If you're uncertain about what you're passionate about, I recommend watching this show. It'll provide you with an insight into what it's like to love your job.
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Moisés Pelusi
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