The Bear Lets It Rip
The Bear is chef’s kiss!
Too soon?
The Bear is such a good show. I stumbled upon it very randomly on Hulu as I really liked the thumbnail graphic. Knew of it from the Emmy nominations, but didn’t actively start watching it until the end of this year. Gave it a shot and actually loved it. I connected to it on such an immensely deep level, like I have with Ted Lasso, This is Us, Normal People, and learned soooo many things about cuisine, kitchen, commitment and consistency, and how IT IS NOT A COMEDY.
Cuisine
I have been the type of person who loves home cooked meals. Going out to a restaurant has always been about a change of palette but filling the stomach more, than it has been about tasting something different. For middle class people such as myself, I think it’s fair to state that we don’t aspire or dream of eating at restaurants that charge $100 per person in the US. We don’t care for michelin stars. We’d love to eat at a restaurant like that but we don’t care for it. After watching this show, my mind has taken a 180 degree turn. I aspire to eat at Eleventh Madison Park now and Ever, with my parents, not only because I want to have that experience but also because it’s all plant based. Finding such kind of a restaurant anywhere is heaven for a vegetarian. As someone whose love language is quality time, I like to spend those bucks on experiences with loved ones more than on products. Hence a 5–10 course meal at a fine dining restaurant with my folks with an ever remembering experience sounds great to me.
Kitchen
The only kitchen I know by heart is the one at home. The only chef I know by heart, is my mom. Every time I’d go to a restaurant and order a familiar dish, I’ll compare it with my mom’s. Mom always wins, hands down. She might not be the best cook in the world, but in mine, she’s perfect. I’ve never seen her panic about guests coming over. No matter how many, she’s always got it handled. The food’s never less, always more, the stomach’s to the brink but you wish you had more.
So to see what happens behind the scenes in a restaurant was sooooo stressful. This show is so fast paced, never a dull moment, but it’s also extremely anxiety driven. You get so stressed while watching it as if you’re the one who has a test, as if you’re the one living it. The close up shots and it being a real time show makes it one which you cannot play in the background. Also, if you do that for any show, that’s a crime.
I have never known the things that go on behind the kitchen, and the show is purely that. The romance is not the main plot, neither is the chemistry or the relationships. It’s the kitchen, the restaurant that’s fueled with drama and that’s the main plot, thus making it a work place drama. That is also what makes the script so impactful. The direction and acting is so strong. Everything is just the perfect blend.
Commitment & Consistency
Things start going Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) & the team’s way in the 2nd season but not like a fairytale dream. What’s so brilliant about the show is that it is literally about life in its truest essence. It’s never “ooooh things have taken a 180 degree turn, everything is good now”. Well guess what, that’s what makes the show so effing relatable. Life is never ever EVER going to be perfect. There’s always something that’s bothering you. Always something that you have no control over, and it is the same with Carmy. He is never happy, never does something for himself because he is trying so hard to keep the pieces together, to keep himself together, and THAT IS LIFE. That’s what made Ted Lasso so special too, though Ted was a very unique and not a normal human. He would be having the shittiest day but would still greet people with a smile. He’s someone you’d look up to, but Carmy is who you are. I’m in a shitty mood, I’ll listen to you, reply to you in a very normal and respectful way, but don’t expect me to be super nice about it.
First season was a track record of lows with a high ending $$$ 😏. The 2nd season was literally a roller coaster with an ending that didn’t leave you happy, didn’t leave you sad, but just gave you goosebumps. It’s a very unique episode, it’s unfortunate, it’s nerve-racking, there is something to celebrate, something to cry about, a lot of things to cry about…
You can’t do something that you don’t care about, that you don’t love, that you don’t have a passion for, and The Bear is made with so much passion, love and care, that it shows in the script, the actors, the characters and even in the score. The kitchen is pure passion, so is the restaurant. There are so many low points in the restaurant’s life, but it’s the will, the purpose (in Richie’s words), and the thrill it gives them, and you. Is it always going to be fun? Will it always bring you fun? Maybe not, but you’ll still do it because you love it. An epiphany I had while writing this previous line is that doing something you love is like a relationship with your loved one. Will you always have fun with them? No. Will you fight with them? Yes. Will you get over that fight? Hopefully. Will you care for them and love them and give that relationship your time, effort, and passion? YES, YES, and YES!
It’s not a comedy
This series is nominated for Emmy under the comedy category. I do not understand how this series is a comedy. It’s a pure work of drama at its best. There are funny instances, sure, but I would not categorize it as a drama. Hate to also see it in comedy, as it is up against Ted Lasso, and I cannot choose. But then in drama, it would have been up against The Last Of Us and I still could not have been able to choose.
It’s Crisp
The show is like sunrise. Every episode is a fresh start, a new day, a new beginning, no matter what happened in the previous one. Not every episode gets a conclusive ending and that’s what’s the cherry on the top. Like a life’s day, you just sleep not knowing what’s tomorrow going to bring or how you’re going to solve that problem. It’s unfinished business for next day and that’s what happens in the show too.
The script, direction, acting, and especially the EDITING is just so TIGHT! It’s incredible. It’s really an immersive experience and the songs used and the score just enhances that experience. The close up shots and the one takes are what makes this show even more unique. They’re so close up, it’s like you are right there, analyzing and observing each eye twitch, each breath, each word, and it’s just so beautiful. You’re completely into it.
My Favorites
It’s probably the most stressful show I have ever watched. No drama or thriller show/movie has given me this much stress (good stress, which I think is a thing?). It’s indirect stress that does not affect me and I am okay with that. It’s so chaotic, like a good drama is supposed to be. It’s the “Fishes” episode that gets me though. When that layer of “why are they the way they are” is peeled off, that’s when everything becomes crystal clear and that’s what makes us humans, and that episode so fantastic. It’s tremendously anxiety and chaos driven and you can’t help but feel for the characters.
It’s a relief to watch episodes like “Honeydew” and “Forks” which feel like there is room to breathe. When I am watching the show, I forget to breathe because I am so stressed throughout (but it’s a good stress, not the “OMG when am I going to face a jump-scare?” horror kind of stress). When episodes like the aforementioned drop, they’re just so easy to absorb and so beautiful, so meaningful. They’re the perfect pause to the fast pace world of the show. The “Honeydew” is my favorite episode followed by “Forks”. The pace of Honeydew, the change in scenery, the isolation with just Marcus (L-Boy) and Luca (Will Poulter), the purity of watching a good, respectful, and polite teacher and a good student with the same values communicating and learning and how non-toxic that environment is, how calm it all is, is just a so nice. It’s so relieving to see them be at peace and taking their time and enjoying. Similarly, In “Forks”, we see how Luca was talking about Carmen when mentioning “the better chef” in “Honeydew”. It’s also such a moment we’ve been waiting for to see Richie’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) transformation. Carmy always had the best intention, so to see how Richie does not like what he is doing but is still waking up early, on time, agitated, but still going, still showing up, Ooooof! So many lessons to learn! Seeing Richie truly happy and at peace with himself, to have found his purpose, and be good at something, one thing, is such a moment of happiness and relief. It’s also one of my favorite episodes because it changed my perception on fine dining and food as I saw for the first time how a fine dining restaurant functions, stalking it’s customers’ social media to provide them with the best experience. That’s what you hope to do in any and every job. These 2 episodes are the kind where you just soak it all in and cry. It fills your heart. There’s so much love and heart in those episodes. Christopher Storer is a genius writer and director.
The Finale
The season 2 finale gave me goosebumps. By the very last minute, I had goosebumps all over my hands. It felt like I was in the fridge. It got cold! Carmy’s inability to tell Claire (Molly Gordon) how much he loved her or that he had a crush on her from the very beginning brought me back to Normal People. YES! Normal People, another show which is as real as it gets. How Marianne and Connell (characters played by Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal) tell each other how they feel but not explicitly about each other, or they don’t re-enforce or tell it again and again, which is very much needed in any relationship. It felt like Carmen was trapping himself, unintentionally, helplessly. The whole last episode was a disaster, but not totally. The way Richie stepped forward and got it all done within 5 minutes, the way Sydney and Tina (Ayo Edebiri and Liza Colón-Zayas) handle it all, the acceptance by Sugar (Abby Elliott) that she works at The Bear, how everyone has learned kitchen’s professional ways and the inability of Carmy to be able to do anything, feeling like shit, feeling guilty, feeling like he doesn’t deserve love or a relationship, blaming himself, and feeling like he brought it all upon himself. Oh Good Lord! Give this man a break! But, also, that’s exactly what makes the show so perfect, the characters so relatebale. It’s the imbalance, the imperfections, the inabilities that we all face as humans. It’s what makes the show a chef’s kiss and I cannot wait for Season 3.
Let It Rip!
