The Bear Season 2: Sautéed to Perfection
Season 2 of The Bear is fire.
Christopher Storer’s culinary drama flambe’s a second season that is even better than its first.
*Spoliers ahead
Carmy and his ragtag gang of culinary misfits return to Hulu with a flair that leaves the viewer wishing there were more than ten episodes. The Bear is one of the best written series to hit the streaming service. Every character we have come to know and love is given the attention they deserve throughout the second season. Carmy is still a mess, but he is no longer riding the fine line between a mental and psychological breakdown. His restaurant debut is months away, and the main struggle shifts from his mental distress to revitalizing his late brother’s defunct restaurant,The Beef.
Cousin Richie’s character has one of the most fantastic transformations amongst the group, and you will find yourself cheering as he abandons his defeatist and jaded attitude for an optimistic one. His metamorphosis is just one of many that proves The Bear is leagues ahead of its contemporaries. Christopher Storer and his executive story editor, Karen Joseph Adcock, have proven to be masterful storytellers. They are stellar scene weavers that manage to stitch together episodes that captivate the chaos of a frantic industry without losing the viewer’s attention.
The first season instilled intense frustration in the viewer by positioning them directly in the path of Carmy’s obstacles. Season two manages to let him breathe while the audience is taken back to his past to meet the source of most people’s problems: their family. Not every show has a clear barometer of success that can easily identify if it’s on the right path or not, but when your main character’s family is made up of A-List mega stars, you know The Bear has hit the big time. Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Mulaney, Oliver Platt, and Jon Bernthal round out episode six with outstanding performances and character development. We can see exactly why Carmy is the way he is and what led his brother, Michael Berzatto, to end his own life.
Odenkirk and Curtis set the screen on fire as the dysfunctional family argues and yells over each other in a symphonic concerto of dialogue that nearly outpaces It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The sixth episode centers around their mother’s struggle to deliver a course of seven different fish recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. She is a legendary lush, and her drinking picks up faster than a super-charged V8. Bernthal reprises his role as Carmy’s older brother Michael with a performance that will influence and inspire series actors for decades. Odenkirk never fails to disappoint, and Mulaney is nearly unrecognizable as their cousin Michelle’s husband, Stevie. Every time the camera pans to another side of the Berzatto house, we are met with more familial character exposition. Every minute of episode six delivers crucial backstory to who Carmy, Richie, and Michael were, and it is as fascinating as it is frightening.
Carmy and Richie transform themselves throughout season two, but so do most of their kitchen staff. Sydney is coming to terms with her own abilities and doubts as she gambles big on the success of The Bear. She had previously failed at starting her own catering business, and her father constantly reminds her that most restaurants fail in their first year. He touts the idea of Sydney abandoning the culinary profession for a normal career, but she refuses. Her resolve is rattled when she fails to produce signature dishes for The Bear’s grand opening, but instead of letting this break her, she uses it to fuel a fire inside her that allows her to overcome her father’s doubts and her own insecurities.
Marcus takes a big risk and leaves his ailing mother to stage in a Copenhagen restaurant under Chef Luca, a former colleague of Carmy’s. His character arc is a source of happiness for the audience, and his demeanor and appreciation for life is contagious, infecting the audience faster than ringworm at a frat house. Christopher Storer handles each character with the same amount of care and attention to detail that Carmy spends on his signature dishes. You want to see every character succeed as they struggle to transform The Beef into The Bear. Each episode starts with a sense that failure may wash away success, but they culminate in an optimistic light that is as addictive as it is uplifting.
The Bear is a triumph with few equals. Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach transport the viewer into the world of culinary excellence with performances that belong to actors twice their age. Series TV has hit new heights thanks to the entire cast of The Bear while the industry has been elevated to a new standard of excellence thanks to Christopher Storer.
