A Look Back at The Bear
The Bear just wrapped up its fifth and final season but it’s hard to believe it’s over. It really feels like the show just got started. When the show was announced and released its first trailer I was immediately excited. Jeremy Allen White was going to be starring as Carmen Berzatto, I knew White from his performance in Shameless as Lip and was willing to see anything he made after that. Plus one of my favorite YouTube cooking personalities, Mattie Matheson was attached to produce and act in the show as well. So from the jump the show had me on the hook. What it delivered was so much more than I could’ve imagined. The Bear started out as a very punk rock, rough around the edges comedy about a professional Michelin Star restaurant chef taking over his family’s failing sandwich shop “The Beef” in Chicago. Over the five season run of the show it morphs into this very dramatic and dialogue heavy character study that addresses guilt, growth, trauma, family, and relationships of all kinds.
As I mentioned earlier I signed up for this show knowing only two people, Jeremy Allen White and Mattie Matheson. I knew from them alone I’d at least enjoy the show. What I got in return is introductions to some of the most talented actors who I was unfamiliar with before the show, such as Ayo Edebri, Ebon Moss-Bacharach, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Abby Elliot. Plus getting to see actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, Oliver Platt, John Bernthal, Molly Gordon, and John Mulaney, who I already love make appearances and be absolutely phenomenal. This cast is one of my favorite ensembles on television in a long time. All of them feel very real and well performed. The chemistry of the cast always seemed effortless. When the characters fight or argue the weight of those words carries for multiple episodes or even seasons. One character in particular who haunts the narrative is Mikey, played by John Bernthal. Mikey is Carmen’s older brother who left him the restaurant. Mikey can be seen in every part of this show even though he’s rarely on screen.
For those who have not watched the show, it follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto who inherits his brother’s restraunt, The Beef, after his suicide. Carmy had a background of working in some of the worlds best restaurants so when he gets to The Beef to find it falling apart and stuck in old ways he tries to work on fixing and changing things. The current staff meets this with resentment and tries to undo what Carmy is working on. The following seasons the entire staff is trying to rebuild The Beef into a new fine dining restaurant now named The Bear. I know this sounds very simple but the show gives you so much time with not just the group but individuals and how they made their way to the bear. Many of my favorite episodes zoom in on one character and break them down either by taking them away from the group for some time or by looking into their past. The best example is the episode titled “Forks” from Season 2 which takes Ebon Moss-Bacharach’s Richie out of the Bear to train at a highly successful restaurant. It forces Richie to confront not only his flaws but his strengths. In the course of this one episode you watch him grow as a character more than some characters get in their shows entire run. It’s truly a beautiful piece of television that never fails to move me to tears.
The Bear is one of the best TV shows of the last 10 years and I think it doesn’t get enough credit despite its popularity. Most times at awards it just get lumped in with comedy series which I find to be a completely unfair categorization. The Bear handles very heavy themes and truly wonderful dramatic performances better than some primetime drama series do. I also think that like many shows of this caliber that when its popularity skyrocketed that a lot of people jumped off of it and heavily criticized it for one reason or another. While not every episode is perfect I have never found myself disappointed by a full season of the show and was always left wanting more.
Seasons 1-4 took a more traditionally approach to their pacing while still doing some unique episodes. Season 1 for example took their penultimate episode and made a 24 minute one shot episode from Hell in which the staff was overwhelmed by order after their online ordering platform didn’t work and dropped all the preorders as soon as they opened. Season 2 gave us a flashback episode that clocked in at almost 90 minutes long titled “Fishes” that saw the Berzatto family and friends sit down for a holiday meal, the feast of the seven fishes. Chaos ensues and for my money this is as good a holiday episode as you can make. This episode also gets a spiritual successor in season 4 with an episode titled “Bears” which takes the crew out of the restaurant and to a wedding. Where the screaming and arguing would normally begin we see the Bears take a different approach. Actually communicating with one another. Hard to believe for those of us who have followed from the beginning.
Season 5 of The Bear took notes from another hit drama of the past few years, The Pitt, with its focus on Emergency Room staff during one shift. Season 5 of The Bear sees the team through what could be their last service in the midst of heavy rain fall, flooding, and an over-booked restaurant. Which means they have to move more people through in less time and with less food than ever before. Each episode is highly methodical and well made. I thought that this was an interesting change of pace considering that other seasons cover much more time than this and include flashbacks. This pace allowed me to feel every error and every success along side the characters. The stakes in Season 5 are very high. Season 4 leaves off on a bit of a down note, the restaurant is nearly out of money and Carmy has revealed to Syd and Richie that he will not be staying at The Bear. After a long hard conversation Syd and Richie decide to be partners in the business together. Despite Carmy’s plan to leave he still has issues letting go of control. I’ll leave the majority of Season 5 spoiler-free given how recent its release was.
I think what resonates most with me from the show is its authenticity. It shows that even when people are good at things it isn’t always good for them. Carmy for example is an amazing chef but his past experiences and trauma have made his skills detrimental to him. The kitchen is a place he sees as a hostile place where he must fight tooth and nail to survive. Leading him to look out of the kitchen to find a new path. Syd, another very talented chef, is learning to trust herself and be assertive with her knowledge. Many times when problems come up and Carmy loses his cool, Syd steps in to calm things down and figure out a solution. Last but certainly not least is Richie. Richie is my favorite part of this show and he’s the character who I identify with the most. Richie is lost after the lost of his best friend Mikey. He has no sense of direction or purpose but is shown the way by others in the business and their outside connections. You see Richie transform from a loud, ignorant, arrogant, asshole into someone who is very empathetic and working very hard on self improvement.
This is just a portion of what is in store for you when watching The Bear. I can’t do justice to just how well the show is made so I highly recommend you try it out. I can acknowledge that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The show can be very anxiety inducing. Most due to the fact that all the characters are anxious and they communicate mostly by arguing. That being said I still believe that the poignancy that comes alongside those moments balance the show perfectly. The Bear is a show I’ll be returning both in full watch through and pulling up some of my favorite episodes as a pick-me-up.