‘The Bear’ Delivers a Well-Seasoned Show in Eight Short Episodes
By Ana Paola Davila Chalita
In an era when food shows and celebrity chefs are lauded, Hulu’s TV series “The Bear,” offers a doorway into the anxious reality behind managing a restaurant in a fictional story that will leave audiences starving for more.
The series with eight, short addictive episodes accelerating heartbeats, was just renewed for a second season coming Summer 2023.
After a tragic death in his family, Carmen has to return home. The award-winning chef used to work with the system behind the best restaurants in the world. Now, he has to adapt to the crowded mess in “The Original Beef in Chicagoland,” his family’s sandwich shop.
Family conflict and secrets will ring a bell for a regular series watcher. But the character development in the kitchen staff, and the performance delivered by Jeremy Allen White — whose role got him his first Golden Globe — will make each episode feel fresh out of the oven.
Every action is a karmic reaction that is waiting to explode in episode seven, one that will leave your heart pounding as if being in a rock concert. But that might just be the point.
Chefs are often compared to rockstars for having similar attitudes and their lack of sleep. Some scenes will make you feel as if you were standing in a sold-out arena, and the lead character could easily go from wearing an apron to holding a microphone.
The dialogue is more about yelling and cursing than anything else. It goes with the claustrophobic takes and the messy environment, and it all goes away for a short minute when the cooking happens and the mouthwatering dishes make their flashing appearance.
Not to be missed are the constant criticism and references to the way workers are treated behind a fine-dining restaurant’s kitchen. This is not far from the real world.
Fine dining has been under a lot of backlash for the last few years, but especially after Noma — named the best restaurant in the world several times — announced last January their closure at the end of 2024.
Real-life letters from former workers and interns at the kind of restaurants that appear on the “best of” lists talk about long hours with no rest, the pressure of having to cook everything to perfection, and the physical toll that is sometimes overlooked.
Coincidentally, in the series, Carmen used to work at Noma, “I would legit do anything to work at Noma,” said Sydney Adamu, the sous chef played by Ayo Edebiri, who delivers a powerful performance to a deserving character.
Even if some characters seem like stereotype cliches — The Latina cooker, the Italian mafioso, the chef covered in tattoos -- each character is deeper than it seems, and just like in real kitchens, each plays an essential role.
Take, for example, the pastry chef played by Lyonel Boyce is a secondary character consumed with the idea of making the perfect donut and obsessed with playing by the rules that high-end restaurants follow. His at-ease personality will have watchers rooting for him and his determination to follow his passion will have them relating.
Not to miss is the high attention to details that make up for the lack of narrative and context in the dialogue.
Like Carmen’s stomach illness which is not once mentioned but can be assumed by the box of Tums he keeps close, or the family’s religion, Catholicism, which is also not mentioned but is assumed from the porcelain figurines of Virgin Mary and rosaries laying around.
Knowing restaurant lingo is not a requirement to understand what is going on, but it will certainly be enjoyed more by someone who does.
By the end of episode eight, it is no wonder season two is already in the making. A must for foodies, and a recommendation for everyone else.
“The Bear” will make you feel more than just hungry.
Eight episodes
Currently streaming on Hulu with subscription
Genre: Comedy/drama
