(Editor’s Note: The following contains some spoiler for Bear Season 2.)
court: “Have you ever thought about the purpose?”
It’s a question of FX’s hit show Bear Put it in the mouth of the biggest loser, fucking “cousin” Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), but it could also be on everyone’s mind at the restaurant. At the end of season 1, grumpy young chef Kami (Jeremy Allen White, bleary-eyed, self-loathing heat) receives a miracle—some might say a contrived miracle—to hide in a In the form of money in a can of peeled tomatoes.
It’s a parting gift from his late brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal), and it’s enough to save the business, a failing Italian beef shop that’s been struggling all season long. Not only that, but the money would be enough to transform The Beef into a fine dining restaurant, matching Carmy’s Michelin-star ambitions and those of the staunch staff he knew and respected in the first season.
So Beef Becomes A Bear, Season 2 Bear In turn, it becomes this transformation: not just of the place, but of its occupants and their individual and collective sense of purpose. With six months to go before opening and 18 months to pay back the money Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) put into putting the place together, the pressure is mounting to make the place and the people do it. Well served ready.
Michelin Impossible – Bread Reckoning: Although season 1 Bear is an eye-catching watch, it’s also very unbalanced. Its Chicago setting is decidedly jarring, the show’s narrow scope, side characters are shelved, and its premise is shaky (Can you turn Mr. Beef into Avec? More importantly, Why You can? ). Despite being blessed with a fragile and complex performer like White, Kami is still the quintessential tortured genius we’ve seen a million times before on TV.
Bear (FX/Hulu)