The Bear (2023)

I have reserved the word “great” for just a few films but am not hesitant at using the adjective with Christopher Storer’s comedy-drama series, which deserves its numerous awards—Emmy, Golden Globe. I have seen all three seasons, and not since All in the Family and MASH have, I been so moved while laughing out loud, and yes, shedding a tear or two at times. This is worth the price of  joining the Disney/Hulu, even if you watch nothing else on the site. I am eagerly awaiting the release of Season 4!

The characters are all struggling, individually and as a  member of a team, but the stakes are not world or planetary freedom, but a more mundane goal—opening a gourmet restaurant in Chicago. The scripts’ attention to the mundane details of such a task are superb, both as to the development of the various characters, the difficult process of their becoming a team, and the preparation of the savory food. You will learn as well as being entertained in ways that few such series do.

The cast is a large one, the main characters being:

-Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), is a chef de cuisine, who has come back to Chicago to run the family sandwich shop The Original Beef of Chicagoland after the death by suicide of his brother Michael (played in flashbacks by Jon Bernthal). Loving cooking himself, he had gone to New York when his brother had refused to partner with him. Training in culinary arts in NYC and Copenhagen, Carmen had served in various prestigious restaurants, earning a James Beard Award as an outstanding chef. He hopes to transform the run-down shop into a gourmet  establishment.

-Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott), Carmy and Michael’s sister, is the reluctant co-owner of The Beef, hesitant about becoming involved in running it because she is pregnant. She possesses business skills that will be necessary if the place is to become financially successful. These will be even more important when they learn that Michael was in debt to the family friend whom they call “Uncle,” Jimmy “Cicero” Kalinowski (Oliver Platt) to the tune of three hundred thousand dollars.

-Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Michael’s best friend, who has been managing the restaurant.

– Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), a talented young chef whom Carmen has invited to join The Beef as its new sous-chef. Her race is of no concern to the staff—their baker is also Black–but she will have to prove herself to the others. She is drawn to The Beef because it was her father Emmanuel’s (Robert Townsend) favorite restaurant. (He too is a recurring character.)

– Marcus Brooks (Lionel Boyce), The Beef’s bread baker, who will be encouraged by Carmen to develop his interest in becoming a trained pastry chef.

-Tina Marrero (Liza Colón-Zayas) is sharp-tongued and stubborn veteran line cook who resists Carmen and Sidney’s efforts to reform the staff and get them to follow carefully the procedure of preparing and serving food in a scientific way. Carmen will also mentor her and inspire her to seek professional training as a line chef.

– Neil Fak (Matty Matheson is a childhood friend of the Berzattos to whom Carmen often calls upon as the handyman for the restaurant. He adds a great deal of humor by his antics and his conversations with “Teddy” (Ricky Staffieri), his brother.

– Claire Dunlap (Molly Gordon ) will not enter until season 2, but she will become important because she is a childhood friend of the Berzattos. Carmen once had a crush on her when they were teenagers. She now is serving s a rooky emergency room doctor.

Carmen, while trying to modernize the restaurant—at first against the wishes of the old staff—starts attending Al-Anon meetings in order to understand his deceased brother. He eventually finds them therapeutic in dealing with his own grief and his standing up to the tremendous pressures that could undermine his dream. He is especially haunted, as we see in many flashbacks, by a New York master chef who had verbally abused him constantly. His life will become more complicated when in the Second Season he reconnects with Claire, the two becoming lovers. But their relationship will stop when another master chef warns him that raising his restaurant to a one-star establishment demands his total attention, and that any outside interest is a threat.

Although Carmen is the central character, the above essentially are an ensemble cast because each are given so much screen time that we learn so much about them. In several cases an entire episode is devoted to them. Most of the 4^th episode of Season 2 is devoted to Marcus obtaining culinary training in Copenhagen, where he is lodged on a boat and comes to love the sights of the city. His trainer is the friendly pastry chef Luca ( , who will reappear in several future episodes after coming to America. From many conversations with Luc Marcus is inspired all the more to develop his considerable culinary skills. In Season 3 Tina is the focus, starting with a long sequence in which she loses her job and endures a seemingly endless number of rejections all across Chicago. Stopping at the Original Beef, Richie gives her a sandwich and Michael, discovering her crying, engages her in conversation, during which he offers her a job. This is both a harrowing and a tearfully joyful episode, typical of the emotional impact of everyone of the 28 episodes.

The emphasis upon time in preparing a meal—how often we see the plaque—“Every Second Counts”!—and the pressure on the kitchen staff is evident in virtually every episode. And the clash of tempers and hurtful words that they hurl at each other is astonishing. Fortunately for future relationships, the brash insults are not taken to heart most of the time, though on occasion one person has to apologize. The number of requirements the government places upon a restaurant and the bureaucracy that enforces the regulations are also on full display.

In the climactic episode (Season 3, No. 28), I specially appreciated the remarks that a group of master chefs make as they attend a party held after the closing of a starred restaurant. They do not so much talk about the food which they strive to perfect, but about their goal of serving customers, of making their lives better, of helping them forget their woes for a brief time. Of course, upon reflection, I realized that their customers were very wealthy, able to afford the $175 per meal mentioned in one episode, but still, their desire to serve others, rather than themselves, resonated with me,

The series would make a wonderful opportunity to discuss a number of issues–family loyalty and dysfunction, the communal support necessary to realize one’s dreams, the desire to serve others—but the overuse of the “F-word” makes this improbable for most church groups. (Hence the relatively few questions, designed for private reflection than group use.) This is not for family viewing, but still, the writing, acting, and production values are so great that no one who loves great comedy and drama should miss this series. I believe once you watch it, you too will be eagerly awaiting the 4^th Sason, especially since the last episode leaves so much up in the air—from whether or not Clair and Carmen will get back together, to whether or not the restaurant review is positive, to the success of the restaurant and the ability of Carmen and Natalie to pay back Jimmy their huge loan, and to what Sydny will decide about an offer of higher pay from a rival restauranteur. Also, what was the source of the money that Michael hid away and came in handy to renovate the restaurant?

Christopher Storer deserve all the accolades and awards that he and his series’ performers have garnered! He proves what a wonderful form a limited series can be, enabling its creators to bring out so many facets of the characters and the quotidian details of their characters’ struggles. Something that a theatrical filmmaker just does not have the time for! The scenes are enhanced by the fast-paced editing and the delightful cinemaphotography of Andrew Wehde. As one who has visited and loved Chicago since boyhood and graduated from seminary there, I love the brief shots of I the city’s magnificent buildings and ever-busy elevated trains. And so as not to forget the close-ups of the glorious food, let me warn you not to watch this on an empty stomach! (Shades of Babette’s Feast!) To sum up, this series has something for everyone, including those intrigued by the decisions made by humans under intense pressure, sometimes foolishly, occasionally wisely, but always memorably.

This review is in the September issue of VP along with a set of questions for reflection and/or discussion. If you have found reviews on this site helpful, please consider purchasing a subscription or individual issue in The Store.