I have finally made time for this critically and commercially adored FX original for Hulu! Seriously, The Bear is still holding onto a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’ve seen nary one bad review, from both professionals and friends alike. That’s high praise!
Now, regardless of what everyone else thought of this show, I personally knew I was going to watch it quick as soon as I saw ten seconds of the original trailer. I just know my taste, and this fit the bill. From a high level, the show really reminded me of Uncut Gems. The amount of chaos in this scummy Chicago kitchen was anxiety inducing to the extreme. For that reason, this show might not appeal to everyone, and that’s totally understandable. For me though, the chaos is intriguing and not something I’m all that used to seeing onscreen.
We meet Chef Carmey in the midst of a nightmare, where he’s in the middle of the street trying to coax a bear out of its cage. Next thing he knows, he’s in the kitchen of The Original Beef of Chicagoland. This restaurant is a special one, for a multitude of reasons, but right now the reason is that Carmey’s recently deceased brother, Mikey, left it to him. Carmey is certainly conflicted by this because growing up he thought they were really close, and he felt that closeness through cooking, but then Mikey wouldn’t let Carmey work there. He took that really hard and then decided to become the best chef out there and work in all the best kitchens to shove it in his face. The two remained estranged until Mikey committed suicide, and now Carmey is here trying to put all the pieces together.
This restaurant was a mess. None of the employees took Carmey seriously, even though he was trying really, really hard to make it better, and even worse was Mikey’s best friend refused to change anything. Which, I suppose if I unexpectedly lost my best friend, I’d be a little hesitant to change something so massive that he left behind. But with all the challenges ahead of him, Carmey persisted, and he was helped a lot by Chef Sydney. She was a forceful presence in the show, and she too faced her fair share amount of trauma in kitchens and failed businesses. It was interesting to see her and the rest of the staff ebb and flow over the course of the season. There were times when they were really cohesive, but plenty of other times where they were basically only speaking in swear words and sabotage.
It probably feels like I explained the whole show to you, but I promise, this brief, eight-episode season if rife with storylines and layer upon layer of psychological turmoil. Aside from the abundance of plot, there are also some extremely fun cameos. I cannot wait for another season of this show to make it to the world. A must-see for sure.