The Bear Season 1-2 Talk

[Irish Mermaid]

I finally got around to finishing S2. I think it took me a week just to watch the Fishes ep, I kept having to take a break. I did not enjoy that one at all, it was extremely stressful. For one thing, I can’t stand it when characters just repeat the same thing over and over, and this episode in particular seemed to take the repetition to the edge of insanity. That plus the kitchen chaos, the mess, the timer(s), JLC being bonkers … it was a lot. (I realize it was intended to be a lot, but that didn’t make it any more enjoyable.)

As others have said, the Forks ep was pretty impressive in that it made me actually kinda like Richie - he annoyed the everliving sh*t out of me up to that point. I was wishing we could just stay there in that nice quiet, calm place.

Also, I must have missed something along the way — I totally thought Sugar was married to Neil (Fak). I couldn’t figure out WHY she had married him, but she would always call him pet names (even when it was in a super annoyed tone LOL) and I just really thought “huh, OK, well maybe he’s not such a doofus ALL of the time” … and then there was Pete the night of the Friends & Family service, totally confusing me!

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 8/8/2022 at 3:24 PM, possibilities said:

I think they do. Isn't that why Carmy was always having them prep it? Maybe I misremembered, but I was sure I'd heard that a few different times.

What would be the purpose of making more giardiniera right then when they were in the weeds (episode 7) if it takes 2 days in the fridge to pickle properly?

 

[dleighg]

On 6/29/2023 at 1:25 PM, blixie said:

Noma is in Copenhagen, that's why the show is vague about specifics re: who McHale was playing, they insinuate Luca and Marcus are working in a Noma but it's not clear that's the case it's possible Luca has opened his own place in Denmark.

I just watched this episode last night, and I got the impression it was NOT Noma that Marcus is at. They showed him walking by the outside, peering in the window. I don't think he'd do that if that's where he was working.

[meep.meep]

I finished season 2 a while ago but am rewatching it with my daughter.  On the Marcus in Amsterdam episode, did they cut out the cat for some reason?

 

[dleighg]

So did the cat appear originally? I just watched it for the first time and Marcus made some kind of joke about "is there actually a cat?"

[meep.meep]

I think the cat showed up once.  It was brown.  But there was a note about feeding it and they showed Marcus pouring out the crunchies.  I can't figure out why they would cut it out.

[CrystalBlue]

I'm only chiming in because Marcus in Amsterdam was one of, if not the, best episodes of S2.  Just beautiful all around.  It's a pity they would cut out the cat on repeat showing.  Cat Lives Matter -- All 9 of Them!

[SourK]

I'm only at the start of season two, but, from what I can gather, according to The Bear, being loud and energetic = hero, whether or not any of the things you loudly, energetically do make any sense.

I thought the worst moment was episode 1.7, where Carmy saw that they had to fill hundreds of orders in 10 minutes -- like, orders they literally could not fill, because they did not have enough food -- and then he... seriously attempted to do that, and got all pissed off when it didn't work.

But then I came back for the first episode of season two, where Carmy promises to pay his uncle back in 18 months -- a number of months he comes up with, that nobody else suggested -- and then he has a meeting where he apparently learns for the first time what the timeline will be to open his restaurant and make a profit. And then he's like, "Oh, no. That's really intense time pressure, given that I just set an arbitrary timeline of 18 months! Let's just accept that as the situation and start scrambling again."

I cannot.

[FnkyChkn34]

On 12/17/2023 at 3:10 AM, Irish Mermaid said:

I finally got around to finishing S2. I think it took me a week just to watch the Fishes ep, I kept having to take a break. I did not enjoy that one at all, it was extremely stressful. For one thing, I can’t stand it when characters just repeat the same thing over and over, and this episode in particular seemed to take the repetition to the edge of insanity. That plus the kitchen chaos, the mess, the timer(s), JLC being bonkers … it was a lot. (I realize it was intended to be a lot, but that didn’t make it any more enjoyable.)

 

I started watching this show this week and made it to "Fishes" - I came here to see if I was the only one who thought it was unwatchable.  I'm glad that I'm not the only one!  I stopped halfway through and don't think I even want to finish it.  Everyone screaming the same thing at the same time for the entire episode (I assume, even though I stopped halfway) was absolutely unnecessary and ridiculous.  As an introvert, I just couldn't handle it.  The whole show is a lot, but this episode just went to the extreme.  I think I'll read a summary online and move on to the next episode.   

[Night Cheese]

5 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I started watching this show this week and made it to "Fishes" - I came here to see if I was the only one who thought it was unwatchable.  I'm glad that I'm not the only one!  I stopped halfway through and don't think I even want to finish it.  Everyone screaming the same thing at the same time for the entire episode (I assume, even though I stopped halfway) was absolutely unnecessary and ridiculous.  As an introvert, I just couldn't handle it.  The whole show is a lot, but this episode just went to the extreme.  I think I'll read a summary online and move on to the next episode.   

It look me three days to watch Fishes. I felt like I was getting anxiety just watching it and had to turn it off twice and return the next day. Kudos to all actors and writers involved, but man, that was a difficult episode to sit through. 

[AheadofStraight]

On 4/25/2024 at 9:08 AM, FnkyChkn34 said:

I started watching this show this week and made it to "Fishes" - I came here to see if I was the only one who thought it was unwatchable. 

This is the episode that comes to mind whenever I hear the show won the Emmy for Best "Comedy". Eesh.

[akiss]

2 hours ago, AheadofStraight said:

This is the episode that comes to mind whenever I hear the show won the Emmy for Best "Comedy". Eesh.

Exactly! This show is many things, but comedy is not one of them.

[Kath94]

I'm WAY behind the curve in watching The Bear, and just last night watched 2.6 "Fishes."  I'd been warned about it here, and knew about it going in, but it was STILL a lot to take.  This was the first time I was grateful for Hulu commercial breaks!  I kept watching the clock during the first segment wondering when it would stop for a break and when it finally DID I took a breath.  Sheesh!  This introvert would go nucking FUTS in that household!

[Crashcourse]

I just got through the 4th episode of Season 1 because it's now on FX.  I'd heard that it got rave reviews and Emmys and Golden Globes, but I think you'd have to be in the restaurant business to really appreciate it--which I'm not.  I think it's just too hectic and helter skelter for me, although I will acknowledge that I have no idea what it's like in a restaurant kitchen (and I don't want to know).  

And it is irritating to see them in the kitchen with loose hair and sweat flying all over the place.  They got new aprons, but no one thought to get chef's hats since they like to call themselves "chefs"? 

Edited June 4 by Crashcourse

[Irlandesa]

15 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I just got through the 4th episode of Season 1 because it's now on FX.  I'd heard that it got rave reviews and Emmys and Golden Globes, but I think you'd have to be in the restaurant business to really appreciate it--which I'm not.  I think it's just too hectic and helter skelter for me, although I will acknowledge that I have no idea what it's like in a restaurant kitchen (and I don't want to know).  

You don't need to be in the restaurant business to appreciate it.  But I will say that it's a good thing the first season was a binge model for me.  I thought it was too loud and hectic but at some point, the tension released a bit for me and it all clicked.  I do think it was later than the fourth episode. 

[Crashcourse]

Well, I finished watching Season 1 and no way is this a "comedy!" 

Also, I'm no prude but I got tired of Carm and Ritchie constantly throwing out f-bombs every other word.  Some other shows are guilty of it, too, and I think it's just poor writing to get the actors' points across, and the writers can't come up with more creative, effective dialogue. 

I don't know when/if season 2 comes up on FX, but I'm not sure I'll be watching.

[Rickster]

I’m just finishing up Season 2 on Hulu, and I keep waffling between thinking the show is really good, and thinking it is incredibly over-written and pretentious. And no, I never made it through “Fishes”.

[Jordan61]

I just finished rewatching in anticipation of the new season, and Fishes is exhausting. But other than that I love season 2 so much. Honeydew and Forks are such great episodes. And the way everything comes together at the end is just so...satisfying. I don't know any other way to describe it.

[andidante]

I binged this show last week and really liked it! Fishes was so intense and Jamie Lee Curtis was amazing. I feel so bad for Sugar's husband in the last episode of season two. He is in such a difficult spot!

[Black Knight]

On 4/30/2024 at 11:56 AM, akiss said:

Exactly! This show is many things, but comedy is not one of them.

I just binged both seasons, and I laughed once - when Richie was yelling something at Sugar about it not being mold and poking up at the ceiling, which promptly collapsed on him, and then two balls hit him on the head. I hated Richie at that point in time, so I was pretty thrilled to see that happen, laughed hard, and replayed it a few times.

Until Forks, I found Richie the one intolerable part of the show. And in Forks, I was holding my breath that he was going to totally sabotage everything at the end after he was essentially told he had no chance of being hired at the restaurant and then screamed at Carmy because he felt humiliated. But then he ran into Terry, a cameo by Olivia Colman I just loved so much, and she got his head on straight. Phew. I hope he can stay this new Richie.

The one weak point in S2, I thought, was Claire. There was just so much telling instead of showing when it came to her. The characters hyped her constantly but all we were actually shown was a reasonably attractive and nice woman, written two-dimensionally. The lack of any substance to the hype was annoying. If she is back in S3, they need to write her as an actual person. Her lack of any layers or nuance really stood out on a show where a great deal of complex characterization goes into the major characters and their relationships with each other, and the actress wasn't good enough to infuse anything that wasn't already on the page, despite being given a lot of extremely close-up close-ups. The writers weren't interested in Claire as a person, just as a vessel to illustrate the concepts that Carmy has trouble with work-life balance and with being in a functional relationship. This explains writing choices like making her an ER doctor without thinking through what that would mean for her - in short, that she would have an excellent understanding of busy, chaotic work schedules, how that can be very draining for a person, and would be frequently unavailable herself. Instead this ER doctor was written to seem a little oblivious to what her boyfriend launching a restaurant in a few weeks would mean, because again, she's not actually a person, she just exists to show us Carmy having trouble with work-life balance. They only made her an ER doctor because it sounds impressive and awesome, and she's supposed to be the most impressive and awesome person around - so the show told us endlessly.

I felt kind of sad for Carmy that he missed so much of the friends-and-family night, but I think it might be good for him ultimately. As others have pointed out, he doesn't seem to get any joy out of being a chef. Seeing that the staff was able to get through a night without him (while also being short a second person, even!) and still make a restaurant full of people happy could go a long way towards relieving some of the pressure he puts on himself. He's not the sort of ego-driven person who would find it upsetting that things didn't fall apart completely without him there. This could ultimately lead to him developing better work-life balance. He can take nights off from the kitchen. He can even take most nights off from the kitchen. The best fit for him in this industry is likely that of someone who develops talent who can run his restaurants ably, and focuses more on the overall branding than day-to-day operations, like a number of celebrity chefs who are rarely actually at the restaurants they're known for. I think Carmy likes the talent development side of things, and this season showed how he has a good feel for that.

I think a telling little detail about how much he does not enjoy the kitchen operations side of things is his letting Tina have his knife permanently. He could have gotten her a knife just like his, so that she would have the same high-quality knife while he would have his knife back. But he's actually not sentimental about his knife at all.

Edited June 16 by Black Knight