By Jennifer Ariesta.
The Bear is probably the hottest comedy series airing right now. If you’ve seen the show, that’s certainly bound to be controversial, putting The Bear and comedy in the same sentence. The show’s heavily cynical tone coupled with its dark themes of suicide, depression, anger issues, and the hardship of running a food business aren’t exactly laughing matters. Alas, the show has been billed as a comedy and recognized as such by all the award bodies, so that’s what we’ll go with.
The show revolves around Carmen “Carmie” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a former haute cuisine chef who returns to take care of his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother’s suicide. Still grieving his brother’s sudden death, Carmie has to deal with the pressure of running a struggling business alongside Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, his late brother’s hotheaded business partner. Amid all the chaos, a talented young sous chef, Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), comes to work at the shop and slowly helps the men navigate their differences.
Blurring the line between comedy and drama, The Bear redefines a genre that was once filled with laugh track sitcoms and wholesome family-friendly laughs. There’s a certain ironic brand of comedy that reflects this generation’s POV on life. It’s the “everything sucks and I’m just along for the ride” kind of vibe, which might not immediately inspire levity, but definitely feel relevant to the way Gen Zs approach life.
Week after week, Carmie and co must face a barrage of stressful situations, from making sure the restaurant’s ingredients stay fresh, the kitchen stay organized, the staff fall in line and paid on time, to dealing with other threats like meddling city officials, rising rents, and business debts. The ins and outs of a family-run food establishment are portrayed in such vivid details, with a very in-your-face editing that embraces the mayhem of a hell’s kitchen in a very documentary-like quality. The intense sound, the shaky cam, the overlapping dialogues (or shouting, more like), the mess that keeps happening deliberately elicit a sense of anxiety, the way Carmie must’ve felt in the midst of it all.
Indeed as much as it is about running “Beef”, the show took pain exploring the psyche of everyone working there in the wake of a devastating loss. Anchored by the terrific performances of its ensemble cast, the show delivers a masterclass in sardonic and intense acting performances worthy of a stage play. There is even an episode shot entirely in one take, like a real play, that displays this sensibility to the fullest.
The chemistry between the cast is so superb that, even when most of the time they are fighting and arguing and insulting each other, you can feel the genuine connections they have with each other. In particular, Carmie and Sydney’s camaraderie have become such a fan favorite – to some, for their dynamic partnership; to others, for the will-they-won’t-they shippable quality. Which way the show chooses to develop it will be interesting, but also nerve-inducing. But then, that’s what people tune in to The Bear for.
A no holds barred portrayal of the restaurant industry with rich emotional density, The Bear is definitely not your average comedy show. But its unapologetically acerbic humor sizzles in its own unique way.
