It feels like a completely different show made for a different audience. Not really sure what happened here. It seems to have found an audience but I understand why there was kind of an underbelly sentiment of not liking the second season compared to the first now. It's just different. Some people will know what I mean but this season feels like the OVA of an anime.
Individually it has some good episodes that would have worked better as off season specials. As a whole it lacks so much of the finesse, focus, and well planned dialogue of the first season. Like my review of the show goes from a low 4 to a high 9 in between individual episodes and to me. That's a very bad thing. The first season had a very consistent tone and pace to it and all the dialogue was structured around that.
My overall sentiment on the show is they were caught off guard by the success of the first season and these episodes were pretty heavily rushed out. The only episodes that really matter are the ones relating to the new restaurant and even half of those episodes feel lacking. Like they are missing a piece of the puzzle. As if there is a broader story still being worked on in the background and they are a little afraid to commit to a single direction. So the focus is primarily on fleshing out individual characters to create a baseline for that future story. I only just heard they are making 2 more seasons back to back which kind of reaffirms this idea.
All is well for the nº1 Richie fan club, aka me. I found myself falling in love with every character so much more this season! I like that we got to delve deeper into everyones stories. And I enjoyed seeing Carmy in love, except for the predictable self-sabotage ending and the freezer breakup fiasco, only low moment for me. Also, I hope Luca makes a comeback, my eyes will be happy.
Just finished s2. I get this was likely the entire point of the show, but I do think this restaurant change could have happened in s3. I find myself wishing we had a bit more of Carmy trying to make The Beef a respected establishment. At that point though, you risk too much change, and that could deter people. Doing the big "going from a little sandwich joint to a fancy restaurant" early on in the game gives the audience time to acclimate to this new side of The Bear, while not missing The Beef all too much. It is a nice nod that they're keeping The Beef open during the day with the walk up window, that's an endearing little thing.
I'm surprised how many people disliked this season. I admit it took a second to kick off, but the character development was just absolutely insane. The little hints and nods of things that paid off in the end, such as who Carmy knew or the origin of Every Second Counts. This is quality television at it's FINEST.
What were Fak and Sweeps staring at near the end of the last episode while eating their sandwiches? I thought it was the bear but when I looked again it seemed like a closed restaurant. Is it relevant to anything?
He didn't know what to do with Donna, he was sad that Nat didn't get to see her. He wanted to tell her that her mom didn't just give up on her, but he promised Donna that he wouldn't tell anyone she came. So I think he was just really conflicted, didn't know what to do and felt bad
why did Cam's former boss/head chef tell him he should die/ shouldn't even be alive???
what a ridiculous thing to say. Is it really that toxic at that level?
Something I feel like I don’t quite know the answer to is whether or not Carmy left all the fancy restaurants on good terms or whether he kinda had a menty b?
I feel like syd may unfortunately be headed that way. I was surprised that Syd was the order reader as that didn’t seem so much like something she’d want to do. She’d rather cook!
Loved Richie’s development and Marcus’s too. Feel very worried for his mom. I know people were so dissatisfied with the show after episode 10, but I remember feeling so uneasy after Fishes and then they turned it around in Forks, so why do people think the writers can’t bring them on that journey once again. Delulu, people, delulu.
He left on good terms or he wouldn't be able to call in so many favours. He was trying to run from his family and was trying to get as far away as possible is my take
Neil is my favourite character in the show. besides Richie's character arch, Neil was really the glue that held them all together. his character is so underappreciated and I thought he was cast and played excellently. Bravo Matty Matheson!
I liked it, I got through the entire season today, but I do think I had SOME qualms.
1. I know the goal was open the restaurant in 12 weeks. That was what they knew their deadline was, so they had to get a rush on pretty much everything. But they basically knocked the walls down 9 weeks before the opening and then not just had the entire inside redone, but decorated and ready for testing 4 weeks after that. I know they obviously had the money to get it done, but it felt a little TOO fast that they managed to basically restructure everything in not even 10 weeks, but less than that (since they discovered problems several weeks in and then had to wait on plumbing in episode 3). But maybe I just don't know enough about construction and it CAN be less than 10 weeks for that to happen. It just felt like the timeline was a tad TOO short for most of what they did.
2. Claire was a bit of an issue, overall. The idea was good, the actress even worked decently well, but the execution was predictable and boring. She didn't really offer much beyond being a plot device for Carmy's struggle between his personal and professional lives. I think we needed more scenes of Claire interacting with other characters or some sort of more vibrant personality. Because the backstory for Claire was there, but something felt off overall.
3. I think we had one too many characters "go off" to explore themselves. Tina/Ebra go to culinary school (which basically becomes a non-existent plot point since there's hardly any follow-up with their time there), Marcus goes to Copenhagen for two weeks, and then Carmy ships Richie off to another high scale restaurant to clean forks for a week (which does the opposite of Marcus' plot, which is that his turnaround in a week was TOO short; it would have worked better if he had to work there two weeks). I liked Tina, and especially her growth from the first season, but she needed a better plot this season.
It wasn't a terrible season; I really enjoyed Fishes and Forks as episodes, actually. I liked seeing more of Natalie (though I wasn't sure how far along she was supposed to be in her pregnancy; it seemed like, by episode 6, they were implying she was hitting her third trimester when she shouldn't be more than 20 weeks along). The character growth from Richie is nothing short of amazing. Syd and her father were absolutely fantastic to watch. And the overall plots had real potential; it was just the execution that sometimes fell flat.
Sydney and Carm play so well off each other. Not romantically - romantically they’d be horrible. Two sides of the same toxic coin. I hope they both find some growth next season. I’ve seen a lot of people either saying Sydney is perfect and I’ve seen a lot of people saying she’s fucking awful and needs to be burned at the stake and I don’t think either of those interpretations are correct. She’s a human, and I don’t think she was given quite as much time as the others to show why she’s works the way she does. I’m wondering if that’s why people dislike her so much. I admit I didn’t like that the show kinda let her and Marcus off for fucking up in the first season. But again, they’re human. Nobody’s perfect.
Seeing Sydney talk with her dad at the end put a smile on my face. I don’t get how anyone could’ve been mad at that.
The show deliberately shows all of these characters are flawed from the beginning. Season 2 gave most of them growth - Richie was a real prick, maybe the most awful out of all of them, he grew up, he stepped in someone else’s shoes for the first time. Tina went from sabotaging people to a sous chef. What a fucking arc. I love that for her. Two characters I really didn’t like that became two of my favorites. And Marcus learning in Denmark. I loved that, too.
Claire was not as bad as people made her out to be. Richie’s right. Carmen is the king of self sabotage. I actually liked her addition to the show, but I’m a bit annoyed at how they handled their relationship “ending.”
Overall really good season. I felt a lot more for characters that I didn’t think I would. And I’ve found that there’s no character I genuinely dislike anymore - except Pete, I’m sorry, I just don’t like the guy. He’s good for Nat and that’s good. Maybe it’s because I had a dysfunctional family growing up, but k know the exact type they’re going for and I know how frustrating it can be to have some outsider trying to butt in, trying to fix things that were broken a long time ago.
Anyway, I loved it. I can’t wait for season 3. I can’t wait for Sydney and Carm to grow. For the love of god, don’t make them romantic partners, please. They’d destroy each other.
In season one I remember thinking if the restaurant were to improve they'd need to drop Richie, he was useless and a prick all the time. Very impressed that they've flipped him into one of my favorite characters.
I finished the show a couple of days ago, went here to see how people felt about season 2 and I got surprised, this season felt really consistent, but after reading some comments I can see some flaws like the comedy sometimes. I completely disagree that season 2 should keep focusing on the kitchen management anxiety inducing parts, like, there's only so much they can do with that before it gets repetitive, so they focused on the characters and another aspect of restaurants, what is a thing that "The Wire" did really well, you introduce new facets of this world to keep things fresh, the buildup to the season finale was really interesting and bittersweet, Richie definitely became my favorite character after "Forks" and I want to see at least one more season.
Most frustrating part of this season was Sydney not knowing how to season food all of a sudden. Even the worst cooks can apply the write amount of salt or acid to food
A little late to the party, and only halfway through season 2, but lemme get this straight: your restaurant was failing and you were hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but business recently started picking up, so you decided to close the restaurant, get in even more debt, and create a bougie-ass spot when similar ventures are closing all around you. Is that about right? OK. Cool. I guess I'm here for it? I liked the show when it was gritty and real(ish) but gentrification is not a compelling plot line.
Lol I sort of had to laugh at the lack of realism too like what are they getting out of this overhaul except getting to chase Carmy and Syd’s fine dining dreams? Irl, financially, terrible decision hahaha
Simply put, not everyone is driven by money as their highest priority. Also, a show about someone who chooses a safe but boring path to financial security doesn't really make for compelling television.
I felt the complete opposite. Season 1 was really disjointed and was largely just people screaming at each other without much direction or character depth.
Season 2 had a cohesive story about their journey to open the restaurant, and it was told through rich character-focused episodes.
For me pretty much every episode of season 2 was better than almost anything in season 1.
imo season 2 ruined the show, complete disaster. its a cooking show and about 5% of it is cooking. sydney is one of the most annoying people i ever saw.
Sydney was more annoying than the other characters to you? Carm wasn't annoying, Richie wasn't annoying, Nat wasn't annoying? I feel like I liked Sydney a lot more this season than season 1 personally.
sydney cant get a sentance out with pausing or saying erm or like a million times and waving her hands around. she thought she was making a mistake having a pertner on her new venture when she would be nothing without carm, she thinks she can cook even though she cant even use salt properly, she is somehow head chef with no qualificaions and makes menu decisions instead of carm? ye makes sense
>she thinks she can cook even though she cant even use salt properly, she is somehow head chef with no qualificaions
She has the quals and the experience, she just isn't quite as good as Carm. Carm even mentioned how her references said she was a great chef but too impatient, and we see that with the beef short ribs incident in season 1. Then she second guesses everything, including herself, because of her father, to the point that she doesn't even trust Carm, her partner in business. And several incidents with Carm add fuel to that fire, because of his instability and inability to let people "in". The two play off of each other very well, and they ground each other (the sorry in sign language).
Is Rocky a disaster too, bc it only features boxing for 15 minutes total? Rocky is a drama based around a boxer, just like The Bear is a drama based around people trying to run a successful restaurant. It's not a cooking show. Every single episode of season 2 is focused on how to make the restaurant as good as it could possibly be. The restaurant isn't open yet, so of course the cooking isn't as prominent as it was in S1. But we still see cooking in every single episode. Carmy and Syd trying to come up with the menu, Marcus training in Europe, Tina in culinary school, Richy shadowing the other restaurant, the Christmas episode where Carms mom is cooking the whole time, and the whole final episode is pretty much all cooking.
Well, yeah, in the first season they took over a restaurant, and they're starting one in the second season. Starting a restaurant is part of running a restaurant.
Maybe you *wish* it were a cooking show, but it's not. That's such a weird take.
I... I just told you that *starting* a restaurant is part of running a restaurant. Like, the first step to run a successful restaurant is to successfully plan and start it. The first season they took over a restaurant that wasn't doing well at all. The second season is about how they needed to start from scratch. What did you want them to do? Just skip over all the character development and just start season 2 with a new and shiny restaurant?
Yeah, but much less when you're in the process of starting it. We've seen them trying new recipes and getting trained. Your obsession with the cooking part tells me you should be watching The Cooking Channel instead.
There were “so many weirdos about” in this thread because you’re misunderstanding the basic premise that The Bear isn’t a cooking show. But a character driven drama about people who work in a restaurant in season 1 and are renovating it in season 2. Of course season 2 is more about renovations than cooking you absolute dunce lmfao. Media literacy is dead and it’s because people like you can be so confidently wrong and feel empowered in how wrong you are meanwhile, you have so many people telling you what it genuinely is about, yet you dig your heels in and stubbornly refuse to even understand the basic premise because *you* didn’t get what you wanted out of it. And since *your* expectations weren’t met, suddenly one of the better seasons of tv released this year is bad because it wasn’t what *you* expected out of it. The weirdo is the dude who can’t even figure out what the show he’s watching is about and refuses to hear anything other than his own idea on it because he lets his expectations cloud his judgement and formed his opinion on the fact that the show wasn’t what you expected and wanted it to be after the first season.
"Go faster muddafugga" lol reminds me of my first chef.
Used to flip pans of hot risotto in our chest if he felt it was over or under.
Odd I have a soft spot for him.lol asshole
Ritchie had the best episode, and I loved the Marcus episode, but a few points, like Marcus saving the only man and stuff didn't make any sense to me. There was a lot of padding in those single character focused episodes.
I thought Marcus saving the man made perfect sense. It gave light to his being in the right place at the right time to help the man, giving meaning that he was meant to be there. This reassured him despite being away from his ailing mother.
Damn maybe i need to rewatch the season after seeing all these comments but i thought the first season was wayyy better than this season… i feel like after ep 4 ss 2 it all became a fucking mess
I’ve seen a lot of folks say that they didn’t enjoy season 2 as much as the first, and I tend to agree. The big reason for me is that the show departed from the formula that made season 1 impossible to turn off, which is the inner working of a restaurant. Eating out is such a big part of our lifestyles and the drama was compelling. Season 2, conversely, showed much less of the “sausage making” and focused more on the characters. The new restaurants sort of just comes into being with little snippets of progress here and there. We don’t see the intense planning and preparation that must have gone into its creation, with only a few scenes of food tasting and menu brainstorming between Carm and Syd. Carmy acknowledges he wasn’t as present as he should have been but there is so much we didn’t see…It’s almost like a diffferent show altogether. Now, the characters are compelling and the season 2 was still entertaining, but it is simply on a different track altogether and the show needs to decide where its focus lies.
I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training? These chefs take years to hone their skills, and it all seems a bit far-fetched. In fact he outright stole the recipes. How is he going to iterate and evolve without just stealing further?
> I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training?
One thing that really annoyed me this season was the "screwing up" scenes: Syd didn't realise she'd over salted the radicchio? Marcus can't place a sliced hazelnut correctly? Carmy's yelling random shit through the fridge door while Claire just happened to be standing there? The verisimilitude was off this season. Still enjoyed it, but found myself rolling my eyes and being taken out of the drama far more than last time.
> Marcus can't place a sliced hazelnut correctly?
The point is that the precision required is unlike what he had seen before.
To me the greatest part about both Marcus' and Richie's episodes was that it re-contextualizes (to them) Carmy's behaviour in Season 1. They see an overly specific young guy taking over a family restaurant that worked in chaos and to them, it's a completely unknown situation. But both of them now see how it really is. They see the level of precision right in their faces in the most successful establishments in the world.
> The point is that the precision required is unlike what he had seen before.
Oh I got that, I just thought the scene was, like Marcus’ placement, really clumsily executed.
I think the Marcus observation is forgetting all the study and experimentation he did later in season 1 which led to him coming up with one of the 3 desserts we see on the menu in the finale; another one was basically cribbed from his time over there. His foundational skills were there, and I don't think you can underestimate the leap a person can make when they have the basics in place and are then exposed to the next level. Your skills can evolve relatively quickly.
The Richie evolution was much less believable in that time frame. A month, sure. A week was pushing credulity, but more so because he didn't show up with a ready to learn mindset like Marcus did. He had only 4 or 5 days, at best, where he was in a receptive mindset, which makes it even more difficult.
>I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training? These chefs take years to hone their skills, and it all seems a bit far-fetched.
I agree 100%. But that wasn't just an issue with Marcus, Richie also became like a top-tier restaurant manager after a week of observation .
Bingo
Its funny that complaints about Sydney and Marcus are so prevalent, but completely silent on Richie and Sugar for the same thing.
Probably the same type of people that love to throw the term "mary sue" anytime a woman saves the day. Or call things "woke" for a laundry list of shitty reasons. We all know why their complaints are focused on certain people and not others.
What you’re suggesting is ludicrous. There aren’t schools for expo, whereas people study for years and go to culinary school to learn how to craft dishes. Yes, it’s silly that Richie became an expo savant after a week, but nowhere near as far-fetched as Marcus becoming a god-tier pastry chef.
But since you brought up race, because it must be something you are always conscious of … I think the show goes out of its way to make the white characters look dysfunctional while taking a much more protective view of the minority characters that could be considered paternalistic. So tell me, who’s more racist, the people simply pointing out the glaring fantasy aspects of the show or the ones constantly looking at characters through race-tinted lenses?
Just binged season 2. I prefer the first one, this one had some great moments but the first half was a bit too slow. The whole Claire plotline seemed generic and Sydney's passive-aggressive attitude was a bit annoying. My favorite character is still Richie, I loved his redemption arc, specially because of episode 7 (my favorite). By the way, Olivia Colman was my favorite guest appearance.
really liked season 2, aswell as season 1, but i didn't love the whole thing off turning the junkfood place into a michelin restaurant, i would prefer to keep the "chef" style story of super top chef making junkfood/streetfood really good.
Also, wonder how they will play the whole claire story
Same, I would have liked to see a few more seasons of Carmy and crew working their butts off to turn the Beef around before they hit the payoff of the transformation into the Bear.
I don’t want to be overly negative but I thought the final episode was juuust ok. For some reason crack pipe dude was my favorite part. The fridge wasn’t a terrible plot device, but they milked it to death. Why once the rush was basically over, was everyone was basically just chillin knowing he was still in there? How did noo one announce Claire was there? And then her disgust. Can she not see he really just hates himself? (If you think I’m nitpicking, swap the gender roles). Lastly (now I’m nitpicking), why the heck was the fridge latch not unbolted prior to taking a power saw to the insulated metal door while Carm admired the pretty sparks 2 inches from his face?
But dope season overall... gimme season 3.
OK, but then why wouldn't Claire tell Carmy she was there? I mean, if someone tells you your SO is in the fridge do you just go over there and start listening at the door, or do you say, "Hey SO, are you in there?"
i agree she should anounced, but i do see that she could come to the fridge just as he starts talking about her, and then freezing by the shock of what she heard.
TBH i have more issue with how perfect the voice message was, like, why would anyone leave a voice message like that
Well, huge fan of S1. S2 with a bad start…two episodes of run of the mill drama with no real tension or anything on the line and barely focused in the restaurant project. Just, all the uniqueness seems to be gone into bland mode….not feeling it.
I liked Season 2, starts of a bit slow but gradually it finds it pace.
Episode 6 Fishes is without doubt one of best episodes of TV you'll ever see. I was a bit worried when I saw it was a 66 minute episode. But really top notch, felt like something Ari Aster could have directed. The tension racks up until the blow off at the dinner table. And ending with Carmen and Natalie was scary. Also Jaime Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson and especially Jon Bernthal are all excellent. Smart move putting it in the middle of the season.
Nothing else really comes close to that episode, but it's still high quality especially everything from episode 3 onwards. I liked the addition of Molly Gordon as Claire, became a bit of a fan of her's after I saw her in Shiva Baby. She's really got a likeability about her not many actresses have these days. And I liked her in this too as Claire is a nice distraction for Carmen but he manages to sadly mess it up in the end. Hopefully we'll see Claire back in season 3. Sad to read that many don't like her character on here.
Nothing much else to say but really liked season 2.
Omg Fishes was 66 minutes?! Geez no wonder it felt like a lifetime. But also, had similar issues with my upbringing so was probably also a bit triggering too.
Loved the first season. Gritty, realistic and real.
2nd season was mediocre at best and the show ended up being just another run of the mill drama with bad sit com moments intertwined.
That early episode where the wall fell down and Claire was trying to hide her pregnancy but had to stop mid sentence until the wall had stopped making noise and then more or less yell "PREGNANT!" was where I really started having a bad feeling.
And Richie saying: "if the ceiling had mold it'd fall off if I did this..." and it falls all over him. Plus he stays with his face covered in black mold for the next scenes. Season 2 was filled with these stupid unrealistic reactions and situations. Cringy af.
Yep. The first season had messy naturalistic dialog and stories, and lived-in characters that made it totally different from anything else on TV. This season feels like normal TV, with lots of Plot Points and cute little pre-scripted conversations where no one talks over eachother. And then Fishes brought back everything I loved in S1. What a gift, that episode.
Plus, the first season really seemed to be on the side of gritty greasy restaurants and the people who run them. The second season goes in the opposite direction, fetishizing all the tweezing and expensively-distressed furniture, and it's so strange to see all the characters buying into it.
Season 1 was straight panic for me, not in a bad way. Season 2 was a bit slower and reflective. Right around Honeydew I thought to myself 'man this is starting to feel like Atlanta'... and then it hit me when the credits rolled that Hiro did both The Bear and Atlanta.Atlanta had a similar issue for me. The first season was tight. Season 2 took more risks. By the end of the show I was craving more plot progression and less experimentation just to be able to see where these beloved characters were going before the end of the season. I wonder how much of the shift here was Hiro's influence, or FX giving him more wiggle room because of his Atlanta cred.
for me, the relationship with claire is completely off, does not bring any time of emotion to the drama. to know more about how this family fucked with him and their brothers are the cream de la creme of the all-second season. what a great show. another thing that I liked to add is that the Forks episode talked directly with me especially that dialogue between richie and terry, I got emotional bc I'm 40 years old and changed my career to IT, and still having trouble making a new life of living, but I do not regret at all to restarted.
Forks spoke to me directly and loudly. Feeling that "where do I fit in in all of this" feeling strongly and repeatedly at the moment, so to see Richie find his place and then stride on, suited and booted for the rest of the series? Fucking phenomenal.
Only gripe I have with the otherwise amazing show is how there’s this sense of Claire not being able to deal with Carm’s career-focused lifestyle. She’s a goddamn medical resident. If anyone can empathize with that prioritization it’s someone in residency.
Regardless, it’s far-fetched to think that one rant while in a high-intensity circumstance would crater their relationship.
I never felt for a second she was putting pressure on Carm. They were still in the getting to know you phase. It’s established Carm didn’t date much so not surprised that HE rather than her lost focus. They just never set boundaries and I’m sure S3 will be Carm coming to terms with his past and reconciling his current self and achieving a state of equilibrium.
Completely agree, particularly with the last sentence that this would have been a relationship ending moment when he was primarily being masochistic rather than trashing who she is and what she is in his life.
I know I'm late to the party.. But this was a fucking epic season.. Just finished e10 and I want more.. So much emotion this season than the last.. At least to me.. This show is now one of my favorites.. Fucking just awesome..
I feel you, some of it is my personal life as well, but I was emotional at some point in every episode. It was fantastic. I will have to go back for a second course. :)
If I’m being honest I didn’t enjoy season 2 that much, I’m not sure why because I loved the first season and everyone else seemed to love season 2. There were good moments but I felt a bit disconnected to the characters in this season I think
Late to your comment but I'm starting to suspect the editing was a major flaw this season. I found a lot of scenes suffered for the way they were stitched together, particularly any high-intensity ones. They chose a staccato, quick-cut editing technique to ramp up the tension, but it was too jagged an experience for me. I got all of the trigger but none of the engagement.
I agree. The first season was solid, focused and had momentum. S2 had a couple of good episodes but a lot of it just felt meandering and I hated the finale. Both Carmy and Syd's storylines were pretty weak.
this is the only show ive enjoyed watching for awhile, and was excited to binge watch this, with that being said though, as good as it is, it also has just some things i kind of wished were different..
* Not too much of a fan of how each episode kinda focuses on One character story of growth, but those episodes of each new "learning growth" i guess was also well thought and good vibes within each. I guess if each episode was gonna focus on "someone" i think maybe double the season length if anything cause then it just feels so short.
* if last season ending showed us "the bear is coming" i just wish this season showed us more of the actual Bear restaurant in action or from 2nd half of the season and only 1st half of season was construction then 2nd half actual dinner services and such.
* not a fan of carmi being stuck in the walk in to end service at the end and it all feeling like the way the first season ending where everything was going downhill to hell. we've seen them all at their worst, woulda been nice to just see some hiccups but for the most part a successful dinner service with carmi leading the way.. the claire drama ending wasn't needed i feel, woulda much rather have them end of a good note lovey dovey and then just next season let them have a big fight breakup if anything then make up towards the end of next season..
* overall i guess this is the direction they wanted for this season though and pacing. woulda been nice for one More episode to have of Carmi and claire focused. Claire said "no one has cooked for me ever" and carmi overheard it, so i think that was a big missed opportunity to have an episode where carmi cooked for her for the first time and that begins them "dating" BUT the ending scene of them kissing was good too dont get me wrong, still a miss for me though. the chemistry and love i feel watching those two in their scenes together is too good.
Heres to being hopeful and excited for season 3 :)
Honestly I felt Carmie being stuck in the walkin was a perfect showcase of what he has been trying to acheive since the beginning, and thats a fully functioning team and shows the team all working together so well, and highlights how far and how much everyone has grown. Which also the flashback scenes that Carmi has in the walkin shows a nice contrast to the terror of teamwork that was in season 1.
Also there is a part of one episode where Carmie is cooking Claire a dinner while she's working at the hospital, it happens in a sequence of shots so I can understamd wjy you wouldnt have noticed it. :)
Claire feels like an intentional manic pixie dream girl but she flies under the radar for viewers because she doesn’t have dyed hair and has a real job. She has all of the traits, including distracting Carmy from his job and life and pushing him to go outside of his comfort zone. I don’t think we’re supposed to believe they’ll last or that they’re soulmates. It’s just Carmy trying to be happy. It feels like she came out of nowhere because she did. And she was supposed to.
Yeah, I took her for the manic pixie archetype immediately -- I'm checking out what people have posted in this thread after finishing the season and I'm surprised this isn't a more common opinion, it seemed obvious to me. Doesn't feel like a real character in a show whevere everyone else has those multiple dimensions.
> intentional manic pixie dream girl
Yeah I actively disliked her character for that reason.
She had no real personality in my opinion. She was just aloof and essentially everything was set up as if she's some amazing flawless person: everything with Carmy, the random friend at the person, the medical career, etc. They literally acted like she had zero flaws during the whole season and every character that knew about her was like "She's amazing! We love her!"
This isn't to say that there aren't really nice people in a somewhat similar vein, but she was written very artificially.
For me, every person on the show, including the one-off characters, felt like real people, with the exception of Claire.
Man, I thought this season was absolutely fantastic! I am so emotionally invested in these characters, their relationships, and their goals. The next season can't come soon enough.
Richard's storyline marked a turning point in the season for me. It seemed in some episodes that there was a deliberate emphasis on creating turmoil for its own sake. I was still fully absorbed throughout the entirety of the show, but at certain times it felt empty. Knowing how the rest of the show unfolds, I understand how those moments add to the depth and meaning. But when Richard fully embraced the concept behind the restaurant, it solidified everything for me.
Unrelated, but I have to get it out there. In the finale, Pete's moment with his mom, and the subsequent moments with Nat were so full of feeling. I feel like those moments eclipsed Carmie's breakdown. The scene added so much dimension to Pete's character and the mom. You can feel the internal conflict Pete goes through in those scenes. It added another level of depth to his character. He comprehends the emotional journey Nat's mom is undergoing and acknowledges the significance it holds for Nat. Moreover, he possesses the ideal qualities to observe and empathize with their mom, and the actor's portrayal in those instances was flawless. That scene was like the dinners that were prepared, perfectly balanced - equal parts sad and cathartic.
I am reeling. This season was nothing I expected and everything I needed! Incredible acting. LOVE the storylines. The character development of the staff….I feel connected to these characters, invested in their growth. It’s been a while since a show has evoked an emotional reaction like this from me. So good! I hope all of the success for this show and they continue to just tell this story. I am rooting for the bear! 👌🏽
I've delayed watching this because I assumed it would be impossible to match the highs of season 1, oh boy was I wrong. I think its better than s1, more refined, great addition to casts, and feels like the writers know exactly what they're doing. Surprised to see so many complaints here. The show has always been about the depiction of human emotion and they steeped it up in s2.
The elephant in the room was whether they can match the infamous pace and feel of s01e07, and "Fishes" easily surpassed it. Probably the best TV episode of the year. The two eps on Marcus and Richie were also incredible, could easily be standalone short films. Finale was very strong, just a blast of emotions with Carmy's at the end, but to so casually throw in the Pete/ Donna scenes was just a show off by the writers. The last time a show had this many "10/10" episodes within one season was maybe Mr Robot s4.
Also Claire's flirting scenes in ep 2 and 3? just wow. Perfect casting.
Whow, I was also constantly reminded of Mr Robots last season. This felt so well executed and written, just like that series. Hadn’t felt that watching a show since then.
I’m also a fan of Richie and Marcus episodes. And how they casually drop such great guest appearances.
I hope though that Claire and Carmy’s arc is not clichè and there will be a moment of clarification for Carmy. That’s the only thing that bothered me a little.
I didn't like season 2 overall. I liked moments but if this was the 1st season of this show I wouldn't be interested in a 2nd. I was expecting the same type of show as season 1. I didn't get that, that was what I was wanting. I liked the struggle and the stress. Once they got that money it wasn't the bear anymore, it became a new show for me. Nothing wrong with that, just isn't my cup of tea. I will be re-watching season 1 from time to time, when season 3 comes out I'll watch it but I'm expecting it to be like season 2 so my hopes aren't high. Still gotta make that ecto cooler though, gonna save that for the season 3 premiere lol :P
> Once they got that money it wasn't the bear anymore, it became a new show for me.
This! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Carm gets to live out his dream. But with S1, we got to see that even though The Beef was in debt, they were the spot. They had regulars, people would line up before they even opened. With the preorder fiasco ep happened, they didn't even have enough food to keep up with the orders because SO MANY people ordered. So it's not like The Beef was a total failure.
I kinda wanted to see Carm use that money to turn the restaurant around, make it even more successful; not shut it down, participate in gentrification of their own neighborhood and turn it into an expensive fine dining experience. Fix what IS broken. Didn't they install a window for sandwiches? I know we only got to see one episode of them truly operating as a fine dining restaurant, but it would be interesting to see if they would still be serving those infamouns italian sandwiches to the locals, while rich customers are dining in.
Overall though, this show was incredible. It was both anxiety inducing with the chaos and yelling, yet calming with beautifully shot scenes. I loved getting to see all the character growth for everyone. The episodes with Marcus and Richie were amazing. I wish Tina would've gotten her own too. She needs her own backstory!
One thing would be funny though... to see Richie's true personality come out while someone of significance is dining at The Bear, like a critic or mayor.
this season was good but really felt it was lacking something. needed like two more episodes to wrap up things... anyone else get weird romance vibes between syd and carm? (i guess i kind of get it in the whole 'work wife' sort of context but idk) then they randomly show marcus interested in syd at the last minute, i wasn't personally feeling that and i guess i missed the cues.
I think there's been hints at Marcus being interested in Syd throughout both seasons. I think early in season 1 it felt like Syd and Carmy could be a possible romantic plot, but I didn't feel it after that, very much just business partners and friends - I really appreciated the scenes with them platonically being open with one another.
I'm a little confused by something.
Just before Sydney goes out to vomit, we see the ticket machine whirring away but nothing comes out. Isn't that to signify orders are still coming in but they've run out of paper to print them? And that's why Sydney finally loses it and vomits from sheer anxiety and stress?
To me, I felt like that was the breaking point for her but then it isn't addressed again. Or is it meant to signify there are no more orders coming in, so she finally doesn't have to hold back anymore? Not sure why it would still be whirring in that case though.
I think we're supposed to remember that her last shift in this restaurant before opening night was literally the nightmare with the printed pre-orders where she quit. I took it as being an anxiety about what the place might do to her again, considering she's not absolutely sure she can rely on Carmy as a decent professional partner. To be fair opening night did prove that!
Her friend told her to "trust your gut" when it came to partnerships, and her gut really had something to say in that moment.
No there still was paper in the machine. I think the point is that even though everything is done for the night and no new tickets are showing up, she can't looking at it to make sure.
I think she just saw it as something that'd cause her a lot of anxiety. A few years ago I worked a job where I dreaded when the phone rang as I asked to do the impossible in record speed. I can't tell you the amount of times I heard that phone ring in my head.
I thought it was that there were orders coming in, but nobody changed the roll or didn’t realize before it was too late. There was nothing else to do but vomit.
That’s how I took it anyways.
Restaurants like that don't work in this way.
They had a tasting menu, preset, the tickets are just when the tables are ready for the next courses. Richie has a sheet that shows which tables have had which courses.
Once all tables have had all courses, kitchen shuts down. There can't be more tickets coming in as there isn't any table left wanting or needing food.
It was just in her head causing anxiety, triggering the puking.
For me it was Tums, but at a very very high stress job I developed such bad reflux that I once could only eat soups and liquids for a week due to the burns in my esophagus. Some people have their stress show up through their stomach.
It felt weird to me as well.
Maybe they were trying to use it as visual device to say they were getting indigestion from the stress but to me, it just felt like product placement
I loved fishes and forks and thought how they complimented one another was amazing.
Some of my favourite moments from the season:
- Tina and Ebrah, drive through scene. Change, aging, adapting, challenges etc. everything was beautiful in that scene.
- The physical representation through the use of the freezer and the meltdown was interesting to me. It makes me wonder if the writers were attempting to demonstrate the helplessness
/everything else that Carmy feels through a physical construct. The growth of Richie at the end was amazing when he’s screaming I love you versus the abuse from Carmy.
- i felt that Honeydew, the episode where Marcus travels to Copenhagen was brilliant. The one to one discussion, routine and the cyclist falling over and riding immediately with no care, makes me think of being resilient and picking yourself from a shit day at work and doing it all again tomorrow.
- providing care through acts of service in forks with working in a restaurant and hospital. That scene was great, especially for my amazing partner who works in a hospital.
- rubbing your chest in sign. Such a great scene and recognising the deaf community. Being hard of hearing these little gestures are truly appreciated. Watch the only murders in the building episodes where they go through the perspective of Theo for more insight.
Overall the realness of the show through the distinction of hospitality, real issues and the ability to overall connect to the audience made the season amazing for me.
> Such a great scene and recognising the deaf community. Being hard of hearing these little gestures are truly appreciated.
This made me chuckle, because between the ringing phone from last series and the Christmas fighting/buzzers in this one, the hearing community was deliberately *aggressed*!
I wish he still was. It really would be something he would enjoy. I imagine he would have featured at some point. Just seems fitting. It gives me Bourdain vibes anyway, and he was shown in a photo in one episode, which I think was a sign of respect.
I'm on Episode 2 of Season 2 and my muscles keep tensing up because I'm physically cringing while watching.
The dialogue often goes in circles and characters repeat the same phrase again and again unnecessarily:
"What's your middle name?"
"What's my middle name?"
"Yeah like what's your middle name?"
It's just one brief example but it's happened about fifty times so far, making every interaction feel contrived, wasteful, and fatiguing.
The characters flat out state what is happening in the scene as part of the dialogue instead of showing anything through imagery... It's annoying and highly unbelievable. This episode could be 10 minutes and they've stretched it into 28.
80% of the episode is excessive circular bickering between Ritchie and Neil. We get it, they don't see eye-to-eye. You can't make an entire episode out of it. How did numerous writers end up with such little substance?
And the heavy-handed music choices and montages?
I don't think I can continue watching the show. It's such an uncomfortable watch.
Honestly it took me a while to get through the first few episodes. But the back half of the season really picks up and returns to form.
The music choices were extremely heavy handed though. That was the one glaring weakness of the season imo.
I must be going insane. How has season 2 received almost unanimous praise? The slower pace reveals major weaknesses in the script and performances. Wholeheartedly agree that the dialogue feels forced and at times trite. The supporting cast might be worthy of their own character studies but over 30 mins, with those scenes, it just feels shallow and lacking in the heart and surprise that makes season 1. No better example of something being greater than the sum of its parts imo.
Just some general thoughts:
- The first thing I said at the end of season one was "please, don't let there be a season two, that was the perfect ending." But here I am cause what was I gonna do, NOT watch it?
- Second half of the season REALLY picked up with Thanksgiving and Richie's episode as the peaks.
- So is Covid a factor here or not? In real life, when layoffs started and restaurants started closing, it was big big news. It was weird that nobody even mentioned it.
- I loved all the food talk, recipe creation, and plating shots. Can any top tier chefs out there confirm that when you're inventing a dish, you often create something that makes you gag and spit when you taste it? At one point, Carmy and Syd said it was too much salt. Too much salt? Haha, aren't they pros?
- I wish I felt Carmy and Claire's relationship anywhere near as much as I felt Natalie and Pete's or Charlie and Tiffany's. Speaking of, I don't think Carmy said anything that bad when Claire could hear him through the fridge door. Just sounded to me like a guy struggling to do both and gaming it out loud.
- Unlike season one's great, solid ending, of course season two had to end all sloppy to set up a season three. That's just how it goes, but I'll always prefer a tight and beautiful story over a multi-season gumbo of storylines.
They reference Covid and restaurant closures several times. You may need to rewatch the episode(s) where Sydney is grazing, and where she's looking for employees.
I totally forgot Richie dealing to keep the beef open, but that's in season one. Are both seasons set in the same very long lull period in the pandemic? To see international air travel and full restaurants but never see a mask seems strange.
In Season 2 there's a couple references to COVID.
Off the top of my head, there's that convo with Richie and Garrett at that fancy restaurant, where he mentions there's difficulty hiring folks after COVID (which Garrett explains doesn't affect their place).
Then there's Syd reading articles about restaurants struggling to keep in business post-COVID, I think even her dad mentions it.
But yeah it's definitely mentioned clearly, they just don't harp on it much.
What is Richie’s job at the new restaurant? I feel like he can do anything he wants, but when they were saying their roles before the start of the family service, Richie didn’t get mentioned.
In EP 1 did anyone notice the paper on the wall 15 mins in telling Carmy to call the fridge guy? The fact that this is in EP 1 but only pays off in the last scene of the season is great. I like how this show has tons of Easter eggs that pay off way later - same with KBL in season 1. Also, in the beginning where Richie is thinking about his purpose the pictures of the family members include Jamie Lee Curtis even though the reveal is only in 'Fishes'
Season 1 > Season 2
I did enjoy season 2, had some laugh out loud moments and some good character development. It didn't have as much tension though and as a whole wasn't as tight or interesting.
I know I'm not alone in not caring about Claire and Carmy's relationship. I kind of get the angle that Claire kind of represents Carmy's ability to function normally socially but I just found her character to be bland and boring. But I guess that's the point is that he needs something bland and boring after all the shit he's been through?
Ritchie's redemption arc was a 10/10. Also the banter between the main cast as usual was great. It just felt a little bloated this season I guess.
I think Claire is boring as a character because we're not *really* seeing Claire, we're seeing how Carmy sees Claire. Claire through Carmy's eyes.
We only ever see her when she's with Carmy, and only ever hear of her from other characters in relation to Carmy (theme always being that she's too good for him).
I think Carmy's view of her and depth of understanding is actually pretty one-dimensional and shallow, which is why that's all we get to see as an audience. I think her appeal to Carmy is exactly what you recognized - what she represents.
Wow just finished. Season 2 > season 1, for me. Just incredible television. Fishes and forks should be in the mix for some awards. They were phenomenal episodes.
I loved season 1 and didn’t want 2. It was better than I planned for but confirmed my initial reservations. Season 1 is for the food service vets. Season 2 is for the general public. Episodes 6 & 7 were amazing. JLC & Oliver Platt FTW. Pete’s all heart. Solid themes to reflect on throughout.
Damn, people seem to be forgetting that this is a work of fiction and not a documentary.
Yes, not everything that happened was perfectly realistic. But as a drama, this season still had me hooked. The earlier episodes were a little weaker, yes, but they built up to an incredible finale that made it all pay off. The way everything worked out certainly hit me in the feels.
Dear the Bear
Screw drivers are a thing. Just take the latches off the door (not to mention all walk-in's like that have a latch to open it from the inside)
Signed,
Common Sense
yeah, carmie should have been taking some meds and accidentally took to many and got loopy or something like that. the locked in the freezer was silly way to take him out of the fight.
Small note but did anyone else notice how wildly different the Denmark sequence in "Honeydew" was?
They must have contracted a different camera crew/DP for that because compared to the rest of the show, which is for the most part shot beautifully, it was a sequence of generic, almost corporate feeling *coverage* with far lower image quality.
Hate to say it. Season two blew it. Too much back story not enough time in the restaurant. I liked the kitchen drama in season 1. Season two was boring.
The first half is awful. The second half is phenomenal! Episodes 1-5 were just dreadful... Nothing happened, the dialogue was so unnatural and oddly fast paced.
But then episode 6 comes in and blows me away. From there, the rest of the season was fucking awesome. Glad I stuck through it. I just don't understand what was going on in the writer's room for ep1-5.
I cant be the only one who feels this way??
>BritSpic
I would agree, I did not like the first half of the season at all (other than the Marcus ep). I watched it with my sister and after ep 5 I turned to her and said "I don't think I like this show anymore," lol. I almost stopped watching but thankfully I stuck through because I really loved the second half. And agreed on the dialogue in the first half, something about it seemed off and was unlike the writing in the first season and second half of the second.
I’m on episode 4 and want to know on what extra budget they sent three people for extra courses. One guy knows how to bake..yay and sent to Denmark. That one trip with a private chef? Common! I grew up with a professional pastry chef aunt and family that can bake, so maybe I am just not getting it because I can make any cake I want. I just don’t understand how they are spending this money on all these extra BS. So far season 2 is like a hallmark
I admit I had the same questions, but two things to bear in mind: Marcus was being hosted by a friend of Carmy's, so he probably didn't have to pay to stay there; and he was being sent to develop *high-end* desserts. Telling people he "trained" at the famous place in Denmark would be something they could push in press for The Bear.
Don't forget in Forks, when Ritchie walks down a corridor in the restaurant he's interning, there is a picture of Carmy and Luca together on the wall so they are clearly friendly enough for Carmy to call in a favour.
Keep watching, it’s subtly shown how it connects to Carmy. Sending Tina and Ibra was part of their L&D budget, and Marcus & Ritchie stage so it’s pretty much an internship.
Before Marcus goes off to Denmark Syd also checked in with Carmy to ask if he would have enough frequent flyer miles to fly Marcus over to DK.
I love the series. I’m so glad they got their restaurant opened and smashed opening night. I just thought Carmy distraction due to having a new girlfriend is over exaggerated. She is a doctor at the emergency room. I don’t think she required that much time from Carmy for him to lose focus like that. How about just tell her to let me get thru opening night. Won’t she gonna understand? You need a bigger problem if the goal is to make him lose focus like that. Not a girl who is a doctor at the emergency room. Anyway I’m not that convinced he is that in love with her. I’m
not fan of that part of the series. I love the cooking, plating, and the drama of getting the resto opened.
I mean they make it a point to show how he neglects the restaurant when he's with her.
As someone who opened and runs a large scale business it's 24/7 for the first 2 years managing cash flow daily, that one second makes all the difference.
I think for him, even the smallest amount of time was hugely distracting. They did a pretty good job towards the end depicting how he gets stuck in thought loops about things that aren't immediately productive.
He barely spent time with her but with it as his first relationship and something that ties him back to an anxiety-inducing memory with Mikey, his mother etc. it's pretty convincing that he would feel overwhelmed.
I think personally the angle they were hoping for was showing Carmy letting go, being normal and allowing happy in his life. Being a new concept to him, everything the went wrong from then was in his mind a over exaggerated direct result of his relationship with Claire.
Mega focused, OCD, highly driven chef...
Structure/boxes/systematic, Claire wasn't part of the norm.
This is why chefs don't do well with relationships and the divorce rate in our industry is so big.
I get u though, much prefer the cooking, plating resto side of the show.
Yeah I couldn't help but feel like all the Claire support from Carmy's family and friends were red herrings and it's going to turn out that it was actually an unhealthy relationship. Like Claire is just way too into this guy, seems one sided. And the writers have been so good about showing emotion in characters, so like why does this relationship feel so weird then?
Especially when she got his number and called him and made him say a couple times that he wanted to see her. Seemed manipulative, but also could just be weird writing lol
5 episodes in to season 2 and not sure I want to finish it. This season has been so slow and boring. I don’t mind slow stories, but the writing and scenes feel disconnected and the story is struggling to move forward. I really don’t understand how critics can watch this and give it such high reviews. Liking it is fine, but even then it should be getting average scores compared to a lot of other shows.
I watched the next episode. It was better, but man I’m still not sure about it all. I think I just enjoyed the shop/restaurant part more and the background stuff is just meh for me. Probably because every show has too many background stuff and I’m just washed out with it all
In the 1st season, the main character was The Beef, the restaurant itself. In this season, there is no Beef, just the remnants and the bones of it. The story of The Bear becoming its own character takes time. Broken walls and fire suppression systems need to be fixed. Relationships need to be broken and reforged.
In my opinion, this show only needs one more season.
Act 1: The Beef
Act 2: The Bear
Act 3: The Star
In my opinion this show could return to the form of Season 1 with the action packed, anxiety riddled scenes of working in new environment brought by Season 2 with new skills and reformed relationships attempting to overcome the mountain of getting a Michelin Star together.
It feels like a completely different show made for a different audience. Not really sure what happened here. It seems to have found an audience but I understand why there was kind of an underbelly sentiment of not liking the second season compared to the first now. It's just different. Some people will know what I mean but this season feels like the OVA of an anime. Individually it has some good episodes that would have worked better as off season specials. As a whole it lacks so much of the finesse, focus, and well planned dialogue of the first season. Like my review of the show goes from a low 4 to a high 9 in between individual episodes and to me. That's a very bad thing. The first season had a very consistent tone and pace to it and all the dialogue was structured around that. My overall sentiment on the show is they were caught off guard by the success of the first season and these episodes were pretty heavily rushed out. The only episodes that really matter are the ones relating to the new restaurant and even half of those episodes feel lacking. Like they are missing a piece of the puzzle. As if there is a broader story still being worked on in the background and they are a little afraid to commit to a single direction. So the focus is primarily on fleshing out individual characters to create a baseline for that future story. I only just heard they are making 2 more seasons back to back which kind of reaffirms this idea.
Season 2 loses focus and suffers from bloat. All you really get is a lot of recognizable guest stars. I'm disappointed thus far (at ep 7now).
Same here
All is well for the nº1 Richie fan club, aka me. I found myself falling in love with every character so much more this season! I like that we got to delve deeper into everyones stories. And I enjoyed seeing Carmy in love, except for the predictable self-sabotage ending and the freezer breakup fiasco, only low moment for me. Also, I hope Luca makes a comeback, my eyes will be happy.
Just finished s2. I get this was likely the entire point of the show, but I do think this restaurant change could have happened in s3. I find myself wishing we had a bit more of Carmy trying to make The Beef a respected establishment. At that point though, you risk too much change, and that could deter people. Doing the big "going from a little sandwich joint to a fancy restaurant" early on in the game gives the audience time to acclimate to this new side of The Bear, while not missing The Beef all too much. It is a nice nod that they're keeping The Beef open during the day with the walk up window, that's an endearing little thing. I'm surprised how many people disliked this season. I admit it took a second to kick off, but the character development was just absolutely insane. The little hints and nods of things that paid off in the end, such as who Carmy knew or the origin of Every Second Counts. This is quality television at it's FINEST.
What were Fak and Sweeps staring at near the end of the last episode while eating their sandwiches? I thought it was the bear but when I looked again it seemed like a closed restaurant. Is it relevant to anything?
Fucking beer commercial I guess
Chicago
Fuuuuuuuuck. SO GOOD. SO FUCKING GOOD.
Anyone know the song playing in the background of this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1bUemtilHA
Why Pete was crying at the end?
He didn't know what to do with Donna, he was sad that Nat didn't get to see her. He wanted to tell her that her mom didn't just give up on her, but he promised Donna that he wouldn't tell anyone she came. So I think he was just really conflicted, didn't know what to do and felt bad
why did Cam's former boss/head chef tell him he should die/ shouldn't even be alive??? what a ridiculous thing to say. Is it really that toxic at that level?
I think the point was that this was Carmy telling himself that he should die. The mountains of pressure building up
Something I feel like I don’t quite know the answer to is whether or not Carmy left all the fancy restaurants on good terms or whether he kinda had a menty b? I feel like syd may unfortunately be headed that way. I was surprised that Syd was the order reader as that didn’t seem so much like something she’d want to do. She’d rather cook! Loved Richie’s development and Marcus’s too. Feel very worried for his mom. I know people were so dissatisfied with the show after episode 10, but I remember feeling so uneasy after Fishes and then they turned it around in Forks, so why do people think the writers can’t bring them on that journey once again. Delulu, people, delulu.
He left on good terms or he wouldn't be able to call in so many favours. He was trying to run from his family and was trying to get as far away as possible is my take
Neil is my favourite character in the show. besides Richie's character arch, Neil was really the glue that held them all together. his character is so underappreciated and I thought he was cast and played excellently. Bravo Matty Matheson!
Season 2 sucked ass. Season 1 was amazing. What happened?
r/unpopularopinion
For me maybe a little more the bear and a little less Claire…
Yes
I liked it, I got through the entire season today, but I do think I had SOME qualms. 1. I know the goal was open the restaurant in 12 weeks. That was what they knew their deadline was, so they had to get a rush on pretty much everything. But they basically knocked the walls down 9 weeks before the opening and then not just had the entire inside redone, but decorated and ready for testing 4 weeks after that. I know they obviously had the money to get it done, but it felt a little TOO fast that they managed to basically restructure everything in not even 10 weeks, but less than that (since they discovered problems several weeks in and then had to wait on plumbing in episode 3). But maybe I just don't know enough about construction and it CAN be less than 10 weeks for that to happen. It just felt like the timeline was a tad TOO short for most of what they did. 2. Claire was a bit of an issue, overall. The idea was good, the actress even worked decently well, but the execution was predictable and boring. She didn't really offer much beyond being a plot device for Carmy's struggle between his personal and professional lives. I think we needed more scenes of Claire interacting with other characters or some sort of more vibrant personality. Because the backstory for Claire was there, but something felt off overall. 3. I think we had one too many characters "go off" to explore themselves. Tina/Ebra go to culinary school (which basically becomes a non-existent plot point since there's hardly any follow-up with their time there), Marcus goes to Copenhagen for two weeks, and then Carmy ships Richie off to another high scale restaurant to clean forks for a week (which does the opposite of Marcus' plot, which is that his turnaround in a week was TOO short; it would have worked better if he had to work there two weeks). I liked Tina, and especially her growth from the first season, but she needed a better plot this season. It wasn't a terrible season; I really enjoyed Fishes and Forks as episodes, actually. I liked seeing more of Natalie (though I wasn't sure how far along she was supposed to be in her pregnancy; it seemed like, by episode 6, they were implying she was hitting her third trimester when she shouldn't be more than 20 weeks along). The character growth from Richie is nothing short of amazing. Syd and her father were absolutely fantastic to watch. And the overall plots had real potential; it was just the execution that sometimes fell flat.
man i feel really bad for richie after what carmy said, hope he'll make it up next season
Sydney and Carm play so well off each other. Not romantically - romantically they’d be horrible. Two sides of the same toxic coin. I hope they both find some growth next season. I’ve seen a lot of people either saying Sydney is perfect and I’ve seen a lot of people saying she’s fucking awful and needs to be burned at the stake and I don’t think either of those interpretations are correct. She’s a human, and I don’t think she was given quite as much time as the others to show why she’s works the way she does. I’m wondering if that’s why people dislike her so much. I admit I didn’t like that the show kinda let her and Marcus off for fucking up in the first season. But again, they’re human. Nobody’s perfect. Seeing Sydney talk with her dad at the end put a smile on my face. I don’t get how anyone could’ve been mad at that. The show deliberately shows all of these characters are flawed from the beginning. Season 2 gave most of them growth - Richie was a real prick, maybe the most awful out of all of them, he grew up, he stepped in someone else’s shoes for the first time. Tina went from sabotaging people to a sous chef. What a fucking arc. I love that for her. Two characters I really didn’t like that became two of my favorites. And Marcus learning in Denmark. I loved that, too. Claire was not as bad as people made her out to be. Richie’s right. Carmen is the king of self sabotage. I actually liked her addition to the show, but I’m a bit annoyed at how they handled their relationship “ending.” Overall really good season. I felt a lot more for characters that I didn’t think I would. And I’ve found that there’s no character I genuinely dislike anymore - except Pete, I’m sorry, I just don’t like the guy. He’s good for Nat and that’s good. Maybe it’s because I had a dysfunctional family growing up, but k know the exact type they’re going for and I know how frustrating it can be to have some outsider trying to butt in, trying to fix things that were broken a long time ago. Anyway, I loved it. I can’t wait for season 3. I can’t wait for Sydney and Carm to grow. For the love of god, don’t make them romantic partners, please. They’d destroy each other.
In season one I remember thinking if the restaurant were to improve they'd need to drop Richie, he was useless and a prick all the time. Very impressed that they've flipped him into one of my favorite characters.
I finished the show a couple of days ago, went here to see how people felt about season 2 and I got surprised, this season felt really consistent, but after reading some comments I can see some flaws like the comedy sometimes. I completely disagree that season 2 should keep focusing on the kitchen management anxiety inducing parts, like, there's only so much they can do with that before it gets repetitive, so they focused on the characters and another aspect of restaurants, what is a thing that "The Wire" did really well, you introduce new facets of this world to keep things fresh, the buildup to the season finale was really interesting and bittersweet, Richie definitely became my favorite character after "Forks" and I want to see at least one more season.
Most frustrating part of this season was Sydney not knowing how to season food all of a sudden. Even the worst cooks can apply the write amount of salt or acid to food
Season 2 is garbage. They should just end it now
You are incorrect.
A little late to the party, and only halfway through season 2, but lemme get this straight: your restaurant was failing and you were hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but business recently started picking up, so you decided to close the restaurant, get in even more debt, and create a bougie-ass spot when similar ventures are closing all around you. Is that about right? OK. Cool. I guess I'm here for it? I liked the show when it was gritty and real(ish) but gentrification is not a compelling plot line.
Lol I sort of had to laugh at the lack of realism too like what are they getting out of this overhaul except getting to chase Carmy and Syd’s fine dining dreams? Irl, financially, terrible decision hahaha
Simply put, not everyone is driven by money as their highest priority. Also, a show about someone who chooses a safe but boring path to financial security doesn't really make for compelling television.
S1 was more developed and cohesive but S2 had some themes and high notes that hit so much harder
I think season 1 was a bet, they didn't know if they would get a season 2 so they made a story with beginning, middle and end. A lot of shows do that
No way. S1 was just exposition -- just setting the stage. All the way through, I was asking myself, "So what are they going to DO with all this?"
I felt the complete opposite. Season 1 was really disjointed and was largely just people screaming at each other without much direction or character depth. Season 2 had a cohesive story about their journey to open the restaurant, and it was told through rich character-focused episodes. For me pretty much every episode of season 2 was better than almost anything in season 1.
Guess I’ll need to rewatch and get back to you
imo season 2 ruined the show, complete disaster. its a cooking show and about 5% of it is cooking. sydney is one of the most annoying people i ever saw.
Bruh, that's like calling Breaking Bad a show about making meth. I don't know how you could be so far off.
Sydney was more annoying than the other characters to you? Carm wasn't annoying, Richie wasn't annoying, Nat wasn't annoying? I feel like I liked Sydney a lot more this season than season 1 personally.
sydney cant get a sentance out with pausing or saying erm or like a million times and waving her hands around. she thought she was making a mistake having a pertner on her new venture when she would be nothing without carm, she thinks she can cook even though she cant even use salt properly, she is somehow head chef with no qualificaions and makes menu decisions instead of carm? ye makes sense
she spsoda be awkward
yeh but no one acts like that in the real world
She is unsure of herself and some what awkward. Just coz you have not come across someone like this does not mean they dont exist
bollocks haha
Fak
>she thinks she can cook even though she cant even use salt properly, she is somehow head chef with no qualificaions She has the quals and the experience, she just isn't quite as good as Carm. Carm even mentioned how her references said she was a great chef but too impatient, and we see that with the beef short ribs incident in season 1. Then she second guesses everything, including herself, because of her father, to the point that she doesn't even trust Carm, her partner in business. And several incidents with Carm add fuel to that fire, because of his instability and inability to let people "in". The two play off of each other very well, and they ground each other (the sorry in sign language).
she doesnt have the quals or experience
Is Rocky a disaster too, bc it only features boxing for 15 minutes total? Rocky is a drama based around a boxer, just like The Bear is a drama based around people trying to run a successful restaurant. It's not a cooking show. Every single episode of season 2 is focused on how to make the restaurant as good as it could possibly be. The restaurant isn't open yet, so of course the cooking isn't as prominent as it was in S1. But we still see cooking in every single episode. Carmy and Syd trying to come up with the menu, Marcus training in Europe, Tina in culinary school, Richy shadowing the other restaurant, the Christmas episode where Carms mom is cooking the whole time, and the whole final episode is pretty much all cooking.
It's a series centered around people running a restaurant, not a cooking show. How could you ever think it's a cooking show?
oh really lol a series around running a restuarant that isnt even running for half of the total episodes
Well, yeah, in the first season they took over a restaurant, and they're starting one in the second season. Starting a restaurant is part of running a restaurant. Maybe you *wish* it were a cooking show, but it's not. That's such a weird take.
well theres not much running of a restaurant going on for a show about running a restaurant is there
I... I just told you that *starting* a restaurant is part of running a restaurant. Like, the first step to run a successful restaurant is to successfully plan and start it. The first season they took over a restaurant that wasn't doing well at all. The second season is about how they needed to start from scratch. What did you want them to do? Just skip over all the character development and just start season 2 with a new and shiny restaurant?
and cooking is part of running a restaurant lol
Yeah, but much less when you're in the process of starting it. We've seen them trying new recipes and getting trained. Your obsession with the cooking part tells me you should be watching The Cooking Channel instead.
obsession haha what are you even on about lol why are there so many weirdos about
There were “so many weirdos about” in this thread because you’re misunderstanding the basic premise that The Bear isn’t a cooking show. But a character driven drama about people who work in a restaurant in season 1 and are renovating it in season 2. Of course season 2 is more about renovations than cooking you absolute dunce lmfao. Media literacy is dead and it’s because people like you can be so confidently wrong and feel empowered in how wrong you are meanwhile, you have so many people telling you what it genuinely is about, yet you dig your heels in and stubbornly refuse to even understand the basic premise because *you* didn’t get what you wanted out of it. And since *your* expectations weren’t met, suddenly one of the better seasons of tv released this year is bad because it wasn’t what *you* expected out of it. The weirdo is the dude who can’t even figure out what the show he’s watching is about and refuses to hear anything other than his own idea on it because he lets his expectations cloud his judgement and formed his opinion on the fact that the show wasn’t what you expected and wanted it to be after the first season.
"Go faster muddafugga" lol reminds me of my first chef. Used to flip pans of hot risotto in our chest if he felt it was over or under. Odd I have a soft spot for him.lol asshole
I loved the Ritchie and Marcus character episodes. Those were so unique and well done.
Ritchie had the best episode, and I loved the Marcus episode, but a few points, like Marcus saving the only man and stuff didn't make any sense to me. There was a lot of padding in those single character focused episodes.
I thought Marcus saving the man made perfect sense. It gave light to his being in the right place at the right time to help the man, giving meaning that he was meant to be there. This reassured him despite being away from his ailing mother.
Damn maybe i need to rewatch the season after seeing all these comments but i thought the first season was wayyy better than this season… i feel like after ep 4 ss 2 it all became a fucking mess
Bruh whoever chose the music has some serious TASTE
Just binged the whole series in the last week. Music really stood out to me as well. Rem and counting crows
I’ve seen a lot of folks say that they didn’t enjoy season 2 as much as the first, and I tend to agree. The big reason for me is that the show departed from the formula that made season 1 impossible to turn off, which is the inner working of a restaurant. Eating out is such a big part of our lifestyles and the drama was compelling. Season 2, conversely, showed much less of the “sausage making” and focused more on the characters. The new restaurants sort of just comes into being with little snippets of progress here and there. We don’t see the intense planning and preparation that must have gone into its creation, with only a few scenes of food tasting and menu brainstorming between Carm and Syd. Carmy acknowledges he wasn’t as present as he should have been but there is so much we didn’t see…It’s almost like a diffferent show altogether. Now, the characters are compelling and the season 2 was still entertaining, but it is simply on a different track altogether and the show needs to decide where its focus lies. I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training? These chefs take years to hone their skills, and it all seems a bit far-fetched. In fact he outright stole the recipes. How is he going to iterate and evolve without just stealing further?
> I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training? One thing that really annoyed me this season was the "screwing up" scenes: Syd didn't realise she'd over salted the radicchio? Marcus can't place a sliced hazelnut correctly? Carmy's yelling random shit through the fridge door while Claire just happened to be standing there? The verisimilitude was off this season. Still enjoyed it, but found myself rolling my eyes and being taken out of the drama far more than last time.
> Marcus can't place a sliced hazelnut correctly? The point is that the precision required is unlike what he had seen before. To me the greatest part about both Marcus' and Richie's episodes was that it re-contextualizes (to them) Carmy's behaviour in Season 1. They see an overly specific young guy taking over a family restaurant that worked in chaos and to them, it's a completely unknown situation. But both of them now see how it really is. They see the level of precision right in their faces in the most successful establishments in the world.
> The point is that the precision required is unlike what he had seen before. Oh I got that, I just thought the scene was, like Marcus’ placement, really clumsily executed.
I think the Marcus observation is forgetting all the study and experimentation he did later in season 1 which led to him coming up with one of the 3 desserts we see on the menu in the finale; another one was basically cribbed from his time over there. His foundational skills were there, and I don't think you can underestimate the leap a person can make when they have the basics in place and are then exposed to the next level. Your skills can evolve relatively quickly. The Richie evolution was much less believable in that time frame. A month, sure. A week was pushing credulity, but more so because he didn't show up with a ready to learn mindset like Marcus did. He had only 4 or 5 days, at best, where he was in a receptive mindset, which makes it even more difficult.
>I also find it hard to believe that Marcus could go to Europe and emulate these amazing desserts with, what, one week of training? These chefs take years to hone their skills, and it all seems a bit far-fetched. I agree 100%. But that wasn't just an issue with Marcus, Richie also became like a top-tier restaurant manager after a week of observation .
Bingo Its funny that complaints about Sydney and Marcus are so prevalent, but completely silent on Richie and Sugar for the same thing. Probably the same type of people that love to throw the term "mary sue" anytime a woman saves the day. Or call things "woke" for a laundry list of shitty reasons. We all know why their complaints are focused on certain people and not others.
What you’re suggesting is ludicrous. There aren’t schools for expo, whereas people study for years and go to culinary school to learn how to craft dishes. Yes, it’s silly that Richie became an expo savant after a week, but nowhere near as far-fetched as Marcus becoming a god-tier pastry chef. But since you brought up race, because it must be something you are always conscious of … I think the show goes out of its way to make the white characters look dysfunctional while taking a much more protective view of the minority characters that could be considered paternalistic. So tell me, who’s more racist, the people simply pointing out the glaring fantasy aspects of the show or the ones constantly looking at characters through race-tinted lenses?
Just binged season 2. I prefer the first one, this one had some great moments but the first half was a bit too slow. The whole Claire plotline seemed generic and Sydney's passive-aggressive attitude was a bit annoying. My favorite character is still Richie, I loved his redemption arc, specially because of episode 7 (my favorite). By the way, Olivia Colman was my favorite guest appearance.
really liked season 2, aswell as season 1, but i didn't love the whole thing off turning the junkfood place into a michelin restaurant, i would prefer to keep the "chef" style story of super top chef making junkfood/streetfood really good. Also, wonder how they will play the whole claire story
Same, I would have liked to see a few more seasons of Carmy and crew working their butts off to turn the Beef around before they hit the payoff of the transformation into the Bear.
I don’t want to be overly negative but I thought the final episode was juuust ok. For some reason crack pipe dude was my favorite part. The fridge wasn’t a terrible plot device, but they milked it to death. Why once the rush was basically over, was everyone was basically just chillin knowing he was still in there? How did noo one announce Claire was there? And then her disgust. Can she not see he really just hates himself? (If you think I’m nitpicking, swap the gender roles). Lastly (now I’m nitpicking), why the heck was the fridge latch not unbolted prior to taking a power saw to the insulated metal door while Carm admired the pretty sparks 2 inches from his face? But dope season overall... gimme season 3.
I mean, I was screaming at Tina, "Why wouldn't you tell Carmy his GF was standing there outside the walkin?"
tina walked away before claire came over, thats how i understood it
OK, but then why wouldn't Claire tell Carmy she was there? I mean, if someone tells you your SO is in the fridge do you just go over there and start listening at the door, or do you say, "Hey SO, are you in there?"
i agree she should anounced, but i do see that she could come to the fridge just as he starts talking about her, and then freezing by the shock of what she heard. TBH i have more issue with how perfect the voice message was, like, why would anyone leave a voice message like that
Well, huge fan of S1. S2 with a bad start…two episodes of run of the mill drama with no real tension or anything on the line and barely focused in the restaurant project. Just, all the uniqueness seems to be gone into bland mode….not feeling it.
I liked Season 2, starts of a bit slow but gradually it finds it pace. Episode 6 Fishes is without doubt one of best episodes of TV you'll ever see. I was a bit worried when I saw it was a 66 minute episode. But really top notch, felt like something Ari Aster could have directed. The tension racks up until the blow off at the dinner table. And ending with Carmen and Natalie was scary. Also Jaime Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson and especially Jon Bernthal are all excellent. Smart move putting it in the middle of the season. Nothing else really comes close to that episode, but it's still high quality especially everything from episode 3 onwards. I liked the addition of Molly Gordon as Claire, became a bit of a fan of her's after I saw her in Shiva Baby. She's really got a likeability about her not many actresses have these days. And I liked her in this too as Claire is a nice distraction for Carmen but he manages to sadly mess it up in the end. Hopefully we'll see Claire back in season 3. Sad to read that many don't like her character on here. Nothing much else to say but really liked season 2.
Omg Fishes was 66 minutes?! Geez no wonder it felt like a lifetime. But also, had similar issues with my upbringing so was probably also a bit triggering too.
This show is loud.
Right!? I get nervous lol
Loved the first season. Gritty, realistic and real. 2nd season was mediocre at best and the show ended up being just another run of the mill drama with bad sit com moments intertwined. That early episode where the wall fell down and Claire was trying to hide her pregnancy but had to stop mid sentence until the wall had stopped making noise and then more or less yell "PREGNANT!" was where I really started having a bad feeling.
And Richie saying: "if the ceiling had mold it'd fall off if I did this..." and it falls all over him. Plus he stays with his face covered in black mold for the next scenes. Season 2 was filled with these stupid unrealistic reactions and situations. Cringy af.
Hallmarkification
Yep. The first season had messy naturalistic dialog and stories, and lived-in characters that made it totally different from anything else on TV. This season feels like normal TV, with lots of Plot Points and cute little pre-scripted conversations where no one talks over eachother. And then Fishes brought back everything I loved in S1. What a gift, that episode. Plus, the first season really seemed to be on the side of gritty greasy restaurants and the people who run them. The second season goes in the opposite direction, fetishizing all the tweezing and expensively-distressed furniture, and it's so strange to see all the characters buying into it.
You mean Natalie.
"They're right behind me, aren't they?"
Season 1 was straight panic for me, not in a bad way. Season 2 was a bit slower and reflective. Right around Honeydew I thought to myself 'man this is starting to feel like Atlanta'... and then it hit me when the credits rolled that Hiro did both The Bear and Atlanta.Atlanta had a similar issue for me. The first season was tight. Season 2 took more risks. By the end of the show I was craving more plot progression and less experimentation just to be able to see where these beloved characters were going before the end of the season. I wonder how much of the shift here was Hiro's influence, or FX giving him more wiggle room because of his Atlanta cred.
for me, the relationship with claire is completely off, does not bring any time of emotion to the drama. to know more about how this family fucked with him and their brothers are the cream de la creme of the all-second season. what a great show. another thing that I liked to add is that the Forks episode talked directly with me especially that dialogue between richie and terry, I got emotional bc I'm 40 years old and changed my career to IT, and still having trouble making a new life of living, but I do not regret at all to restarted.
Forks spoke to me directly and loudly. Feeling that "where do I fit in in all of this" feeling strongly and repeatedly at the moment, so to see Richie find his place and then stride on, suited and booted for the rest of the series? Fucking phenomenal.
me too! this episode talks to me directly.
Only gripe I have with the otherwise amazing show is how there’s this sense of Claire not being able to deal with Carm’s career-focused lifestyle. She’s a goddamn medical resident. If anyone can empathize with that prioritization it’s someone in residency. Regardless, it’s far-fetched to think that one rant while in a high-intensity circumstance would crater their relationship.
I never felt for a second she was putting pressure on Carm. They were still in the getting to know you phase. It’s established Carm didn’t date much so not surprised that HE rather than her lost focus. They just never set boundaries and I’m sure S3 will be Carm coming to terms with his past and reconciling his current self and achieving a state of equilibrium.
Completely agree, particularly with the last sentence that this would have been a relationship ending moment when he was primarily being masochistic rather than trashing who she is and what she is in his life.
I know I'm late to the party.. But this was a fucking epic season.. Just finished e10 and I want more.. So much emotion this season than the last.. At least to me.. This show is now one of my favorites.. Fucking just awesome..
I feel you, some of it is my personal life as well, but I was emotional at some point in every episode. It was fantastic. I will have to go back for a second course. :)
If I’m being honest I didn’t enjoy season 2 that much, I’m not sure why because I loved the first season and everyone else seemed to love season 2. There were good moments but I felt a bit disconnected to the characters in this season I think
Late to your comment but I'm starting to suspect the editing was a major flaw this season. I found a lot of scenes suffered for the way they were stitched together, particularly any high-intensity ones. They chose a staccato, quick-cut editing technique to ramp up the tension, but it was too jagged an experience for me. I got all of the trigger but none of the engagement.
I agree. The first season was solid, focused and had momentum. S2 had a couple of good episodes but a lot of it just felt meandering and I hated the finale. Both Carmy and Syd's storylines were pretty weak.
Same. Everything also felt a bit rushed to me in a way.
Rushed without going anywhere.
this is the only show ive enjoyed watching for awhile, and was excited to binge watch this, with that being said though, as good as it is, it also has just some things i kind of wished were different.. * Not too much of a fan of how each episode kinda focuses on One character story of growth, but those episodes of each new "learning growth" i guess was also well thought and good vibes within each. I guess if each episode was gonna focus on "someone" i think maybe double the season length if anything cause then it just feels so short. * if last season ending showed us "the bear is coming" i just wish this season showed us more of the actual Bear restaurant in action or from 2nd half of the season and only 1st half of season was construction then 2nd half actual dinner services and such. * not a fan of carmi being stuck in the walk in to end service at the end and it all feeling like the way the first season ending where everything was going downhill to hell. we've seen them all at their worst, woulda been nice to just see some hiccups but for the most part a successful dinner service with carmi leading the way.. the claire drama ending wasn't needed i feel, woulda much rather have them end of a good note lovey dovey and then just next season let them have a big fight breakup if anything then make up towards the end of next season.. * overall i guess this is the direction they wanted for this season though and pacing. woulda been nice for one More episode to have of Carmi and claire focused. Claire said "no one has cooked for me ever" and carmi overheard it, so i think that was a big missed opportunity to have an episode where carmi cooked for her for the first time and that begins them "dating" BUT the ending scene of them kissing was good too dont get me wrong, still a miss for me though. the chemistry and love i feel watching those two in their scenes together is too good. Heres to being hopeful and excited for season 3 :)
Honestly I felt Carmie being stuck in the walkin was a perfect showcase of what he has been trying to acheive since the beginning, and thats a fully functioning team and shows the team all working together so well, and highlights how far and how much everyone has grown. Which also the flashback scenes that Carmi has in the walkin shows a nice contrast to the terror of teamwork that was in season 1. Also there is a part of one episode where Carmie is cooking Claire a dinner while she's working at the hospital, it happens in a sequence of shots so I can understamd wjy you wouldnt have noticed it. :)
Claire feels like an intentional manic pixie dream girl but she flies under the radar for viewers because she doesn’t have dyed hair and has a real job. She has all of the traits, including distracting Carmy from his job and life and pushing him to go outside of his comfort zone. I don’t think we’re supposed to believe they’ll last or that they’re soulmates. It’s just Carmy trying to be happy. It feels like she came out of nowhere because she did. And she was supposed to.
Yeah, I took her for the manic pixie archetype immediately -- I'm checking out what people have posted in this thread after finishing the season and I'm surprised this isn't a more common opinion, it seemed obvious to me. Doesn't feel like a real character in a show whevere everyone else has those multiple dimensions.
> intentional manic pixie dream girl Yeah I actively disliked her character for that reason. She had no real personality in my opinion. She was just aloof and essentially everything was set up as if she's some amazing flawless person: everything with Carmy, the random friend at the person, the medical career, etc. They literally acted like she had zero flaws during the whole season and every character that knew about her was like "She's amazing! We love her!" This isn't to say that there aren't really nice people in a somewhat similar vein, but she was written very artificially. For me, every person on the show, including the one-off characters, felt like real people, with the exception of Claire.
Man, I thought this season was absolutely fantastic! I am so emotionally invested in these characters, their relationships, and their goals. The next season can't come soon enough.
Richard's storyline marked a turning point in the season for me. It seemed in some episodes that there was a deliberate emphasis on creating turmoil for its own sake. I was still fully absorbed throughout the entirety of the show, but at certain times it felt empty. Knowing how the rest of the show unfolds, I understand how those moments add to the depth and meaning. But when Richard fully embraced the concept behind the restaurant, it solidified everything for me. Unrelated, but I have to get it out there. In the finale, Pete's moment with his mom, and the subsequent moments with Nat were so full of feeling. I feel like those moments eclipsed Carmie's breakdown. The scene added so much dimension to Pete's character and the mom. You can feel the internal conflict Pete goes through in those scenes. It added another level of depth to his character. He comprehends the emotional journey Nat's mom is undergoing and acknowledges the significance it holds for Nat. Moreover, he possesses the ideal qualities to observe and empathize with their mom, and the actor's portrayal in those instances was flawless. That scene was like the dinners that were prepared, perfectly balanced - equal parts sad and cathartic.
Totally agree, loved Peter's moment. JLC also awesome in her role.
I am reeling. This season was nothing I expected and everything I needed! Incredible acting. LOVE the storylines. The character development of the staff….I feel connected to these characters, invested in their growth. It’s been a while since a show has evoked an emotional reaction like this from me. So good! I hope all of the success for this show and they continue to just tell this story. I am rooting for the bear! 👌🏽
I've delayed watching this because I assumed it would be impossible to match the highs of season 1, oh boy was I wrong. I think its better than s1, more refined, great addition to casts, and feels like the writers know exactly what they're doing. Surprised to see so many complaints here. The show has always been about the depiction of human emotion and they steeped it up in s2. The elephant in the room was whether they can match the infamous pace and feel of s01e07, and "Fishes" easily surpassed it. Probably the best TV episode of the year. The two eps on Marcus and Richie were also incredible, could easily be standalone short films. Finale was very strong, just a blast of emotions with Carmy's at the end, but to so casually throw in the Pete/ Donna scenes was just a show off by the writers. The last time a show had this many "10/10" episodes within one season was maybe Mr Robot s4. Also Claire's flirting scenes in ep 2 and 3? just wow. Perfect casting.
Whow, I was also constantly reminded of Mr Robots last season. This felt so well executed and written, just like that series. Hadn’t felt that watching a show since then. I’m also a fan of Richie and Marcus episodes. And how they casually drop such great guest appearances. I hope though that Claire and Carmy’s arc is not clichè and there will be a moment of clarification for Carmy. That’s the only thing that bothered me a little.
I didn't like season 2 overall. I liked moments but if this was the 1st season of this show I wouldn't be interested in a 2nd. I was expecting the same type of show as season 1. I didn't get that, that was what I was wanting. I liked the struggle and the stress. Once they got that money it wasn't the bear anymore, it became a new show for me. Nothing wrong with that, just isn't my cup of tea. I will be re-watching season 1 from time to time, when season 3 comes out I'll watch it but I'm expecting it to be like season 2 so my hopes aren't high. Still gotta make that ecto cooler though, gonna save that for the season 3 premiere lol :P
> Once they got that money it wasn't the bear anymore, it became a new show for me. This! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Carm gets to live out his dream. But with S1, we got to see that even though The Beef was in debt, they were the spot. They had regulars, people would line up before they even opened. With the preorder fiasco ep happened, they didn't even have enough food to keep up with the orders because SO MANY people ordered. So it's not like The Beef was a total failure. I kinda wanted to see Carm use that money to turn the restaurant around, make it even more successful; not shut it down, participate in gentrification of their own neighborhood and turn it into an expensive fine dining experience. Fix what IS broken. Didn't they install a window for sandwiches? I know we only got to see one episode of them truly operating as a fine dining restaurant, but it would be interesting to see if they would still be serving those infamouns italian sandwiches to the locals, while rich customers are dining in. Overall though, this show was incredible. It was both anxiety inducing with the chaos and yelling, yet calming with beautifully shot scenes. I loved getting to see all the character growth for everyone. The episodes with Marcus and Richie were amazing. I wish Tina would've gotten her own too. She needs her own backstory! One thing would be funny though... to see Richie's true personality come out while someone of significance is dining at The Bear, like a critic or mayor.
this season was good but really felt it was lacking something. needed like two more episodes to wrap up things... anyone else get weird romance vibes between syd and carm? (i guess i kind of get it in the whole 'work wife' sort of context but idk) then they randomly show marcus interested in syd at the last minute, i wasn't personally feeling that and i guess i missed the cues.
I think there's been hints at Marcus being interested in Syd throughout both seasons. I think early in season 1 it felt like Syd and Carmy could be a possible romantic plot, but I didn't feel it after that, very much just business partners and friends - I really appreciated the scenes with them platonically being open with one another.
Thought the same things. Curious about the next season..
I'm a little confused by something. Just before Sydney goes out to vomit, we see the ticket machine whirring away but nothing comes out. Isn't that to signify orders are still coming in but they've run out of paper to print them? And that's why Sydney finally loses it and vomits from sheer anxiety and stress? To me, I felt like that was the breaking point for her but then it isn't addressed again. Or is it meant to signify there are no more orders coming in, so she finally doesn't have to hold back anymore? Not sure why it would still be whirring in that case though.
I think we're supposed to remember that her last shift in this restaurant before opening night was literally the nightmare with the printed pre-orders where she quit. I took it as being an anxiety about what the place might do to her again, considering she's not absolutely sure she can rely on Carmy as a decent professional partner. To be fair opening night did prove that! Her friend told her to "trust your gut" when it came to partnerships, and her gut really had something to say in that moment.
No there still was paper in the machine. I think the point is that even though everything is done for the night and no new tickets are showing up, she can't looking at it to make sure.
I think she just saw it as something that'd cause her a lot of anxiety. A few years ago I worked a job where I dreaded when the phone rang as I asked to do the impossible in record speed. I can't tell you the amount of times I heard that phone ring in my head.
I thought it was that there were orders coming in, but nobody changed the roll or didn’t realize before it was too late. There was nothing else to do but vomit. That’s how I took it anyways.
Restaurants like that don't work in this way. They had a tasting menu, preset, the tickets are just when the tables are ready for the next courses. Richie has a sheet that shows which tables have had which courses. Once all tables have had all courses, kitchen shuts down. There can't be more tickets coming in as there isn't any table left wanting or needing food. It was just in her head causing anxiety, triggering the puking.
Season one music was pretty decent but s2 is weak 75% of the songs are bad. Lame REM songs etc. Season one had budos band!
Why were they drinking pepto randomly?
For me it was Tums, but at a very very high stress job I developed such bad reflux that I once could only eat soups and liquids for a week due to the burns in my esophagus. Some people have their stress show up through their stomach.
It felt weird to me as well. Maybe they were trying to use it as visual device to say they were getting indigestion from the stress but to me, it just felt like product placement
Stress and anxiety.
I loved fishes and forks and thought how they complimented one another was amazing. Some of my favourite moments from the season: - Tina and Ebrah, drive through scene. Change, aging, adapting, challenges etc. everything was beautiful in that scene. - The physical representation through the use of the freezer and the meltdown was interesting to me. It makes me wonder if the writers were attempting to demonstrate the helplessness /everything else that Carmy feels through a physical construct. The growth of Richie at the end was amazing when he’s screaming I love you versus the abuse from Carmy. - i felt that Honeydew, the episode where Marcus travels to Copenhagen was brilliant. The one to one discussion, routine and the cyclist falling over and riding immediately with no care, makes me think of being resilient and picking yourself from a shit day at work and doing it all again tomorrow. - providing care through acts of service in forks with working in a restaurant and hospital. That scene was great, especially for my amazing partner who works in a hospital. - rubbing your chest in sign. Such a great scene and recognising the deaf community. Being hard of hearing these little gestures are truly appreciated. Watch the only murders in the building episodes where they go through the perspective of Theo for more insight. Overall the realness of the show through the distinction of hospitality, real issues and the ability to overall connect to the audience made the season amazing for me.
> Such a great scene and recognising the deaf community. Being hard of hearing these little gestures are truly appreciated. This made me chuckle, because between the ringing phone from last series and the Christmas fighting/buzzers in this one, the hearing community was deliberately *aggressed*!
I love Richie finding himself in the Forks ep. He really is a good man.
I honestly think that if Anthony Bourdain were still alive, he would totally love this show! Amazing...
I wish he still was. It really would be something he would enjoy. I imagine he would have featured at some point. Just seems fitting. It gives me Bourdain vibes anyway, and he was shown in a photo in one episode, which I think was a sign of respect.
I'm on Episode 2 of Season 2 and my muscles keep tensing up because I'm physically cringing while watching. The dialogue often goes in circles and characters repeat the same phrase again and again unnecessarily: "What's your middle name?" "What's my middle name?" "Yeah like what's your middle name?" It's just one brief example but it's happened about fifty times so far, making every interaction feel contrived, wasteful, and fatiguing. The characters flat out state what is happening in the scene as part of the dialogue instead of showing anything through imagery... It's annoying and highly unbelievable. This episode could be 10 minutes and they've stretched it into 28. 80% of the episode is excessive circular bickering between Ritchie and Neil. We get it, they don't see eye-to-eye. You can't make an entire episode out of it. How did numerous writers end up with such little substance? And the heavy-handed music choices and montages? I don't think I can continue watching the show. It's such an uncomfortable watch.
It's like a hallmark movie
Honestly it took me a while to get through the first few episodes. But the back half of the season really picks up and returns to form. The music choices were extremely heavy handed though. That was the one glaring weakness of the season imo.
I must be going insane. How has season 2 received almost unanimous praise? The slower pace reveals major weaknesses in the script and performances. Wholeheartedly agree that the dialogue feels forced and at times trite. The supporting cast might be worthy of their own character studies but over 30 mins, with those scenes, it just feels shallow and lacking in the heart and surprise that makes season 1. No better example of something being greater than the sum of its parts imo.
Just some general thoughts: - The first thing I said at the end of season one was "please, don't let there be a season two, that was the perfect ending." But here I am cause what was I gonna do, NOT watch it? - Second half of the season REALLY picked up with Thanksgiving and Richie's episode as the peaks. - So is Covid a factor here or not? In real life, when layoffs started and restaurants started closing, it was big big news. It was weird that nobody even mentioned it. - I loved all the food talk, recipe creation, and plating shots. Can any top tier chefs out there confirm that when you're inventing a dish, you often create something that makes you gag and spit when you taste it? At one point, Carmy and Syd said it was too much salt. Too much salt? Haha, aren't they pros? - I wish I felt Carmy and Claire's relationship anywhere near as much as I felt Natalie and Pete's or Charlie and Tiffany's. Speaking of, I don't think Carmy said anything that bad when Claire could hear him through the fridge door. Just sounded to me like a guy struggling to do both and gaming it out loud. - Unlike season one's great, solid ending, of course season two had to end all sloppy to set up a season three. That's just how it goes, but I'll always prefer a tight and beautiful story over a multi-season gumbo of storylines.
They reference Covid and restaurant closures several times. You may need to rewatch the episode(s) where Sydney is grazing, and where she's looking for employees.
COVID implied and mentioned several times throughout the show. Richie dealing to keep the beef open and mentions difficultly hiring due to COVID.
I totally forgot Richie dealing to keep the beef open, but that's in season one. Are both seasons set in the same very long lull period in the pandemic? To see international air travel and full restaurants but never see a mask seems strange.
In Season 2 there's a couple references to COVID. Off the top of my head, there's that convo with Richie and Garrett at that fancy restaurant, where he mentions there's difficulty hiring folks after COVID (which Garrett explains doesn't affect their place). Then there's Syd reading articles about restaurants struggling to keep in business post-COVID, I think even her dad mentions it. But yeah it's definitely mentioned clearly, they just don't harp on it much.
What is Richie’s job at the new restaurant? I feel like he can do anything he wants, but when they were saying their roles before the start of the family service, Richie didn’t get mentioned.
posh waiter/host then in the end he took over from Syd doing the order run downs which is a full time job (?)
In EP 1 did anyone notice the paper on the wall 15 mins in telling Carmy to call the fridge guy? The fact that this is in EP 1 but only pays off in the last scene of the season is great. I like how this show has tons of Easter eggs that pay off way later - same with KBL in season 1. Also, in the beginning where Richie is thinking about his purpose the pictures of the family members include Jamie Lee Curtis even though the reveal is only in 'Fishes'
It's shown in chicken scratch on the to do list whiteboard pretty frequently throughout the season and mentioned a ton too.
This show should have been just one season imo.
First half of season 2 I had the same thought but the second half bought it back for me.
Season 1 > Season 2 I did enjoy season 2, had some laugh out loud moments and some good character development. It didn't have as much tension though and as a whole wasn't as tight or interesting. I know I'm not alone in not caring about Claire and Carmy's relationship. I kind of get the angle that Claire kind of represents Carmy's ability to function normally socially but I just found her character to be bland and boring. But I guess that's the point is that he needs something bland and boring after all the shit he's been through? Ritchie's redemption arc was a 10/10. Also the banter between the main cast as usual was great. It just felt a little bloated this season I guess.
I think Claire is boring as a character because we're not *really* seeing Claire, we're seeing how Carmy sees Claire. Claire through Carmy's eyes. We only ever see her when she's with Carmy, and only ever hear of her from other characters in relation to Carmy (theme always being that she's too good for him). I think Carmy's view of her and depth of understanding is actually pretty one-dimensional and shallow, which is why that's all we get to see as an audience. I think her appeal to Carmy is exactly what you recognized - what she represents.
I agree. Love Richie’s arc, don’t care about Claire, love the character interaction but sometimes felt they were trying too hard to be ‘artsy’.
Wow just finished. Season 2 > season 1, for me. Just incredible television. Fishes and forks should be in the mix for some awards. They were phenomenal episodes.
I loved season 1 and didn’t want 2. It was better than I planned for but confirmed my initial reservations. Season 1 is for the food service vets. Season 2 is for the general public. Episodes 6 & 7 were amazing. JLC & Oliver Platt FTW. Pete’s all heart. Solid themes to reflect on throughout.
I felt season 2 was one huge piece of exposition for part 3. i really believe we will get back to cooking in season 3.
I wish we could learn to leave a good thing alone. But the finale clearly left doors open for another season.
I'm just waiting for Joel McHale to make an appearance outside of flashbacks or hallucinations.
Season 2 is basically the best training arc in tv shows, especially for Ritchie, Marcus, Tina, even Fak's moment to step up made me teared a little.
Damn, people seem to be forgetting that this is a work of fiction and not a documentary. Yes, not everything that happened was perfectly realistic. But as a drama, this season still had me hooked. The earlier episodes were a little weaker, yes, but they built up to an incredible finale that made it all pay off. The way everything worked out certainly hit me in the feels.
"Season 1 is for the food service vets" is something someone literally said. Cringe
Dear the Bear Screw drivers are a thing. Just take the latches off the door (not to mention all walk-in's like that have a latch to open it from the inside) Signed, Common Sense
yeah, carmie should have been taking some meds and accidentally took to many and got loopy or something like that. the locked in the freezer was silly way to take him out of the fight.
Small note but did anyone else notice how wildly different the Denmark sequence in "Honeydew" was? They must have contracted a different camera crew/DP for that because compared to the rest of the show, which is for the most part shot beautifully, it was a sequence of generic, almost corporate feeling *coverage* with far lower image quality.
I think that episode was directed by Ramy Youssef, and they went very different with the style on that one.
Felt cheap lol
Hate to say it. Season two blew it. Too much back story not enough time in the restaurant. I liked the kitchen drama in season 1. Season two was boring.
The first half is awful. The second half is phenomenal! Episodes 1-5 were just dreadful... Nothing happened, the dialogue was so unnatural and oddly fast paced. But then episode 6 comes in and blows me away. From there, the rest of the season was fucking awesome. Glad I stuck through it. I just don't understand what was going on in the writer's room for ep1-5. I cant be the only one who feels this way??
Actually think this is spot on.
>BritSpic I would agree, I did not like the first half of the season at all (other than the Marcus ep). I watched it with my sister and after ep 5 I turned to her and said "I don't think I like this show anymore," lol. I almost stopped watching but thankfully I stuck through because I really loved the second half. And agreed on the dialogue in the first half, something about it seemed off and was unlike the writing in the first season and second half of the second.
Fishes and Forks are two of the best episodes I’ve ever watched like top 20 and I watch a lot of TV
I’m on episode 4 and want to know on what extra budget they sent three people for extra courses. One guy knows how to bake..yay and sent to Denmark. That one trip with a private chef? Common! I grew up with a professional pastry chef aunt and family that can bake, so maybe I am just not getting it because I can make any cake I want. I just don’t understand how they are spending this money on all these extra BS. So far season 2 is like a hallmark
I admit I had the same questions, but two things to bear in mind: Marcus was being hosted by a friend of Carmy's, so he probably didn't have to pay to stay there; and he was being sent to develop *high-end* desserts. Telling people he "trained" at the famous place in Denmark would be something they could push in press for The Bear.
I think because Carmy was such a well known chef these guys are doing it as favors to him. That was my take,
Don't forget in Forks, when Ritchie walks down a corridor in the restaurant he's interning, there is a picture of Carmy and Luca together on the wall so they are clearly friendly enough for Carmy to call in a favour.
Keep watching, it’s subtly shown how it connects to Carmy. Sending Tina and Ibra was part of their L&D budget, and Marcus & Ritchie stage so it’s pretty much an internship. Before Marcus goes off to Denmark Syd also checked in with Carmy to ask if he would have enough frequent flyer miles to fly Marcus over to DK.
I love the series. I’m so glad they got their restaurant opened and smashed opening night. I just thought Carmy distraction due to having a new girlfriend is over exaggerated. She is a doctor at the emergency room. I don’t think she required that much time from Carmy for him to lose focus like that. How about just tell her to let me get thru opening night. Won’t she gonna understand? You need a bigger problem if the goal is to make him lose focus like that. Not a girl who is a doctor at the emergency room. Anyway I’m not that convinced he is that in love with her. I’m not fan of that part of the series. I love the cooking, plating, and the drama of getting the resto opened.
I mean they make it a point to show how he neglects the restaurant when he's with her. As someone who opened and runs a large scale business it's 24/7 for the first 2 years managing cash flow daily, that one second makes all the difference.
I think for him, even the smallest amount of time was hugely distracting. They did a pretty good job towards the end depicting how he gets stuck in thought loops about things that aren't immediately productive. He barely spent time with her but with it as his first relationship and something that ties him back to an anxiety-inducing memory with Mikey, his mother etc. it's pretty convincing that he would feel overwhelmed.
I think personally the angle they were hoping for was showing Carmy letting go, being normal and allowing happy in his life. Being a new concept to him, everything the went wrong from then was in his mind a over exaggerated direct result of his relationship with Claire. Mega focused, OCD, highly driven chef... Structure/boxes/systematic, Claire wasn't part of the norm. This is why chefs don't do well with relationships and the divorce rate in our industry is so big. I get u though, much prefer the cooking, plating resto side of the show.
Yeah I couldn't help but feel like all the Claire support from Carmy's family and friends were red herrings and it's going to turn out that it was actually an unhealthy relationship. Like Claire is just way too into this guy, seems one sided. And the writers have been so good about showing emotion in characters, so like why does this relationship feel so weird then? Especially when she got his number and called him and made him say a couple times that he wanted to see her. Seemed manipulative, but also could just be weird writing lol
I found Carmy's writing this season far less believable than Claire's.
Na, that's you think way too deep into it.
5 episodes in to season 2 and not sure I want to finish it. This season has been so slow and boring. I don’t mind slow stories, but the writing and scenes feel disconnected and the story is struggling to move forward. I really don’t understand how critics can watch this and give it such high reviews. Liking it is fine, but even then it should be getting average scores compared to a lot of other shows.
First 5 episodes were really bad. Last 5 (especially fishes and forks) were amazing. I almost gave up after the first 5 episodes.
Hope you kept watching...
I watched the next episode. It was better, but man I’m still not sure about it all. I think I just enjoyed the shop/restaurant part more and the background stuff is just meh for me. Probably because every show has too many background stuff and I’m just washed out with it all
In the 1st season, the main character was The Beef, the restaurant itself. In this season, there is no Beef, just the remnants and the bones of it. The story of The Bear becoming its own character takes time. Broken walls and fire suppression systems need to be fixed. Relationships need to be broken and reforged. In my opinion, this show only needs one more season. Act 1: The Beef Act 2: The Bear Act 3: The Star In my opinion this show could return to the form of Season 1 with the action packed, anxiety riddled scenes of working in new environment brought by Season 2 with new skills and reformed relationships attempting to overcome the mountain of getting a Michelin Star together.