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Google PlaySummer TV just got hotter with the arrival of The Bear.
The FX show is about a talented chef named Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, whose thriving career takes a backseat when he returns to his hometown of Chicago after losing his brother Michael to suicide. Carmy, played by the incredible Jeremy Allen White, is left to deal with the tragedy, while also inheriting the massive responsibility of running his family’s sandwich shop—The Original Beef of Chicagoland.
It doesn’t happen often that a show grabs my attention within its first five minutes the way The Bear did. How a show kicks things off sets the tone for things to come, and this opening scene was all I needed to know that I was staying on for this ride. The show starts with a dreamlike sequence where Carmy comes face-to-face with a caged brown bear on a bridge over the Chicago River. The bear suddenly attacks him and he wakes up in the middle of the shop’s kitchen. Dreams have been tools that other great shows like Atlanta (Hiro Murai is also an executive producer on The Bear) and The Sopranos have used to tell their story in the past, so things are already off to a good start.
The actor headed back to Chicago to film this new series after starring in Showtime’s Shameless for 11 seasons as Lip Gallagher. “I love that city so much,” he said about working there again. “If you’re going to be stuck somewhere, at least it’s Chicago. It was interesting too because it’s a different version of Chicago. The focus of this show is so much food and so I had all these amazing experiences. I went to a couple of really amazing restaurants, so day to day it was way different than it was on Shameless.” White effortlessly carried the Showtime show when Emmy Rossum left after Season 9, and he does the same in The Bear, making Carmy one of the most compelling characters currently on TV.
The Bear is about food, family, and the insanity that goes on behind the scenes to operate restaurants. There is a sense of urgency, stress and apprehension that’s felt throughout each episode, and the tension rarely ever dissipates, even during the show’s quieter moments. There’s a sense of inner turmoil that overwhelms the characters, as they all are dealing with their own problems and consternation about who they are, their careers, and where they are headed. “This show is, yes, it’s about a kitchen,” Calo adds. “But it’s really about what’s inside these characters and the larger things they’re dealing with and for Carmy, it’s his family and all of the demons that have haunted him for a long time.”
Director Christopher Storer brought in Canadian chef Matty Matheson as co-producer, and the chef is also making his acting debut as handyman Neil Frank on the show. Matheson was tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the authenticity of what it is like to work in a kitchen, making the actors’ cooking skills and the details of how the restaurant industry functions look believable.
That kind of meticulous care and wanting to make the show as genuine as it is is what the creators and the cast hope viewers notice about the show. “I hope they connect with the family aspect of the kitchen. What I really want more than anything is for people who really are working in the back of house, cooks, chefs, I hope it rings true for them,” White says. “If we can show it to people that really lived in that world and they think it’s true and honest, then we succeeded.”
Carmy’s relationship with Sydney, played by comedian Ayo Edebiri, blossoms through Season 1 and becomes the foundation of the restaurant’s rebirth. They’re both professional chefs who had a taste of glory until life called them back home but they have what it takes and the know-how to run a successful kitchen. The tension between Carmy and his brother’s best friend Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is so thick but their scenes together bring out the best in both actors. Overall the chemistry between the cast—which also includes Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Edwin Lee Gibson—is electrifying and adds to the magic, urgency, and high energy that makes the show great.
Food lovers will surely get a kick out of the half-hour original series, and for those who’ve never worked in the service industry, this will help you understand the grind and hard work it takes for chefs and restaurant staff to prepare your favorite meals.
All Season 1 episodes of The Bear are now available for streaming only on Hulu.
