Season two of the American comedy-drama The Bear arrived last week to delectable reviews from critics.
Created by Christopher Storer, the latest chapter of the Hulu series – which is available to watch in the UK on Disney+ – sees the return of loveable chef Carmy (played by Jeremy Allen White), his sous chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and de facto manager Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).
According to the official synopsis, the trio “work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.
“Of course, it turns out the only thing harder than running a restaurant is opening a new one, and the team must juggle the insane bureaucracy of permits and contractors with the beauty and creative agony of menu planning.
“The transition brings a newfound focus on hospitality as well. As the entire staff is forced to come together in new ways, pushing the boundaries of their abilities and relationships, they also learn what it means to be in service, both to diners and each other.”
Here’s what the critics had to say...
“Season two, to its great credit, becomes a different kind of show — a season with its own set of questions and preoccupations. It’s still a series about inheritance, ambition, and how a history of family pain can turn those two things into competing forces. But it’s a notch lighter than it was before — just a touch more hopeful while introducing new areas of tension via inescapable relationship cycles and the costs of an all-consuming career.”
“Simply put? It’s beautiful to watch. Going into a new run of episodes, The Bear’s creators clearly felt like it was not enough to show you the full, finished product of Carmy and Sydney’s labour. No. They wanted to show you the intent—and story—behind every ingredient, colour, flavour, and dish. That every bite of food came from somewhere, whether it be a kitchen in Copenhagen or the inner recesses of an electric mind and a beating heart. All you have to do? Come hungry. And be ready to eat.”
“This time around, there are no missing ingredients: In the stirring sophomore season, Storer folds in layers of insight about his kitchen characters, linking the brokenness of their past with the anxiety and ambition of their present. As Carmy and Co. venture outside of their dysfunctional Beef family bubble, The Bear serves up 10 new episodes that are reliably intense and watchable, but even more tender.”
“I have a handful of quibbles with the show’s pacing (there’s too much crammed into some of these half hour episodes) and its soundtrack (why so many 80s and 90s songs? Carmy and Sydney would’ve been in diapers during the Replacements’ heyday!). But ultimately, The Bear is an addictive mix of sweet and salty. It isn’t afraid to be messy, to let confusion unfurl alongside triumphs. At one point, Sydney and Carmy perfectly capture the series when they describe what they are trying to achieve with their restaurant. Make it a ‘chaos menu—but thoughtful’.”
“Although it gets off to a slow start, Season 2 showcases the intense dedication, schooling, sacrifice, and single-mindedness that is required to work in the unforgiving hospitality industry. There’s a recurring motto that comes up time and time again of making every second count, and while it stumbles once or twice, The Bear Season 2 utilizes every second — even when the scene is slower and less chaotic. This is a newer, polished season. It is one that, like the eponymous new restaurant, has evolved past its rougher beginnings to turn out another course that leaves us hungry for more.”
“Overall [it is] a refreshingly bold season of television for a show that consistently believes in some core human goodness, though often sliced and diced by addiction, grief and self-destruction. The season’s chef d’oeuvre is its sixth installment, Fishes, a flashback episode to a cursed Feast of the Seven Fishes a few years prior with a who’s who of guest stars as volatile Berzatto friends and family. It’s an hour of old resentments, new vulnerabilities and raw hurt brought to such a boil that I watched the last 20 minutes through my fingers. Some people change; some patterns repeat.”
“It remains a magnificent achievement. The ever-so-slight shift in tone most of the time doesn’t change that — especially since The Bear can still make scenes and episodes so nerve-racking, you will question every life choice that led you to watching it. At an Al-Anon meeting, Carmy tells the group, “I have to remind myself to breathe sometimes.” His audience will have to do the same at different points in Season Two. Just not as often as a year ago.”
The Bear season two is streaming now on Disney+.