You’d think “The Bear” is the “Citizen Kane” of television dramedy, given all of the critical hyperventilating/ kowtowing over Season 2, which premiered June 23 (the FX series streams exclusively on Hulu).
It’s not — no less than in the primary half of this 10-episode season, already ruined for me by a Deadline interview with series star Jeremy Allen White by which he describes his “Season 2 finale breakdown.”
Cool, thanks a lot for spoiling the whole lot — something we try very hard to not do here unless absolutely obligatory.
This was not obligatory. Delayed viewing, anyone?
From what I’ve seen up to now, Season 2 of “The Bear” is just meh — and is meandering through a sophomore slump, perhaps vis-á-vis the pressure to outdo its stellar inaugural season.
That intrigue has largely vanished now, replaced by an annoying — and at times, boring — story arc as still-depressed chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (and his hair) rebrands and rebuilds his down-and-out Chicago eatery amidst the bickering and workplace/personal drama that was somewhat charming in Season 1 because the predominant characters, particularly Carmy, traveled on their journeys of self-discovery.
“The Bear” is way too loud, each in its audio and contextual dimensions.
Its decibel level is aided and abetted by too-precious cinematography and editing — a trap into which “Higher Call Saul” stepped in trying to duplicate the visual form of its predecessor, “Breaking Bad.”
There are frenetically shot, way-too-noisy arguments by which it’s hard to know who’s saying what as Carmy’s army talk over one another in that Robert Altman-type of way — almost as in the event that they’re standing on a jetway attempting to outshout one another above above the engines’ roar.
Sure, it creates tension … but in a negative, cacophonous way.
And the way persistently do we want to listen to that obnoxious phrase “Yes, Chef!” from the lead characters?
Is that this is really how colleagues within the restaurant business address one another behind closed doors — and, if that’s the case, even in dumps like the previous Original Beef of Chicagoland? Really?
Seems to me just sad and self-involved.
They’re creating food that shall be woofed down by customers with no second thought. Nobody outside the kitchen really cares in regards to the inside-baseball verbiage behind those swinging doors.
Enough already.
(I used to be on a press call, years ago, with Gordon Ramsay; obsequious reporters addressed him as “Chef” and I wanted to succeed in out through the phone wires and slap them upside their heads.)
“The Bear” will rightfully earn a handful (or more) of well-deserved kudos July 12 for stars White, Ayo Edibiri (Sydney) and Ebon Moss-Bacharach (Richie) — and, perhaps, for supporting players Liza Colón-Zayas (Tina) and Lionel Boyce (Marcus) — when nominations for the seventy fifth Annual Emmy Awards are announced.
And Season 2 guest stars including Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, Olivia Colman and John Mulaney are on the best way, so there’s that.
Up to now, though, “The Bear” has didn’t roar and, most of the time, is just clattering, check-your-watch background noise.
Get it together, people.
There’s a recent restaurant to launch and even less time to capture viewers’ fancy before “The Bear” is off their menus and it’s on to one in every of the opposite 464,786 series on the market in TV land.
