• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Newsletter
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Cover Story
Advertisement
  • Reviews
  • TV Reviews

Chicago Chefs Cook Through the Pain in FX’s Bittersweet Dramedy The Bear: Review

All episodes of the FX-produced series premiere on Hulu this June

The Bear Review Hulu FX
B

Release Date

  • June 23, 2022

Cast

  • Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edibiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Matty Matheson, Abby Elliott

Studio

  • FX

Where to Stream

  • Hulu
Advertisement
Clint Worthington Follow
June 12, 2022 | 9:30pm ET

    The Pitch: Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Shameless‘s Jeremy Allen White) is a young, ambitious chef who fled his working-class Chicago roots to spend a few years as one of the hottest chefs at a prestigious New York restaurant. Now, he’s returned home, feeling the joint stings of professional burnout, alcoholism, and (most importantly) the tragic death of his older brother by suicide. What’s more, Carmy’s brother left him the family business, a down-on-its-luck Italian beef joint called The Original Beef of Chicagoland.

    Now, he’s tasked with not just keeping the place afloat, but bringing his haute cuisine training to the restaurant and the gaggle of misfits that work there, from his hotheaded cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who manages the place with its tenuous link to coke dealers and gangsters, to irritable line vet Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and affable maintenance guy Fak (co-producer and celebrity chef Matty Matheson) But with the help of a new hire, the intensely overqualified and ambitious Sydney (Ayo Edibiri), Carmy may well have a shot at turning the place around — if they can survive the dinner rush.

    Full Hands In, Full Hands Out: For all the high-tension drama of the Gordon Ramsay “IT’S FUCKING RAW!” school of restaurant cooking, it’s frankly surprising that not a lot of narrative series have built stories out of them. Sure, there are your MasterChefs and your Hell’s Kitchens, but there are deceptively few stories about the tightrope act of running a restaurant that don’t fall into the realm of “reality” TV.

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    But for FX’s latest series, The Bear, showrunners and directors Christopher Storer (Ramy) and Joanna Calo (Hacks) sieve the tale of the talented but temperamental chef through a mournful tale of grief and cycles of familial trauma, and the results are surprisingly delectable, if a bit uneven.

    Right from the start, The Bear clearly establishes a visual and narrative kinship with another FX series, Atlanta (fitting, since Hiro Murai is a producer here). Fits of surrealism are peppered throughout — in the opening minutes, Carmy dreams about setting a caged bear loose on a bridge along the Chicago River — while Storer and Calo’s camera otherwise emulates Murai’s tonally-liberated direction.

    The Bear FX Matty Matheson

    The Bear (FX)

    Family Meal: What’s most notable about this food show is that the Beef (as we’ll call it) is hardly the Michelin-star setting we’ve seen in other stories like this; the place is dirty, grimy, held together with duct tape and dishrags stuffed in holes. Their clientele is construction workers and bachelor parties, and turf wars play out outside their doors more often than you’d think.

    Advertisement

    They’re more terrified of health inspectors than Bob Belcher, and rightly so; what’s more, Carmy’s brother left the place in disarray, with an undisciplined staff and more than a few surprise debts from some unscrupulous characters. (As someone who paid their dues in a college-town restaurant far more like this than the Zagat-friendly gourmets we typically see on TV, hearing the codes and cries of “hands!” and “behind!” and the calming ritual of family meal rang extremely true.)

    And yet, there’s the hope, mad that it is, that Carmy can not only turn things around, but elevate the menu and its clientele into something profitable and, dare we say, respectable. It’s these stretches, with Carmy trying desperately to pull the whole operation together, that comprise The Bear‘s most delicious moments. Yes, tensions run high: Richie thinks Carmy’s French-brigade-style operations are pretentious nonsense, while Sydney (a formally-trained chef reeling from the shuttering of her catering business) thinks they should be pushing the standards even further.

    But then you get to see Sydney gradually earning Tina’s respect in the kitchen, or baker Marcus (Lionel Boyce) taking inspiration from them to up his own game, and something as ribald and grisly as The Bear becomes downright sentimental. Chefs spit acid across the line, and tensions run hot, but it’s balanced out by an unexpected ribbon of sweetness — the underdog hope that these dysfunctional cooks will come together and become a family.

    Advertisement

    The Bear FX Matty Matheson

    The Bear (FX)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

More on this topic

  • Abby Elliott
  • Ayo Edibiri
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach
  • The Bear

Subscribe to our daily email digest for the latest headlines.

Advertisement

Popular Stories

Fan with Dog at Motionless in White show

Heavy Consequence

Fan Brings Dog to Motionless in White Show, Gets Admonished by Band's Drummer

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner

Pop Culture

Sophie Turner, Citing Child Abduction Laws, Sues Joe Jonas: Report

Advertisement

Vote for Your Favorite Local Music Venue!

Vote for Your Favorite Local Music Venue!

the breeders divine mascis j mascis divine hammer stream

Music

The Breeders Unveil "Divine Mascis," Alt Version of "Divine Hammer" with J Mascis on Vocals: Stream

sound of freedom producer groped trafficking victim breasts

Film

Sound of Freedom Producer Admits to Groping Possibly Underage Trafficking Victim's Breasts

Latest Stories

The Continental: From the World of John Wick (Peacock)

The Continental Grooves Its Way Through a Murky Jaunt In the John Wick Universe: Review

September 20, 2023

The Morning Show Season 3

The Morning Show Season 3 Is My Kind of Mess: Review

September 13, 2023

the changeling lakeith stanfield apple tv

LaKeith Stanfield Is Magnetic Throughout Apple TV's Inconsistent The Changeling: Review

September 7, 2023

Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 Review Rob McElhenney Ryan Reynolds

Welcome To Wrexham Season 2 Review: An Even More Expansive Portrait of Wrexham, Sports, and Ambition

September 6, 2023

One Piece Review

One Piece Review: Netflix's Live-Action Adaptation Sets Sail Towards a Promising Future

August 31, 2023

Ahsoka Review

Ahsoka Review: Star Wars Rebels Fans Are in for a Treat, But Others May Retreat

August 22, 2023

Painkiller Review

Painkiller Review: Netflix's Opioid Crisis Drama Feels Painfully Redundant

August 10, 2023

Winning Time Season 2 Review

Winning Time Season 2 Is a Fast Break Through Lakers History: Review

July 31, 2023

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • Modern Drummer
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Work For Us
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Chicago Chefs Cook Through the Pain in FX's Bittersweet Dramedy The Bear: Review

Menu Shop Search Newsletter
Consequence
News
  • News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • All Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
Videos
  • Interviews
  • Two for the Road
  • First Time I Heard
  • When I Made
  • Battle of the Bandmates
  • Peer 2 Peer
  • Essays
  • Fan Theories
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop
  • Shop
  • Giveaways
Hometowns

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close
 

Loading Comments...