‘The Bear’ is Stressful

Jeremy Allen White in The Bear | Credit: Hulu

The Bear introduces us to an eclectic group of chefs who work at a sandwich shop in Chicago.

Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is a talented chef who once worked in the most exclusive restaurants in the U.S. After his brother dies, he returns to his hometown to take over running his brother’s sandwich shop. The regular stress of working in the kitchen is only amplified by the explosive personalities of the other chefs and the restaurant’s state of utter disarray.

The Bear is the most stressful show I’ve ever seen. (If you’ve seen a more consistently stressful show, please let me know; I would be fascinated to experience that.)

Other shows cycle through moments of stress and resolve throughout the episodes and the season. The Bear takes a different route and gives you all stress all the time.

And it works!

Jeremy Allen White, Lionel Boyce, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in The Bear | Credit: Hulu

What makes this so effective is that the stress isn’t just isolated to one person or place. And it’s not one type of stress.

First off, kitchens are loud environments. There’s the banging of pots and pans, the shouting of orders, and the various noises that come with cooking tremendous amounts of food.

For this introvert, that is already stressful… but the show takes it up many notches.

In the kitchen, something is always going wrong. Characters have to respond to whatever hijinks or errors are on the docket for that day. One day, it’s the health inspector, another day, it’s broken equipment, and another day it’s problems with a new system. There’s always something new going wrong in the kitchen, which is always exciting to watch.

Each of these intense circumstances leads to interesting and sometimes extreme character moments. We get to see how each person responds under immense pressure, and they don’t always respond well.

These moments of tension and character interaction are never wasted. With each episode, we learn more about who these characters are, what they have been through, and what motivates them. The show doesn’t stress the audience just to stress us, but to show us who these characters are.

It’s brilliant!

Of course, there’s a deep emotional core to all of this — Carmy’s grief. His older brother, his best friend, has died and left him this restaurant. He doesn’t understand why Mikey (Jon Bernthal) left the sandwich shop to him, but he is doing his best to continue his brother’s legacy.

There’s so much emotional weight and grief boiling beneath the surface for Carmy. And you see it leaking out when he’s in the kitchen interacting with the rest of the staff.

Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri in The Bear | Credit: Hulu

Each character is so incredibly human that you just want to root for them. This even includes Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who is Carmy’s cousin and a real piece of work. He’s the worst, but there’s also something endearing about him. That’s some impressive writing!

But the MVP of this entire show is Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), a young, talented, and ambitious chef who joins this dysfunctional team. She respects Carmy and wants to help him turn the shop around, but she struggles to find her place on the team.

Sydney doesn’t let that stop her. Throughout the season, she works to earn the respect of the other chefs and consistently kills it. She brings so many good ideas to the table, effectively leads the team, and helps keep the business afloat.

I think there’s a lot here to consider regarding what it’s like to be a young Black woman in a white and male-led space, but I will leave that to someone more qualified than me to write about it.

Sydney is an incredible character who brings so much to this show. Throughout the season, The Bear intentionally and efficiently gives us information about her so that we better understand who she is and how she found herself in this position.

Jeremy Allen White and Liza Colón-Zayas in The Bear | Credit: Hulu

The Bear is an incredibly stressful show. But each moment of stress, tension, and stakes has a purpose behind it. The characters are all interesting, three-dimensional, and so human that you want to root for them. Episodes are well-thought-out and very creative in how this story is told.

Season one of The Bear is exceptional. I can’t wait to dive into season two!