Choosing The Bear – No, Not *That* Bear
By Keith Cronin | August 16, 2024 |
First things first: This post has nothing to do with the feminist meme that went viral last spring, asking women whether they’d rather be stuck in the wilderness with a man or a bear. While the conversations and debates that meme inspired were illuminating, divisive, and probably long overdue, I will be focusing on a different type of hirsute carnivore today: the highly successful Hulu TV series, The Bear.
If you’ve ever had the occasion to observe the none-too-svelte physique of the AMC (Adult Male Cronin), it may not surprise you to learn that I am a foodie. Food and me, we’re good buddies. I love learning about it, reading about it, cooking it, and yes, eating it. (Really love that last part.)
When Covid hit, my foodiness (might be a word) only grew, as our household’s frequent dependence on restaurants ground to an abrupt halt, and we found ourselves cooking Every. Freaking. Meal.
Every. Freaking. Day.
An upside of this is that my culinary skills and repertoire increased dramatically. But an even more significant upside was a newfound awareness of something I’d never bothered to explore before: TV shows about cooking. First came The Great British Baking Show, which I’d certainly heard about, but sounded mind-numbingly dull. WRONG. I immediately fell in love with the show, its cast of everyday-people contestants, and yes, Paul Hollywood’s eyes. I mean, come on. Those EYES. But I digress…
I mean, come ON.
Next came Top Chef, which became the new nightly binge-fest in our locked-down home. Then other cooking competition shows (none of which quite hit the mark like TGBBS or Top Chef), followed by the Covid-inspired flood of YouTube home videos about cooking from locked-down professional and aspiring chefs, many of which were extremely informative and entertaining.
The one genre I avoided was the seemingly endless onslaught of “Celebrity Chef Brutally Belittles Aspiring Students/Contestants” shows (ok, that might not be the actual genre name) that had also become increasingly popular, where big-name chefs (usually with very distinctive hairstyles) did their oh-so-shouty best to crush the spirits of less experienced cooks, all in the name of dramatic “reality” TV. Yeah, that’s gonna be a hard pass from me.
Bear with me…
I’d been hearing about The Bear since it came out in the summer of 2022. But I purposely avoided it, for one main reason. EVERY description I read or heard about the show always included the word “stressful,” so I assumed it was a drama about one of those shouty “rockstar” chefs constantly berating his hapless staff. Between that mistaken assumption, and the way the S-word invariably popped up in every discussion of the show, I concluded preemptively that The Bear – despite how good everybody said it was – was simply Not For Keith. Here’s why:
Despite the air of insouciance (a word I am not entirely sure how to pronounce, but am 87% confident that I am using correctly) I strive to convey, it may surprise you to learn that I am a very stressy guy. Like, VERY. About what? You name it – I’m an equal-opportunity stresser, with a long-proven ability to worry and stress over just about anything. And as it happened, I was having a particularly horrible and stressful year in 2022, so the idea of adding any further stress – even the vicarious stress of watching an intense but fictional drama on TV – just did NOT seem like a good or healthy idea for the Keithster.
So I lived my life Bearless, and attempted to “get my Zen on,” plastering my computer monitors with sticky notes quoting the Tao Te Ching and other inspirational sources to help me cope with the challenges I was encountering. Time passed, I got some help, made some changes to my diet, supplements and medications…
…and two years later, I decided to try just an episode or two of the show I was so keenly interested in – both as a writer and as a foodie – but also quite afraid of.
Turned out, my fears were baseless. Yes, there are some intense scenes in the show where the characters are stressed, and they can get shouty amongst themselves quite frequently. But really, it’s nothing I couldn’t handle. And the story is SO good – and the acting is flat-out AMAZING – that for a writer, it’s truly a master class in storytelling, particularly in terms of ever-heightening conflict, character development, realism, attention to detail, and dialog that just rings SO damn true to the ear.
And let’s be honest: Top Chef can get stressful. Plenty stressful. Hell, even The Great British Baking Show can get stressful. I mean, until a kind-hearted grandmother’s genoise sponge hasn’t risen correctly, or a preschool teacher’s gravity-defying chocolate sculpture begins to sag and melt due to an unexpected local heat wave, or you hear an exasperated physical therapist proclaiming their soggy-bottomed puff pastry to be “a disaster” in an impeccable British accent, you haven’t seen stress! But it’s an entertaining kind of stress – at least that’s my take on it. So now let’s take a look at what else The Bear offers us – both as viewers, and as writers.
It’s a great example of a “high concept” premise – with hidden depths.
For those not familiar, high concept refers to the ability to easily capture a story’s premise very succinctly – often with a single sentence, or even just a phrase. A perfect example is the movie Alien, which, legend has it, was successfully pitched to Hollywood producers in just three short words: “Jaws in space.”
While The Bear might require an entire sentence, it’s still an easy premise to grasp, so I’ll take a stab at it: An award-winning New York chef is called back home to Chicago to pick up the pieces after his brother commits suicide, leaving him in charge of a failing blue-collar sandwich shop. (I could probably reduce the wordcount by another 30-40% if I had the time, but you get the idea.)
There’s a new kid in town…
But while it’s easy to sum up the premise of The Bear, there is SO much more to the show than just a “day in the life” look at a struggling kitchen. Instead, we are taken deep inside the lives of a far more diverse range of characters than we usually see in a TV drama, and it’s a journey that keeps bearing gifts – as well as moments of heartbreak. Kinda like real life.
Nearly every character – from the main chefs to the guy who fixes the toilet – is on a transformational journey.
This is starting to feel like a trend – at least in new TV shows – and it’s one that I welcome. In a post I wrote last year, I called out Ted Lasso for doing this extremely well, but I think The Bear might even out-Lasso that beloved show. In particular, this show takes more than one character whom we initially dislike (or at least mistrust), and shows us both a potential for growth and a goodness in them that we could have never foreseen. A great example is when one of the most rough-edged and contentious members of the kitchen staff discovers the joy of exceeding his customers’ expectations, along with the newfound power of wearing a suit.
Like many fiction writers, my own work typically has only focused on the journeys and evolutions of one or two main characters, with the supporting cast remaining fairly static in terms of personal development. Although The Bear has a clear protagonist, over the course of three seasons we get to know nearly everybody associated with the restaurant – from its financier to its handyman and his annoying but hilarious brothers – in new and surprising ways. Shows like Ted Lasso and The Bear make me want to dig deeper with my own secondary characters, because of how effectively these shows prove that not only can it be done; it can be done very well.
The creators work hard to get the details right.
Prior to filming the first season of The Bear, several of the primary cast members underwent professional culinary training, with the two main actors even racking up some experience as line cooks (admittedly VERY carefully supervised line cooks) in some major restaurants. The language and buzzwords used in the show ring true, and the cinematography captures the beauty of the food being produced with a vividness that usually leaves me freaking starving after watching an episode or two. But that drool-inducing camera work also brilliantly captures the frantic pace at which the kitchen staff operates, and never feels like it’s fetishizing the food (a trap into which some foodie shows frequently fall).
In addition, numerous real-life big-name chefs make frequent appearances in the show (usually playing themselves), and the show’s goofy but lovable handyman is actually himself a well-known chef in real life.
WU’s own Barbara O’Neal brings this kind of culinary veracity to her novels when writing about cooking and food, and books like hers and shows like The Bear make me want to strive to accomplish a similar level of both realism and sensory appeal.
The story manages to go low, but aim high.
In The Bear, we see characters we’ve come to care about hitting some truly low points – sometimes of their own doing, other times through no fault of their own. We see people who should know better making bad choices, and/or saying and doing things they will come to regret. We gain a sense of what could drive the main character’s deceased brother – who appears in multiple flashbacks – to feel that suicide was his only option. And – unlike so many of the glitzy shows that feature the rich and powerful – we see most of these people struggle on a daily basis to deal with the serious economic pressure that so many of us face just to keep a roof over our heads and the lights turned on.
But rather than the grittiness of the characters’ lives becoming a downer to witness, instead we are inspired by how hard they are willing to work to keep those lights turned on, while trying to do work ultimately aimed at making other people happy.
I’ve worked in service roles in one way or another for much of my life, and The Bear does a marvelous job of showing why service jobs can be both meaningful and important to people from all walks of life, from dishwasher to headline-making Executive Chef.
Each season delivers some truly BIG dramatic moments.
This is a pain point for me as a writer, as I feel that my tendency to play it safe has historically prevented me from writing the kind of OMG larger-than-life moments that stay with the reader long after the book is closed.
The Bear is fearless in pushing the story – and the actors telling it – to the utter limit, and the result is an incredibly evocative and memorable experience for the audience. Without giving away any spoilers, there’s a family dinner scene that should win the guest-starring female actor an Emmy… or a damn Nobel Prize – it’s that good. And a scene where a lead character confronts an old mentor who used to torment him is a marvel to watch, revealing SO much about both characters.
An amazing performance from a nearly unrecognizable actor
But while both of those scenes relied on the actors to push themselves to the limit, an equally powerful scene leaves most of the cast – and all of us viewers – frozen in silent terror while staring at an uninflated balloon attached to some kitchen contraption, praying to all things holy that it will not inflate (for reasons you’d need to watch the show to understand). It’s a very well executed example of when the situation – not the characters’ actions or the actors’ performances – is what makes for such a memorable and dramatic moment. And okay, yeah – it’s also a stressful moment. But hey, I survived it, and so can you!
Ultimately, the show can be described with a different S-word.
None of this is to say the show is entirely stress-free. It really can’t be, dealing as it does with heavy topics like suicide, addiction, survivor’s guilt, crushing debt, MAJOR family dysfunction, intense competition, and an every-second-counts sense of urgency and pressure that NEVER lets up for anybody working in a restaurant’s kitchen.
But to me, the show is ultimately more about striving than about stress.
The pressure these people work under is self-imposed, because they are all trying to do something – whether it’s cranking out sandwiches and spaghetti in a timely manner to an impatient blue-collar clientele, or launching a high-end restaurant with its sights set on earning a Michelin star within a year – that they are well aware will be VERY difficult to pull off. But that doesn’t stop them from trying. And I kind of love that. A lot.
One of many teaching moments
In keeping with that sense of striving, when he takes over the sandwich shop, the lead character sets out specifically to NOT be one of those despotic abusive chefs who makes all his staff feel fearful and inadequate. And while we do see some flashbacks of him experiencing that kind of truly awful treatment in his own past, it is NOT the overall focus of the show, to my immense relief.
So yeah, full disclosure: There’s stress in The Bear. But that also means the show is chock full of our stock-in-trade as writers: Conflict. And I submit that The Bear has many lessons to teach us on that front as well.
For now, all I can say to the idea of The Bear being renewed for another season is a hearty “Yes, Chef!”
How about you?
Have you braved The Bear? And if you’ve dared to try it, did it live up to the hype? Have you ever been similarly intimidated about some new book, show or movie that everybody’s talking about? Please chime in, and as always, thanks for reading.
Author of the novels Me Again (originally published by Five Star/Gale), and Tony Partly Cloudy (published under his pen name Nick Rollins), Keith Cronin (he/him) is a corporate speechwriter and professional rock drummer who has performed and recorded with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, and Pat Travers. Keith’s fiction has appeared in Carve Magazine, Amarillo Bay, The Scruffy Dog Review, Zinos, and a University of Phoenix management course. A native of South Florida, Keith spends his free time serenading local ducks and alligators with his ukulele.
Okay, Keith. You’ve convinced me. I’ll try it tonight! Thanks
Hope you enjoy it, Nancy!
You had me at TV (and food). I watch shows with two heads (actually, three..) 1. Is the show grabbing me….or not? 2) If it is, why? If it isn’t, why? Bonus 3 reason) It’s great to have an excuse to binge-watch.
I save the hugest respect for Vince Gilligan (writer of BREAKING BAD), who never missed a beat in surprising me, who infused the ‘gotta know’ while also infusing characterization from the main to minor players, and who came across as the nicest-of-the-nice in every interview.
Great piece, Keith.
Thank you, Randy – funny you should mention Vince Gilligan. I just finished bingeing Better Call Saul, which I really enjoyed, and it’s making me want to go back and give Breaking Bad another try. I tried it years ago, but had to bail after one episode just got TOO freaking dark for me. But I’ll know when to hit the fast-forward button this time around, so I’m hoping to get through the whole series this time.
I watched the pilot episode last night, and it’s one of the best pilots EVER, in my opinion. Thanks for chiming in!
The Bear has been on my list for awhile but you’ve convinced me to start watching today, Keith, as you did with The Diplomat. I love your analysis of how these shows can inform our writing. Thanks!
Thanks, Mary – let me know if you enjoy it. Hoping so!
Now I’m hungry!! I’m also inspired. All the characters are on a journey. You made me think about those books that I always want to re-read, the stories I don’t forget. And lo! All the characters have arcs. They also strive, fall down, get up, win, lose, grieve, all the stressful things. I feel with them and learn from them. Delicious post, Keith. Thank you!!
My pleasure, Susan!
I’m always SO impressed when storytellers can a) get you so invested in multiple characters, and b) take each of those characters on their own journeys. Good stuff.
Always love your posts, Keith and this one is no exception. I need some of your calm though because while I love the Bear, I have to take frequent breaks to get through an episode – the tension makes me vibrate! But I agree with every word you wrote – the writing is so good, the characters so complex, and the journey each one is one is deep and informed by so much. I just finished season two – maybe we need a WU viewing party for season three?
Thanks, Liz – much appreciated. I’ve already seen Season 3, but I am *totally* down for a watch party!
Keith, I always look forward to your posts, kinda like I look forward to a good dessert. The BEAR is awesome, and I am eager to watch the next season, and yes, the diverse characters are what make it so CHICAGO, where I live, and so REAL. But currently the chef I can’t stop thinking about is Stephen Colbert, who worked with Jose Andres on his TV show while experiencing the pain of a burst appendix. Colbert finished the segment, and they rushed him to a hospital, but surely that was taking THE SHOW MUJST GO ON to a very dangerous level!!
Thanks, Beth – and yes, that show is SO Chicago, isn’t it? As a fellow Midwesterner, it’s another thing I dig about The Bear.
Wow, never heard that Colbert story – that is HARD CORE. Not to mention dangerous as hell. I’m glad he’s okay!
While I enjoyed the first two seasons, I feel that the third one was a waste of my time. The main character did turn out to be an abusive a-hole, and too many episodes had no plot with over the top navel gazing about pain and angst that tried my patience. At this point, I’m not even sure I want to see season 4.
Those are fair points, Leslie, and you’re not the first person I’ve heard who didn’t enjoy Season 3 nearly as much as the others. I liked it, but there was at least one episode that really dragged for me (the nonstop hospital story, which REALLY could have used a subplot or two), and there was some rather psychedelic episode during one of the seasons that left me cold.
Personally, I found the MC more bossy and narrow-minded than abusive, but that’s open to interpretation. And you’re spot on about the show having some thoroughly gazed-upon navels, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did you. Hopefully they’ll bring the show closer to your liking next season, if you decide to give it a shot. Thanks for chiming in!
I have been through seasons one and two three times, and will likely do more. (I’m still digesting three, but will watch every mi Ute for as many seasons as they go). Your analysis is excellent and I don’t need to embroider, but I’ve also been learning a lot from the pacing, the story arcs, all of it. Also, family dysfunction and how that plays out over time, a favorite subject of mine. And, thanks for the shout out, my friend.
Thanks, Barbara – I was hoping you’d stop by WU today! I will definitely be doing some re-watching, now that I’ve got a better overall understanding of the show. And you’re welcome for the well-deserved shout-out – your books really made an impact in terms of me seeing how writing about food and cooking can be such a powerful way to connect with the reader’s emotions.
I love so many things about this post, I’m not quite sure where to begin, but let’s start with AMC and just highlight everything from there. Love your voice and style and the way you lead us to and through your point, Keith.
But here is perhaps the greatest compliment I can offer: Hearing so many amazing things about The Bear, we tried it. We tried it hard, for six or seven episodes that felt like a job I hated reporting to every night. When a friend with similar tastes to mine finally told me she’d watched all of it and that I didn’t need to bother, I took that as a welcome sign that I could stop watching, waiting for it to carry me away the way that everybody had described.
But even with all that, your write-up has convinced me to maybe, just maybe, give it another shot. I know tastes are subjective, but an awful lot of people whose viewpoints I respect and share keep telling me how good this show is.
For now I’m going to take your word for it, but I will try to give it another shot and keep an open mind. 😁
And for the record, I do see all the things that are brilliant about it, like the acting and character work.
Thanks so much, Tiffany. But I totally get how some shows just don’t work for some viewers. Mad Men is like that for me. I’ve tried multiple times, but I just do NOT like that show, and have bailed on it every time. Yet so many people – including tons of writers whom I respect deeply – utterly *worship* that show.
I guess that’s why there’s more than one flavor of ice cream.
Mmmmm… ice cream.
Great. Now I’m hungry, dammit!
We also tried MadMen and didn’t get hooked!
I was in total accord with you on The Diplomat, one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. I’ll keep an open mind on The Bear…but meanwhile I am most excited for the new season of Shrinking. :)
We watched the first episode of MadMen and I bailed. I’m sure the series is as great as everyone says, but how rattled do I want to be while watching it? If I wanted to be p’o’ed about inequality I’d look to the media’s coverage of politics (and I do).
Sean and I *listened* to your post together (ht Speechify) and laughed and nodded and debated and laughed some more. We’ve seen all three seasons of The Bear and will certainly be back to the gobble up every new season that’s released. (The debate, if you’re curious, was over Richie’s character arc and what was at root: his dedication to service, the idea of “stepping up,” or something else entirely.)
I should write up a piece on BEEF at some point as it is astounding story craft. Honestly, there have been very few series that left us *both* applauding at the end without a shred of criticism, and BEEF is one of them. Despite the title, this is not another cooking-related show, alas. But it’s delicious, sticky soul-food-for-writers just the same.
Thanks, Keith! I’m glad this past year was better than 2022 for you. Here’s to betterer and betterer from here on out.
Hi Therese (and Sean)! I haven’t tried Speechify, but I do proof my posts using the “Read Aloud” function in Microsoft Word. It’s a very helpful way to catch “invisible” typos, but I can’t say much for its comic timing.
Not familiar with BEEF, but now I’m curious – dare I say, hungry? – to check it out!
Thanks for the good wishes – much appreciated. On the Richie front, my vote would be that it’s about stepping up. I think his service job made him aware of just how much headroom there is to get better at things – life included.
Hi Keith:
One of my good friends from high school has been urging us to watch THE BEAR, and I think it’s my wife’s profound love for TGBBS — and her fear this would not measure up — that has stilled our hand when selecting the evening’s viewing options. I’m thinking this should change.
I was put off by all the raves Richard Price’s CLOCKERS received, and I kept it at arm’s length until a friend was shocked I’d not already read it. That induced me to give it a spin and, yeah, a lot of things changed in how I looked at how to build a story not from good-versus-evil or even good-versus-bad but just two strong, compelling characters whose goals cannot be reconciled.
BTW: Two other shows that at least attempt the everybody-gets-an-arc approach are THE BOYS and RESIDENT ALIEN.
Thanks for this.
We love both TGBBS and TB here. Extremely different. Both tasty.
Hi David – thanks for these suggestions, and for the nice plug you gave me on Facebook!
I think you’ll dig The Bear. As I mentioned to one other commenter, there were a couple of episodes that didn’t wow me, but even they were clearly ambitious, and I think the swing-for-the-fences ambition of this show is part of its appeal to me.
Let me know if it ends up floating your boat. But as Therese noted, it is NOTHING like the Great British Baking Show experience!
Chef, er, Keith—the Bear has almost slashed me to death several times (I am a stressy sort too), but I wielded the remote back to bloody On, because some of the performances are fabulous—I was mesmerized by the remarkably subtle (and pained/confused/combative) facial expressions alone from your pictured but unnamed actress. Wow.
You are right—she should get some kind of recognition for that. Maybe renaming Peking Duck after her.
Thanks for your always interesting and fun posts.
Thanks, Tom. Wasn’t that an incredible performance? And while I’ve always enjoyed her work as an actor, I never put her in that Uber Serious Heavyweight Actor category, like a Meryl Streep or Daniel Day Lewis, etc. But that dinner scene made me appreciate her in a whole new way. That was truly a heavyweight performance.
Great post, Keith! I agree with you about the GBBS. It was such a comfort during lockdown.
And those steely blues…
Thank you, Lisa. And comfort is the perfect word for the GBBS, isn’t it? Just what so many of us needed during lockdown.
Keith, you’ve convinced me to keep going with the Bear! We don’t watch much TV except for the weekend movie night so we’re partial to standalones than serials, but I do remember enjoying the few episodes we did watch. I’ve always loved stories about the common people, the struggles they face, how they overcome it. And I love what you said about striving. The food aspect is ALWAYS welcome! Thanks for a very persuasive post–you’ve had me pick up several books with your enjoyable analyses.
Glad I’ve got you enthused, Vijaya, but I do want to warn you that some of the language and situations might not be to your tastes, based on some of our exchanges over the years. While this show nails the “common people” aspect you appreciate, some of these common people might not be ones you’d want to bring into your living room.
But a few episodes should be enough for you to determine that. Let me know what you think!
Me too. I’m in. I tried the first episode and what appeared to be the lead male character’s imaginary confrontation with a bear on the roof just did not pull me in. I’m headed back to Hulu. Thank you for a great article!