The Bear Cooks Up a Full Remodel in Season 2 — Grade the Premiere!
Change is never easy, and The Bear‘s kitchen staff is learning that the hard way in Season 2 of Hulu‘s culinary dramedy.
Thursday’s premiere opens with Marcus paying a tender visit to his ailing mother in the hospital, massaging her hand and whispering “I love you” before heading into work at the sandwich shop. It’s closed for remodeling now that Carmy is turning it into a fine-dining restaurant; he insists, “It’s a facelift, not a gut,” but really, it’s both. He runs down the list of things they need — new equipment, drywall, permits — and estimates the total cost at $95,000. His sister Natalie is helping out with the numbers, and Sydney is trying to get her to be their official project manager… but Richie is having a crisis of confidence. He admits to Carmy he’s a bit lost (“What’s my purpose, homie?”) and worries that everyone will leave him behind. Carmy promises, though, that he’ll never do that.
With Carmy as executive chef and Sydney as the chef de cuisine, they’ll need a new sous chef, Tina points out. They also need new pots and pans, she adds, but Sydney suggests they just scrub the old ones clean. Not every fix is that easy, though: Natalie tells Carmy they need to settle their old debts before getting a new business license, and they need to pay for a city consultant, which involves layers of bureaucracy — and then Sydney leans on a wall and busts right through it. “There’s not enough money,” Carmy laments. “There never is,” Natalie replies. “Until you get more.”
So they sit down with their uncle Jimmy to pitch him their vision for the restaurant… and to ask him to loan them $500K more to make it a reality, to go along with the $300K they found in the tomato cans. (Oh, and a loud alarm is ringing in the background the whole time, but Carmy is unfazed: “I don’t mind it.”) Jimmy says there are plenty of good restaurants in Chicago, but Sydney pipes up to say, “We’re going to be better.” In fact, she claims they’ll get a Michelin star and make it a culinary destination. Carmy makes a promise to Jimmy: If they don’t pay him back in 18 months, Carmy will sign over the building and the lot it’s on, which is worth at least $2 million. Jimmy is intrigued — and asks how soon they can open.
With his sign-off, they’re in business, but Natalie thinks it’ll take them six months minimum just to open their doors, which could sink the restaurant before it even starts. Tina proudly shows Sydney the freshly scrubbed and salvaged pots and pans — and Sydney asks her to be the restaurant’s sous chef. (Tina’s joy at hearing this news is just adorable.) Carmy goes home to work on the menu, with dish names scribbled on a big board, and when he catches a glimpse of his old chef whites, it stirs something in him. He goes back to the restaurant to find Sydney and Natalie still there, and they all agree six months is too long. They hastily sketch out a new calendar that gives them a mere three months until The Bear opens. “This is a terrible idea,” Sydney muses — but they’re doing it anyway.
Give The Bear‘s Season 2 premiere a grade in our poll, and then grab a table in the comments and share your thoughts.
This show is almost perfect, it just needs more episodes (or longer episodes, ideally both). Jeremy Allen White leads an incredibly talented cast of characters that all have deep interesting stories to tell. I watched season 1 4 times and never get tired of watching this show.