There’s a collapse of the worlds third largest power happening in real time on social media and The Bear is still trending in top twenty.
The show is just that good guys.

— Ethan Embry (@EmbryEthan) June 24, 2023

Season 2 was good. Instead of every episode being a pressure cooker, it felt like each episode was building in intensity. It was definitely slow to start.

By the time we got to the forks episode we were back to season 1 pressure cooker chaos.

I liked to see the character development of several of the key people. Really seeing them evolve as people was important for the emotional payoffs or letdowns in the last episode.

Good season.

I'm curious how they will manufacture drama in season 3.

How do you do spoiler tags again?

Bookend the text with bracketed sp and /sp .

I liked the payoff of the fact that Carmy invested in each of his employees throughout the season and was opening himself up to change. When the pressure ramped up he sort of reverted back to old Carmy (not good), but since he had poured a lot of himself into his team, they were able to take care of him for a change.

Thanks, I was typing it out [spoiler]

Sure thing. Also, if you ever wonder how someone did something with their post, you can hit "quote" and then you'll be able to look at the exact text they typed.

Finished last night. Great season; love this show.

Episode 6 was way over the top for me; felt like they could have achieved the same thing in a 5-minute flashback. And Richie's evolution into a key contributor would have been more believable spread over more than one episode. But those are minor picks; the season was top-notch.

Knocked out the season. Absolutely love this show. There were a handful of times I teared up this season.

Through episode five, and the sparks between Carmy and Claire are off the freaking charts. This show is just flexing now. It went from one of the best, most adrenaline-fueled character studies on TV, with an incredible cast and such a specialized, well-rendered setting, to casually throwing in one of the best on-screen couples/romantic dramadies I've seen in years.

The soundtrack remains top notch as well, with so many great, John Hughes musical callbacks, some obvious and others incredible deep cuts (seeing as Hughes and writer/director Chris Storer are both from Chicago, where the show is obviously set).

I'm loving this so much, and am going to try and make these next five episodes last as long as I can.

Doing 2 episodes a night to make it last.

Finished the season once and immediately rewatching. Too good. I haven't felt this way since Friday Night Lights (my personal #1 show).

I heard someone on a podcast recently compare it to Friday Night Lights as well. They're obviously completely different shows/settings, but it's so spot on in terms of the emotional connection to both.

Yeah, I would say the amount of heart is the Venn Diagram. Every character moment feels visceral. The good and the bad.

Mozart Paintings said:

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Knocked out the season. Absolutely love this show. There were a handful of times I teared up this season.

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Yep.

Finished season two, and I actually enjoyed it more than season one. Episodes 5-7 are phenomenal.

Enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed the evolution of Richie and Marcus.

Season 2, episode 2.

Final scene when Carmy runs into Claire. Watched it 3 times. Simply perfect.

I'm on episode 4 of season 2 and I'm loving being back. I'm liking this season a little more so far because they dialed back the stress a touch and are focusing more on the entire crew. Don't get me wrong it's still stressful hearing about all the money they need, and the insane timeline they're putting together, and the fact they're all in over their heads. I also think they're doing a good job sprinkling in a little more humor than last season.

They've really tugged at my emotions and I'm not even done with the 4th episode yet.
Richie really evolving in the show with trying to find his purpose. As the father to a daughter his scene dropping her off really got me.
Sydney and her dad at the diner.
Sydney promoting Tina.
Ebraheim struggling at culinary school.
Marcus in Copenhagen balancing learning with leaving his mom/grandma at home. Sorry but I don't recall if they specified what family member of his it was.

This show is just about perfect, it's tough for me to find flaws in it.

Love the show but so many montages. With such a short show I don't need scenes of churches, birds and bridges in Copenhagen, especially because I love how the dialogue is written.

Max Power said:

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I'm on episode 4 of season 2 and I'm loving being back. I'm liking this season a little more so far because they dialed back the stress a touch and are focusing more on the entire crew.

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Wait till episode 6.

aggierogue said:

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Max Power said:

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I'm on episode 4 of season 2 and I'm loving being back. I'm liking this season a little more so far because they dialed back the stress a touch and are focusing more on the entire crew.

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Wait till episode 6.

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Amen.

aggierogue said:

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Max Power said:

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I'm on episode 4 of season 2 and I'm loving being back. I'm liking this season a little more so far because they dialed back the stress a touch and are focusing more on the entire crew.

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Wait till episode 6.

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Watched episode 5 over lunch and it definitely feels like we're waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't know if anything can hit the fan like it did in season 1 when the online ordering system kicked in but I guess I'll find out tonight.

Just finished episode 6. The stress/pacing was bothering me at first but it all worked out by the end of the episode. Great TV.

Max Power said:

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aggierogue said:

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Max Power said:

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I'm on episode 4 of season 2 and I'm loving being back. I'm liking this season a little more so far because they dialed back the stress a touch and are focusing more on the entire crew.

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Wait till episode 6.

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Watched episode 5 over lunch and it definitely feels like we're waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't know if anything can hit the fan like it did in season 1 when the online ordering system kicked in but I guess I'll find out tonight.

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Loved episode 5.

Actually from episode 5 to the end was all so good. I'm already ready for season 3.

cena05 said:

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Love the show but so many montages. With such a short show I don't need scenes of churches, birds and bridges in Copenhagen, especially because I love how the dialogue is written.

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Ha, I feel the exact opposite. I love the montages. Sydney's creative food-tasting journey through Chicago was particularly great, and I'd take an entire season of Marcus in Copenhagen just sight seeing and making dishes with Will Poulter.

Agreed. Said the exact same thing to my husband a couple of nights ago watching episode 3 or 4. Where Sidney is out and about in the city. Way too many food montages that I didn't think added anything to the story.

I just don't get this take at all. Not only was the montage one of the more effective depictions of the creative process I've seen (finding dish inspiration in the sights she was seeing and the food she was eating), literally every restaurant she went to, and every chef/owner she spoke with, incepted in her a skepticism/doubt of the position she found herself in, opening a new restaurant with Carmy. Which then had a *direct* effect on the story, when she showed up to the restaurant that night, after Carmy bailed on her and the wall had been taken down without her knowledge, her fears materializing right in front of her. That was, like, THE drama of the episode, which was a direct result of the montage/day Sydney spent by herself.

Just finished episode six and holy sh*t. I kept hearing about "the Christmas episode" and it certainly lived up to the hype in more ways than one. Just… wow. Easily one of the best episodes of television this year.

I realize some of this is mostly pointless, probably unanswerable, and will likely have next to no bearing on events going forward, but just for my own clarity, a few quick family questions…

- I can't remember if they've ever said where Carmy & co's mom is present day, or if they've ever even talked about her prior to this episode. Is she still alive? Is she in a mental institution? Either way, what a performance by Jamie Lee Curtis.

- I also can't remember if Oliver Pratt's Uncle Jimmy is their real uncle or not. If so, is he their mom's brother? Someone else? Can he be my uncle? I love that dude so much.

- How is Bob Odenkirk's Uncle Lee related to the family? Or is he?

- Whose daughter is Sarah Paulsen's Cousin Michelle? Uncle Jimmy's, Uncle Lee's, or someone else?

- Are Fak and his brother related by blood to anyone else there or no?

Regardless, it's fun trying to connect the dots between some of these actors...

- Chris Storer is the creator/writer/director of The Bear.

- Storer's long-time girlfriend is Gillian Jacobs, whom he cast as Tiffany, Richie's wife/ex-wife.

- Jacobs stared with Chris Witaske on Netflix's Love for three seasons, which is how I'm assuming Witaske landed the role of Pete. (As a huge fan of Love, it was cool seeing them together again.)

- Jacobs also obviously starred with Joel McHale in Community, which is likely how McHale was cast as Carmy's assh*le New York chef boss in a cameo last season.

- Molly Gordon - aka Claire - was in multiple episodes of the third season of Ramy (a underrated gem of a show), episodes that Chris Storer directed prior to The Bear, while Gordon also starred with Jacobs in 2018's Life of the Party. So a double connection there, which surely led to her getting cast here.

- Before both Ramy and The Bear, Storer directed a ton of standup comedy specials, for Bo Burnham, Hasan Minhaj, and Ramy Youssef to name a few, which is how I'm assuming he's connected to John Mulaney, through those circles.

Those are the ones my IMDb brain immediately recognized the last couple episodes, though I'm sure there are a ton more connections.

6 was one of those episodes could put someone teetering on a heart attack directly in the grave. We thought "yeah, this episode is over an hour!" and by the end we said "glad it's the weekend and we aren't supposed to figure out how to de-stress and go to bed now".

My favorite episodes were the final 4 of the season.

Quote:

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- How is Bob Odenkirk's Uncle Lee related to the family?

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I'm probably completely off the mark but for some reason I had it in my head he's JLC's "new" husband, i.e. not the father of the siblings but married to JLC now.

I think the Fak's need their own spinoff. There's comedy gold to mine in them hills.

Yeah, there was a quick scene where Odenkirk was trying to help out JLC by giving her a real estate listing on some deal he was a part of, but then Richie came in the room, interrupted them, and said something like, "Not this again," insinuating that Lee was hitting on JLC? So I don't think they're married, but I did get the sense that there's a history there. But then there was a random woman sitting next to Odenkirk at the dinner table who I thought might be his wife? I couldn't figure any of that out at all.

Right there with you on a Fak brothers spinoff, though. They were incredible.

Episode 6 was great television, that cast, holy ****. I wouldn't say it stressed me out like the highs last season, it was just straight up uncomfortable, dramatic, and claustrophobic. Looks like mom is a full blown alcoholic with bipolar disorder to boot, that episode explained so much about the entire cast and show to boot. I might have enjoyed episode 7 as much as anything else this show has done, awesome episode for Richie. And another surprise in Olivia freaking Colman just popping in for a scene. This show is firing on all cylinders. I also think the music selections are so good as well, there was some instrumental NIN at the beginning of the episode with Carmen and Claire in bed that I picked up on, lots of fun needle drops at other points this season as well. I just appreciate everything this show is doing.

I finished Season 2 last night, and I thought it was every bit as good as Season 1. The character development was top-notch.

My only quibble was in the finale when Carmy got locked in the freezer. Every commercial freezer has an emergency release on the inside to get out. They couldn't have passed Code without it. And maybe I could have suspended belief if I couldn't see the door release right there on the door (painted gray) and if it wasn't such a key point in the finale.