{"id":1964352,"date":"2023-07-05T07:40:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-bear-season-two-serves-up-a-rawness-unachievable-by-most-darker-dramas\/"},"modified":"2023-07-05T07:45:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T11:45:29","slug":"the-bear-season-two-serves-up-a-rawness-unachievable-by-most-darker-dramas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-bear-season-two-serves-up-a-rawness-unachievable-by-most-darker-dramas\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The Bear&#8217; Season Two delivers an unmatched rawness, surpassing other dark dramas."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-bear-season-two-serves-up-a-rawness-unachievable-by-most-darker-dramas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1964352&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p><em>Warning: Spoilers ahead. <\/em><\/p>\n<h2>The Bear: A Hidden Gem<\/h2>\n<p>FX\u2019s chef-centered dramedy \u201cThe Bear\u201d premiered its sophomore season this month. It was the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2023\/06\/the-bear-season-2-record-streaming-debut-hulu-1235425381\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most-streamed FX debut<\/a>\u00a0on Hulu the week it aired and earned 70 percent more streamed hours than the first season in the first four days. Despite praise from critics, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/awards\/industry\/2023-tca-awards-nominations-hbo-the-bear-1234880245\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nomination<\/a> for Television Critics Association Awards, I haven\u2019t heard much watercooler buzz about the show. Unlike so many shows critics love and regular viewers hate, \u201cThe Bear\u201d deserves a bigger fan base.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Set in a failing Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago, \u201cThe Bear\u201d follows young acclaimed chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, \u201cShameless\u201d) as he tries to save his deceased brother\u2019s business. It\u2019s labeled as a dramedy, but season one was so light on humor that the label seemed unearned. The show continues to wrestle with heavy issues like drug addiction, verbal abuse, and severe family dysfunction through season two. These are dealt with in a way that doesn\u2019t feel trope-ish or, conversely, too dark and gritty to be appropriate for a \u201cdramedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Like season one, in which an entire episode is filmed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1K3z62yoiOA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one continuous shot<\/a>, the writers of season two make bold choices \u2014 this time, mostly with the writing. Unlike many modern shows that rely on characters\u2019 duplicity to maintain suspense, \u201cThe Bear\u201d mostly takes the opposite approach: Its characters are unfiltered, heaping their honest feelings onto each other in scene after scene.<\/p>\n<p>The result is an uncomfortable rawness, without the grimy feeling that so often accompanies dark dramas that claim to be \u201craw\u201d \u2014 and this even while maintaining copious amounts of swearing, which is so often the crutch for bad attempts at \u201cgritty\u201d writing. In its most intense exhibit, episode six, \u201cFishes\u201d is a full 50 minutes of the\u00a0worst family Christmas most of us could possibly imagine. It\u2019s masterfully executed, as if the writers were drawing from personal photographic memories, and packed with stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk (\u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d), and comedian John Mulaney.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Honesty and pain are well-mined veins in \u201cThe Bear.\u201d Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, it is the first show I\u2019ve watched that\u00a0<em>explicitly<\/em>\u00a0recognizes that Covid and lockdowns were a reality. It is not placed in some alternate universe (i.e., \u201cTed Lasso\u201d), where Covid and its attendant policy responses didn\u2019t happen.\u00a0Richie vents about how hard it was to keep the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-welcomes-3-illegals-for-every-4-u-s-births\/\" title=\"Biden Welcomes 3 Illegals for Every 4 U.S. Births\">shop afloat<\/a> during Covid, and in season two, Richie has a retort about how difficult hiring is \u201csince Covid.\u201d The father of sous chef Sidney (Ayo Edebiri, \u201cAbbott Elementary\u201d) warns her of how challenging the climate has been for restaurants, prompting her to research how many high-end restaurants didn\u2019t make it through the Covid era.<\/p>\n<p>The show is based in Chicago \u2014 a city everyone knows underwent a hard and prolonged lockdown. For this alone, in an environment where it seems like so many just want to forget 2020 or even pretend like lockdowns didn\u2019t happen, the show should be commended. Hopefully, more writers follow \u201cThe Bear\u2019s\u201d lead by being true to history. <\/p>\n<p>Season two follows chefs Carmy and Sidney, the staff, and Carmy\u2019s sister, Natalie (Abby Elliot, \u201cSNL,\u201d \u201cOdd Mom Out\u201d), as they rebuild the restaurant into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/review-pig\/\" title=\"REVIEW: \u2018Pig\u2019\">high-end eatery<\/a> on a tight schedule. The season brings much-needed levity and tenderness by introducing a love interest for erstwhile depressed and overworked Carmy and sending baker Marcus (Lionel Boyce, \u201cLoiter Squad\u201d) to Copenhagen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-bear-season-two-serves-up-a-rawness-unachievable-by-most-darker-dramas\/\" title=\"'The Bear' Season Two delivers an unmatched rawness, surpassing other dark dramas.\">hone advanced pastry skills<\/a> and find inspiration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not surprisingly for a dramedy, \u201cThe Bear\u2019s\u201d success derives chiefly from its compelling dialogue and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/despite-its-anti-faith-message-under-the-banner-of-heaven-is-still-a-good-show-2\/\" title=\"Despite Its Anti-Faith Message, \u2018Under the Banner of Heaven\u2019 Is Still A Good Show\">superb character development<\/a>. One of its most satisfying arcs pertains to \u201ccousin\u201d Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, \u201cThe Punisher,\u201d \u201cGirls\u201d), who begins season\u00a0two in anguish over not having a purpose. The season ends with the belligerent 45-year-old former sandwich-maker donning a suit and learning the fine art of service at one of the world\u2019s most renowned Michelin-star restaurants. Even something so trivial (in the grand scheme of \u201cdifference-making\u201d) as making someone\u2019s day with an amazing restaurant experience is meaningful and requires talent and skill.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The show has a lot to say about damage: family trauma, workplace trauma, economic hardship. The struggles of the kitchen staff teach\u00a0us we cannot rise above what we don\u2019t deal with honestly. The same is true for the massive collective failure of our Covid response and resulting economic, emotional, and social damage that persists to this day.\u00a0We must reckon with it, however painful. And if we need a reminder of how it\u2019s possible to better ourselves and find purpose again, Richie now wears suits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warning: Spoilers ahead. FX&#8217;s &#8220;The Bear&#8221; season 2 premiered to great success, becoming the most-streamed FX debut on Hulu. It garnered 70% more streamed hours than its first season in just four days. Critics praised the show, earning a nomination for Television Critics Association Awards. However, I haven&#8217;t heard much about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":660,"featured_media":1964353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/660"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}