he Beef is a Chicago restaurant. Gritty and grim, it fits right into place in the similarly depicted Chicago of The Bear. The story opens with the hero, Carmie, completely out of place. This is obvious from the first moment. He does not fit. He is too competent, too organized and too uncomfortable. Sure enough, we find out that he was formerly working at the world’s best restaurant. The thing about the show, though, is that you feel you are there with him and as out of place as he is in the restaurant. It manages to do this by taking us through the unique experience of what it means to work in a kitchen, both its triumphs and tribulations. At the start of the show, it’s not pretty. It made me wonder why anyone would want to put themselves through it. However, it’s safe to say that by the end of the second season, I had my answer.

Last year, I watched the first episode of the show; then quickly forgot about it and abandoned it without much thought. I felt that it might not be for me. After a few months had passed I saw a short reel on Instagram of a scene with Jon Bernthal and Bob Odendirk. The scene featured intense acting, with emotions running high just under the surface, the kind of scene they play at the Oscars to preview acting performances. I glanced below and, to my great surprise, learnt that it was from The Bear.
I returned to The Bear and was taken along on a journey. The show runners developed the stories of all the quirky characters of the kitchen ensemble and those around them, jumping back and forth between flashback episodes delving into the pasts of the characters and putting their current lives in perspective. The choice of music set the tone of the show with melancholic rock anthems constantly playing in the background. The direction was reminiscent of ’70s’ Hollywood, the ‘dirty the frame’ kind of aesthetic.

At the centre was the story of the Bearzatto family, Carmie’s family. They had left him the restaurant with an opinionated bunch of workers (chefs) that alienated him. Initially, one had the feeling that it would never work out. He did not belong there. The people at the restaurant belonged there because they were in as bad a shape as the restaurant that Carmie desperately wanted to improve. What made it worse was seeing, in the pilot episode, that Carmie did not have particularly warm feelings for his family or the situation forced upon him.
The show takes the viewers through the complex lives of the people in and around the Bearzatto family. They see that each character comes from a place of trauma. Like any good piece of art, the show leaves a lot to speculate about. It leaves much to the viewer. The characters are not big talkers about their feelings. In fact, some people around them feel that they don’t talk about their feelings at all. This is especially true for Carmie who, while people around him grow and feel better, cannot seem to shake his discomfort.

It’s a journey of people who thought they were as good as their circumstances. It’s a journey that makes them stand up for themselves and take their lives to a level both they and us, the audience, are surprised to witness.

 
As the show progresses, we start relating to the struggles of even the characters we first disliked. Ritchie the ‘Cousin’ is Carmie’s brother’s best friend and appears to be the manager. He patronises Carmie and wants things to continue the way they have been. While all the characters appear to be struggling with change, he is the epitome of discomfort. Yet, by the end of the second season, Ritchie is a transformed person. This is also true for other characters of the show. As their circumstances change and they get involved in the change that the universe is offering them, they go through fascinating journeys, working in remarkable restaurants and going through the grind. They get exposed to what they had been resisting and start understanding and loving how their lives change once they allow it to improve. It’s a journey of a people who thought they were as good as their circumstances. It’s a journey that makes them stand up for themselves and take their lives to a level both they and us, the audience, are surprised to witness.

After being taken along their journeys in an up-close way, with some episodes dedicated to a single character, we develop a fondness for each character. This is evidence of the show’s sensitivity and humour in dealing with complex characters. The only character that remains unchanged yet is the hero, Carmie. The change for Carmie, unlike other characters in the show, is not of competence. He is already the best at what he does. It is about him feeling like he is good enough. It is the journey of allowing people like Claire, his childhood crush and now girlfriend, to love him. It is allowing himself to stay present. As Carmie continues to struggle and self-jeopardise, we have more background for why he does, we become drawn into his struggle. The third season premieres in June this year.

The author writes on culture and identity in Pakistan. He can be reached at uneeb.nas@gmail.com