The Bear on FX: aka HEARD! aka YES CHEF! aka Ketamine Gene Wilder cooks for u

For sure. But I think the movie itself is more iconic than her performance was. Not that there was anything wrong with her performance, it set in motion a long professional acting career, which is an achievement in and of itself, no matter who her parents were. Seeing her in this, though, it makes me wonder if in the end it was just a matter of rarely getting the right roles. For whatever reason.

Man, I just saw the Richie episode, and it made me weepy. You can do it, Richie!

I rewatched that one after the finale bc I loved it so

Richie episode was such a great balm after the intensity of the xmas episode, and so great seeing him find his place in light of all the extra baggage the xmas episode revealed

When the Thief music kicked in in the Richie episode I laughed out loud.

Best cues ever. When the Hunters & Collectors song started I lost my shit.

yeah that was pretty fucking good

i fell out over Pearl Jam’s “Come Back” too

There's more than one Fak?

:D

yep! and he has mad Kohls cash

I love this show and everyone in it so much, I want 4 more seasons.

I'm trying not to binge it because I don't wish it to end, and was so happy when I cued up the Xmas one and saw it was double length.

Music cues have been amazing yes, with the exception of that 'Holiday Road' shite.

Funny how Muleany has gone from looking all fresh-faced to looking kinda sleazy nowadays, I'm not so well up on his film/tv career (if there even is one), but I wonder if he'll get more serious parts as he gets older.

his latest standup special is pretty fuckin raw

Just once, I’d like to see an American show/film with someone in recovery who doesn’t go to an AA/NA meeting and uses an alternative like CBT

The Al-Anon scenes in S1 were more effective than the one in this season, where he says he's a chef opening a restaurant, which are the kind of specific details people avoid revealing in meetings.

The really naturalistic, almost documentary-like scenes really put me in mind of another show and it's really bugging me. I think it could be Treme, but I'm not sure, I like it anyhow.

Love this show but what they did to that deep dish is a crime.

Also absolutely relieved that the Copenhagen stuff wasn't about demeaning Marcus, which other shows would absolutely go for.

copenhagen was so good; the vibes were almost therapeutic

Very smart to bookend episode 6 with the two sweetest episodes of the series

Season finale was amazing. Jamie Lee Curtis's one scene could have been too much but it was perfect. And the evolution of Richie is absolutely the story of the season.

Also re: the 3-star restaurant's "supplements," are they trying to be Harvard or something?

I love how in the finale even Pete gets his moment to be more than just a punchline. What a great show.

Chocolate-covered banana got me right in the feels

the freezer door was a pretty incredible running Chekhov's gun. how Carmy has the repairman guy's number ready to dial but got too distracted and didn't actually dial it, a subtle detail but one I knew was gonna pop up in the finale.

and the way they shot the Carmy/Richie exchange as a cross-section, bisected by the door

so fucking great

btw that WAS MY BIG NIGHTMARE when I worked in restaurants. I went inside a freezer once and had difficulty re-opening it and the terror I felt for three seconds was palpable. then I pushed a little harder and got out

The charred cheese crust is the best part of Pequod's Pizza, you fancy idiot chef.

xpost oh totally! i worked at KFC as teen and was super-paranoid about getting stuck in the walk-in

I went into the walk-in a lot at Arby's to steal food mostly. made myself rogue sandwiches and took them back there to eat secretly

Robert Townsend and Ayo Edibiri's scenes get me in the heart

This show still has its flaws (mostly when it's trying to do, like, sentimental or serious two character scenes) but I'm enjoying s2 more so far. The Xmas episode is truly fucked...most of the guest actors were obviously going to bring it, but I was surprised by how much I liked Mulaney here.

Who'd've thunk before watching season 2 that we'd all be siding with Richie over Carm?!

I love how they literally "fridge" Carm.

Shout out to the beautiful visuals - food, Chicago, Copenhagen, the faces. Loved that forks, fridge handles, and gas lines played such key roles. What a show.

I really appreciated the way they balanced off the chaotic episodes with the quiet, more thoughtful ones. liked this take too

One more thing I adored in THE BEAR is the way it quietly reinforces, over and over, that what we think of as “skills” and “talents” are actually things someone else has taken time to teach us.

— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) July 3, 2023

From Carmy and Syd’s “I’m sorry” gesture to Marcus learning to quenelle, the whole season is a tribute to how we are a product of what we’re taught - good and bad - and how much good teaching can reshape our lives. It’s a screed against the idea of a self-made, lone genius.

— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) July 3, 2023

my one complaint is that I wished that they had spent a bit more time on developing Claire as a character - didn’t really love the portrayal of her as carmy’s perfect long lost crush, felt a bit manic pixie dream-ish

^agree. Great on screen chemistry between Carmy and Claire but her character did have a whiff of manic pixie dream girl. i wonder if they will do more with her story in S3.

my one complaint is that I wished that they had spent a bit more time on developing Claire as a character - didn’t really love the portrayal of her as carmy’s perfect long lost crush, felt a bit manic pixie dream-ish

Particularly since the opportunity to draw parallels between running a manic kitchen and being an ER doctor was right there.

yeah they had one conversation about it but that was it

kinda feel that she wouldn’t have been so quick to leave him after hearing the fridge rant either, I mean seems like part of the reason she’s attracted to him is because he IS a chaotic mess, who has already tried to push her away before. at least call him out on his obvious bullshit or something

well, the season is ending on kind of a 'cliffhanger' in that regard, her initial reaction might not be a permanent one? people often get hurt, walk away upset, and then see things differently when they've had a little time apart from it.

plus it was a pretty hurtful thing to hear - basically him 'blaming' her for taking his eyes off of the ball, though in more of an implied sense.

yeah plus it did set up that great scene with Richie afterwards, so am not that mad. Like tnmp said, I also hope they flesh her character out more in s3

Me too!

their chemistry is crazy-good
when they’re not talking the way they look at each other is amazing

Can't believe Richie was the bellhop in Royal Tenenbaums

https://i.ibb.co/12349C2/54d1bd7df2c04-esq-02-double-breasted-royal-tenenbaums-0913-mdn-27447800.jpg

I read an interview with Claire's actor and she made it sound like S2 was kind of a one-off? I saw her resume and she keeps pretty busy.

xpost holy shit

That fridge scene, I hope it's not a tragic end to their affair, because it serves the perfect show-don't-tell realization that Carm *can* have it both ways, or can at least try. Jimmy warns him not to take his eyes off the prize, as it were, but here he is, literally locked away, and the world doesn't end without him.

This is a good show but I keep thinking that the positive reception has a lot to do with how bad most other shows are rn.

what if…hear me out… what if a good thing is just good

"better than everything else" seems like a good reason for praise IMO

show is great on its own merits.

Jordan I have totally thought about this as a breath of cold Chicago air after too much weightless Netflix dreck