When I sat down one afternoon on the couch to pick up “The Bear” for the first time, I expected it to be a fun, cheery pick-me-up of a show about a guy running his family restaurant. I was incredibly wrong. 

“The Bear” is not your typical comedy show, or at least, it’s not what you expect it to be. It doesn’t have the quirky one-liners of “Friends” or the egregiously outrageous plotlines of “New Girl.” Instead, it is an intensely accurate depiction of anxiety, familial obligation, and most of all, passion—just in a funny way. 

The first season of the show follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto back to his home in Chicago after several years of Michelin-level cooking and his brother’s abrupt suicide. Back in Chicago, he begins running his late brother’s restaurant, “The Beef,” but soon finds that it is in shambles financially and physically. With the help of Sydney Adamu, an eager chef who only came to The Beef for his guidance, Richie Jerimovich, his aggravatingly everpresent childhood friend, the rest of The Beef’s crew, his sister Natalie Berzatto, and a few others from his past, Carmy manages to keep the restaurant afloat for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long enough, and the second season follows the same group as they attempt to rebuild and rebrand The Beef into a fine dining restaurant called The Bear. 

Everything about “The Bear” is expertly done. For one, the cast is exemplary in their work. There’s a reason Jeremy Allen White (Carmy), Ayo Edebiri (Adamu), and Ebon Moss Bachrarch (Jermovich) have won every award they’ve been nominated for, save for the ones they were competing against each other for.

White truly excels as Carmy, highlighting his intense mental struggles amidst the grief of his brother’s death, his restaurant’s financial issues, and his deep-rooted family trauma. His performance is honest and jarringly realistic, giving one of the best and most multifaceted depictions of anxiety I’ve seen in years. 

Edebiri’s character, Sydney Adamu, is complex in her own right as well and refuses to be dismissed as merely a side character. Edebiri’s work makes Adamu a consistent scene-stealer, with her quick wits and undeniable talents in the kitchen. From the moment she enters the show and the restaurant, Adamu is the beating heart and soul among the rest of the crew. Her compassion extends to all, bringing them together in places where they were once divided. However, Edebiri is sure to note that her character’s tendency to care does not make her any less of a passionate, independent chef, who knows what she wants to achieve. 

Furthermore, Bachrach’s Jerimovich follows a complicated arc, undergoing one of the most impressive character transformations on the show. He starts as an irately exasperating character, who does nothing but wreak havoc for the other characters. As the show progresses, bits and pieces of Jerimovich’s past are revealed, giving away the factors that make him the way he is. By the end of the second season, Bachrach has demonstrated an impeccable journey of growth as Jerimovich ends the season off on a high, having found a new dedication to his job. 

On top of the near-perfect performances given by the cast, the show’s writers can perfectly intertwine the right amount of comedy with the overall seriousness of the show. The second season in particular excels at examining individual characters’ lives and personalities, shedding new light on the different facets of each character’s experience. While each episode initially seems lighthearted, a much deeper meaning is always revealed by the end. 

For example, in the episode titled “Fishes”, written by Joanna Calo, the Berzatto family many years ago sits down for Thanksgiving Dinner. The episode takes place in one night and is truly just a dinner, but it is heated and action-packed. There might not be supervillains to fight or monsters to outrun, but the ardent camera work and clamorous dialogue combine to craft a fervently anxiety-inducing setting that is anything but your typical American Thanksgiving. 

Overall, “The Bear” aims high, and it lands high too. Creator Christopher Storer had a hard task ahead of him when he first began planning for the show. It’s certainly not an easy feat to create characters as complex as the ones in the show, or a plot so deeply interwoven with these characters’ pasts, presents, and futures. The ultimate result of Storer’s hard work is a nearly perfect show. A show that explores the ins and outs of a broken family, the ups and downs of a struggling restauranteur, and the highs and lows of pursuing your passion. “The Bear” is my bar for any other comedy shows from here on out, but I doubt any will even come close.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.