TV of 2022

[Roger Ryan]

... The Bear is an impressive tonal blend on a variety of levels...

Agree, and I'll only add that the penultimate episode of the first season which covers close to 18 minutes of frenetic action and interaction in one (seemingly) continuous take is a remarkable tour de force for both the actors and the technical crew.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah, plus a great finale - though I found myself feeling gaslit by the show, which explicitly comes down in favor of

SpoilerShow

the two chefs who were fucking around during a crisis, totally oblivious to the chaos they had to step up for. Obviously it's not effective leadership to go around screaming at people, but man, having worked in crisis settings for the bulk of my career (centered around interpersonal violence and not cooking, but it doesn't matter - this was pitched as significant when they made clear that missing one shift could cost them the business), there's just zero excuse for team members disengaging during acute situations. Edebiri was provoking Moss-Bachrach when he was trying to drop his attitude to help, stabbed him and just went into a corner giggling - plus she was at fault for not turning off the preorder form that started the whole catastophe, and still found the time to keep bothering Bear about her dish and behavior that violated chain of command with the very impatience he already gave her feedback to work on... Boyce had to prepare like a hundred cakes, had four ready and came in tone-deaf to show Bear his latest perfect creation he took his sweet time preparing. I found it frustrating that Bear had to apologize to them, they were allowed to call him a bitch, and the show took their side without demanding a perspective of reciprocity. It's especially irritating when Bear had immediately promoted Edebiri to give her opportunities she never received (or would have received so quickly) elsewhere, and had supported Boyce even when his own myopic obsessive behavior caused a power outage sparking a crisis in a past episode. Cut the guy some slack if he yells at you when you jerk around on site when the mood is at a code red, or.. for not doing your job when you really need to do your job.

[therewillbeblus]

Bob Odenkirk joins the cast for the second season of The Bear

[flyonthewall2983]

Sad about Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel signing off the air, and kind of puzzling to me that they aren’t continuing with someone in Gumbel's spot as host.