Beef – As this episode of The Bear begins, Marcus (Lionel Boyce) takes care of a sick loved one who is in a hospital bed. Then, he goes outside, cleans the ice from his windshield, and leaves. Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) work at the restaurant. Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) and the others discuss what they’ll have to do to the restaurant as well as their budget. Carmy says they have equipment that works and a very deep clean. Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto (Abby Elliott) mentions the fryer and the oven.

Carmy does the math and comes out to $95k although Sydney questions how accurate the numbers are. Tina (Liza Colon-Zayaz) reminds Carmen that he has to pay them. Carmen confirms he has already set that money aside. Carmen goes downstairs to see what Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is doing. While he is away, Sydney hires Sugar to be their project manager. Richie gives Carmen the drywall estimate before asking if he ever thinks about purpose. Carmen loves Richie, but he doesn’t have time for this. He changes his mind and returns to the basement.

Richie explains he has been reading and one guy in a book has no skills and no personality. All he does is watch his trains. He has a group of friends he had since he was a kid and they’re all outgrowing him. One day, they just drop him and cut him off. When Carmen asks why they did that, Richie says it was because he has no purpose. Richie isn’t sure what he does since he hasn’t read that far. He has been here for a long time. Richie thinks it is fun for Carmen, but he worries that they’re just going to drop him. Carmen says he isn’t going to drop him. He goes on to say this isn’t fun for him.

Tina tells Sydney that they’re going to need new pots. Sydney tells her about the good pots. Marcus interrupts and says she is good. The nurse just had an emergency, but she should be back tomorrow. Carmy asks Sugar about the great idea they had the other day since he didn’t write it down like she recommended. Sugar reviewed his numbers and found he is missing an IRS stipulation. Businesses have to have all existing debts current and complete before any new business license is granted. Carmy believes he can sort that out before learning that Sugar is going to be the project manager.

Sydney tells Carmy that the gas is off until the hoods and overheads can pass the new fire suppression tests. Everyone is food certified except for Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) who needs to be renewed. As for Richie, he has never done it. Sydney says they need a City of Chicago consultant to approve their new business paperwork. She tears the Fenway Park poster on the wall and that causes Richie to get upset. He tries to calm himself. Carmy learns that Michael thought it might be a good idea to get some insurance money by letting the place accidentally burn down. After all that, Carmy remembers the paint in the crawlspace.

He asks Sugar to keep thinking about the project manager thing. There is never enough money so they need to get more. While the fire alarm goes off in the background, Carmen and Sydney tell Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) about what they want to do with the restaurant. They hope he’ll give them the money they need to reopen the restaurant. Carmen admits they found his money so Michael didn’t put it in the bank. Richie tries to get the alarm turned off because it is driving Jimmy crazy. Jimmy learns that they’re asking for an additional $500,000.

Sugar says he’ll be in a partnership although Jimmy isn’t optimistic. Sydney says the restaurant will be a destination spot. Carmy says everything will be Jimmy’s if they don’t pay him back by the end of 18 months. He wasn’t going to tell Jimmy about the money, but they need more. Jimmy questions how long it’ll take them to open. When they go over the details, Sugar suggests it’ll take six months to open. Sydney follows Tina outside The Original Beef. Sydney asks if she’d be interested in being her sous. Tina loves the idea. Ebraheim and Marcus are surprised it is so quiet in the restaurant. Carmen and Sydney agree it feels weird to leave early.

Carmen goes home where he gets bored very quickly. When he goes back to The Beef, Sydney and Natalie say six months is too long. They want to open sooner and Carmen agrees so they begin working out a plan.

 

The Bear Review

The Bear’s second series is focused on getting The Beef back open. That is going to take a lot of work from Carmy and his coworkers. They’re also getting assistance from Natalie who will serve as the project manager. There are also several side stories with Marcus’s mom and Richie trying to understand his purpose.

It is pretty early in the season so it would be improper to make too many comparisons at this point, but this episode was much different than the previous episodes. The past season was chaotic and all over the place while this episode was a little slow and quiet. Viewers may not like this slow style if they preferred the chaos from the first season.

The dialogue doesn’t seem refined to the point that actors and actresses could be improvising certain lines. The characters could be fleshed out a bit, but the series is going to take time to develop and really get moving. Truthfully, the episode was a little dull during the first watch-through, especially when compared to what the first season had to offer.

The episode did feel like a more competent series, but it also lost the chaotic magic that made the first series unique and memorable. There really wasn’t a lot to the first episode so a few more may be needed for the story to develop and take on new life. The opening episode scores a 5.5 out of 10.

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