The Bear is one of the strangest micro-sensations I’ve ever seen. One day, Hulu dropped the entire season of a show about cooking at a restaurant without any big names involved onto their streaming service. A few weeks later, it suddenly became one of the most talked-about shows on social media. The word of mouth for this show has just been incredible. It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly made it so popular, but I feel like The Bear owes most of its success to… itself, really. It’s the sheer quality of this show on practically every level that wound up drawing so many people in, including myself. Suffice it to say, The Bear is fantastic and an absolute must-watch.

It’s difficult to briefly summarize The Bear in a way that captures how unique and original it really is. To put it simply, it’s about a professional chef who, after his brother’s death, is left in charge of the shoddy restaurant he owned. We follow the everyday mayhem caused by this shift in leadership and the general struggles of working at a struggling restaurant. There’s more to the story than that, but to divulge more would detract from the incredible experience that is watching this chaotic show unfold. We get drip-fed information about every character through their dynamics and realistic conversations that give you a deeper understanding on who each of them are. There’s not much to be learned about their past, but one can usually fill in the blanks based on how they interact with others. However, this can be a tad frustrating at times, as there are some characters that just don’t get a whole lot of characterization. 

Thankfully, what the show can somewhat lack in fully realized characters it more than makes up for in committed performances that bring every character to life. The Bear’s ensemble is incredible, and they match the tone of this series perfectly. It’s difficult to single out any performances, but if you had a gun to my head, I would have to say that Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri were the ones who impressed me the most. They have the largest roles and the richest characters of the cast, and they are able to add so much depth to them with their portrayals. Jeremy Allen White especially nails Carmy’s reluctance to deal with his emotions, while Ayo Edebiri excels at capturing Sydney’s impatience and striving for perfection. But really, the entire cast is stellar and worthy of praise.

There is one aspect of The Bear that arguably adds more to it than anything else. I wouldn’t normally devote an entire paragraph to this, but this show’s exceptional editing is practically a story in itself. For one, it’s unbelievably hectic and is a huge part of what makes watching this show so darn stressful. But even more amazingly, the editing itself informs us about the environment and the characters. One scene will cut frantically between set pieces in a location to give you a complete picture of what is going on. Another will manically edit the chaos that is going through someone’s head and bring their thoughts to life without a single word being spoken. I am wary of hyperbole and recency bias, but I truly believe that the editing by Joanna Naugle and Adam Epstein in this show is some of the best I have ever seen. 

Overall, The Bear is a show that should be your top priority. Its 30-minute episodes make for an easy binge, and its quality is unmatched. The storytelling in this show is done in a way you won’t find anywhere else, and the acting and editing that bring it all to life are tremendous. The character writing can occasionally leave a bit to be desired, but the characters are all enjoyable and feel essential to the core dynamics. The Bear is not for the faint of heart, as each episode is tension-filled and nerve-wracking. That being said, if you’re at all interested in this show, I highly recommend checking it out.

9/10