I took it that there were two entirely separate clienteles - the working class locals who just want the beef sandwiches (which are by this time effectively subsidising the rest of the business) from the hole-in-the-wall, and the Chicago elite who can afford the top-end cuisine and prices inside.
Fair points. Carmy should be thankful for the lunch crowd. They allow to explore his fine dining fetish in the evenings…at least for now.
Though they’re still dependent on Uncle Jimmy’s money; the sandwich shop isn’t enough to keep the fancy restaurant open.
And that’s the problem; high-end fine dining restaurants are very hard to sustain financially.
They submitted themselves to the Comedy categories to avoid being beaten in all of the Drama categories by Succession. Admittedly seasons 1 and 2 were much funnier than season 3 (the Emmies so far have been for seasons 1 and 2) but I strongly agree this is not a comedy.
The show was nominated this year for the second season though the third season recently aired.
I’ve seen some speculation that the review is mixed in the worst possible way - Carmy’s vision is good but his kitchen staff isn’t up to the task. Our something like that that won’t close the place but will cause disruption and drama. Exactly what the show needs more of, right?
I for one can’t wait for another episode of everyone yelling “fuck you” at each other then a close up of them staring moodily at something.
That was actually great comedy!
I’m only finishing up season 2 right now, and I’m enjoying the show quite a bit. But the lack of hairnets really bothers me.
I’ve worked in the kitchen of a prison overseeing inmates while they cooked, and all of them - and anyone who set foot in the kitchen - had to have hairnets or hats on.
Is this not standard practice for a restaurant kitchen, too?
I noticed that too, as well as a coworker of mine. Most notably when Carmy’s hair is big/fluffy.
I won’t go so far as to say it’s ‘standard practice’, but it is code. It should be noted that it doesn’t have to be a hairnet. A hat or bandana or ponytail is ok as well.
ETA
Hair Restraints 2-402.11 Effectiveness.
(A) Except as provided in ¶ (B) of this section, FOOD EMPLOYEES
shall wear hair restraints such as hats, hair coverings or nets,
beard restraints, and clothing that covers body hair, that are
designed and worn to effectively keep their hair from contacting
exposed FOOD; clean EQUIPMENT, UTENSILS , and LINENS ; and
unwrapped SINGLE -SERVICE and SINGLE -USE ARTICLES .(B)This section does not apply to FOOD EMPLOYEES such as
counter staff who only serve BEVERAGES and wrapped or
PACKAGED FOODS , hostesses, and wait staff if they present a
minimal RISK of contaminating exposed FOOD; clean EQUIPMENT,
UTENSILS , and LINENS ; and unwrapped SINGLE -SERVICE and SINGLE
USE ARTICLES.
Also, worth noting that Marcus always (usually?) wears a hat and Sydney always (usually?) wears a bandana.
In season 1, Sydney, IIRC, was the only one who’d even heard of ServSafe, which is a class (some) people in this industry are required to take every 5 years that covers this type of basic hygiene.
i have laughed uproariously at parts of it. Whole episodes have played as comedies with some tiny bits of drama. The show is built a lot on tension and tension is a powerful tool for drama comedy.
When Syd accidentally stabs Richie–lost my shit laughing.
When one of the tensest episodes of television ever–the Christmas episode has multiple comedic bits AND has effectively the punchline to the episode is Jamie Lee Curtis driving her car into the living room–Comedy.
The accidentally dosing the kids at the birthday party?–That entire episode seems more sitcom than others.
I think putting it in the comedy category IS a stretch…but people should stop pretending its not a funny show.
Wait . . . accidentally?
I finally got around to watching season 3. I’m not quite at the hate watch stage but it’s close. No meaningful advancement of the plot. Too much background exposition about characters we already have too much exposition. Too many Faks. Ten episodes of manufactured tension for the sake of tension. Previous seasons had an ebb and flow to the tension. Now it seems like an exercise in making the audience tense for 30-40 minutes for 10 episodes and seeing if they will stick around.
So…did anyone watch season 4?
I was never “off” the show so I have no idea how anyone on the fence or who had turned on it would feel.
I’m going to open spoiler at this point.
I do think the wedding episode was too indulgent…and it really reads like “we know famous people let’s watch them dick around with improv for an hour.”
I think it was a fun surprise to have Marcus be the chef who gets singled out as the “new rising star” since having it be Syd doesn’t matter.
The plot with Ibrahim and Rob Reiner was so “bottled” compared to everything else…like it has been weeks discussing this with the whole sandwich crew and still NO ONE has mentioned this new locations plan to Carmy or even Ritchie?
I actually have no idea if there is a season 5 coming but the season finale (which is just a 3 person scene) could 100% be a series finale and work just fine. I feel like I know the trajectory of everything at this point.
I think it’s funny that the high-end restaurant side of the business gets the most attention but is losing so much money, while the sandwich window gets little attention but is profitable despite being open only a couple of hours each day. So before entertaining the idea of franchising the business, how about just keeping the place open for longer each day? Though my understanding is that the money losing high end restaurant is consistent with the experience of some of the top restaurants, like El Bulli in Spain, which closed in 2011 despite having three Michelin stars.
And I liked the third episode of the fourth season, called Scallop. It was reminiscent of the Forks episode and in this one Ritchie arranged a surprise for one family.
Can someone tell me what was going on with Chester (the guy selling Marcus’ house) and Luca? The only thing I could piece together is that Chester knows of Luca and was starstruck. Because it’s either that or Chester likes (romantically) Marcus and was jealous of Marcus’ and Luca’s relationship, thinking there was more to it than there was. But, while I don’t know about Chester or Luca, to the best of my knowledge Marcus is straight and Chester would know that.
Looking around online, it seems I’m not the only person with that question. I think the correct answer is that Chester was jealous of Marcus and Luca’s friendship. I guess it was the comments about how good looking and tall he is that threw me.
Regarding the ending, I figured the plot line with Shapiro was setting things up to either spin Sidney off onto her own show or to have next season be some type of rivalry between the two restaurants. I didn’t, however, expect Carmy to pass The Bear off to her.
One thing that did bug me about this season was the camera work. There were a lot of really tight closeups. A lot of conversations between two people, standing practically nose to nose and the camera would only have one face in the shot. IMHO, if I can see the makeup on Oliver Platt or Bob Odenkirk’s face, maybe zoom out a little. I get the reasoning behind the closeups, but it seemed like there were entire episodes filmed mere inches from the actor’s faces.
There is, but I haven’t looked to see if we know who’s going to be in it yet, or more specifically, I don’t know if they’ve told us whether or not Carmy will be in it.
I think it was friend jealously. Chester is seeing Marcus outgrow him and he’s insecure. Marcus probably told him about Luca after getting back from Amsterdam. “Yeah I met this cool guy who taught me a lot about cooking.” So it was like “oh man, you made friends with a cool dude and he’s HOT.–I can’t even pretend to be a good wingman”
For me the trajectory of Carmy leaving was after his attempt to reconcile with Claire and we saw a lof of Carmy NOT thinking about cooking but wanting to explore life. I thought “Oh he’s done. He wants to move on.”
I’m late to Hulu, The Bear and this thread. Part way through S2. Just saw 7 Fishes and Forks. Found Forks interesting , as we had eaten at Ever - where it was filmed.
Not reading ahead in the thread, so I don’t know if this has been discussed - on the menu I see it described as a comedy. Would you agree? I certainly see many comedic elements, but I’m not sure they predominate over the drama.
As a lifelong Chicago-arean, I appreciate the shots of and references to the city and environs.
It’s been a highly controversial framing. Some of the cognoscenti have surmised it is a deliberate and cynical attempt to rack up award wins in the tv comedy category by milking the heavy drama aspect without having to compete with other dramas.
I’ve wondered about that classification myself. I think it was an awards category decision, which really isn’t fair to other legit comedies, and having two characters yell, “Fuck you, cousin!” “No, fuck YOU, cousin!” doesn’t exactly say comedy to me, but there ARE some very funny moments. Anytime Mattie Matheson is onscreen for instance, hiding behind the doorframe talking to Natalie. Overall, feels more like a drama to me. And a good one.