Beef (The Bear)
1st episode of the 2nd season of The Bear
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"Beef" is the first episode of the second season of the American television comedy-drama The Bear. It is the 9th overall episode of the series and was written and directed by series creator Christopher Storer. It was released on Hulu on June 22, 2023, along with the rest of the season.
Episode 1
- "The Show Goes On" by Bruce Hornsby
- "Transcendental Blues" by Steve Earle
- "New Noise" by Refused
| "Beef" | |
|---|---|
| The Bear episode | |
Carmy's draft budget for the rebuild | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Christopher Storer |
| Written by | Christopher Storer |
| Featured music |
|
| Cinematography by | Andrew Wehde |
| Editing by | Joanna Naugle |
| Production code | XCBV2001 |
| Original release date | June 22, 2023 |
| Running time | 29 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
The series follows Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing Italian beef sandwich shop. In the episode, Carmy and the staff start planning their new restaurant, but realize the costs and expenses might be bigger than anticipated.
The episode received critical acclaim, who praised the performances and new storylines for the season.
Plot
Marcus (Lionel Boyce) visits his terminally ill mother before heading back to work. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and the staff start talking about the renovation costs, which could exceed $95,000. Carmy also has a talk with Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who is confused over his "purpose" and role in the restaurant. Carmy tells him he will not replace him, also reiterating that he does not consider his job "fun".
Natalie (Abby Elliott), who was asked by Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) to become the restaurant's new project manager, tells Carmy that the costs might actually go up due to IRS stipulations and other costs. Carmy, Sydney and Natalie consult with Cicero (Oliver Platt), asking him for a $500,000 loan. Cicero hesitates at the idea, but Carmy promises they will give the loan back within 18 months; if they are unable to re-pay, the restaurant will be closed and the property will be given to Cicero, valued at $2 million. Cicero finally accepts. Later on, however, Natalie tells Carmy that they will not make a profit on the restaurant until eight months in, and it will take at least six months for the renovations.
As Carmy and the staff start considering new employees and methods, Sydney approaches Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), asking her to become her sous-chef. Tina hugs Sydney and accepts the offer. That night, Carmy, Sydney and Natalie meet at the restaurant to start their planning earlier. As they get a calendar marked with important dates, Sydney asks them if they think it is a terrible idea. Everyone agrees, as they see the restaurant opening in three months.
Context
- Celebrity photos that decorated the walls of the Original Beef come down, specifically portraits of Harold Ramis, Paul Rudd, and Anthony Bourdain.[1]
- An experienced restaurateur wrote about season two that "...Carmy does a hilariously bad job attempting some bar-napkins accounting. He's both way over and way under what things actually cost, which is the point: Carmy has no fucking clue what he's doing, which is why the team desperately needs a Natalie. Elliot comes off the bench as an underutilized player from the first season to what is arguably, well deserved third billing."[2] He adds that $300,000 "is an incredibly reasonable sum" for building out a restaurant whereas $850,000 is in the vicinity of "fuck you money" and "you can build what they end up with for far less."[2]
- There's a sticky note on the door jamb of the office right behind Carmy as Sydney enters: Carmy call the fucking fridge guy ♥️
- Richie complains that Syd "tore Fenway." Fenway Park is a ballpark in Boston, Massachusetts, the home field of the Boston Red Sox. Richie says the Red Sox were Mikey's "favorite squad."[3] The baseball stadiums in Chicago are Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, and Rate Field, where the White Sox play ball. The two local teams have a long-standing crosstown rivalry, with south siders traditionally rooting for the White Sox.
- When Richie tells Carmy about his struggles finding purpose, he retells the plot of a book he has been reading. The book is probably Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Marukami.[4][5][6]
- The crawlspace alarm passcode is gofastboatsmojito, which is a reference to the 2006 Michael Mann-directed Miami Vice movie.[7]
Production
Writing
In May 2023, Hulu confirmed that the first episode of the season would be titled "Beef", and was to be written and directed by series creator Christopher Storer.[8] "Beef" was Storer's fifth writing credit, and his sixth directing credit.[9]
One pop-culture podcast took note of the emotional moment near the end of the episode as an effective illustration of Sydney's difficulties with vulnerability and trust: "Tina's genuine reaction of like hugging her and being so excited and Syd kind of taken aback by that, like not sure yet she should really let her guard down."[10]
Costuming
- Sydney's white overalls are Carhartt's "railroad stripe bib."[11][12]
- Richie is wearing a "printer's error" Original Berf of Chicagoland shirt he claims is a collector's item.[13] The shirt is an object of pathos because it represents "the beginning of Richie starting to feel like he's losing the original purpose he had in Beef when he worked with Carmy's brother Mikey [but] his funny moment was so iconic that people started selling the Original BERF merch online."[14]
Set decoration and props
- A poster for the movie Rounders is visible on the wall in the basement.[15] Brian Koppelman, who co-wrote the screenplay for Rounders, later joined the cast of the show as Uncle Computer.[15]
- Tina uses Bar Keepers Friend to scrub some of the gunk off the Beef's cookware.[16]
Music
The soundtrack songs for the episode include "The Show Goes On" by Bruce Hornsby, "Handshake Drugs" by Wilco, "Transcendental Blues" by Steve Earle, and "New Noise" by Refused.[17] "The Show Goes On" is about "watching someone you care for deeply make bad choices...there are the obvious themes of hypocrisy, mistrust and gossip, and they can apply to society and human nature in general. When Hornsby sings about time passing in the second half of the song...it is a warning to get your act together and stop making the same mistakes over and over. The show must go on with or without you."[18] Storer knew of the song in part because it is used for a montage in the film Backdraft, which shot in Chicago when he was young.[19] The show's composer, Jeffrey Qaiyum and Johnny Iguana, created a musical phrase that first plays when Jimmy is considering the pitch from Carmy, Sydney, and Natalie: "His line, 'Great partners ask great questions,' is immediately followed by a pulsating arpeggio Iguana and Qaiyum created that ends up reappearing throughout the season."[20] The episode uses the Kicking Television: Live in Chicago version of "Handshake Drugs," "which gets even skronkier than the studio version, chasing some Television-esque guitar solos to ground and frantically exploding into a crescendo."[21] "New Noise" was used in "Braciole," the season-one finale, and appears in later episodes as well, typically signaling "urgency on the parts of the show's characters...By the time the first line of the song is delivered ('Can I scream?!') viewers also feel the dire, do-or-die gravity of the onscreen moment."[22]
Color key:
- = opening credits
- = lyrics captioned
- = diagetic (music audible to characters in-universe)
- = closing credits
| Song | Performer(s) | Scene | Year | Album | Version | Songwriter(s) | Nationality of artist(s) | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Show Goes On" | Bruce Hornsby and the Range | Plays over aerial shots of the city, a shot of Carmy and Sydney watching the old Beef sign being removed from the building, a title card that reads PART II, and a montage of the Bears beginning the process of breaking down the old restaurant, continuing under Carmy's appalling pizza-box budget, and past the can-sealing machine in the basement into Richie and Carmy's talk about purpose. The opening song of the new batch of episodes is "synth-y heartland anthem, the kind of thing the War on Drugs have built a career on imitating. Full of beauty and longing, it's the perfect soundtrack for a bird's-eye introduction to the Windy City, setting the tone for the heart-tugging Season 2."[2] | 1988 | Scenes from the Southside | Bruce Hornsby | American | Rock | |
| "Handshake Drugs" | Wilco | "Handshake Drugs" plays while Shug explains IRS stipulations and DBAs to Carmy; key lyrics include "Saxophones started blowing me down / I was buried in sound / Taxicabs were driving me around / To the handshake drugs I bought downtown."[24] | 2004 | A Ghost Is Born | Live in Chicago, 2005 | Jeff Tweedy | American | Art rock |
| "Transcendental Blues" | Steve Earle | This song plays during Richie and Carmy's talk about purpose in the basement of the restaurant; "The blues often represents the struggles and mistakes we all make on life's journey. 'Transcendental' suggests moving beyond them, overcoming what went wrong. Earle uses harmonium to drone into the song, which is spattered with lyrics that give you pause: 'Happy ever after 'til the day you die / Careful what you ask for, you don't know 'til you try.' That sounds like a good recipe for a successful season. When opportunity comes around, even if it seems a little out there, if it puts a certain feeling in your gut, say yes."[18] | 2000 | Transcendental Blues | Steve Earle | American | Country rock | |
| "New Noise" | Refused | Carmy returns to the restaurant to find Sugar and Sydney already there; they agree to an accelerated schedule[17] | 1998 | The Shape of Punk to Come | Dennis Lyxzén, David Sandström, Kristofer Steen, Jon Brännström | Swedish | Hardcore punk |
Release
The episode, along with the rest of the season, premiered on June 22, 2023.[25]
Critical reviews
"Beef" received critical acclaim. Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "There's a vision board, timeline, and plan of attack, and while they're all pretty sure that everything they're planning on doing is a terrible idea, they're doing it all the same. It's that kind of manic confidence and blind ambition that made us all fall for The Bear in the first place, so, to quote Mikey Berzatto, let’s let it rip."[26]
A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "High-minded literary types will find metaphors everywhere in the crew's rebirth/rebuild/renovation, but despite the optimism and commitment to change, the walls are closing in. Or, in the case of the doomed staff, the walls are eating them alive."[27] Arnav Srivastava of The Review Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It is almost like The Bear never left. Season 2 picks up right off from where we left off last year. With the same beats, tense atmosphere, fast editing, and problems stacking up one after the other, The Bear is back."[28] Karl R De Mesa from Show Snob wrote, "A great, very kinetic episode to catch us up from the events of the previous season, while getting us pumped for the ones to come."[29]
Rafa Boladeras of MovieWeb named the episode as the seventh best of the season, writing "Even with all this mess in their hands, the best scene might be the one between Carmy and Richie, where the “cousin” tells the chef how he feels lost and without purpose, and Carmy reassures him he'll always have a place with him."[30] Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic named the episode as the ninth best of the season, writing "Their plan seemed impossible, which is what set such a high bar goal for the remainder of the season. But for the most part, the first installment merely eased us into things before the real drama unfolded."[31]
Retrospective reviews
In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Beef" at 14 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point, commenting that "The Bear resets the deck completely with its season two opener, a much more hopeful entry than the very first episode of the series. What seems like an impossible dream at the very start now feels all too possible, if incredibly difficult to pull off. There's much pain ahead for many of these characters in the ensuing episodes. But watching Carmy and the gang enter season two with so much hope is a satisfying way to set the story up."[32] Screen Rant ranked "Beef" 20th out of the 28 episodes produced through the end of season three, crediting the season-two premiere with advancing the series with a new sophistication after the gritty first season.[33]
In 2025, Vulture ranked "Beef" as 12th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, describing it as "a masterclass in storytelling."[34]
See also
- Insurance fraud and arson – per Richie, Mikey's plan for the Beef
- List of The Bear episodes
- The Bear season two
- Previous episode: "Braciole"
- Next episode: "Pasta"