‘The Bear’ Season 2 Is So Good and Avoids the Sophomore Slump

Nothing compares to a frosty beer on a warm summer day. Or, perhaps, a beef sub dripping with salty au jus. Although The Bear takes place in the scrape-ice-off-your-car thick of winter Chicago, the series is now officially a summer show, TV’s version of a refreshing beverage on a sweltering June afternoon. Just two seasons in, The Bear has quickly become a summer tradition: Every summer, we’ll be desperate to binge a new season of the perfect Hulu show, a plastic quart container of ice water in one hand and an Italian beef sandwich in the other.

Creator Christopher Storer’s fast-paced restaurant dramedy returns almost exactly one year after its series premiere with a second season that is just as fresh as, if not improved over, the original episodes. The first season became a massive hit in 2022 thanks to catchphrases like “YES, CHEF,” stellar performances from Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, and a jaw-dropping single-take episode that sent viewers flying through the halls of a messy kitchen. All those delights and more are back for Season 2, which, in the first four episodes provided to press, takes a slight departure from Carmy Berzatto’s (White) point of view.

Carmy has opted to give a facelift to the family restaurant, The Original Beef, which he operates with his sister Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott) and cousin Richie “COUSIN!” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Using the money discovered in the Season 1 finale, the team introduces a new-and-improved eatery to Chicagoans: something more upscale, but equipped with what Sydney (Edebiri) calls a “chaos menu.” While the Berzattos work on the budgeting and delegating clean-up tasks to folks like Richie and Fak (Matty Matheson), Sydney devises new specials and organizes her back of house (restaurant speak for “kitchen”) team.

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