The Bear-Season 2

This is American television at its best.

Watching reminded me of "thirtysomething," a show made by people who were not pandering, who did their best to reflect real life, who respected the audience, whose main goal was to get it right.

American TV is produced, bright. But too often there are compromises. Big stars who can't transcend their identity, who never meld with the role, assuming they can act to begin with, that they're not just a pretty face. Then there's the happy ending. Or the vivid loss. Everything is supersized. Focus-grouped. You don't want to take any risk, you don't want to offend anybody, you want to get the largest audience possible while keeping a modicum of respectability so the industry, and your peers, will acknowledge you, even though what you've ultimately produced is forgettable.

There's something about the look of "The Bear." I'm not a cinematographer, but I remember working with one who was legendary for getting it "fast and flat." You didn't have to wait around, he captured the images, but you were never wowed by the pictures. Not that you're exactly wowed by the images in "The Bear," but somehow it all seems real, and immediate, there's no scrim between you and the actors, you actually feel involved. It's visceral. And in some way transcendent. This is the art we're looking for, that removes us from our everyday world and sets us in a better place and not only entertains us, but feeds our brains too, makes us think.

Now let's not forget that TV isn't the way it used to be. We've all got giant flat screens. It's not like the tube days, where you felt like you were peeking at something, today it's all right there. And you can get a really good set for not that much money. And if you're willing to spend more you can get an OLED set that allows you to watch in 4k... Can I say that at times "The Bear" seems more real than real? That you don't even see this detail in real life, the pores, the skin of people?

And the people are somehow regular. Tina is like someone you know, a good heart but don't cross her. A tough exterior waiting to melt, but only at the right point. Before that she's standoffish.

And Syd... She acts and you don't see her acting. She seems real, evidences a personality without even speaking.

And Fak. A good time bozo just drifting through life, making no headway, but you can count on him.

And then there's the utterly astounding Oliver Platt. Who has settled into his features, who now seems like a wholly real person.

And Ebon Moss-Bachrach... He's playing a variation on the role he played in "Girls," he's the kind of guy, who believes he is always right, but is often wrong, who is high-strung, who pisses you off, but you have history.

And Jeremy Allen White as "Carmy"...

I don't know this guy, I never watched "Shameless," but he's intense and committed and you really believe he's the character, who is driven yet emotionally lost, who needs to get it right, who has climbed the mountain to the top and is trying to do it again, who believes in respecting everybody to get them to be their best selves. Chef!

You see life is small. We're constantly told it's big, but it's not. Sure, there are celebrities, but most people carve out their own little niche, they intersect with a society, they're not generating a lot of attention, but it's important to them to be a member of the group, garner respect, and put a dent in the universe, however small.

And Natalie... If it weren't for blood, she'd have nothing to do with these people. She's conflicted, not sure whether to be in or out. She's a professional in the business world, but that's not how a restaurant is run, and this bugs her.

And Syd's father... How come parents specialize in saying the wrong thing? They want to protect us, but at the same time they don't cheer us in our dreams, assuming they're out of the prescribed verticals. They rain on your parade. But they're your parents. You've got to talk to them, but you don't want to, you hold back your interior thoughts, you don't want them squashed.

So everybody's got a story. In truth, it's a lot of oddballs thrown together. There is no hurdle, no test necessary for qualification. Everybody fell into it, and here they are. Is this serious business or just a living? And restaurants...

That was a big story a few months ago, how the numbers don't work, how it takes so much time and effort to prepare these meals, at Noma and other high end spots. In other words, you don't do it to get rich. But you have to be rich to go to a lot of these places.

Not really, assuming you can get a reservation.

And that's another change in the last half-century. People no longer live in split-levels, they want more room than the cookie cutter houses provide. And they expect good grub at the airport and the arena, which used to specialize in hot dogs and popcorn, none of it good. And when you see these meals in the show...man, they look delectable.

It's about getting it right. On a relatively small stage. It's important to the people involved, it's not that important to everybody else, but that's fine.

And then there's the old girlfriend...

We're only four episodes in, so I can't tell you exactly how this plays out, but when Carmy and she meet each other in the grocery store, it's like Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne," they've got so much history. Which they've buried, and now it's all come back to the surface, can they cope with it?

Yes, we watched four episodes tonight.

I could debate the drip versus drop distribution model, but the bottom line is the public likes the drop, of the entire season, and what we've learned in the twenty first century is you fail to deliver for the audience at your peril. Give people what they want, or there is trouble. People love to binge, love to marinate. I certainly do. To watch two hours of "The Bear" was the highlight of my day. I know I can watch more tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it. When shows are dripped out episode by episode, week by week, it's unfulfilling, you can't remember what happens from week to week, it's not the same artistic experience.

Then again, streaming TV is becoming more middlebrow, got to get those eyeballs, got to keep people subscribing.

Which is why I end up watching the foreign shows, because they shoot higher.

But "The Bear" is right there with them, at the same level, but different. Foreign shows don't look like this, they don't feel like this, "The Bear" is positively American, it's the essence of the entertainment we used to deliver that conquered the world. That's the power of a great show, that's the power of a great song. But the irony is in both shows and songs, America is getting trounced by the foreigners. It's the foreign language acts that are triumphing. I mean how big is Bad Bunny? He taps into something that the usual suspects can't, and the people can feel it.

Being alive is so complicated, and there are so few answers. When Marcus cooks with the chef in Copenhagen and they discuss their families and their pasts, how they got from there to here... Man, that's everyday life, meeting people and connecting, as human beings, not as a business transaction. We're all searching for understanding, commitment, the feeling that another human being knows us and gets us. That's universal.

And so is "The Bear."

Check it out.


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