The Bear: A Patient Process
Oftentimes in the process of thinking about our dreams or our goals we abbreviate the process. It gets us to the final product faster, which is a much more exciting prospect. The conditioning to think this way comes from the entertainment we consume as we watch the abbreviated process. Aside from whatever second act challenge is there for our protagonist to overcome, the process of accomplishing something great fits nicely into a montage. One that highlights all the steps of this process and motivates you to overcome them to get to your goal. Almost always these stories are great and inspiring, this is not a shot at this technique. However, the time spent lingering on the process, powerful storytelling is often the outcome. The process can be just as dramatic, inspiring and thoughtful. It can also function as a great connector for the audience, who needs to see the struggle. We need to see the self-doubt, ambition, failures and impossibly hard work surrounding the great achievement we all aspire to. Season Two the FX series, The Bear is one of these process stories, and quite possibly one of the best.
Season 1 channeled grief through the chaos of running a restaurant. We saw a beautiful metaphor, interesting characters and a series that is as entertaining as it is anxiety inducing. As it ended these characters decide to rebuild and create something new, a new restaurant. Season Two gives that same anxiety channeled by chaos but this time it services the metaphor of creation. We see the chaos behind creating something great. Witnessing it’s challenges, pitfalls, inspiration and impact on everyone involved. While we get very little of the chaotic environment of running a dinner service, we instead get the duck pedaling of meeting construction deadlines, getting permits and creating menus. The focus is on the process, but not just the process of creating a restaurant but the process of achieving a goal, of doing the thing you’ve always wanted to do.
This process is a familiar one, we’ve all faced it. We all understand the pressure, stress and tribulation that comes with it. It’s channeled in The Bear to perfection, because it’s patient. We spend the entire season in the process. Long stretches of watching characters do menial tasks to either gain a skill, an understanding or an appreciation for what they are trying to create. The series doesn’t shy away from any of the complexities of their situation either. It is very apparent that the creation of a restaurant, at this time, is a bad idea. A challenge not worth the risk because failure is more than likely. While the weight of that dangles over each episode, we get to see how each character wrestles with that reality and subsequently pushes past it.
It’s a powerful theme of which we can all relate because there always comes a time when you are told by someone, or even yourself, that your goal is unattainable. Maybe you are told it’s improbable and a waste of time. How we face this defines not just our achievement of that goal but our lives. Seeing several characters all face and embrace this challenge differently is a powerful experience that is captured beautifully and repeatedly through the season.
Each character is embracing the challenge of opening the restaurant in their own way. They also all have to face individual challenges that reflect where they are in their lives and where they want to go. Individual growth is a crucial piece of achieving any goal. Typically we aren’t expecting the opportunity for that growth, we are just presented with it. Each character in Season Two is facing this and each has to start their journey alone, be challenged, fail, learn, grow and then go back to apply it all.
It’s truly wonderful to see each character go through this process, in large part because the process focuses on each of them. We see what each character has to overcome in the beginning. Then we watch them fail, get up and keep pushing to become the best versions of themselves. It can be chaotic, hectic and very hard, but this process is such a beautiful one. One that is so necessary in accomplishing any goal, no matter what it is. That beauty is captured wonderfully in The Bear, and makes for the series’ best and most emotional moments.
The Bear’s focus on the process in Season Two is incredible both in its technical execution and its thematic impact. It’s a season in which every episode hits so incredibly hard. Over and over again you are being hit emotionally and it creates one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences in television in quite some time. This is due in large part to the idea that holds all of this process together.
The Bear doesn’t just focus on the process of creating something but it focuses on the why and specifically what it does for the process. For these characters it's about trying to provide something great for other people. That service mentality is continually referenced throughout Season Two which is important for the substantive meaning of this season. However, it creates a deeper thematic meaning when you zoom out and look at this from a macro sense.
The idea of revisiting your reasoning isn’t revolutionary, for a stretch of time it almost became cliché. However, it is a powerful idea. One in which The Bear hinges its thematic impact. While we can easily identify their individual and collective why, it’s how it's used and what it represents that becomes so powerful. Their collective why is their foundation. The thing that holds them together in the chaos of this world. Many times throughout the season we see characters stop to readdress their why. In that moment, we see reassurance, confidence and belief fuel them through whatever challenge is in front of them.
It’s how they are able to face the insurmountable odds and disbelief they are facing in trying to open the restaurant. They can do so because failure doesn’t matter. It’s not representative of a character flaw or an inability to achieve greatness. They achieve greatness in the process because the process has meaning and thus gives them purpose. Ultimately, that is what we all want and are striving for. Purpose powers our lives and gives meaning to everything we do. Season Two of The Bear highlights their process, which brings to light their purpose. We see all these characters find and subsequently walk in that purpose. Not ignoring the challenges, doubts, fears and hardships that come with it. Alongside it we see the power, beauty and fulfillment that comes from walking in that purpose.
The Bear is great. It’s perfect television in every aspect possible. More importantly, The Bear is powerful, with each episode entertaining and empowering the audience. Few shows can capture this magic, and The Bear seemingly has an unlimited supply of it. Its chaos will bring about anxiety but its beauty cuts through that to give you something meaningful. In a time when there is more content than any of us know what to do with, The Bear is everything we need. It’s hopeful, beautiful and most importantly, it’s inspiring.
