Oh my god, The Bear

An ode to Jeremy Allen White’s face

Jeremy Allen White in The Bear (Credit: Frank Ockenfels - FX)

I have to tell you about this new TV series, The Bear. It’s about a prodigious chef, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, who, after a family tragedy, leaves his job in fine dining to run his family’s struggling sandwich shop in Chicago.  

Most of the action takes place in the kitchen and the show has a frenetic, often extremely chaotic style and pace. It’s SO GOOD. This show is about toxic masculinity and grief and how fucking intense it is working in a professional kitchen.

The chefs shout “Hands!” instead of “Service” when food is ready so my husband and I have taken to shouting “Hands!” when the kids’ toast pops up in the morning and I’m fighting the urge to cry, “Yes, chef!” when anyone asks anything of me ever.  

Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmy, has one of the most incredible faces I’ve ever seen. He looks like he’s been carved from marble, part Rocky Balba, part Gene Wilder, part James Dean. He has sad, soulful eyes and very nice arms and he’s fantastically good at expressing anguish and torment without really doing much. 

The rest of the cast is excellent too. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Richie, Carmy’s cousin and possibly the most aggy character to ever appear on TV. He’s the guy who played Marnie’s insufferable musician boyfriend Desi in Girls and if possible, he’s even more annoying here. But my favourite is Ayo Edebiri who plays the sardonic Sydney, the young sous chef with classical culinary training who’s trying to rise above the relentless shouting and volatility to help Carmy and the shop succeed. 

You’ll swoon over the gorgeous filming of the food. There are hunks of beef sizzling in red hot pans, bubbling stock pots and extreme close ups of giant, shimmering chocolate cakes. Each episode is sensory overload but in a good way. The music is fantastic too.

I’m reluctant to rave about something that isn’t easily accessible but at the moment, I’m not sure where or when it’s available. I’ve been watching on one of those dodgy links sent to me by my friend [redacted] and Google has slightly mixed reports but it sounds like it will be on Hulu and/or Disney+ in the UK. Please let me know if you have better intel. I hope it comes soon. 

See you next time!

Hannah