Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Bear season 2.
The Bear season 2 smartly fixes the only major problem from season 1. Set in Chicago, The Bear follows Jeremy Allen White's Carmy Berzatto, a chef who returns to the city to run his family's Italian sandwich shop after the death of his brother, Mikey. The Bear season 1 received critical acclaim, even managing to score a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, that's not to say its story was without its fair share of problems.
It expertly tackles the restaurant industry while also serving as a great character study. Carmy is a fascinating and well-written character, and he's surrounded by an intriguing ensemble of characters who work at The Beef. The cast of The Bear is quite talented and makes it enjoyable to spend time with these characters whose lives are thrown into flux by Carmy taking over the restaurant. The chefs have their quirks, but they're also people with their own lives and desires, making them more interesting as characters.
The Bear Season 2 Explores More Of The Characters' Personal Lives
Compared to The Bear's first season, The Bear season 2 explores more of the characters' personal lives. In The Bear season 2, episode 2, "Pasta," there is a scene that shows Sydney talking with her father, Emmanuel. It's an interesting scene in a season that reveals more about Sydney's personal life, such as what happened to Sydney's mother in The Bear. Unlike The Bear season 1, season 2 actually shows and discusses the characters' parents to a great extent, which gives more insight into the protagonists' lives and explains some of their motivations.
Another example of this is The Bear season 2, episode 4, "Honeydew." The episode largely focuses on Marcus as her travels to Copenhagen to learn from Luca, a pastry chef Luca. Marcus' ion for baking was already touched upon in The Bear season 1, but it's nice to see it expanded upon in season 2. This episode also does a good job of expanding his character and showing a little more of his backstory through his budding kinship with Luca. It's nice to see another character get more of a spotlight in The Bear, and following Marcus as he navigates life in Denmark is a fun watch.
The Bear Season 2 Makes Its Ensemble Cast Even Better
By delving more into their personal lives, The Bear season 2 makes its ensemble cast even better. Small moments like Tinagoing out with her culinary school classmates and doing karaoke or Richie bonding with Chef Terryover the fact that they both had fathers in the military help make the characters more well-rounded and interesting. Now that The Bear has introduced its characters, it can spend its second season digging a little deeper. The Bear even highlights personal bonds, such as Marcus and Sydney's friendship, or the one shared between Tina and Ebra.
One reason why The Bear works so well is because it takes a bunch of characters with contrasting personalities and brings them together through something as simple as a restaurant. The staff is a found family. They may not always get along or agree on everything, but at the end of the day, everyone is there to each other and make the restaurant the best it can possibly be. The Bear season 2 fixes something that was lacking in season 1 and paints a richer portrait of the characters' inner lives, making the ensemble better and making the show itself better in the process.