Season 2 of The Bear on Hulu The Xavierite
As the holiday season approaches I’m quick to reminisce about the Christmas episode of “The Bear” on Hulu. It captures chaotic family holiday dinner so perfectly, I find it oddly comforting.
The plotline of the episode, followed by the arguing, the chaos and the way that it’s filmed has never made me feel more on my toes and locked in for the entirety of the episodes airtime.
The television series follows a chef named Carmen Berzatto (aka Carmy) who struggles to continue to uphold his families sandwich shop after the tragic suicide of his brother.
The show is known for the way it captures the chaotic worksetting of a restaurant, while also emphasizing the mental toll that Carmy is going through after the death of his brother.
The episode titled “Fishes”, is a flashback to an intense Christmas dinner years prior to Carmy’s brother’s death. It showcases the dysfunctional family dynamic Carmy has grown up with while explaining the roots of his trauma.
The episode opens up with a close up of Carmy’s sister, Natalie, smoking a cigarette in silence. Soon her brothers join her, and the silence leaves. The havoc starts and you realize why she was out there in the first place.
We are introduced to the state of Carmy’s alcoholic, loud and disorganized mother trying to put together the Christmas dinner. There’s food everywhere, endless clutter and a timer that doesn’t stop going off.
I find this comfort in how dysfunctional and imperfect she is reminding me of the imperfections of my own family. Christmas family dinner at my house is quite stressful, this episode just does that so well.
The camera movement throughout the episode is handheld and shaky making it feel like it’s trying to keep up with everything happening and all of the conversations ongoing at once.
This makes it feel like there isn’t a moment of peace and calm, making it hard to process it all. In every big family dinner I’ve had, it’s hard to keep up, it’s always one thing to the next.
The show never leaves a second of silence and the dialogue is consistently running, majority of the time it’s on top of each other. It’s hard to know when a conversation starts and ends.
With all the layered talking it makes it feel more realistic, no one is waiting for their turn to speak. In such a big family, talking over one another is inevitable. Everyone is trying to say what they want and be heard.
These choices contribute to why it’s hard to look away from the episode, to be able to keep up you have to live in the Berzatto family’s havoc. It reminds me of my own, we are always talking over each other, that feels relatable.
There are few scenes within the episode that give you quiet and intimate moments between characters, making these moments feel all the more special. It emphasizes the silence and feels like the calm before the storm.
There are consistent close-up shots throughout the episode which is significant in making the characters look and feel vulnerable. The conversations feel more intimate, and it’s easier to make their bonding translate through the screen.
Besides the intimate conversations, there’s also the stupid and pointless ones that are essential to lighten up the heaviness of the episode.
There are cousins trying to convince multiple family members to invest in their horrible business ideas. There’s jokes thrown around within the scene to keep up the humor, making it less heartbreaking.
The show keeps a good balance between the two, while still hammering home why Carmy has so much trauma from the way his family functions.
As the family sits down to eat the dinner that Carmy’s mother put her blood sweat and tears into, of course the arguing continues. It feels more intense, the loud foul language and concerned looks of everyone creates an anxious scene.
I enjoy the show’s effort of presenting the Berzatto family the way it does, its choices through dialogue, camera movement and characters contribute to presenting the realities of dysfunctional families on holidays.