‘The Bear’ understands anxiety better than almost any TV show because it rarely treats anxiety as a dramatic speech or a single character flaw. It makes anxiety feel like a physical sensation. It is in the sound of the kitchen, unanswered phone calls, unfinished sentences and the moment when someone suddenly cannot breathe.
Throughout its seasons, ‘The Bear’ makes ordinary situations feel painfully familiar.
The Kitchen Becomes A Pressure Cooker
The kitchen begins to move faster than Carmy’s can keep up with and that is when his anxiety begins to set in. In Season 1, the cramped kitchen of The Beef constantly feels like it is about to explode. Orders are being placed, tickets are being printed, everyone is yelling, and Carmy is trying to solve all the problems himself.
Related: Why ‘The Bear’s Ending Is The Perfect Sendoff For Carmy Berzatto
That’s when the iconic seven fishes dinner flashback comes into play. What begins as a family Christmas dinner gradually becomes unbearable. Donna drinks, the family fights, things get more and more crazy, and dinner goes down the drain. The scene explains why Carmy associates food and family with both love and danger.
Then there’s Carmy’s panic attack in the walk-in freezer during Season 2. It’s one of the best moments of the show because the viewers have seen him throughout the season trying to keep everything together. He wants the restaurant to be successful, he wants everyone around him to be happy, and he puts his own feelings aside.
Then the door closes. Suddenly, there is nowhere for him to run. All the pressure he has been carrying finally catches up with him, his breathing changes, his body locks up. It’s kind of like a cruel reality. Anxiety doesn’t always come at a convenient time. Sometimes it waits until you are already exhausted.
Anxiety Is Also About Love, Guilt And Control
But what makes ‘The Bear’ so great at depicting anxiety is that it knows where a lot of it originates from. Carmy isn’t just worried because running the restaurant is hard. He is afraid that he will let people down. Sydney has a similar thing, but her anxiety manifests differently.
In case you missed it: Top 20 TV Shows Based On YA Novels
Her desire is always in conflict with her belief that she is not good enough. If things go wrong at the restaurant, she feels overwhelmed because the restaurant is not just a job, it’s her future. Richie also transforms, as his fear is suppressed by anger and insecurity.
His transformation during his stage at Ever shows how much of his identity has been tied to feeling useless. The power of watching him find purpose through service is that anxiety can sometimes come from not knowing where you belong.
Then there’s Sugar, who attempts to handle all the other emotional crises while dealing with her own crazy relationship with Donna throughout the series. It’s what makes ‘The Bear’ so powerful. Its characters rarely announce, “I am anxious.” They cook, yell, avoid conversations, work too much, make mistakes and pretend everything is fine.
Real anxiety often looks exactly like that. The show knows that sometimes the scariest thing is not the disaster that’s going on around you. It’s that sense that everyone is relying on you while you are barely holding yourself together.
You might also like to read: Top 25 Best Crime Drama Shows, Ranked
