The first season of “The Bear” garnered critical praise and, according to its home network FX, it was its most-watched comedy ever. Streaming simultaneously on Hulu may have played a big hand in its success, too, yet there’s no denying that the show touched on something in the zeitgeist. Call it post-pandemic blues with a side order of absurdity, gallows humor, and rage — “The Bear” serves it up and viewers are liking what they’re consuming.

The foodie metaphors are intentional because the show is all about a Chicago restaurant and its bungling, disorganized, lovable crew. Lead character Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is the prodigal son who returns to the windy city from New York, where he was a James Beard Award-winning chef, after his brother commits suicide and leaves him the family restaurant. 

Said restaurant is a meat sandwich kind of joint — appropriately called “The Beef” — although it also serves spaghetti and other culinary delights, like a “Ballbreaker” arcade game in its dining area. Having come from the haute cuisine world, Carmen attempts to introduce its rigorous standards and uniform methods to the rough-and-tumble arena of The Beef’s tight kitchen spaces and expressive personalities.

It’s in these strong personalities that the show sizzles. There’s loudmouth Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who helped Carmen’s brother run the restaurant before his death, though apparently he didn’t do such a great job because there are heaps of unpaid bills lying around. There’s new sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), one of Carmen’s new hires who went to culinary school and has tons of ideas on how to improve the restaurant. 

Veteran line cook Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) is surly and uncooperative, although midway through the first season, she had become more open to the changes implemented by Carmen and Sydney. Other kitchen staff with idiosyncratic traits round out a show filled with distinctive flavors.

All the main characters (and wonderful cast) from the first season return for the first episode of season two, although circumstances have altered dramatically since the discovery during last season’s final episode that Carmen’s brother hid $300,000 in cash in cans of tomatoes. 

As established in that episode, Carmen and Sydney decide to re-open the restaurant as a higher-end eatery and the new season opens with the restaurant being gutted and renovated. It’s a bold move for creator Christopher Storer to pivot the show narratively when the first season was pretty brief (only eight roughly 30-minute episodes) and the audience was just getting acquainted with the restaurant and its atmosphere.

Happily, all the elements that made its debut season popular remain. Comic moments are sprinkled throughout, such as when Sydney holds up a piece of cardboard on which Carmen has written a budget for the new restaurant. And the cast’s super quick line delivery, and sometimes overlapping dialogue, adds to the sense of realism and tension.

Once again, the show’s editing stands out as a triumph of not just mood-setting but storytelling economy, such as when a short shot of a laminated prayer card on the kitchen’s floor is followed by a close-up of Carmen’s brother’s suicide note in a small frame. The show’s ace use of rock music, from the likes of Chicago-based band Wilco to Bruce Hornsby, appropriately provides both a plaintive and abrasive accompaniment to the nostalgic/hectic proceedings. 

For the most part, the characters in this first episode of the second season busy themselves with the planning of the new restaurant; logistics, timing, new kitchenware and more are discussed. Actor Oliver Platt reappears as Carmen’s uncle Jimmy Cicero and agrees to fund the new venture. A fun meta-reference, Platt is the brother of New York magazine restaurant critic Adam Platt.

Abby Elliott reprises her role as Carmen’s sister Natalie, also known as “Sugar,” and it’s clear she will take on a larger role this season by helping out with the new establishment. The only character still missing is the Berzatto matriarch, who was discussed in the first season in terms unsympathetic. We don’t have too much longer to wait, though, because the show’s promotion announced that the recently Oscar-winning Jamie Lee Curtis will play the mother.

Besides the familial, other thematic courses the show has yet to dish up deeply: the specter of addiction, which it keeps hinting at with Carmen and Richie’s pill-popping, and the issue of race, particularly with such a diverse cast. Yet with faith in the abilities of its cast and crew firmly established in the first season and the promising first episode of season two, “The Bear” will continue to provide food for thought while giving us tense yet tasty entertainment.