So let’s say you just finished binge-watching season three of The Bear in the span of a few days and, with not much food in the house, you just want to get a beef sweet and hot ‘n’ wet and talk about it.
But maybe you don’t.
In fact, maybe you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. In which case I have two actions for you, should you choose to accept them.
1) Figure out a way you can binge watch The Bear on Hulu.
Maybe the premise of a trained chef going back to run his brother’s sandwich shop in Chicago isn’t an immediate draw for you, but trust me when I say this is a well-told tale that goes beyond many people’s wheelhouses.
They’re relatively short episodes and short seasons, so you could watch the whole series before the week is out. Of course, you might need to pause between episodes to talk about it with your binge-ing partner or –as happened to us during watching season three– pause during an episode to say, “Oh my god! Oh my GOD! OH! MY! GOD!”
Running around the couch to relieve tension may have also occurred.
The show is classified as a comedy for reasons no one I’ve talked to can convincingly justify… and most of us just realize it’s a drama with some relatable moments of levity and lots of relatable moments of OH MY GOD!
So if you haven’t seen it, and it isn’t impossibly difficult for you to see it, see it and understand it’s critically-acclaimed and award-winning for a reason. And if you’re a Chicagoan or have experienced the city on multiple occasions, there will be additional resonance… and perhaps a few more OH MY GODS… with a few choice words added.
Not only that, my indie filmmaking brothers and sisters: if you want to get some inspiration for making a low-fi, involving ensemble piece, bereft of CGI but chock full of truthful moments and sweet, sweet cinematography, you owe it to yourself to see this series.
2) Figure out your beef order
Look, it’s past lunchtime in Chicago and, statistically speaking, most of you are probably not in Chicago. But at some point, if you’re lucky, you’ll be in Chicago, and you’ll want to try their iconic Italian Beef sandwich. Sure, Chicago is the focal point of many different foods, but assuming you’ve binge-watched The Bear as touched upon earlier, revisiting the taste of the Italian Beef sandwich –or experiencing it for the first time– might be on your mind. But Chicago has its own shibboleth for ordering, so to prepare, Chicago denizen Dennis Lee gives you the entertaining lowdown on how to get the type of sandwich you want.
In the meantime, I had a Bulgogi sandwich for lunch, which was good, but not the same. And also, I’m thinking about The Bear again and MY GOD!