Very well said. I really enjoyed this show but I cannot stand how contrived some of the beats feel and I totally agree, the saccharine dialogue does not gel at all with the gritty/realness it was seemingly pitched with.
This was fantastic and gets to a point that consistently makes by brain itch whenever I’m watching a tv show about regular non-white collar jobs that aren’t cops or firefighters or teachers (which there are very few of!). That said the sequence at the end of episode 9 has caused me to download, and repeatedly listen to, If You Want Blood by AC/DC.
Thank you! And for what it's worth I agree. That's what disappointed me about this season: when the show's good it's really, really good, but it eschews its best qualities to veer off into "General Hospital" territory
The show can be very good and I enjoyed a lot of this season. I think it would be better served if it was thought of as a good TV show that happens to take place in a restaurant rather than some sort of insider look into what it's like to work in a restaurant. I don't mean to damn it with faint praise but it's about food service the same way the West Wing was about working at the White House.
Also, the Carmy/Claire relationship was low-key some early 2000s indie Garden State ass rom-com stuff.
I really loved this season. It's got two of my favorite episodes of the year across the board in "Honeydew" and "Forks," and it got away from some of the sillier aspects of the first season (cartoonish gamers, drugging a party full of kids). It's not a show about the technical ins and outs of running a restaurant, and of course any show about a profession is going to seem unrealistic to people who have actually worked in that field. But as a show about people trying to learn how to coexist and struggling to figure their shit out, it's phenomenal. I adored the first season, and the second surpassed it.
Well said. The show’s excellent production design obscures how shallow its understanding of restaurant work actually is (a frustrating viewing experience for anyone who’s been in “the industry”), and everything outside the kitchen is very silly, including and especially the Chicago of it all. I haven’t seen season 2.
Very well said. I really enjoyed this show but I cannot stand how contrived some of the beats feel and I totally agree, the saccharine dialogue does not gel at all with the gritty/realness it was seemingly pitched with.
This is such a thoughtful essay, I sat on a plane yesterday and read the dining magazine section in it's entirety and this is what was missing!
This was fantastic and gets to a point that consistently makes by brain itch whenever I’m watching a tv show about regular non-white collar jobs that aren’t cops or firefighters or teachers (which there are very few of!). That said the sequence at the end of episode 9 has caused me to download, and repeatedly listen to, If You Want Blood by AC/DC.
Thank you! And for what it's worth I agree. That's what disappointed me about this season: when the show's good it's really, really good, but it eschews its best qualities to veer off into "General Hospital" territory
The show can be very good and I enjoyed a lot of this season. I think it would be better served if it was thought of as a good TV show that happens to take place in a restaurant rather than some sort of insider look into what it's like to work in a restaurant. I don't mean to damn it with faint praise but it's about food service the same way the West Wing was about working at the White House.
Also, the Carmy/Claire relationship was low-key some early 2000s indie Garden State ass rom-com stuff.
I really loved this season. It's got two of my favorite episodes of the year across the board in "Honeydew" and "Forks," and it got away from some of the sillier aspects of the first season (cartoonish gamers, drugging a party full of kids). It's not a show about the technical ins and outs of running a restaurant, and of course any show about a profession is going to seem unrealistic to people who have actually worked in that field. But as a show about people trying to learn how to coexist and struggling to figure their shit out, it's phenomenal. I adored the first season, and the second surpassed it.
Well said. The show’s excellent production design obscures how shallow its understanding of restaurant work actually is (a frustrating viewing experience for anyone who’s been in “the industry”), and everything outside the kitchen is very silly, including and especially the Chicago of it all. I haven’t seen season 2.
Fran i am go to Chicago for the first time in a long time this october. Where is there best Chicago hot dog?
i am a diehard Portillo’s patron
The cake shake is sooo good. My hot take is that NY Dogs >> Chicago
hey now--