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| "System" | |
|---|---|
| The Bear episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Christopher Storer |
| Written by | Christopher Storer |
| Cinematography by | Adam Newport-Berra |
| Editing by | Joanna Naugle |
| Original release date | June 23, 2022 |
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
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"System" is the series premiere of the American television comedy-drama The Bear . The episode was written by series creator Christopher Storer. It was released on Hulu on June 23, 2022, along with the rest of the season.
The series follows Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing Italian beef sandwich shop. The episode introduces the characters, as well as Carmy's internal conflict in trying to keep the shop afloat.
The premiere received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised its cast and production values. It won two Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
After having a dream where he releases a caged bear in the streets, Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto goes to his job at The Original Beef of Chicagoland sandwich shop, which belonged to his brother Michael until his recent death. Having returned to his hometown of Chicago, Carmy finds it difficult to run the place, particularly over receiving shipment and due payments.
Carmy operates the shop with Michael's best friend, manager Richard "Richie" Jerimovich; baker Marcus Brooks; cooks Tina Marrero and Ebraheim; and handyman Neil Fak. He interviews a new applicant, chef Sydney Adamu. She has experience, having trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and admires Carmy's career achievements, which includes the James Beard Foundation Award, and wants the job as The Beef is her father's favorite restaurant. Carmy hires her, although he does not disclose why he is working at the Beef.
As Carmy tries to control the environment, the stubborn staff resist Carmy's efforts to modernize the restaurant. While having lunch, Carmy goes outside to control a crowd that gathered to play for an arcade game in the shop. When the scene soon escalates, Richie goes outside and fires a gun in the air to control the crowd. After getting back to the shop, Richie reminds Carmy that he has no idea how the shop works and that he must adhere to their standards instead. As he tries to open a can of tomatoes for spaghetti, Carmy begins to feel uneasy and instead drops it in the trash.
White and tattoo artist Benny Shields worked together to design Carmy's tattoos; the 773 tattoo is for Chicago's area code 773. [1]
There is a large Mälort billboard visible above the restaurant when Carmy is trading denim for beef with Chi-Chi (Christopher J. Zucchero). Jeppson's Malört is a Chicago native liqueur that, in the words of Food & Wine magazine "occupies the rare air of popular city-specific beverages that both connote pride and are widely perceived as being bad." [2]
Syd's résumé includes cooking school at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, and stints at Smoque, Avec, and Alinea. Smoque opened in 2006 and specializes in barbecue. [3] Avec opened in 2004 and is run by Donnie Madia and chef Dylan Patel. [4] Alinea is a famous and enduring three Michelin star Chicago restaurant headed by Grant Achatz. [5]
Sydney identifies Carmy as the "best CDC at the best restaurant in the whole United States of America," meaning chef de cuisine at a restaurant that is implied to be Eleven Madison Park in New York (in later episodes, identified as a fictional restaurant named Empire, perhaps as a nod to "EMP" crossed with the Empire State). As a BuzzFeed writer put it, given their impressive culinary experience "both seem equally confused about crossing paths at a local sandwich shop." [6]
When Sydney asks Carmy if he wants a cartouche, that is "a piece of parchment paper that you cut into a circle and put over a soup to trap the steam." [7] Cookbooks visible in "System" include the Noma Cookbook, which Richie slams down as representative of Carmy being a "pretentious gayrod," and Mastering the Art of French Cooking and The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. [5]
In May 2022, Hulu confirmed that the first episode of the season would be titled "System", and was to be written by series creator Christopher Storer, marking his first writing and directing credit for the series. [8] [9]
Much of the pilot episode was filmed on location at Mr. Beef, a real family-owned Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago. [10] According to Chris Zucchero, son of the original owner, Joseph Zucchero (who started the place in 1979), the "pilot was shot entirely at Mr. Beef as far as the dining room, but the back of the house stuff was all shot in a separate kitchen. Then, when the show got picked up, they built Mr. Beef on a set at the Cinespace in the south end. They did it to a T, down to the stains on the wall. It was sort of a symbiotic thing they were doing, going to the set and then coming to Mr. Beef. It was amazing to see. And they still filmed the second season at Mr. Beef too, outside and in the front." [10]
The episode included songs, such as "Via Chicago" by Wilco, and "Animal" by Pearl Jam. Storer explained the decision to have the episode end with "Animal" during the credits, "We were making a statement that this is a loud show, and you are either in or out. I think it's very much not your thing, or it is very much your thing. I don't think there is too much of a middle ground. Ending the first episode with 'Animal' added this punctuation mark." [11]
The episode, along with the rest of the season, premiered on June 23, 2022. [12]
As retold by Chicago native Kevin Pang in Esquire magazine [13]
Italian beefs came from Neapolitan immigrants who moved to Chicago a century ago. When a couple got married, the neighborhood held a "peanut wedding"—essentially a working-class wedding. At these gatherings, they needed an economical way to feed many people. Cooks would take a medicine-ball portion of beef bottom round, seasoned aggressively with garlic, basil, and oregano; roast it in a pan of its juices; then slice it so thin one could practically see through it. These meat shavings were piled onto a roll and topped with a spicy bricolage of pickled vegetables known as giardiniera (sometimes boiled sweet peppers), and the whole sandwich got dunked in the pan juices. Suddenly, 15 pounds of cheap beef would feed 50 people." [13]
Another description characterized it as sort of like a roast-beef sandwich, but also sort of like a French dip, because of the importance of beef broth, also known as "gravy or au jus ". [14] It is a very regional, Chicago-specific sandwich, with significantly less fame with than a Philadelphia cheesesteak or a Cuban sandwich from Florida. [15] According to the Chicago Tribune , if you asked for your sandwich to be dipped, it "often comes out looking like a water-logged roll of paper towels." [15] On the show Marcus originally bakes the rolls in-house but in real Chicago, they are often ordered from Turano Baking Co. [15] Typical topping options include either sweet peppers (green bell, red bell, or Melrose peppers), or hot peppers, also known as the aforementioned giardiniera (described as "pickled mix of vegetables and chiles submerged in oil"), and in recent years "shredded cheese and tomato sauce have become increasingly popular." [15]
Some of this food culture developed around Taylor Street in Chicago's Little Italy. [13] Famous Italian beef spots in Chicago, other than Mr. Beef itself (which inspired the show's Original Beef of Chicagoland sandwich joint), include Al's #1 Italian (originally opened in 1938 as a front for a gambling operation), Tony's Italian Deli & Subs in Edison Park, Johnnie's in Elmwood Park, the Portillo's chain, and the Buona chain. [13] [15] [16] Chris Zucchero's recommended sandwich order is "'hot, sweet, and juicy'—that's the Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers, which is the giardiniera, sweet peppers, which is bell peppers, and dipped. That's the way to get it." [10]
"System" received highly positive reviews from critics. Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "Episode one, “System,” is really just about establishing the vibe and drama of The Bear, and it does a good job. You leave its tight 27 minutes with more questions than you entered with, and you want to stick around to find out the answers." [17]
Mia Sidoti of MovieWeb named the episode as the sixth best of the season, writing "The pilot of The Bear doesn't have time for introductions and throws you right into the chaos of it all as Carmy tries to win over his crew and also make some extra money since they're broke. You find yourself fighting to remember exactly who is who in the first 20 minutes, wrinkling your nose at how brash Richie is, and feeling bad for Sydney as she gets mixed into the mess that is The Beef." [18]
In 2024, Josh Wigler of The Hollywood Reporter named the episode as the 15th best of the series, writing "While the show improves as it goes along, all the essential ingredients for The Bear are right there from the beginning. It's incredibly satisfying to rewatch the series from the jump, knowing all the growth ahead." [19]
In 2024, Variety listed "System" at number seven on a list of top 10 episodes of The Bear for the humor and for immediately "establishing Marcus' self-doubt and curiosity; Tina's stubbornness and pride in her work; Natalie's moral clarity and denial; Richie's sympathetic but overbearing need to be heard; Sydney's creativity and impatience; Carmy's wisdom and rage." [20]
Variety named the episode as the seventh best of the series, writing "Both The Beef and The Bear itself are, as Richie says later in the season, "a delicate fucking ecosystem," and "System" prepares for that perfectly." [21]
In 2025, Vulture ranked "System" as 8th-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear. [22]
A BuzzFeed writer who watched season one for the first time in 2025 wrote, "That was a really compelling...pilot. I guess one more episode wouldn't hurt." [23]
For the episode, Christopher Storer won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Astra TV Awards | Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Christopher Storer | Won | [24] [25] |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Christopher Storer | Won | [26] [27] | |
| Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour) | Sam Lisenco, Eric Dean, and Emily Carte | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series | Joanna Naugle | Won |
