‘The Bear’ (Season 2)

The raw confronting grit of season one makes way (in part) for a slightly calmer season two as Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) determines the ragbag diner is to be transformed into a fine dining experience.

All the kitchen staff return as they, to different degrees, embrace change. And, as Carmy finds himself (at the wrong moment) distracted by love (Claire – Molly Gordon), so it’s sous chef and partner Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) who steps up. It’s her dream and she has no intention of Carmy’s lack of focus derailing it.

Season two sees Carmy step back in terms of screen time as the likes of pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce), newly promoted sous chef Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and Sydney herself become if not centre stage, certainly more present. One episode sees Marcus sent to Copenhagen (following in the footsteps of Carmy) to increase his skills; Sydney travels around Chicago taste testing as she goes – from fine dining to acclaimed street food. It’s a much calmer season as, with the old diner being renovated, the knocking down of walls is a symbolic reduction in the claustophobic intensity of the series. Until, that is, the extended episode 6 and Fishes – a flashback to a Berzatto family Christmas when Michael (Jon Bernthal) was still alive and cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) happily married with a child on the way.

Meltdown is an understatement as the intensity of the occasion results in confrontation after confrontation – with the Berzatto matriarch (an extraordinary chain smoking Jamie Lee Curtis) creating tension in extremis in the kitchen. The calm of episode seven (Forks) as Richie finally understands what it’s all about is a welcome relief (and a personal favourite episode).

A slower burn and less immediate than season one with its emphasis on family (pregnant sister Natalie – Abby Elliott – is the project manager of the renovations, more personal stories of Sydney and Marcus are revealed), season two of The Bear nevertheless demands an emotional investment as its authentic narratives with the empathic highs and lows continue to take hold.

Rating: 79%

‘She Said’

A tense, wholly engrossing investigative journalism feature as two female reporters of The New York Times blow the lid on the silence surrounding sexual assault in Hollywood.

In the mould of Spotlight and All the Presidents Men, the female led She Said responds to Hollywood’s worst kept secret – constant accusations against Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse. With dogged resilience, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan – Ruby Sparks, The Big Sick) and Megan Twohey (a particularly fine Carey Mulligan – An Education, Suffragette) look to cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’, knowing the ramifications should they get anything wrong. Travelling between New York, California and the UK, meeting sources in darkened bars, the two slowly build the article as they try to convince reluctant victims to go on record. On publication the article made history.

It’s a surprisingly tense telling from director Maria Schrader (Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe, TV’s Unorthodox) as revelation after revelation is exposed and followed through as deadlines loom. The strength of She Said (aside to the strong newsroom camaraderie and support – especially from department editor Rebecca Corbett – Patricia Clarkson, The Station Agent, The Party) is its calm telling and non-judgemental respect shown to the women who endured the abuse, kept silent due to the industry indifference – and then finally spoke out.

Surprisingly, She Said failed to secure any Oscar recognition.

Rating: 78%

‘Sense8’

Bold, sexy, ambitious – and one of the most expensive streaming series ever made as the cast move across the globe from Mexico City to Seoul, London to Chicago, Nairobi to San Francisco, Berlin to Mumbai. It’s a globe-hopping mix of sci-fi, action and melodrama – but also a deeply sincere cry for acceptance of difference.

Eight people of exactly the same age but of hugely different values and experiences suddenly discover themselves to be linked emotionally and ‘telepathically’. They share each other’s experiences unseen by others around them – as Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) is confronted by the latest Berlin gangland war, he suddenly finds himself inside the home of Kala (Tina Desai) planning her forthcoming wedding into a wealthy Mumbai family. A stoned Riley (Tuppence Middleton) will see the same event as Chicago cop, Will Gorski (Brian J. Smith).

Confusion reigns supreme for the eight but San Francisco transgender activist Nomi (Jamie Clayton) and non-sense8 girlfriend Amanita (a superb Freema Agyeman), through their combined hacking skills, start to unravel events around them. Sense8s are seen as a threat to homo sapiens and there’s a multi-national, BPO, out to find them. Other clusters of sense8s dip in and out to help or hinder as the group find their united skillsets and set out to eliminate BPO and, in particular, the obsessed surgeon, Whispers (Terrence Mann).

Sexuality, gender, race and other sociopolitical issues raise their head as the intrigue and sense of sheer adventure escalate. Shoot outs galore, occasional gruesome surgery, orgies, drug abuse, raves – with the innovative Wachowskis at the helm, the whole builds to a daring two and a half hour crescendo in ending the two-series yarn.

Rating: 85%