I dare you to find a more triggering, more in-your-face Christmas episode.

The Bear follows Carmy Berzatto (Jeffrey Alan White, The Rental, Shameless), a young fine-dining chef from New York who returns to his family’s restaurant/sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother Michael’s death. He encounters a shop in disarray with an outdated menu, older cooks resistant to change, and his deceased brother’s best friend Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Punisher, Girls) and faux-cousin who thrives on and incites chaos.

What’s an ambitious chef to do? Run for the hills or suck up it and make his family restaurant, known as the Original Beef of Chicagoland, into a respected eatery with exquisite cuisine and potential for a Michelin star.

Carmy decides to stick it out. Season one of this dramedy, slow-paced at first, delves into the relationships, egos, and inevitable turmoil that ensues when new hires (young talented sous chef Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri, Big Mouth, Abbott Elementary) and old hats in the kitchen don’t see eye-to-eye. Not to mention, there’s a stabbing. Loads of temper tantrums and unpaid bills, broken dishes, and splattered food everywhere in an attempt by Carmy to bring order to the kitchen.

In Season Two, the second episode titled “Fishes” flashes back five years to Berzatto’s family Christmas dinner. It’s the crème de la crème of guest star appearances, from Jamie Lee Curtis, playing emotionally unstable mother Donna, to Bob Odenkirk’s relentlessly pot-shot-throwing Uncle Lee and Sarah Paulson’s calm and collected, hip aunt Michelle, this ensemble of character-actors pulled out all the stops in this frantic episode. However, the pacing didn’t allow viewers to breathe through the scenes. It’s a whirlwind of crazy kitchen food timers, spliced editing, and a crescendo of nonstop emotions, especially between Michael (Jon Bernthal, The Punisher, Walking Dead) and Lee (Bob Odenkirk), where a physical assault is imminent. It’s exhilarating to watch the nonstop, unpredictable turn of events. Something the creators of The Bear and writers strive for.

According to Christopher Storer (creator, writer, and director, Eighth Grade) and Joanna Calo (co-showrunner, writer, Bojack Horseman).

“We wanted the first episode of the series to grab you right away — a way for people to know that they’re going to want to sit down for this and pay attention,” according to Calo.

For Storer, every character is equally flawed.

Nobody’s fixed, and everyone’s a work in progress. Every second counts… It is a natural extension. The thing we talk about a lot is that winning is losing, so even though they have this new opportunity, it still creates a lot of the same problems… Season 2 is about the chance to start fresh and what that means. What does Carmen and Sydney’s dream restaurant look like? But also, at the same time, what does a dream restaurant in 2023 look like? I think that’s the thing they’re battling with.”

Awarded 13 Emmy nominations, you can stream both seasons of The Bear on Hulu and Disney+.