With 4 words, 'The Bear' Season 2 served up the best line on TV this year

Everything about FX’s “The Bear” works in Season 2 — the performances, the story, the character development, the guest stars, the needle drops (man, the needle drops).

To simplify: It’s great.

It also has one of those magical lines that encapsulates a character’s entire arc, four magical words that sound deceptively simple but contain multitudes. They are the four best words spoken in a TV series this year:

“I wear suits now.”

I got chills just typing that.

They’re uttered by Richard “Richie” Jerimovich, played brilliantly by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. (Moss-Bachrach’s was one of a slew of Emmy nominations the show received on Wednesday, July 12, including best comedy.)

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Season 2 of 'The Bear' ventures outside the restaurant

Spoiler alerts follow, so be warned.

One of the most satisfying aspects of Season 2 of “The Bear” is how the show’s creator, Christopher Storer, takes the action outside the restaurant to dig more deeply into some of the characters beyond Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), the classically trained chef who returns to Chicago to try to save his floridly dysfunctional family’s beef sandwich restaurant.

For instance, in Episode 4, “Honeydew,” Marcus (Lionel Boyce), the pastry chef in the restaurant, goes to Copenhagen to hone his craft (where he apprentices with guest star Will Poulter). It’s a great half-hour of TV.

Richie's transformation will give you chills

But Episode 7, “Forks,” really elevates the show — even more than the star-studded “Fishes” flashback Episode 6, which is a dream gig for the actors. In “Forks,” Carmy sends Richie to stage for a week at the three-Michelin-star restaurant where Carmy once worked.

Richie sees it as punishment.

Because of course he does. To understand the power of the "suits" line — and the transformation it embodies — you have to understand Richie. For most of the show before this, “ne’er-do-well” would qualify as a life goal for him, probably unattainable.

He’s angry, still mourning the death by suicide of his best friend (Carmy’s brother) and feels trapped in his life and job, which we learn about in the flashback episode; he’s been trying to get out of the restaurant for years. He doesn’t know where he fits in after Carmy’s return.

Richie’s job at Carmy’s old restaurant, touted as the best in the world? Forks. Polishing forks. If he can do that satisfactorily (he can’t, at least not at first), he can move up to spoons.

But something clicks. Richie begins to understand the value of doing something simple, but doing it great, and how each small, seemingly insignificant piece fits into the whole. He gets good at forks, and eventually, he gets to do more. At one point he asks to take a surprise dish to a table; when he’s told, “Go for it, Richie,” I thought I would cry.

By this point, he’s wearing a suit. Dark suit, dark shirt, dark tie, perfect Richie. And after he completes his stint, he shows back up at The Bear, the restaurant Carmy is trying to put together to replace the old place.

And he shows up in a suit.

No one is quite sure what to make of it. Did he just get back from a funeral? But Richie’s explanation to everyone who asks is so simple it defies follow-ups: “I wear suits now.”

A show that's ... chef's kiss: 'The Bear' is back. Here's what happens when it ventures outside the restaurant

Moss-Bachrach's performance is stunning

Richie has changed. A little obsessive, maybe — don’t leave the markers out of the cup that holds them, and if you’re applying to work at the restaurant you better notice which place setting is out of whack — but he has found purpose.

By the season finale, his unexpected rescue of an opening night that could have sunk everyone feels both earned and triumphant. It is truly one of the most satisfying character transformations I’ve ever seen, and Moss-Bachrach captures it perfectly, somehow injecting humility into a character whose emotional armor was formerly bulletproof.

It used to be impossible to root for Richie. Now it’s impossible not to. There are all kinds of loose ends waiting to be tied up in a third season, whenever that may happen. But no longer do we (or the other characters) need to cringe when Richie arrives, waiting to see what he’s going to screw up.

Now we want to see where he goes from here.

How to watch ‘The Bear’

Streaming on Hulu.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'The Bear' delivered the best line on TV this year in just 4 words