Before ‘Fallout,’ Ella Purnell Waited Tables in the Spicy Version of ‘The Bear’

The big picture

• Ella Purnell stars
  bitter sweet
  a show about the life and relationships of a young woman in the restaurant industry.
• The show explores the lesser-known side of fine dining and the personal dynamics of its characters' lives.
• Despite being canceled after two seasons,
  bitter sweet
  features a talented cast and is worth watching for its unique perspective on the restaurant world.

Ella Purnell has stolen the limelight with a number of roles in recent years, most notably the voice League of Legends Main Jinx in the hit Netflix animated series Arcana and playing Lucy MacLean Negative consequence. But he's also been slowly building a resume full of projects that showcase the full range of his talents, incl bitter sweet. Based on the novel of the same name by Stephanie Danler, bitter sweet follows Tess (Purnell), who moves from Ohio to New York in the summer of 2006. Tess eventually becomes a backroom waitress at a prestigious restaurant and slowly begins to befriend other staff members. His most important relationships are fellow waitress Simone (Caitlin FitzGerald) and the waiter Jake (Tom Sturridge); Tess is attracted to Jake and idolizes Simone, but things are complicated by Jake and Simone's relationship.

It would be quite easy to compare bitter sweet a The bear, especially since both shows focus on how the restaurant industry can affect your life for better or worse. But bitter sweet he is more interested in the personal dynamics of his heroine's life, especially when it comes to romance. Despite having a short run and flying under the radar at a time when “Peak TV” was hitting its stride, bitter sweet still worth watching for its cast and as it portrays a lesser-known face of fine cuisine.

“Sweetbitter” perfectly captures the chaos and camaraderie of working in the food industry

bitter sweet stands out from most cooking showsexploring an element of food service rarely shown on television: waiters. Having worked in food service, I can tell you that any restaurant, whether it's a fast food joint or a five-star experience, depends as much on its staff as it does on its food. The cooks prepare the food, but it's the waiters who bring it out. It's the bartenders who make sure the customer is satisfied from the moment they walk in the door until they leave. It's the bus men who keep the restaurant looking nice and classy. bitter sweet manages to embody all this in its pilot episode, “Salt”, and Tess – along with the viewer – is constantly learning the ins and outs of food service. As the series continues, it is learned that most of the staff often engage in wild behavior, including drugs and alcohol; this ends up affecting the last two episodes of Season 1, “Weird Night” and “It's Mine”. After a stressful night at work, Tess decides to de-stress with fellow bartender Sasha (Daniyar), which hurts his preparation for the final part of his probationary period at the restaurant. The hedonistic elements of bitter sweet it also plays into the strange relationship between Tess, Jake and Simone.

The love triangle in 'Sweetbitter' brings a lot of spice (and drama) to the table

Throughout everything bitter sweetTess starts to learn more about Jake and Simone's relationship, and it's pretty wild. They don't just have an on and off relationshipbut Jake seems completely devoted to Simone even though he wants to try to open his own restaurant with Chef Scott (Jimmie Saito). As Tess grows closer to Jake, she ends up falling less in love with Simone, especially when she reads a short story by the older woman that reveals more details about her and Jake's relationship. Things come to a head in the Season 2 finale, “Bodega Cat,” when Tess tells her manager, Howard (Paul Sparks), to fire Simone after she and Jake finally act on their feelings and sleep with each other. It's a big cliffhanger that leaves the audience on the edge of their seats, and it mirrors the Season 1 finale where Simone voted to kick Tess out of the restaurant, but Paul decided to keep her.

None of this would work without the immense chemistry that Purnell and Sturridge have. Almost every scene they have together is charged with sexual tension, especially a moment where they share oysters. Tess, at the time, is still in the dark about certain types of food, so she hangs on Jake's every word as he uncovers oyster after oyster, explaining how they taste. Throw in the fact that oysters are an aphrodisiac and you have a recipe for a budding relationship. Multiple episodes also place Tess and Jake at a distance, closing in on his face as she looks at him longingly. Purnell's doe-eyed expressions really sell the fact that Tess is deeply attracted to Jake, and she doesn't even have to say a word!

“Sweetbitter” was canceled in its first moment, despite having the involvement of the author

bitter sweet not only did it have an insanely talented cast but a collection of top-notch talent behind the scenes. brad pitt served as a series producer through his Plan B banner, while Danler also served as an executive producer and wrote a handful of episodes, including the pilot. Starz even put the series into fast-track development; then president Chris Albrecht sang the praises of bitter sweet “When we found out it could be a project, I literally had some of my colleagues come up and say this is what we need to get – it plays to the young female demographic, but as we know, women of all ages they will be drawn to great stories,” he said. Despite all this support, bitter sweet it was canceled after two seasons due to low ratings.

Despite this, the cast moved on to more prominent projects. Sturridge currently stars The sand manNetflix's adaptation of the classic Neil Gaiman-scripted comic Sparks starred in dramas including Castle of cards i Boardwalk Empire. Even one of the directors, Geeta Patelwould lead genre fare, including episodes of House of the Dragon i Ahsoka. The bear could have taken the world by storm though bitter sweet It definitely deserves a second look as it manages to balance the world of fine dining with the chaos of figuring out life in your twenties. It's also another reminder that Ella Purnell has been giving great performances long before she came on board Negative consequencethe sandy wastelands.

bitter sweet is available to stream on Hulu in the US

Watch on Hulu