Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics provides a fascinating framework for understanding how time is constructed, not just in comics, but also in cinema. McCloud argues that while comics present a “time map” where past, present, and future are simultaneously visible, cinema primarily operates in a sequential “now.” However, skilled filmmakers can manipulate this “now” to create subjective experiences of time, mimicking some of the effects McCloud attributes to comics. A prime example of this can be found in “Fishes,” the intensely stressful Christmas episode of The Bear (season 2, episode 6).
McCloud emphasizes that panel size in comics influences the perceived duration of time. A wide panel suggests a longer timeframe, similar to a long cinema take. “Fishes” utilizes this principle during the climactic confrontation between Mikey and Uncle Lee at the dinner table. The extended, often unbroken takes of their escalating argument stand in stark contrast to the episode’s generally frenetic, quick-cut style, which mirrors the chaotic preparation of the seven fishes dinner earlier in the episode. These long takes, focusing on the raw, volatile emotions, stretch time, forcing the viewer to inhabit the agonizing discomfort of the moment. We’re trapped at that dining table with them and Carmy, experiencing the emotional weight of every insult and accusation thrown.
Furthermore, the concept of the “borderless panel” in McCloud’s work is that it evokes timelessness. This episode uses a different method to play around with our sense of time, it makes use of a “ticking clock”. The entire episode is built around a relentlessly advancing “clock”: Donna’s cooking. Her increasingly erratic behavior and the impending deadline of dinner serve as a constant, driving force. This is almost the opposite of a borderless panel, an underlying countdown that gives form to the entire episode. Creating a “time map,” similarly to flipping pages in a comic and feeling like you know the weight of the impending future and accumulated past. Every slammed pot, every frantic stir, every shouted instruction tightens the tension, creating a subjective experience of time accelerating towards an inevitable explosion. Donna is the timer.
Ultimately, “Fishes” demonstrates that while cinema lacks the spatial “time map” of comics, it possesses its own powerful tools for temporal manipulation. By employing long takes, a relentless “ticking clock,” and stylistic shifts, the episode creates a visceral, subjective experience of time, mirroring and expanding upon many of the techniques McCloud details in his exploration of comics. The episode does a great job in using cinematic language to not just show time, but to make the viewer feel it.