Masterful pilot. Literally does everything right in terms of establishing characters, settings, plot lines, even backstories are hinted at. Everything seems so well thought out, I'm hooked. 

The camerawork is absolutely phenomenal, does so much in terms of enhancing that chaotic, breathless tone that I've absolutely fallen in love with. The constant motif of the clock reappearing throughout the episode was a brilliant way to develop the sense of time flying by, which it did for both Carmy and me, because this episode was so engaging, I swear it felt like 10 minutes. There was also this claustrophobic feel about this pilot, which was helped by that gripping camerawork, that I absolutely adored, really helped to immerse me in the drama and was amazing in terms of tonal establishment.

The title of this episode couldn't have been more accurate, with the 'system(s)' of the restaurant being the main focus here, specifically, whether old systems should be kept in place, or thrown away in favour of modernisation. That seems to be the main conflict right now, and the dynamic of Carmy and Richie is focusing on this conflict very heavily. That dynamic definitely has a lot of potential, by the way, what with the backstory of Carmy's brother and all. Speaking of which, that could be a very good backstory for Carmy so I do hope they go into more depth about that.

Overall, absolutely phenomenal pilot, blew my predictions of the water, exceeded my expectations tenfold, whatever you wanna call it - I am shocked. I genuinely am not sure if I've ever felt such a connection to a show in such little time before, but knowing me I'll probably drop this for like four years now