The women had suffered lithium poisoning while working at battery factories and began to break into fits of destructive rage during their shifts. In Lin’s retelling, the workers are resurrected as demons, seething with chaotic desire. The restaurant kitchen in FX’s series “The Bear,” which premiered in 2022, is a ticking time bomb of screaming, stove fires and oil burns. (“The Bear,” for all its frenetic pacing, dips into full-blown surrealism only during interludes showing lead chef Carm’s dreams.) These stories portray workers who are not simply anxious and exhausted but violently combusting.

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Persons: Candice Lin’s, Lin, Aihwa, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Éric Gravel’s, Carm’s Locations: New York, Malaysian, Malaysia, French Canadian, Paris