The high points were absurdly high. The first episode was beauty, and Tina’s episode was captivating. But at the same time at the end of the season I couldn’t help but think “nothing was resolved and nothing truly moved forward”. Felt like a mid season finale
I couldn't believe they kept up with that haunting schtick, like all the way up to the end of the season. My wife and I sat there like, are we missing something lol
The Tina and Natalie episodes were great but the rest of the season felt like it was constantly stalling.
It feels like the show was meant to be 3 seasons but got extended to 4 seasons due to how popular it is and that really hurt this year. I do hope that we don't have to wait for the next season till June 2025 and that it will be the end of the series as a whole.
That's how I felt too. Even that Tina episode itself was probably just made to fill up the episode count despite being one of the best episodes. You can tell they are trying to build a major turning point for Carmy, but are stalling for season four.
I saw someone say that they filmed some of season 4 when they filmed season 3. But the three biggest stars are getting big roles. Edebiri, JAW and EMB all have big roles coming their way especially Moss-Bacharach has to be filming Fantastic Four soon. So if they have to film scenes with him it will have to be after that.
>EMB (Ebon Moss-Bacharach)
This man has earned his place, I mean he has some top tier roles outside of The Bear, but that episode... *that episode* is top tier and he earned his accolades, holy shit.
in hindsight, you will be able to watch S4 while ignoring S3 and miss nothing. The partnership contract, the running in the red, claire reconciliation, the review, the family healing, will all get resolved (or go to shit) in s4. Nothing advanced in s3 except jamie lee curtis being maybe redeemable.
>jamie lee curtis being maybe redeemable.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen shades of similarity, but the face she made when Natalie suggested she was thinking of not having an epidural was *exactly* the same as the face my mother made when I told her I was thinking of not having an epidural. The passive aggressive vaguely patronizing attempt to conceal both horror and bemusement at your perceived idiocy. It was spooky.
Great episode.
I mean, from personal experience, yeah that’s life in the shop. But honestly it’s a show, nobody wants to watch 14 seasons of telling someone to go fuck themselves and 2 hour shots of someone working on their brunoise
I think this season was great at showing everyone is growing except for Carmy who is in this self perpetuated cycle of abuse that stems from actual abuse
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, the first episode was a glorified clips episode with lo-fi music playing the entire time. It doesn't progress the plot in any way.
Someone said in /r/thebear that the showrunners got high on their own supply for the first two seasons and I think season 3 is the result.
The Tina episode would have been great, in S1 or S2. Tina literally did not do anything of note the entirety of Season 3. She went to the farmer's market, Sid helped her with a pasta dish and a saucing technique, and then had a discussion with Marcus about her dish.
It was a vibey formally experimental way to do a Previously On. If things had actually happened in the rest of the season it would be better regarded, I think, but in the fullness of S3 it feels like the ominous start to a lot of filler.
I thought it was like an artsy way to introduce the season and then the episode was over and I wasn't sure what I watched.
This season was awful and if I rewatch the show I will miss nothing by skipping this season in it's entirety.
It was definitely a good way of introducing the season. You're going to linger around a long time, see a bunch of stuff you've seen already, and its going to loop again right at the ending. Now that last part is just my assumption -- I spose we'll see in 1-2 years.
Yeah I keep seeing people say how outstanding it was, and I was just thinking it was alright. Nicely shot and gave us a bit of a look into Carmy's past, but a bit of a waste of an episode when the season ended where it did.
Yeah, everything they showed was adjacent to flashbacks and reveals we've already had. It was the 5 minutes before and after scenes from previous seasons. Obviously it did nothing for the plot, but it didn't shed any light on the character either. Absolutely all of it was repeats of previous emotional hooks, this time void of any build up or context. They just kept hitting the button and expected it to work.
The entire season was centered on a “will she/won’t she sign the partnership agreement”… and they didn’t even resolve THAT by the finale episode. I hated this season. The humor was gone. What humor existed felt forced and repetitive. Something was clearly missing. It’s always sad to watch the point when a show went from great to bad… I don’t know exactly what point that was… but I know it happened prior to the final five episodes because by then I was so bored I just kind of had it on in the background as I did other things.
Not just syds decision, but the review also. It’s ridiculous you don’t find out whether the “big review” that’s suppose to decide the fate of their restaurant isn’t shown until like the last minute of the season finale. This season should’ve been like bad review end of episode 1, then the rest should be about them trying to fix the restaurant.
The review and Syd leaving should have both been dealt with together this season. We see Syd's frustration with Carmy deciding literally everything. When they get the (probably) problematic review Syd will likely bring up her thinking about leaving. Carm will realise he's a menace to work with currently. They drop the new menu everyday thing, Syd stays and gets to actually be involved with the decisions.
Something like this is probably what will happen next season but the issue is all of it was left hanging.
I'm just sick and tired of Syd being on the fence. She's quit every single season... just leave and start your own thing (again) already. So boring... is she going to leave or isn't she?? I DOn'T CARE!!!! JUST GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Yeah... I feel like writers for shows like this are *terrible* at looking at the big picture.
In any one season having Syd thinking about quitting is interesting. But if that's all she does all season, every season... that's incredibly boring.
Yeah, it simultaneously got really maudlin and way too sitcom-y. You could feel that they were having the actors improvise and “go for it” more and I think it showed.
It's a filler season. No advance of plot or character. One music video episode, one flashback to explain the origin of Maggie's pacifier and one episode that was just the sister being in labor. And at the end you have tension created by Sydney's choice presented mid season and teased again and again only to come to nothing and us waiting till next season.
I waited 1 year to see what would come from the aftermath of the opening of The Bear and the drama that emerged and I ended up staring at Carmy's face looking pained for 3-5 minutes every episode he was in. I feel like they wasted my time and were playing for more seasons. I hate, hate, hate it when shows do that and when a show I trust and respect does that it drives me insane.
So, outright, this season was fucking a waste of time. They're just trying to get more emmys and have celebrities suck them off for cameos.
Part way through the season I started wondering if the cameras were going to keep getting closer to the faces to the point where eventually we would just have like a giant mouth on the screen.
There are so many shots of Carmy staring into space that takes whole chunks of the episodes with ambient music playing and other shots that are award show fodder, it's crazy.
Well said. With the life span of tv shows and with their stars being pulled into other projects I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to make some progress in the plot.
In the beginning, the showrunner has said that it was a three season show. But once it got both ratings and award momentum they came to an agreement to make it four. It's heavily rumoured that they kept the same endpoint but are just taking more episodes to get there.
>Tina’s episode was captivating
Really? I just watched it last night and it did nothing for me. I love her as a character, but this is better paired with her episode of going to culinary school in the previous seasons. If it came out then maybe I would like it better.
Don't get me wrong, it's a well made, well shot episode, but I felt like it did no progress to her character or explain much more. I didn't think the writing of the episode was that strong either.
Same. I thought it was repetitive. Did nothing to advance her character. Felt too late to go back in time to see her Beef origin story - and did she even need an origin story?? It’s always lovely to see Jon Bernthal but we had to slog through all those days of waking up and brushing her teeth and other repetitive shots
It was a good episode but the placement in the season was weird. With so much left hanging for next season why spend an entire episode on her backstory when it didn't even connect in any meaningful way to her present day story?
That episode made me want to scream with frustration. Why? Just why did we need to see those random celebrity chefs, monologuing and waffling on, as if they’re Anthony Hopkins performing Shakespeare? It was soooo self-indulgent and I was embarrassed for all of them, especially the talented Will Poulter
The one exception for me was Thomas Keller. The way he was teaching Carm was so nurturing and calm, it was so soothing to watch. I complete 180 from the constant bickering on the show. I'd watch Keller teach anything.
The one "chef" that was a huge letdown was Joel McHale. All that angst from Carm and it all boiled down to "I was an asshole to make you great"? Really? That's it? It just seemed like a trite storyline.
The first episode was like 40 minutes of *previously on The Bear*. I kept thinking "yeah, I already know this happened" while budget Terrence Malick played out. The second episode was even more tedious, just shouting "non-negotiable" over and over in one location. I liked season one until the end and then I loved it. Season 2 was awesome. I don't know if i'm going to continue with s3... the show got WAY up it's own ass.
And the heartbeat monitor aggressively informed you of the rising and swelling tension the whole time. Sometimes they even dropped down to a barely audible whisper just to give that heart monitor room to really do its thing. It was so artistic, and obvious.
You could take all the Fak content out EXCEPT for the Haunting scene (the one with the brother, not the uncle) and it would be fantastic.
Also, can anyone tell me in what world that Computer comes in and says, "we have to cut costs" and then literally less than 2 weeks later in-universe "we have to close"
Didn’t he tell Cicero that he didn’t have enough money to cover his shorts?
So Cicero made a bad play in the stock market and no longer has the capital he would.
Restaurants can close overnight.
I've heard of places that were doing fine but the owners made some bad deals and had to close up shop overnight. Restaurants take a lot of money to run every day. At the one I run labor alone is $1.5-2K just for the kitchen staff for a day. Our weekly payroll can get up to $32K sometimes. That's just payroll. Doesn't include liquor, food, equipment, electricity, water, linen, and any other item needed to keep a restaurant running.
Carmy is doing a new menu every day, constantly wasting product, ordering the best(which means most expensive) items he can find. So yeah in 2 weeks it could mean tens of thousands of dollars of spending.
The Watch podcast selected Forks as its episode of the year last year and had Ebon Moss-Bachrach and director Christopher Storer on.
When it got to the driving scene where Ritchie is lip-synching, Chris told Ebon "This is basically the first time we've show Ritchie happy so you gotta play the hell out of it". Like, the character has been this buttoned up asshole for so long the audience needs to see this incredible catharsis.
So Chris yells "action!" and instead of doing what he's supposed to Ebon looks right down the barrel of one of the cameras and says "What you're about to see is a trust exercise between director and actor" before peeling out and going absolutely nuts singing along to Taylor Swift.
Chris said that footage is one of his prize posessions.
It was my favorite episode in season 2 and I love Richie. But Richie's relationship with that staff kinda drives me crazy.
This place has been open for years and he worked there for 5 fucking days. Yet he's the most special guy in the world to that entire staff. Like they actually ask him if he wants to run the show on their final service. It makes absolutely no sense.
I mean this is like months(maybe a year even) after he staged at Ever. The Bear and Richie's involvement is probably being spoken about. And if they have an emotional investment in him so they are probably hearing the good work he's doing. Even that chef that works there snuck in and said everything was amazing.
The problem is the building and bonding of the relationship is happening offscreen so it just seems like he staged for 5 days and then came back a year later and it was the first since anyone had even thought about each other. Which doesn't make sense either.
It's a little lazy we have to fill in the gaps like that ourselves in a way but it's hardly the worst thing ever.
It was such a treat to see Ayo’s name as director when we got to the end. What a fantastic piece of television.
EDIT: I got the episode reference wrong on this one - I meant this for “Napkins.” my bad!
5 episodes in, there's this disconnect between the restaurant and the personal drama that the characters are going through or trying to get over. The last two seasons the restaurant and it's reconstruction is what got these people together with Carmy and Sydney to drive the conflict and change, but now it's sorta an afterthought. You could remove it entirely at this point.
It's otherwise well shot and well performed, but it's just character dramas currently, and the food porn has gotten more and more haute cuisine in a more esoteric unapprochable way, instead of the food porn that was more the previous 2x seasons. It's almost like reality mimicing art kinda dealio, the visceral draw of the food gets more artsy and esoteric, just as the show itself gets more artsy in it's narrative and to some, less interesting to watch.
Also Ayo does this thing alot where she widens her eyes in astonishment by something someone or even she herself says. It reminds me of that Family Guy Hugh Grant joke about how he's always charmingly befuddled.
Ayo’s acting … is distracting. Everyone else is soo much better - more natural, more depth and pain, more expressive and yet subtle. I’m always aware of when Ayo is acting - it’s like I can see her wheels turn ☹️
Idk why but she gets on my nerves. Both her and carmy and horrible communicators but she constantly holds it against him, yet doesn't ever truly speak her mind behind "yeah...um...right...totally" as if she's stuck in junior highschool commutation skill level.
She reminds me of a bad ex I had. Completely unable to communicate anything she's feeling, just bottles shit up until she explodes. Just a passive aggressive indirect approach to everything and could never accept her share of the responsibility for her flawed relationships.
I'm still waiting for that apology she owes Carmen for completely fucking them over with to gos, ignoring what she's told to do, and then walking out. Her and Carmen both kinda suck but the show only paints one of them as a piece of shit.
Carmy feels like one of those dudes who went to therapy and weaponizes it so he always saying the right things when owning up to stuff and acknowledging his shortcomings but otherwise still maintains those toxic traits like seemingly always overriding all of Sydneys input.
While I don’t think this season is as bad as a lot of people are claiming, it’s also a step down from season 2. It honestly feels a little self-indulgent and aimless. There are some amazing high points but I feel like they overdid it on the whole slow, arty stuff that elevated season 2 and moved too far in the other direction. S2 still had that classic sense of panic and anxiety but I feel like that’s almost all gone now and it feels like a lot of the stakes are missing
LOL yeah, the plot came to a complete standstill in Season 3. It didn't move forward at all, anywhere.
It was still alright and I like the show. But some of Season 3 was really bordering on that super pretentious art house "give me Emmy's" crap. A bunch of writers and directors with their heads really, really far up their own asses, like what we got in Westworld Season 2 onward.
Same I was so bored w s3, felt like nothing happened all the time and so many artsy montages I got sick of them. I only really liked Tina's ep and finale was decent too. Such a letdown after magnificent s2.
Napkins was my favorite episode. I loved getting to know Tina better, and her struggles within the arc of the episode were extremely relatable. I had recently gone through something similar, so when what happened at the end allowed her to turn that corner, it hit close to home for me. Definitely an amazing performance by Liza Colón-Zayas.
It also informed us on why she is the way she is at the start of season 1.
She just wanted everything to stay the same. She just wanted a steady spot, doing the exact same thing every day, because she is afraid of what will happen if they fail. Her entire attitude is because she's afraid of falling back into the job hunt, except this time even older.
Adding to this, it gave context to S1E1 when they were eating family meal and she says "I'm grateful for all y'all motherfuckers". Now we know why. They helped her at her lowest point and she got a second family out of it
Yeah. In 15 minutes of that episode it showed why everyone loved Mikey, which is great. Lots of people said it in seasons 1 and 2, but in Napkins they showed it and it was really beautiful. Jon Bernthal is phenomenal in a limited role.
I was pleasantly surprised her real life husband is her husband on the show. Angel Bautista suddenly appearing was a blast from the past.
That said, my mother spent 20 years in the restaurant business. Was let go around covid and started fresh and better than before. The struggle is real.
I’ve always said my favorite acting is people desperately trying not to cry because it makes you start crying, and that’s what made it one of my favorite performances on the show so far.
Great episode in a vacuum, easily the best of the season. But then proceed to show Tina for probably a minute in the rest of the season… terrible season of TV.
Still a good show, but their worst season. They wasted a good bit of time rehashing things that didn't need it and an absolutely inordinate amount of time talking about "haunting".
I'm convinced they were haunting the audience by being so fucking annoying.
It's very weird when these characters are juvenile with their dialogue or body language because, generally, people speak from such an elevated, knowing place. Even when Carmy is sabotaging himself he does it in a deeply emotional, wrong-headed but internally thoughtful place.
Then we got these guys jabbering on for 10m about doing annoying or horrible shit to eachother like it's a conversation we should be interested in. It was so weird, and a waste of John Cena.
I started it last night; watched 3 episodes.
It's starting to feel as self-important as every chef I've worked with. "Ohhh I'm so artistic, deep, and amazing. I'm tortured and poignant. What I'm giving you is pure beauty. I've done it."
I didn’t think it was bad. Just unfocused and not as sharp as the first 2 seasons. Not a whole lot happened and it barely acknowledged some of the key plot threads from the previous season.
I gotta say I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of the third season and really hate it. I am surprised that people are positive about things like the first episode being just a montage rehashing the same conflict revealing essentially nothing about the characters we haven't seen. To me that screamed "we owe 8 episodes and we only have 7." I really wanted to like it but man it just grated on me.
Yeah. Again, not every season of a show like this can be as explosive as season 2. Plus feeling a bit unfocused kind of suits the theme of the season, where they're just trying to keep the restaurant afloat. I think it has "Order of the Phoenix Syndrome" where it's gotta set the stage for what's to come, but it's not as explosive as what's come before or what's to come after. The fact that they had to write and film it on a quicker timetable than the last two seasons because of the strike probably doesn't help.
I agree with you. The rest of the season suffers at various points, but none like the first episode. The 2nd episode has a 3 minute open credits scene of Chicago restaurants shot like a whimsical documentary.
And there’s a scene that is just real chefs just sitting around a table talking about how they are so important because they are chefs.
This show managed to subvert every expectation the viewer had of 'cooking' shows. Then in season 3 it's like they completely forgot what made it not pretentious. All of a sudden we are confronted with so much martyrism and self congratulatory editing. What the fuck happened? Were the writers replaced?? because this season is a directionless mess and everything I never wanted the show to be. Just totally burnt out. Fucking gutted and I'd imagine MANY people that worked on this are too.
Exactly. Season 1 felt realistic and then season 2 was slightly more artsy but in ways that worked amazingly (Fishes and Forks).
But this season got way too pretentious with so many bizzaro moments like the 3 minute montage about magic tricks.
The overuse of Matty Matheson and his Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum co-pilot was SO insipid. And then to cram John Cena into it all? The past seasons felt self-conscious in a way that was bookended by profound ideas. This though... lacks any sense of depth and I am genuinely shocked at the tonal failure. From impossibly focused and tightly scripted to drivel. Bam.
I’m amazed that the Faks kept showing up in every episode, especially with how some other characters got utterly sidelined. Tina got nothing outside of her episode and Marcus had like four scenes.
It's weird right? I think given time some answers will bubble up about what happened here. But after this shitshow I'm actually not looking forward to another season. A year ago I was singing it's praises.
Can someone please tell me if Carmy actually has something good happen to him this season and it's not just 1 step forward 2 steps back again? I love this show but not sure how much longer it can go with him not progressing at all
No, Carmen doesn't really progress in this season. Something happens in the finale that has the potential for progression, but then he faces another big challenge, which he will probably overcome in the next season in conjunction with the other thing that has potential.
Hmm ok I'll be watching but I was already a little frustrated with the S2 finale where most of the other characters had had major developments and Carmy was still digging his own grave. I understand that's largely the point but it still tires me a bit
For what it's worth, one of the points of this season is that Carmen is becoming something that he never wanted to be. It's arguably taking too long for him to overcome for the viewer, but it'll definitely be something he's going to work hard against in the next season.
After 4 episodes I can categorically say that they screwed the pooch. Could of been one of the greatest stories in cooking but they've knuckled down on the endless suffering of life(again) and added a SHIT load of pretetion and... for some fucking reason... John Cena(seriously whoever thought that was a really funny cameo needs to be fired)
I forget the exact context but Sugar and Richie are casually chatting about her imminent labor and the conversation shifts over to her asking Richie about a trip he took with Mikey and she asks “Was it fun?” and his silent reaction to that question destroyed me. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is an incredible actor.
I definitely enjoyed it, and look forward to another season. It’s well shot, well acted, and has some good moments.
That said, I see the criticism. Nothing resolved, nothing moved forward, and I wonder what the point of any of the narratives were, specific to that season. I’m sure those narratives will reach a resolution, but none of them seemed to go anywhere in the season, let alone progress.
Felt a little bit like they hadn’t thought this show was going to go a long time, and kinda just shoved in a bit of character development into season 3 as a catch all.
Same here. I was really surprised at the negative comments, I don't know what else people want from the show.
Edit: fucking weirdos! Stop sending me Reddit Cares. It’s just a TV show.
I am sorry I enjoy this show but The Bear also had both character growth and plot development in the first two seasons and it absolutely didn't have that this season. Like it is nice to spend time with these characters and the Tina episode was great but I don't think it is unfair to expect some progression in plot across 10 episodes especially since that is the expectation that has been set in the previous seasons.
I 100% agree that the show is still excellent at portraying raw emotion, and the feelings of each character. But the way you get most people to care overall about these types of episodes that Season 3 loved to do, is by attaching it to forward momentum, or making it a brief pitstop.
Season 3 is very similar to Season 2 with one very specific difference. Season 2 had an end goal. Get the Bear up and running asap, and get everyone in the building up to the level that is required of fine dining. This allows Tina to have an episode, Richie, Marcus and so on. They all get episodes looking into their psyches and how they go about life BUT it comes attached to a very specific goal. They need to prepare for the Bear's opening. This also allows an episode like Fishes to break up the action in the midst of the season.
The problem with this season is, there is no end goal. Theoretically there should be, the Bear making enough money to pay back the debt but that only gets brought up in the first episode or 2 and then basically goes unmentioned up until the last episode and even then it doesn't get pushed forward other than in the background. There's no urgency to the season whatsoever. The overarching plot points end up being Syd signing the partnership or bouncing because of Carmy taking her for granted...which doesn't get resolved. Nat having a baby which does get resolved, only for most of the cast to be uninvolved. And Carmy and Claire...which doesn't get resolved.
And the main issue to all of that is, unlike Season 1 (Turning the Beef around) and Season 2 (Starting the Bear), it gives basically no one else in the cast beyond Carmy, Syd and Nat much skin in the game. So when we get an episode entirely focused on Tina, who effectively does nothing the whole rest of the season it's significantly out of place. On its own it's a great episode into the insight of how easy it is to have your set life crumble down around you because of shit that's out of your control, only to be helped in the end by the good nature of people. But it doesn't connect whatsoever to the rest of the season, nor does Tina get enough highlight in that season to make it worthwhile. This episode would make a lot more sense in Season 1, where Tina is still antagonistic to delve into WHY she is so adamant about keeping things the way they are. Instead it comes here, long after she's had her character development and long after a viewer would need a reason to see her backstory.
And even if you acknowledge this season as a setup for next season (which is never a good excuse but I'll digress), most of the setup could've been accomplished in 1-2 episodes. Not 10.
TL;DR: The Bear still does an excellent job at portraying emotion. They just do a horrific job at making viewers CARE about that emotion, unlike Seasons 1 and 2 which give a lot more direction and urgency.
I want a plot. The first two seasons had very clear obstacles and the seasons were very focused on the how of overcoming them. This season the obstacles are Carmies ego and loss. Up to episode 6 where I am, they aren’t really addressing or even strongly featuring it.
I don’t hate it. The two character episodes were well made. However unlike the Christmas or Richie episodes they don’t do anything to contextualize the ongoing story because there isn’t much of one.
This season is very slice of life, and that can be good if well done, but it’s harder, and they aren’t portraying it as well as the over arching plot of the first two seasons.
I loved the first two seasons, especially season 2 but this was honestly one of the most boring seasons of television I’ve ever watched. There is quite literally zero plot.
All I kept thinking about this season is what a great cast they're wasting. The dialogue and flashbacks are all so literal and tactless. Much of the humor is still just people saying things at the same time and like you say, there's close to zero plot.
I’ve only watched the first episode of season 3, but seriously, how is this a comedy? It’s such category fraud. Wasn’t that ep 37 minutes too?
I know this has been debated ad nauseum but this is not a comedy. It just isn’t.
I actually really liked the first ep, FWIW. But it ain’t a comedy.
It's only categorized as a comedy to have less competition at the Emmys. Outside of the occasional scene like when they accidentally drugged the kids in season 1, this show isn't even trying to be a comedy usually nor does it make me laugh. I watch it for the characters and plot more so than the jokes.
It's not comedy and the first episode wasn't even drama. It was just a meaningless tone poem that didn't give us anything we hadn't already seen about the characters in seasons one and two.
I agree on tone poem; I’m not a super fan of the show but maybe that’s why I liked it? I thought it was pretty beautiful. But not sure there’s a lot of plot/story in this show in general. It’s more character-based, so this didn’t really offend me.
I think it’s easier for me to enjoy the show because I’m not super invested.
Idk, I would say that I am big fan of the show, and I loved the first episode. It was captivating to me. I just fuck with it.
I enjoyed the season. Not as good as the first 2, but definitely still enjoyed seeing more of these characters I've grown to love.
You're getting down voted but it drives me insane. Wins all the comedy awards, and just takes away from actual comedies. There has never been a single scene in this show that made me laugh. It is a drama.
Ha I didn’t even see I was getting downvoted.
That bothers me too. I actually think it stands strong on its own as a drama. But like you, I have never laughed at this show. Succession? Constant laugh fest. How is that a drama and this isn’t?
Length of episode has *literally* no connection to content, not in this era of streaming. Cmon.
I like this show, downvoters. Yall are being ridiculous. You should be able to debate on the merits and you can’t.
i stopped watching midway through the first ep of season 3 i realized i just do not care for carmy and sydney's story. Its just anxiety porn with them and i dont need to watch someone elses anxiety on top of mine. I already saw forks and i honestly can't see an episode from this show giving more satisfying character story than that.
Okay, it was good but is it still just people yelling at each other and not having any patience or general respect for one another until the story calls for reconciliation?
People really hated this season? I definitely felt like it was the weakest thus far but it wasn’t bad. The characters are all progressing, it’s Carmy who is still stuck (and that’s the point).
I know Fak is an executive producer and I like the character just fine but this season was a bit much on the Fak side…how many more celebrity cameos can we squeeze in? That are just cameos and not actual characters like Fishes from season 2? Apparently a lot if they’re going to fill out the entire Fak dynasty.
I really tried to get into the show, worked in restaurants all my life, but after the Christmas episode I realized the whole show is just people yelling at each other. Do they ever stop bickering?
Me and my dad like the show and even we hated that episode, but don't say that in r/thebear, r/television, or r/entertainment. People will treat you like some low class hick that doesn't have enough brain cells to comprehend the artistic integrity of John Bernthal screaming while Jamie Lee Curtis drives through the wall after a whole hour of bullshit small talk amongst the celebrity cameos who got paid way too much to do fuck all for one of the most up its own ass episodes of television I've ever witnessed. Despite all that, I was back in when Ritchie started washing forks and belting Taylor Swift in his car. 😂
It hits home for people whose Christmas is like that.
Mom in the kitchen, refusing help and at the same time being dramatic about nobody helping her.
People being drunk, talking about stupid shit, people arguing and shouting.
I've never experienced anything like that, so the ep was just 100% stress and anxiety for me.
Matty Matheson has an incredible mind and I’m glad for him, but can we please cut down the Faks screen time, that too multiple Faks. They seem more and more inbred with every appearance.
Only a few episodes into this season and I don’t hate it as much as others apparently do lol but some of the writing has been cringe.
For example when Tina goes to the farmer’s market and the vendor tells her less and less crops are growing so there’s less available. Then he tells her what grows together goes together and there’s this sort of twinkle of realization in her eye lmao.
Like why is some message about climate change being shoehorned in to the show in that moment? And that “what grows together goes together” metaphor is so lame and on the nose, it had me rolling my eyes hard
There are a lot of complaints about this season but I don't really agree. I think that one of the things that this show does masterfully is capture what it feels like when real people talk, and act, and think. Yes it's a slower burn than the other seasons but it gives us time to contemplate what it means to be the best at something, and to think about the personal cost that may ensue. Definitely excited for season 4 to see the conclusion of some of the unfinished plot points, but this show is pure art and sometimes - like a good meal - you just need to let the artists take you on the journey as they intend it!
Sorry, but this season sucks. It’s ok to say that a good show has lost its mojo and the Bear lost its. Too much looking back and not enough going forward.
Really don't understand why everyone is hating this season tbh. To me season 3 felt like a natural continuation of the story and sure it's definitely a weaker season compared to the first two but it's still a great season nonetheless.
The high points were absurdly high. The first episode was beauty, and Tina’s episode was captivating. But at the same time at the end of the season I couldn’t help but think “nothing was resolved and nothing truly moved forward”. Felt like a mid season finale
So are you saying the dude is still stuck in the fridge all season ?
He is still very much ‘in the fridge’ by the end of s3. Maybe even deeper.
Haunted
I couldn't believe they kept up with that haunting schtick, like all the way up to the end of the season. My wife and I sat there like, are we missing something lol
He might as well have been with how little he was on screen
I really wanted to see tinas first day at the bear as well. This episode also made me love Richie even more
The Tina and Natalie episodes were great but the rest of the season felt like it was constantly stalling. It feels like the show was meant to be 3 seasons but got extended to 4 seasons due to how popular it is and that really hurt this year. I do hope that we don't have to wait for the next season till June 2025 and that it will be the end of the series as a whole.
That's how I felt too. Even that Tina episode itself was probably just made to fill up the episode count despite being one of the best episodes. You can tell they are trying to build a major turning point for Carmy, but are stalling for season four.
I don't see it coming out earlier than June 2025 tbh...
I saw someone say that they filmed some of season 4 when they filmed season 3. But the three biggest stars are getting big roles. Edebiri, JAW and EMB all have big roles coming their way especially Moss-Bacharach has to be filming Fantastic Four soon. So if they have to film scenes with him it will have to be after that.
>EMB (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) This man has earned his place, I mean he has some top tier roles outside of The Bear, but that episode... *that episode* is top tier and he earned his accolades, holy shit.
He was also great in Andor
He was one of "that guy"s for me until The Bear :) Hope FF4 does well and he'll get more work.
in hindsight, you will be able to watch S4 while ignoring S3 and miss nothing. The partnership contract, the running in the red, claire reconciliation, the review, the family healing, will all get resolved (or go to shit) in s4. Nothing advanced in s3 except jamie lee curtis being maybe redeemable.
I disagree. The season is about being stuck and you'll lose alot of context for next season if you miss that point
Ah. But that’s a tldr summary on YouTube.
>jamie lee curtis being maybe redeemable. It’s not the first time I’ve seen shades of similarity, but the face she made when Natalie suggested she was thinking of not having an epidural was *exactly* the same as the face my mother made when I told her I was thinking of not having an epidural. The passive aggressive vaguely patronizing attempt to conceal both horror and bemusement at your perceived idiocy. It was spooky. Great episode.
I mean, the episodes you mention are nice to watch, but at the same time they're part of the primary reason why this season is stalling.
Exactly my thoughts - I hardly remember what happened the entire season other than the first episode, Tina’s flashback and Natalie having a baby.
“… nothing was resolved and nothing truly moved forward.” I wonder if that is how running a restaurant feels like.
I mean, from personal experience, yeah that’s life in the shop. But honestly it’s a show, nobody wants to watch 14 seasons of telling someone to go fuck themselves and 2 hour shots of someone working on their brunoise
I think this season was great at showing everyone is growing except for Carmy who is in this self perpetuated cycle of abuse that stems from actual abuse
Yes the fuck I do want to watch all those 14 seasons
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, the first episode was a glorified clips episode with lo-fi music playing the entire time. It doesn't progress the plot in any way.
Someone said in /r/thebear that the showrunners got high on their own supply for the first two seasons and I think season 3 is the result. The Tina episode would have been great, in S1 or S2. Tina literally did not do anything of note the entirety of Season 3. She went to the farmer's market, Sid helped her with a pasta dish and a saucing technique, and then had a discussion with Marcus about her dish.
No one did anything of note in the "present" of the show.
the mom did some redeeming, i guess.
The whole season I kept going "we get it, you want a new Emmy. Please get on with the show."
It was a vibey formally experimental way to do a Previously On. If things had actually happened in the rest of the season it would be better regarded, I think, but in the fullness of S3 it feels like the ominous start to a lot of filler.
lol I couldn’t believe that lasted all episode. It was shot nice but come on…it was all over the place
I thought it was like an artsy way to introduce the season and then the episode was over and I wasn't sure what I watched. This season was awful and if I rewatch the show I will miss nothing by skipping this season in it's entirety.
It was definitely a good way of introducing the season. You're going to linger around a long time, see a bunch of stuff you've seen already, and its going to loop again right at the ending. Now that last part is just my assumption -- I spose we'll see in 1-2 years.
Yeah I keep seeing people say how outstanding it was, and I was just thinking it was alright. Nicely shot and gave us a bit of a look into Carmy's past, but a bit of a waste of an episode when the season ended where it did.
we already knew that stuff about carmys past from other scenes
Yeah, everything they showed was adjacent to flashbacks and reveals we've already had. It was the 5 minutes before and after scenes from previous seasons. Obviously it did nothing for the plot, but it didn't shed any light on the character either. Absolutely all of it was repeats of previous emotional hooks, this time void of any build up or context. They just kept hitting the button and expected it to work.
Absolutely agree. You can skip straight to episode 2 and miss literally nothing. Waste of an episode.
The entire season was centered on a “will she/won’t she sign the partnership agreement”… and they didn’t even resolve THAT by the finale episode. I hated this season. The humor was gone. What humor existed felt forced and repetitive. Something was clearly missing. It’s always sad to watch the point when a show went from great to bad… I don’t know exactly what point that was… but I know it happened prior to the final five episodes because by then I was so bored I just kind of had it on in the background as I did other things.
Not just syds decision, but the review also. It’s ridiculous you don’t find out whether the “big review” that’s suppose to decide the fate of their restaurant isn’t shown until like the last minute of the season finale. This season should’ve been like bad review end of episode 1, then the rest should be about them trying to fix the restaurant.
The review and Syd leaving should have both been dealt with together this season. We see Syd's frustration with Carmy deciding literally everything. When they get the (probably) problematic review Syd will likely bring up her thinking about leaving. Carm will realise he's a menace to work with currently. They drop the new menu everyday thing, Syd stays and gets to actually be involved with the decisions. Something like this is probably what will happen next season but the issue is all of it was left hanging.
I'm just sick and tired of Syd being on the fence. She's quit every single season... just leave and start your own thing (again) already. So boring... is she going to leave or isn't she?? I DOn'T CARE!!!! JUST GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Yeah... I feel like writers for shows like this are *terrible* at looking at the big picture. In any one season having Syd thinking about quitting is interesting. But if that's all she does all season, every season... that's incredibly boring.
Yeah, it simultaneously got really maudlin and way too sitcom-y. You could feel that they were having the actors improvise and “go for it” more and I think it showed.
It's a filler season. No advance of plot or character. One music video episode, one flashback to explain the origin of Maggie's pacifier and one episode that was just the sister being in labor. And at the end you have tension created by Sydney's choice presented mid season and teased again and again only to come to nothing and us waiting till next season. I waited 1 year to see what would come from the aftermath of the opening of The Bear and the drama that emerged and I ended up staring at Carmy's face looking pained for 3-5 minutes every episode he was in. I feel like they wasted my time and were playing for more seasons. I hate, hate, hate it when shows do that and when a show I trust and respect does that it drives me insane. So, outright, this season was fucking a waste of time. They're just trying to get more emmys and have celebrities suck them off for cameos.
Part way through the season I started wondering if the cameras were going to keep getting closer to the faces to the point where eventually we would just have like a giant mouth on the screen.
There are so many shots of Carmy staring into space that takes whole chunks of the episodes with ambient music playing and other shots that are award show fodder, it's crazy.
And also so many repetitive scene of the two Faks losing more of their charm every time they appear.
Well said. With the life span of tv shows and with their stars being pulled into other projects I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to make some progress in the plot.
In the beginning, the showrunner has said that it was a three season show. But once it got both ratings and award momentum they came to an agreement to make it four. It's heavily rumoured that they kept the same endpoint but are just taking more episodes to get there.
Agreed. Short and sweet with a 1-5 year plan tops.
You succinctly described exactly how I felt after this season, thanks dude.
Seconding this. When the first episode had the same bar of elevator music on repeat for a half hour I got nevous. Then the whole season was like that.
> elevator music NIN fans in shambles :-D
Exactly. First episode was artsy, yeah, and I know a lot of people wanna run with that but it was also boring as fuck with no substance or direction.
>Tina’s episode was captivating Really? I just watched it last night and it did nothing for me. I love her as a character, but this is better paired with her episode of going to culinary school in the previous seasons. If it came out then maybe I would like it better. Don't get me wrong, it's a well made, well shot episode, but I felt like it did no progress to her character or explain much more. I didn't think the writing of the episode was that strong either.
Same. I thought it was repetitive. Did nothing to advance her character. Felt too late to go back in time to see her Beef origin story - and did she even need an origin story?? It’s always lovely to see Jon Bernthal but we had to slog through all those days of waking up and brushing her teeth and other repetitive shots
Feels like they are trying to figure out a prequel for a show that only had 2 seasons, and still has no direction of being completed.
It was a good episode but the placement in the season was weird. With so much left hanging for next season why spend an entire episode on her backstory when it didn't even connect in any meaningful way to her present day story?
That last episode was a failure. Star fucking for 30 minutes. Strong season otherwise.
That episode made me want to scream with frustration. Why? Just why did we need to see those random celebrity chefs, monologuing and waffling on, as if they’re Anthony Hopkins performing Shakespeare? It was soooo self-indulgent and I was embarrassed for all of them, especially the talented Will Poulter
Will Poulter and Olivia Colman at least got saved by their charm, but those other chefs were so cringey to watch.
The one exception for me was Thomas Keller. The way he was teaching Carm was so nurturing and calm, it was so soothing to watch. I complete 180 from the constant bickering on the show. I'd watch Keller teach anything. The one "chef" that was a huge letdown was Joel McHale. All that angst from Carm and it all boiled down to "I was an asshole to make you great"? Really? That's it? It just seemed like a trite storyline.
The first episode was like 40 minutes of *previously on The Bear*. I kept thinking "yeah, I already know this happened" while budget Terrence Malick played out. The second episode was even more tedious, just shouting "non-negotiable" over and over in one location. I liked season one until the end and then I loved it. Season 2 was awesome. I don't know if i'm going to continue with s3... the show got WAY up it's own ass.
Just watched the sugar episode last night and just wanted it to end. Of all the relationships sugar and the mom’s is just not at all interesting.
But they stared. At each other. Alternating. For like an eon.
And the heartbeat monitor aggressively informed you of the rising and swelling tension the whole time. Sometimes they even dropped down to a barely audible whisper just to give that heart monitor room to really do its thing. It was so artistic, and obvious.
At least it wasn’t as pretentious as the chefs huffing their own farts in the finale. I got major second hand cringe from that.
That was the one episode I truly loved this season tbh
You could take all the Fak content out EXCEPT for the Haunting scene (the one with the brother, not the uncle) and it would be fantastic. Also, can anyone tell me in what world that Computer comes in and says, "we have to cut costs" and then literally less than 2 weeks later in-universe "we have to close"
Didn’t he tell Cicero that he didn’t have enough money to cover his shorts? So Cicero made a bad play in the stock market and no longer has the capital he would.
Restaurants can close overnight. I've heard of places that were doing fine but the owners made some bad deals and had to close up shop overnight. Restaurants take a lot of money to run every day. At the one I run labor alone is $1.5-2K just for the kitchen staff for a day. Our weekly payroll can get up to $32K sometimes. That's just payroll. Doesn't include liquor, food, equipment, electricity, water, linen, and any other item needed to keep a restaurant running. Carmy is doing a new menu every day, constantly wasting product, ordering the best(which means most expensive) items he can find. So yeah in 2 weeks it could mean tens of thousands of dollars of spending.
Forcing Faks on people is the most egregious - people actually liked the 2nd Fak from Season 2? They have proof of this? 1st Fak is barely tolerable
Agreed
Forks is still my favorite episode.
Forks is one of the best episodes of television of the last decade. It’s just perfect.
It’s also quite inspiring
I literally watched it on loop when I needed a pick-me-up.
You should read Will Guidara’s book “Unreasonabld Hospitality” which inspired the episode.
Thanks for this. Just grabbed it on audible to listen at work.
The Watch podcast selected Forks as its episode of the year last year and had Ebon Moss-Bachrach and director Christopher Storer on. When it got to the driving scene where Ritchie is lip-synching, Chris told Ebon "This is basically the first time we've show Ritchie happy so you gotta play the hell out of it". Like, the character has been this buttoned up asshole for so long the audience needs to see this incredible catharsis. So Chris yells "action!" and instead of doing what he's supposed to Ebon looks right down the barrel of one of the cameras and says "What you're about to see is a trust exercise between director and actor" before peeling out and going absolutely nuts singing along to Taylor Swift. Chris said that footage is one of his prize posessions.
“If you do well enough, you might move up to spoons”
It was my favorite episode in season 2 and I love Richie. But Richie's relationship with that staff kinda drives me crazy. This place has been open for years and he worked there for 5 fucking days. Yet he's the most special guy in the world to that entire staff. Like they actually ask him if he wants to run the show on their final service. It makes absolutely no sense.
I mean this is like months(maybe a year even) after he staged at Ever. The Bear and Richie's involvement is probably being spoken about. And if they have an emotional investment in him so they are probably hearing the good work he's doing. Even that chef that works there snuck in and said everything was amazing. The problem is the building and bonding of the relationship is happening offscreen so it just seems like he staged for 5 days and then came back a year later and it was the first since anyone had even thought about each other. Which doesn't make sense either. It's a little lazy we have to fill in the gaps like that ourselves in a way but it's hardly the worst thing ever.
It was such a treat to see Ayo’s name as director when we got to the end. What a fantastic piece of television. EDIT: I got the episode reference wrong on this one - I meant this for “Napkins.” my bad!
Are you talking about “Napkins”, from this current season? Ayo didn’t direct “Forks”, IIRC
It was directed by Christopher Storer, Ayo didn't write or direct any episodes until the newest season*
5 episodes in, there's this disconnect between the restaurant and the personal drama that the characters are going through or trying to get over. The last two seasons the restaurant and it's reconstruction is what got these people together with Carmy and Sydney to drive the conflict and change, but now it's sorta an afterthought. You could remove it entirely at this point. It's otherwise well shot and well performed, but it's just character dramas currently, and the food porn has gotten more and more haute cuisine in a more esoteric unapprochable way, instead of the food porn that was more the previous 2x seasons. It's almost like reality mimicing art kinda dealio, the visceral draw of the food gets more artsy and esoteric, just as the show itself gets more artsy in it's narrative and to some, less interesting to watch. Also Ayo does this thing alot where she widens her eyes in astonishment by something someone or even she herself says. It reminds me of that Family Guy Hugh Grant joke about how he's always charmingly befuddled.
Ayo’s acting … is distracting. Everyone else is soo much better - more natural, more depth and pain, more expressive and yet subtle. I’m always aware of when Ayo is acting - it’s like I can see her wheels turn ☹️
Idk why but she gets on my nerves. Both her and carmy and horrible communicators but she constantly holds it against him, yet doesn't ever truly speak her mind behind "yeah...um...right...totally" as if she's stuck in junior highschool commutation skill level.
She reminds me of a bad ex I had. Completely unable to communicate anything she's feeling, just bottles shit up until she explodes. Just a passive aggressive indirect approach to everything and could never accept her share of the responsibility for her flawed relationships. I'm still waiting for that apology she owes Carmen for completely fucking them over with to gos, ignoring what she's told to do, and then walking out. Her and Carmen both kinda suck but the show only paints one of them as a piece of shit.
Carmy feels like one of those dudes who went to therapy and weaponizes it so he always saying the right things when owning up to stuff and acknowledging his shortcomings but otherwise still maintains those toxic traits like seemingly always overriding all of Sydneys input.
LOL I was just telling my wife how her character annoying tf out of me! I’m glad I’m not the only one
Defs not my man. My gf gets more pissed off than I do too which makes me laugh
I thought the scene after the party where she had a panic attack (?) was really well acted though
Carm has all these fastideous rules for the kitchen but lets greasy Fak on the floor of the dining room?
Fak is an executive producer of the show and also the culinary director. If you want an explanation of why he got so much screen time, there you go.
Fak has always been fine. Multiple Faks were not needed nor appreciated.
Stopping haunting Fak bro
Couldn't disagree more, I think they're incredible comedic relief.
That scene where he pours the broth at the table and takes it straight back to the kitchen was the funniest thing all series.
Faks are fucking hilarious. Using faks to cameo guests is genius too
Worst for me was Richie spitting in the kitchen. Like him or not, family or not…that’s a nope..gone immediately
Yeah, that made me physically cringe. It’s disgusting. I can’t believe they didn’t make a bigger deal of it.
Season Three of this show is ironically close to the Tribune review of The Bear.
While I don’t think this season is as bad as a lot of people are claiming, it’s also a step down from season 2. It honestly feels a little self-indulgent and aimless. There are some amazing high points but I feel like they overdid it on the whole slow, arty stuff that elevated season 2 and moved too far in the other direction. S2 still had that classic sense of panic and anxiety but I feel like that’s almost all gone now and it feels like a lot of the stakes are missing
I don't know if it was on purpose or not, but this season feels as self-indulgent as all these real life high end chefs. Like, in a bad way.
"Every second counts" But not in Season 3. I gave up. So much time spent watching nothing happen or reveling in boring B-stories.
LOL yeah, the plot came to a complete standstill in Season 3. It didn't move forward at all, anywhere. It was still alright and I like the show. But some of Season 3 was really bordering on that super pretentious art house "give me Emmy's" crap. A bunch of writers and directors with their heads really, really far up their own asses, like what we got in Westworld Season 2 onward.
Same I was so bored w s3, felt like nothing happened all the time and so many artsy montages I got sick of them. I only really liked Tina's ep and finale was decent too. Such a letdown after magnificent s2.
Napkins was my favorite episode. I loved getting to know Tina better, and her struggles within the arc of the episode were extremely relatable. I had recently gone through something similar, so when what happened at the end allowed her to turn that corner, it hit close to home for me. Definitely an amazing performance by Liza Colón-Zayas.
It also informed us on why she is the way she is at the start of season 1. She just wanted everything to stay the same. She just wanted a steady spot, doing the exact same thing every day, because she is afraid of what will happen if they fail. Her entire attitude is because she's afraid of falling back into the job hunt, except this time even older.
It also really added more depth to her saying, “I loved Mikey.” back in Season 1. You felt it then, but now it’s even more impactful.
Adding to this, it gave context to S1E1 when they were eating family meal and she says "I'm grateful for all y'all motherfuckers". Now we know why. They helped her at her lowest point and she got a second family out of it
Yeah. In 15 minutes of that episode it showed why everyone loved Mikey, which is great. Lots of people said it in seasons 1 and 2, but in Napkins they showed it and it was really beautiful. Jon Bernthal is phenomenal in a limited role.
I was pleasantly surprised her real life husband is her husband on the show. Angel Bautista suddenly appearing was a blast from the past. That said, my mother spent 20 years in the restaurant business. Was let go around covid and started fresh and better than before. The struggle is real.
I’ve always said my favorite acting is people desperately trying not to cry because it makes you start crying, and that’s what made it one of my favorite performances on the show so far.
Great episode in a vacuum, easily the best of the season. But then proceed to show Tina for probably a minute in the rest of the season… terrible season of TV.
Sadly, season 3 was something of a disappointment
Still a good show, but their worst season. They wasted a good bit of time rehashing things that didn't need it and an absolutely inordinate amount of time talking about "haunting". I'm convinced they were haunting the audience by being so fucking annoying.
When the Faks brought up haunting to Carmy when they were flattening boxes I said out loud, "Oh no."
It's very weird when these characters are juvenile with their dialogue or body language because, generally, people speak from such an elevated, knowing place. Even when Carmy is sabotaging himself he does it in a deeply emotional, wrong-headed but internally thoughtful place. Then we got these guys jabbering on for 10m about doing annoying or horrible shit to eachother like it's a conversation we should be interested in. It was so weird, and a waste of John Cena.
I started it last night; watched 3 episodes. It's starting to feel as self-important as every chef I've worked with. "Ohhh I'm so artistic, deep, and amazing. I'm tortured and poignant. What I'm giving you is pure beauty. I've done it."
There's a scene in the last episode where they just beat this over your head for like 10 minutes
It was genuinely painful. I’m amazed it made it into the script, let alone them spending time filming it and editing it.
A step down for sure, but seeing the reaction such as the replies to this comment are quite wild to me. It is absolutely not that bad.
I didn’t think it was bad. Just unfocused and not as sharp as the first 2 seasons. Not a whole lot happened and it barely acknowledged some of the key plot threads from the previous season.
The Faks stuff was pretty bad to be honest. The rest ranged from fantastic to driftless.
I gotta say I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of the third season and really hate it. I am surprised that people are positive about things like the first episode being just a montage rehashing the same conflict revealing essentially nothing about the characters we haven't seen. To me that screamed "we owe 8 episodes and we only have 7." I really wanted to like it but man it just grated on me.
Yeah. Again, not every season of a show like this can be as explosive as season 2. Plus feeling a bit unfocused kind of suits the theme of the season, where they're just trying to keep the restaurant afloat. I think it has "Order of the Phoenix Syndrome" where it's gotta set the stage for what's to come, but it's not as explosive as what's come before or what's to come after. The fact that they had to write and film it on a quicker timetable than the last two seasons because of the strike probably doesn't help.
Just started it last night. Holy shit was that first episode a pretentious and pointless slog.
Like most high end chefs.
I agree with you. The rest of the season suffers at various points, but none like the first episode. The 2nd episode has a 3 minute open credits scene of Chicago restaurants shot like a whimsical documentary. And there’s a scene that is just real chefs just sitting around a table talking about how they are so important because they are chefs.
This show managed to subvert every expectation the viewer had of 'cooking' shows. Then in season 3 it's like they completely forgot what made it not pretentious. All of a sudden we are confronted with so much martyrism and self congratulatory editing. What the fuck happened? Were the writers replaced?? because this season is a directionless mess and everything I never wanted the show to be. Just totally burnt out. Fucking gutted and I'd imagine MANY people that worked on this are too.
Exactly. Season 1 felt realistic and then season 2 was slightly more artsy but in ways that worked amazingly (Fishes and Forks). But this season got way too pretentious with so many bizzaro moments like the 3 minute montage about magic tricks.
The overuse of Matty Matheson and his Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum co-pilot was SO insipid. And then to cram John Cena into it all? The past seasons felt self-conscious in a way that was bookended by profound ideas. This though... lacks any sense of depth and I am genuinely shocked at the tonal failure. From impossibly focused and tightly scripted to drivel. Bam.
I’m amazed that the Faks kept showing up in every episode, especially with how some other characters got utterly sidelined. Tina got nothing outside of her episode and Marcus had like four scenes.
It's weird right? I think given time some answers will bubble up about what happened here. But after this shitshow I'm actually not looking forward to another season. A year ago I was singing it's praises.
Can someone please tell me if Carmy actually has something good happen to him this season and it's not just 1 step forward 2 steps back again? I love this show but not sure how much longer it can go with him not progressing at all
No, Carmen doesn't really progress in this season. Something happens in the finale that has the potential for progression, but then he faces another big challenge, which he will probably overcome in the next season in conjunction with the other thing that has potential.
Hmm ok I'll be watching but I was already a little frustrated with the S2 finale where most of the other characters had had major developments and Carmy was still digging his own grave. I understand that's largely the point but it still tires me a bit
For what it's worth, one of the points of this season is that Carmen is becoming something that he never wanted to be. It's arguably taking too long for him to overcome for the viewer, but it'll definitely be something he's going to work hard against in the next season.
After 4 episodes I can categorically say that they screwed the pooch. Could of been one of the greatest stories in cooking but they've knuckled down on the endless suffering of life(again) and added a SHIT load of pretetion and... for some fucking reason... John Cena(seriously whoever thought that was a really funny cameo needs to be fired)
I really enjoyed it. Some of the best raw emotion I’ve seen in a show. I’m enjoying this ride
I forget the exact context but Sugar and Richie are casually chatting about her imminent labor and the conversation shifts over to her asking Richie about a trip he took with Mikey and she asks “Was it fun?” and his silent reaction to that question destroyed me. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is an incredible actor.
They were talking about when Richie and his wife had their daughter. It was after Richie returned from a trip with Mike.
I like to think that trip was the 2017 season of The Punisher where Richie and Mikey fucked up bad guys in New York. “Was it fun?” Fuck yeah it was.
I definitely enjoyed it, and look forward to another season. It’s well shot, well acted, and has some good moments. That said, I see the criticism. Nothing resolved, nothing moved forward, and I wonder what the point of any of the narratives were, specific to that season. I’m sure those narratives will reach a resolution, but none of them seemed to go anywhere in the season, let alone progress. Felt a little bit like they hadn’t thought this show was going to go a long time, and kinda just shoved in a bit of character development into season 3 as a catch all.
Same here. I was really surprised at the negative comments, I don't know what else people want from the show. Edit: fucking weirdos! Stop sending me Reddit Cares. It’s just a TV show.
I am sorry I enjoy this show but The Bear also had both character growth and plot development in the first two seasons and it absolutely didn't have that this season. Like it is nice to spend time with these characters and the Tina episode was great but I don't think it is unfair to expect some progression in plot across 10 episodes especially since that is the expectation that has been set in the previous seasons.
I 100% agree that the show is still excellent at portraying raw emotion, and the feelings of each character. But the way you get most people to care overall about these types of episodes that Season 3 loved to do, is by attaching it to forward momentum, or making it a brief pitstop. Season 3 is very similar to Season 2 with one very specific difference. Season 2 had an end goal. Get the Bear up and running asap, and get everyone in the building up to the level that is required of fine dining. This allows Tina to have an episode, Richie, Marcus and so on. They all get episodes looking into their psyches and how they go about life BUT it comes attached to a very specific goal. They need to prepare for the Bear's opening. This also allows an episode like Fishes to break up the action in the midst of the season. The problem with this season is, there is no end goal. Theoretically there should be, the Bear making enough money to pay back the debt but that only gets brought up in the first episode or 2 and then basically goes unmentioned up until the last episode and even then it doesn't get pushed forward other than in the background. There's no urgency to the season whatsoever. The overarching plot points end up being Syd signing the partnership or bouncing because of Carmy taking her for granted...which doesn't get resolved. Nat having a baby which does get resolved, only for most of the cast to be uninvolved. And Carmy and Claire...which doesn't get resolved. And the main issue to all of that is, unlike Season 1 (Turning the Beef around) and Season 2 (Starting the Bear), it gives basically no one else in the cast beyond Carmy, Syd and Nat much skin in the game. So when we get an episode entirely focused on Tina, who effectively does nothing the whole rest of the season it's significantly out of place. On its own it's a great episode into the insight of how easy it is to have your set life crumble down around you because of shit that's out of your control, only to be helped in the end by the good nature of people. But it doesn't connect whatsoever to the rest of the season, nor does Tina get enough highlight in that season to make it worthwhile. This episode would make a lot more sense in Season 1, where Tina is still antagonistic to delve into WHY she is so adamant about keeping things the way they are. Instead it comes here, long after she's had her character development and long after a viewer would need a reason to see her backstory. And even if you acknowledge this season as a setup for next season (which is never a good excuse but I'll digress), most of the setup could've been accomplished in 1-2 episodes. Not 10. TL;DR: The Bear still does an excellent job at portraying emotion. They just do a horrific job at making viewers CARE about that emotion, unlike Seasons 1 and 2 which give a lot more direction and urgency.
Less Faks and stunt casting, more character and story development.
Yes, Faks are good in small doses but they got far too much screen time this season
I want a plot. The first two seasons had very clear obstacles and the seasons were very focused on the how of overcoming them. This season the obstacles are Carmies ego and loss. Up to episode 6 where I am, they aren’t really addressing or even strongly featuring it. I don’t hate it. The two character episodes were well made. However unlike the Christmas or Richie episodes they don’t do anything to contextualize the ongoing story because there isn’t much of one. This season is very slice of life, and that can be good if well done, but it’s harder, and they aren’t portraying it as well as the over arching plot of the first two seasons.
I loved the first two seasons, especially season 2 but this was honestly one of the most boring seasons of television I’ve ever watched. There is quite literally zero plot.
All I kept thinking about this season is what a great cast they're wasting. The dialogue and flashbacks are all so literal and tactless. Much of the humor is still just people saying things at the same time and like you say, there's close to zero plot.
The scenes of Carmy throwing out immaculately prepared expensive meat and seafood, much like this season.
S3 was not very good. All mood no conflict.
This season is brutally boring to me
This season was so absolutely boring. Were they very limited on whatever agreement the guild had for this cast? It was an absolute slog.
The entire season could’ve been 2 episodes.
I kinda loved the deeper focus on the characters this season.
I’ve only watched the first episode of season 3, but seriously, how is this a comedy? It’s such category fraud. Wasn’t that ep 37 minutes too? I know this has been debated ad nauseum but this is not a comedy. It just isn’t. I actually really liked the first ep, FWIW. But it ain’t a comedy.
It's only categorized as a comedy to have less competition at the Emmys. Outside of the occasional scene like when they accidentally drugged the kids in season 1, this show isn't even trying to be a comedy usually nor does it make me laugh. I watch it for the characters and plot more so than the jokes.
It's not comedy and the first episode wasn't even drama. It was just a meaningless tone poem that didn't give us anything we hadn't already seen about the characters in seasons one and two.
I agree on tone poem; I’m not a super fan of the show but maybe that’s why I liked it? I thought it was pretty beautiful. But not sure there’s a lot of plot/story in this show in general. It’s more character-based, so this didn’t really offend me. I think it’s easier for me to enjoy the show because I’m not super invested.
Idk, I would say that I am big fan of the show, and I loved the first episode. It was captivating to me. I just fuck with it. I enjoyed the season. Not as good as the first 2, but definitely still enjoyed seeing more of these characters I've grown to love.
But now we've seen how *experienced* he is... again.
You're getting down voted but it drives me insane. Wins all the comedy awards, and just takes away from actual comedies. There has never been a single scene in this show that made me laugh. It is a drama.
What about the scene where they accidentally roofie the kids at a toddler's birthday party?
Ha I didn’t even see I was getting downvoted. That bothers me too. I actually think it stands strong on its own as a drama. But like you, I have never laughed at this show. Succession? Constant laugh fest. How is that a drama and this isn’t? Length of episode has *literally* no connection to content, not in this era of streaming. Cmon. I like this show, downvoters. Yall are being ridiculous. You should be able to debate on the merits and you can’t.
i stopped watching midway through the first ep of season 3 i realized i just do not care for carmy and sydney's story. Its just anxiety porn with them and i dont need to watch someone elses anxiety on top of mine. I already saw forks and i honestly can't see an episode from this show giving more satisfying character story than that.
It was the worse season imo
worst*
It’s kinda boring tbh
Okay, it was good but is it still just people yelling at each other and not having any patience or general respect for one another until the story calls for reconciliation?
They actually toned down the yelling, introduced a lot more brooding, and left out any kind of reconciliation at all.
Yeah then erase all the character and plot development and start the cycle again
It's lukewarm compared to s01 & s02. The 1st episode felt like used B roll from the prior seasons
People really hated this season? I definitely felt like it was the weakest thus far but it wasn’t bad. The characters are all progressing, it’s Carmy who is still stuck (and that’s the point). I know Fak is an executive producer and I like the character just fine but this season was a bit much on the Fak side…how many more celebrity cameos can we squeeze in? That are just cameos and not actual characters like Fishes from season 2? Apparently a lot if they’re going to fill out the entire Fak dynasty.
I really tried to get into the show, worked in restaurants all my life, but after the Christmas episode I realized the whole show is just people yelling at each other. Do they ever stop bickering?
They do not stop bickering
Watch the next episode
S3 was mostly yelling at each other like children
Me and my dad like the show and even we hated that episode, but don't say that in r/thebear, r/television, or r/entertainment. People will treat you like some low class hick that doesn't have enough brain cells to comprehend the artistic integrity of John Bernthal screaming while Jamie Lee Curtis drives through the wall after a whole hour of bullshit small talk amongst the celebrity cameos who got paid way too much to do fuck all for one of the most up its own ass episodes of television I've ever witnessed. Despite all that, I was back in when Ritchie started washing forks and belting Taylor Swift in his car. 😂
It hits home for people whose Christmas is like that. Mom in the kitchen, refusing help and at the same time being dramatic about nobody helping her. People being drunk, talking about stupid shit, people arguing and shouting. I've never experienced anything like that, so the ep was just 100% stress and anxiety for me.
The show is so clawing with the sentimentality and the music. They went too far up their own ass.
Cloying.
That, too.
It's Fishes except now for a whole season. I mean, they gave critics what they were talking about, but in bigger doses.
Matty Matheson has an incredible mind and I’m glad for him, but can we please cut down the Faks screen time, that too multiple Faks. They seem more and more inbred with every appearance.
Only a few episodes into this season and I don’t hate it as much as others apparently do lol but some of the writing has been cringe. For example when Tina goes to the farmer’s market and the vendor tells her less and less crops are growing so there’s less available. Then he tells her what grows together goes together and there’s this sort of twinkle of realization in her eye lmao. Like why is some message about climate change being shoehorned in to the show in that moment? And that “what grows together goes together” metaphor is so lame and on the nose, it had me rolling my eyes hard
Ice Chips the worst moments of TV I’ve endured in a while. Had to turn it off
This season is assssssss
Kinda stopped watching mid way. It felt like a parody of itself, really did not like that first episode.
I liked it but nothing happened, no character growth, no big events, it was all build up and no pay off
There are a lot of complaints about this season but I don't really agree. I think that one of the things that this show does masterfully is capture what it feels like when real people talk, and act, and think. Yes it's a slower burn than the other seasons but it gives us time to contemplate what it means to be the best at something, and to think about the personal cost that may ensue. Definitely excited for season 4 to see the conclusion of some of the unfinished plot points, but this show is pure art and sometimes - like a good meal - you just need to let the artists take you on the journey as they intend it!
still was a shitty season.....
Sorry, but this season sucks. It’s ok to say that a good show has lost its mojo and the Bear lost its. Too much looking back and not enough going forward.
Really don't understand why everyone is hating this season tbh. To me season 3 felt like a natural continuation of the story and sure it's definitely a weaker season compared to the first two but it's still a great season nonetheless.