By: Jennifer Ariesta.
One of the biggest TV sensations of our time is back! The Bear took the world by surprise, and then by storm, when it debuted in 2022 with its distinctive brand of sometimes chaotic, sometimes morose, well-cinematographed story of a mercurial chef and the high-pressure kitchen he’s commanding. It was an instant hit that catapulted its three main stars – Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach – into the Hollywood stratosphere. Avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump, the second season was even more successful with higher ratings and tons of awards for its cast and production team. So it’s no wonder that anticipation for season 3 is flaming high. With such Michelin-level recognitions, does season 3 of The Bear manage to satiate once again?
Before we get to that, a quick recap. The end of season 2 saw Carmie (White) closing down The Beef, the Chicago sandwich shop he inherited from his dead brother, to make way for The Bear, his long-gestating dream restaurant. But is that the end of Carmie’s tortured existence? Not at all. Instead, season 3 goes deeper into Carmie’s past to explore why he becomes the obsessive cook that we know, while in the present, his tunnel vision pursuit of greatness slowly scorches his closest relationships.
It’s a season where so much happened, yet not much is happening. While The Bear has utilized flashbacks so liberally since the beginning, there is an overkill of it in this third season. A crisscrossing timeline of events follows Carmie’s previous haute cuisine jobs, the mental abuse he’s received over the years, and the crunch of perfection that molds him. Told in languorous pace, often in montages, these scenes almost feel like White’s infamous Calvin Klein ads: brooding, cinematic, cool. It is also showy without much substance.
Despite the volume of materials, this season of The Bear feels meandering. The aforementioned flashbacks and psyche exploration eventually stop the plot from moving forward in a meaningful way. The devices that once propelled The Bear into the wunderkind of TV – long takes, frenetic editing, cheeky needle drops – now comes across as indulgent. It’s as if the show becomes hyper aware of how much people liked seeing those things, but forgetting why they did. The result is mere gimmicks that get tiring so fast.
Fortunately, the acting still carries this progressively weighty show. Moss-Bachrach as Cousin Richie gets a five-star for his crackling depth; Edebiri, too, gracefully eats up her part as Sydney, the audience proxy. White as Carmie, spiraling as he always does, delivers his maudlin best. It’s just the writing for them that’s sort of letting them down. The problem here could be the decision to shoot season 3 and 4 back to back. The pacing of the episodes seem to suggest that season 3 is really, in Netflix term, season 3 part 1. There is a sense of “you’ll get it later” that never really pays off until the season ends. It’s as if one complete story has been split into two, the conclusion being in season 4. Guess that is the best explanation we can come up with for this season’s meh aftertaste. Certainly, that’s a better proposition than saying The Bear has lost its magic. We are waiting anxiously (which, come to think of it, is so on-brand for a show about an ever anxious genius).
