Spot on. One problem I noticed was how much they relied on “Unreasonable Hospitality”—the book that Richie is reading in “Forks” by Will Guidara, who appears in the final ep of season 3. I read it right before the season was released. They got caught up trying to make everything that happened at Eleven Madison Park happen in the show, but no viewer really cares about the restaurant. As Coleman’s character says, “it’s the people that matter.” But as you point out, other than Sugar’s baby being born, NOTHING HAPPENS! I can’t remember one single thing beyond that, although I did like Tina’s episode, because it focused on the people (and Jon Bernthal was in it), Also getting angry as I type. We love the show so much (and “Forks” especially) that I took my wife to Ever for her 50th birthday last year. That was the only part of season 3 I liked seeing it getting a starring role in the season finale.
That's a very interesting observation about the link to that book. I didn't pick up on that at all, but my overall impression is that they moved the background material around cooking and restaurants to the foreground, sidelining the characters in a way. The finale especially felt like a story that was in love with themes and ideas rather than developing character and drama. Seeing Carmy sketch dishes in his book or stare at plates has just zero to offer a viewer in terms of drama or tension. The show really crawled up its own backside.
Totally agree about The Bear. Some great moments, like the Napkins episode, but it was frustrating how little the overall story advanced. Also it was shocking how much food they wasted. Yikes!
I agree with all your points, John, but I have so much affection for (most) of the characters that I can’t quit it. Yet. I agree that this was a season of the show spinning its wheels. I’ll see if they can get back on track next season. Carmy, dude, get some help. He has become insufferable, although the close-ups of the dreamy blue eyes make up for a bit of that. :)
One thing I'll add... They also went in too hard on the worship of famous chefs. That dinner toward the end with all of the real-life celebrity chefs (most of whom I did not recognize other than to understand that they must be chefs at fancy restaurants) just reminded me that, though I like food, I don't really care about chefs at fancy restaurants I will never eat at. It disengaged me from the story because, while I cared about the characters, I spent time thinking about how little I cared about what they cared about, if that makes sense.
That response makes a lot of sense. I think the show made a mistake in trying to get the audience to make the leap to care about food in the way Carmy and Sidney care about it, rather than to keep us caring about how Carmy and Sidney care about food. The characters didn't have anywhere to go or us to go with them.
I love everything about "The Bear." I love the actors, the acting, the family dynamics, the ambiance of Chicago where I live, the music, the introductions to notable chefs and restaurants, the beautiful displays of food art - I'm all in. I've watched the first two seasons twice and am about to watch season 3 again. I agree that it's not the compelling drama of the previous seasons, but for me it was a nice respite from all that stress and a chance to look deeper into Carmy and his obsession with perfection. And episode 8 (Ice Chips) is some of the best acting I've seen.....just Natalie and Donna, two women with quite a history, experiencing Natalie's labor but also digging deeper into their own fraught relationship. Best acting since Seven Fishes! Can't wait for season 4!!
I think Seven Fishes is a good benchmark for how different folks feel about the show. Some folks are repulsed by it, some think it's a top episode for all of TV for all time. I appreciated it, but it also exhausted my patience, which I think was part of the point, so mission accomplished, but I was still exhausted.
This is oft-discussed with television shows, especially in the "Prestige Era," but I feel like this might be the best example we've seen of some time of what happens when a three-season show gets stretched to four seasons. Season 3 had all the makings of a "treading water" season that, from what I've read, was stretched out for $$$ despite the story being originally intended to end here.
That's an interesting theory. Sometimes I miss the days where shows just ran until they ran out of juice and then often went past that point before ending. Having to try to parse limited story over a set period, rather than trying to keep the juices going has consequences. Though, I'm now thinking of Lost, which piled more and more stuff on before they couldn't dig themselves out.
"How are they going to get out of this pickle? Is a different question from: What’s going to happen? Some narratives work with both questions, some with one, but The Bear in season three tries to see what happens if you work with neither."
This articulates so well what I couldn't put my finger on about this season.
Call me an apologist. Or an optimist? Look, I agree entirely with the reviews left here. I think it was the Washington Post who described the season as full of ingredients without a dish... an abt comparison.
Yet, I want to be sure to give kudos where they are deserved as well. There are absolutely A+ moments throughout this season. Ice Chips was one of the best episodes of the entire series and will literally be forever in my memory (along with the finales of M*A*S*H or Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother's "Bad News", or Ted Lasso's "The Diamond Dogs" (ending with the darts scene) to name a few). Ice Chips showed flat out some of THE BEST performances you'll see in tv or film today, with powerful, authentic, emotional, movement of character.
What we don't know of course is what is going on with the business side of producing season 3. The XMas episode and Beard After Hours from Ted Lasso's Season 2 were a horrendous waste of 6 or 7 hours. At least, they felt that long. It turns out, the creators were told they needed 12 episodes despite their writing the arc for just 10. We know that The Bear filmed both seasons 3 and 4 all at once. How might this have broken the rhythm? Did they write an arc from the day after opening to the end of season 4 and have trouble developing enough episodes for 2 seasons?
I throw this out in the hopes that they pick up where they left off!
I didn't know that they filmed 3 and 4 at once. That would go a long way into explaining the way the narrative elements have been distorted. I was not as enamored with Ice Chips as a lot of folks. I recognize the quality of execution, but it still felt too on the nose to me, dramatically and thematically. But my patience with the season had worn so thin by then, I wasn't in a place to probably give it the credit it's due.
Exactly! They realized they COULD have a set full of chefs waxing poetic but never asked if they should. I didn’t care AT ALL about that season finale, especially when the after party included Tina and Marcus and other people who weren’t invited to the fancy funeral at Ever. They tried to recreate a party story from Guidara’s book to create a joyous ending but that ending wasn’t earned at all.
I only got as far as the paywall, but from what I read, I think I might agree. In terms of dramatic effect, I think there's significant limits in terms of mapping the territory of a single character's trauma. I also see the show as an ensemble, so being so wrapped up in Carmy's stuff as an engine for the story is a drag on the overall effect. The best stuff of the season for me had Carmy nowhere near it.
Spot on. One problem I noticed was how much they relied on “Unreasonable Hospitality”—the book that Richie is reading in “Forks” by Will Guidara, who appears in the final ep of season 3. I read it right before the season was released. They got caught up trying to make everything that happened at Eleven Madison Park happen in the show, but no viewer really cares about the restaurant. As Coleman’s character says, “it’s the people that matter.” But as you point out, other than Sugar’s baby being born, NOTHING HAPPENS! I can’t remember one single thing beyond that, although I did like Tina’s episode, because it focused on the people (and Jon Bernthal was in it), Also getting angry as I type. We love the show so much (and “Forks” especially) that I took my wife to Ever for her 50th birthday last year. That was the only part of season 3 I liked seeing it getting a starring role in the season finale.
That's a very interesting observation about the link to that book. I didn't pick up on that at all, but my overall impression is that they moved the background material around cooking and restaurants to the foreground, sidelining the characters in a way. The finale especially felt like a story that was in love with themes and ideas rather than developing character and drama. Seeing Carmy sketch dishes in his book or stare at plates has just zero to offer a viewer in terms of drama or tension. The show really crawled up its own backside.
Totally agree about The Bear. Some great moments, like the Napkins episode, but it was frustrating how little the overall story advanced. Also it was shocking how much food they wasted. Yikes!
Every time Carmy threw something in the garbage, I thought...I would eat that.
I agree with all your points, John, but I have so much affection for (most) of the characters that I can’t quit it. Yet. I agree that this was a season of the show spinning its wheels. I’ll see if they can get back on track next season. Carmy, dude, get some help. He has become insufferable, although the close-ups of the dreamy blue eyes make up for a bit of that. :)
I'll be giving the next season a try too because of the previous good will, but my tolerance for continued wheel spinning will be low.
Fair. I’ll see how it starts out, but I don’t have infinite patience either.
Yes! It mostly felt like filler.
One thing I'll add... They also went in too hard on the worship of famous chefs. That dinner toward the end with all of the real-life celebrity chefs (most of whom I did not recognize other than to understand that they must be chefs at fancy restaurants) just reminded me that, though I like food, I don't really care about chefs at fancy restaurants I will never eat at. It disengaged me from the story because, while I cared about the characters, I spent time thinking about how little I cared about what they cared about, if that makes sense.
That response makes a lot of sense. I think the show made a mistake in trying to get the audience to make the leap to care about food in the way Carmy and Sidney care about it, rather than to keep us caring about how Carmy and Sidney care about food. The characters didn't have anywhere to go or us to go with them.
I love everything about "The Bear." I love the actors, the acting, the family dynamics, the ambiance of Chicago where I live, the music, the introductions to notable chefs and restaurants, the beautiful displays of food art - I'm all in. I've watched the first two seasons twice and am about to watch season 3 again. I agree that it's not the compelling drama of the previous seasons, but for me it was a nice respite from all that stress and a chance to look deeper into Carmy and his obsession with perfection. And episode 8 (Ice Chips) is some of the best acting I've seen.....just Natalie and Donna, two women with quite a history, experiencing Natalie's labor but also digging deeper into their own fraught relationship. Best acting since Seven Fishes! Can't wait for season 4!!
I think Seven Fishes is a good benchmark for how different folks feel about the show. Some folks are repulsed by it, some think it's a top episode for all of TV for all time. I appreciated it, but it also exhausted my patience, which I think was part of the point, so mission accomplished, but I was still exhausted.
This is oft-discussed with television shows, especially in the "Prestige Era," but I feel like this might be the best example we've seen of some time of what happens when a three-season show gets stretched to four seasons. Season 3 had all the makings of a "treading water" season that, from what I've read, was stretched out for $$$ despite the story being originally intended to end here.
That's an interesting theory. Sometimes I miss the days where shows just ran until they ran out of juice and then often went past that point before ending. Having to try to parse limited story over a set period, rather than trying to keep the juices going has consequences. Though, I'm now thinking of Lost, which piled more and more stuff on before they couldn't dig themselves out.
"How are they going to get out of this pickle? Is a different question from: What’s going to happen? Some narratives work with both questions, some with one, but The Bear in season three tries to see what happens if you work with neither."
This articulates so well what I couldn't put my finger on about this season.
Call me an apologist. Or an optimist? Look, I agree entirely with the reviews left here. I think it was the Washington Post who described the season as full of ingredients without a dish... an abt comparison.
Yet, I want to be sure to give kudos where they are deserved as well. There are absolutely A+ moments throughout this season. Ice Chips was one of the best episodes of the entire series and will literally be forever in my memory (along with the finales of M*A*S*H or Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother's "Bad News", or Ted Lasso's "The Diamond Dogs" (ending with the darts scene) to name a few). Ice Chips showed flat out some of THE BEST performances you'll see in tv or film today, with powerful, authentic, emotional, movement of character.
What we don't know of course is what is going on with the business side of producing season 3. The XMas episode and Beard After Hours from Ted Lasso's Season 2 were a horrendous waste of 6 or 7 hours. At least, they felt that long. It turns out, the creators were told they needed 12 episodes despite their writing the arc for just 10. We know that The Bear filmed both seasons 3 and 4 all at once. How might this have broken the rhythm? Did they write an arc from the day after opening to the end of season 4 and have trouble developing enough episodes for 2 seasons?
I throw this out in the hopes that they pick up where they left off!
I didn't know that they filmed 3 and 4 at once. That would go a long way into explaining the way the narrative elements have been distorted. I was not as enamored with Ice Chips as a lot of folks. I recognize the quality of execution, but it still felt too on the nose to me, dramatically and thematically. But my patience with the season had worn so thin by then, I wasn't in a place to probably give it the credit it's due.
Exactly! They realized they COULD have a set full of chefs waxing poetic but never asked if they should. I didn’t care AT ALL about that season finale, especially when the after party included Tina and Marcus and other people who weren’t invited to the fancy funeral at Ever. They tried to recreate a party story from Guidara’s book to create a joyous ending but that ending wasn’t earned at all.
This is worth a read: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/07/the-bear-fx-season-3-carmy-trauma/678938/
I only got as far as the paywall, but from what I read, I think I might agree. In terms of dramatic effect, I think there's significant limits in terms of mapping the territory of a single character's trauma. I also see the show as an ensemble, so being so wrapped up in Carmy's stuff as an engine for the story is a drag on the overall effect. The best stuff of the season for me had Carmy nowhere near it.
suspense, surprise, drama. Call me pedestrian but Louise Penny always delivers.
💯 on-point critique, and appreciate your articulating my S3 frustrations (and boredom) with what has been a truly stellar show with a great cast.