The Bear Season 3 Review

A Season With A Lot Of Unused Ingredients May Leave Audiences’ Palates Unsatisfied

By Dylan Barbee 

Courtesy of @thebear on Instagram 

Spoilers Ahead!

“Did you know bears are kind and sensitive and devoted and also, um, altruistic and empathetic and very commonly known to adept to grieving?” Cousin Michelle Berzatto (Sarah Paulson) said in the star-studded season 2 episode “Fishes”. 

After the chaotic finale of season 2, where Carmen (Jeremy Allen White), nicknamed “Bear” by his family gets locked in a freezer and breaks up with his girlfriend Claire (Molly Gordon) during his restaurant’s first dinner service, Bear can’t stop grieving. The opening episode, “Tomorrow,” artistically depicts the stubborn chef sifting through memories and regrets of his past.

This season of The Bear serves us a 10-episode course that stirs away from the familiar flavor of its first two seasons; telling meaningful stories about grieving people surrounded by food. This season has some of the show’s lowest moments as the storytelling is less impactful at times and there are still loose ends from an excellent season 2 that was still unresolved.

Where season 2 had a progressive pace, the latest season of The Bear feels like a slow burn lacking any plot progression or action. The restaurant and its chefs are just repeatedly going through the ups and downs of running a fine dining eatery in the city of Chicago while trying to stand out to the public through good reviews. 

Not to mention that while everyone in the kitchen has accomplished their dream of transforming the once rundown Italian beef spot into an upper-class dining experience, all the characters seem to be dejected and alone. 

Carmen can’t get over his breakup, Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is dreading the wedding of his ex-wife and Marcus (Lionel Boyce) just lost his mother to cancer. Syd (Ayo Edebiri) seems to be the only one who can efficiently run the kitchen despite not being able to communicate with Carmen the way she did in seasons 1 and 2. 

Carmen’s strict non-negotiables list in episode 2, “Next,” immediately sets a toxic environment in the kitchen which carries on to the rest of the season. Soon, it’s apparent that trying to attain the unattainable that is perfection will only lead to self-destruction. 

For me, this was the biggest setback in the newest season. Season 2 has numerous episodes that put a magnifying glass up to different individuals in the kitchen and focus on their self-improvement as they further cultivate their passion for their craft for the better of the restaurant. In The Bear’s latest season, it seems like this mindset bestowed on these chefs is completely abandoned as everyone just tries their best to serve perfection and get through a decent service without ever seeking new opportunities to learn. This leads to a lot of disappointed characters and a season of unfulfillment.

However, this season does include some episodes similar to its previous installment. “Napkins” directed by Ayo Edibiri rewinds us back to before Carmen came to the Bear and before his brother Mikey took his own life. Tina is in the hectic process of job searching and continues to be rejected or put aside by employers. It’s not until a sentimental conversation with Mikey in his Italian beef restaurant where she gets a job as a line cook. For me, this is one of the strongest episodes in the season, as it truly shows who Mikey was as a person before his passing and tells an impactful story of how Tina ended up being a cook at what is now The Bear. 

Another stand-out episode outside of the kitchen this season was “Ice Chips” where Sugar (Abby Elliot) goes into labor and is forced to call her mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) for support. Although Sugar does patch her tenacious relationship with her over-the-top mother and it is quite bittersweet given the excellent performances by both actresses, it’s a little too sentimental and doesn’t add to the plot of the season as Sugar and her newborn aren’t mentioned for the rest of the season.

Perhaps the most compelling plot point of the season is Syd’s future at The Bear. With her chemistry with Carmen spiraling, she doesn’t feel heard in the kitchen. Syd soon receives a job offer from a colleague for a startup restaurant. The offer gives her complete control over the menu and pays higher than what she makes at The Bear. 

The recurring theme of whether Syd should sustain her current work life which was once her dream or pursue new goals is eye-opening. However, we don’t see Syd have time to consider these life changes until she breaks down over them in the finale which just adds more leftover ingredients for the directors to use in season 4. 

When it comes to the visuals of the show, season 3 contains some of the best cinematography to date but does get repetitive at times. There's a creative shot of Richie in a dark blue dining area at the front of the house and on the other side of the wall Carmen standing under the bright lights of the kitchen that symbolizes the ongoing divide between the two cousins. I felt that the long sequences of montages throughout several episodes in this season were unnecessary and caused the show to feel bloated at times. Perhaps the focus of the directors being on mostly visuals took away from the strong storytelling The Bear is accustomed to.

Why are we seeing the obnoxious Fak brothers telling jokes that run way over their course when there are crucial plot points to still be addressed? Is the restaurant going to shut down? Where is Claire? Is Syd going to leave The Bear and become their competitor? Are Syd and Carmen ever going to admit their feelings for one another or are they just going to accept the fact they’re platonic soulmates before she leaves? These are questions that need to be answered!

With the new season revolving around grieving, I felt like the finale did this theme justice. Chefs from The Bear and many famous chefs around the world attend a highly praised restaurant's “funeral” as the owner plans to shut it down. At this event, Carmen sees the mentor he hates most (Joel Mchale) and who has inflicted the most trauma on him in his career. Carmen stands up to him as he reckons with the cost of success. This episode portrays how a chef’s life causes them to be in kitchens with many people they will love and many people they will hate. However, no matter what they must cherish their journey because their service provides an experience during people’s most important life celebrations.

Although this season was undercooked with even more ingredients for the directors to use next season, the black screen with the words “to be continued” on it still leaves me craving more from The Bear. 

Rating: 7/10