Why Season 3 of The Bear Feels Off (No Spoilers)

Season 3 of The Bear feels very off. After the high-octane energy of the previous seasons, this one puts its whole foot on the breaks and delivers a wholly uneventful 10 episodes. But that’s not the worst of it. In this video essay, without going into spoilers, I explain why I believe season 3 of The Bear was a disappointment, highlighting my greatest quarrels with a show that I love.

#thebear #jeremyallenwhite #videoessay

Chapters:
00:00 The Bear Feels Off
00:26 The Good
01:21 The Bad: Nothing Happens
03:48 The Bad: Dialogue Scenes
05:18 The Worst: Show, Don’t Tell
07:20 Disappointment
08:40 Thank You

Trailers Used:
The Bear | Season 3 Official Trailer | Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach | FX
The Bear | S3 Teaser - "We're Open" | FX

The Bear is an American comedy-drama television series created by Christopher Storer for FX on Hulu. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's sandwich shop. The supporting cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott and Matty Matheson.
A young chef from the fine dining world comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother's suicide. As Carmy fights to transform both the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveals itself as his chosen family.

This video falls under Fair Use, as per the US Copyright Act. Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use.

[mkdisciple]

Exactly how I feel. This season was 80% fluff and 20% storytelling. A lot of “fuck you, fuck you”. And totally agree about the characters speaking. Everyone is snarky and def felt like everyone was the same person. Had that exact same thought while watching. Had to fast forward through a lot of the montages.

[cooliostarstache]

Ten episodes go by and I feel like only five have passed, and I don't say this positively. The Faks had more screentime than Carmy and Syd and Richie had together lmfao.

The first three episodes should've been one. Episodes 5 and 7 also should've been one

[larissaoliveirade]

I feel like they were trying to proof that it is a comedy show so hard with all the faks showing up all the time. The characters were also really out of character, I could never imagine Syd being silent and accepting everything Carmy was doing. We didn’t get to see Carmy even texting Sugar about the baby. Tina’s episode was the best of for me.

[rosebudlore]

I feel like they were trying to appease certain audiences when the main reason they became popular is because of the audiences that loved season 1 and 2. This season did feel like someone else wrote it and was trying too hard to seem "artsy" Also its very weird how these characters who had no problem calling each other out, just went along with all the "non-negotiables" Carmy had, that they clearly had a problem with?

[Cee-etvj]

Absolutely right! This season felt hyper-focused on details, both in the culinary scenes and the dialogues, which I appreciated. However, the surrounding scenes felt empty and dull, lacking the usual playfulness and banter between characters.

The Bear thrives on its ensemble cast, but this season missed the mark on that dynamic. We got too much focus on Claire and repetitive humor from Faks, with no real progress in resolving storylines. It felt like the characters development from Season 2 was forgotten, leaving me with a sense of disappointment. I’m clinging to hope for a part 2 of Season 3 because that “To Be Continued” is driving me insane.

[sassyone]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about the new season. I’m a huge fan of the first two seasons and in comparison, this season seemed complacent and disappointing. Way too many montages and flashbacks. It feels like there was no progress. Carmy gets deeper in his head and Sydney stays silent on matters which is crazy since she normally is the one who calls Carmy out on his messy behavior. To me, that’s where their chemistry begins, when they BOTH communicate with each other as they understand each other a great deal. Too many scenes of those annoying Fak brothers and John Cena’s appearance seemed out of place. It was great seeing Luca a lot more though.

[gwendolineanthony]

As long as season 4 focuses on the plot and character communication and interactions then everything should be fine.

[jdupre]

I really wanted to love season 3, but man it really was a letdown. I remember liking the first episode, but then after that, wanted the story to move forward and get some resolutions. If the writers wanted more backstory, they should have done that all in one or two episodes max.

[JoshLangeD]

The ending pissed me off a bit but I did love the first episode. Just wish the plot wasn't left behind so much. The show is at its best when the team bands together. Instead we saw it drift apart in super slow motion.

[earlskinner]

This season actually had me question whether or not this series wants to be plot based? Or are they making another attempt to test the boundaries of conventional television? Does it matter if they get a Michelin Star? Do we care if Carmine and Claire never talk?again? Isn’t it a good thing if Sydney works in a less chaotic environment with a partner that respects and wants her input? Or is it about being fully present in purposeful moments?

[combat_wombat]

I am only three episodes in and have already hated the montages

[LM]

The tantrums and hyperventilating were getting monotonous for me. We’ve seen it, we know it, now it should be used sparingly.

[the_o_man]

I think the reason this season felt weak could be due to the writer's strike last year and cuz they're filming this back-to-back with season 4 and maybe wanna reserve all the good stuff for thay season.

[dgf]

The music was overbearing and decades too old for the cast. I kept nodding off and rewinding....it was a joyless chore.

[craig]

It just feels like a set up season. Building up and up and up for a pay off in season 4.

It's not bad, I disagree with people that anyone is out of character. But the lack of pay off is a risky play.

[ray]

Yeah they tried to induce too much comedy and then having people like John Cena Show up was distracting from the storyline to me and then we did not need a whole episode of Sugar giving birth at the hospital. The whole season we were teased with reaching the goal of achieving a star for the restaurant And if Carmy Was going to get back with Claire. Now we have this new storyline of Sydney having a breakdown because she is contemplating leaving for another job.

[fignewtonbar]

The use of sound feels so different. Like it so so quiet compared to how chaotic the first or second season was

[michelesprocare]

I felt like a loser for waiting for this season, wanting it so much and being so disappointed in the lack of any emotional payoff. I forget that show runners aren’t really regular people and they make the show for their own satisfaction, NOT the audience’s. I won’t bother to be so emotionally invested next time.

[kelseyntgrammr]

This was a great breakdown! You hit all the points I've been talking about. The only one I still need to get some validation on is the fact that I felt like the character arcs were on hyper speed! Like I get it, it's television but it felt so rushed and like they wanted everyone to have epiphany's outta desperation - which it does come through a lot of the time, but not that quickly! When Richie (one of my fav characters) said he was only training at Ever for 5 days I lost it! Ain't no way you're gonna have that much attention to detail, follow through, and commitment in 5 days, when you didn't have it for the last 40 years, ya know? And it was the same for most of the characters. It also felt unrealistic for a chef on Andrea's caliber to not already have plans after the "funeral" dinner of Ever. I get that she was closing partly because she wanted to start "living, " hence being impromptu and going to Syd's place. But I felt like between her and Tina having a whole family to take care of a lot of the "we do everything for this work family thing cause we're a real family, " events were farfetched. Just my opinion though!

[VincentStevenStudio]

The whole point of The Bear is that Carmy is selfish and has too much pride. The Bear isn't just the name of the restaurant, nor is it Carmy. The Bear is a pun. As in "Bearing the responsibility. " or "He can't BEAR the pain." The Bear is the pain in his heart. His grief. This is why he has to face the caged Bear in his dreams. It's him finally accepting Mikeys death. Until then, he will always be selfish. He will always keep the team apart. He will always push people away. That's the point. The show will end and resolve once Carmy deals with his emotions properly.