I really liked the first 2 seasons of The Bear. The third season was a letdown. I like the characters and the vibe. That was present in this new season. While there were some great moments, overall it felt like it was spinning its wheels.
What I didn’t like…
Over the last 2 seasons it felt like Carmy & Richie has made a lot of progress. At the beginning of season 3 they seemed to regress and I didn’t understand it at all. Early on there was a scene where they said “fuck you” to one another like little children. The issue between them was never explained and never resolved. I didn’t get it.
In general Carmy seemed to have made so much progress. He was a pain in the ass, but the show did a great job of showing why the people around him respected him so much. Even though he was intense, we also saw his humanity. The last season ended with a challenging situation that we expected to set him back. That happened. But then this entire season he switched back into dickhead mode and never changed. This made season 3 feel like a part-one, rather than a full season itself.
I hated the moment where the show got a lot of chef’s together to talk about why they loved cooking so much. It just felt like we got so little character progression this season. I was really hoping for a strong finish. Then we have a ton of time allocated to listening to real-life chefs talk about why they love cooking. I get it, but I didn’t like it.
What I liked….
There was still a lot to like about this show. It has great characters and a great aesthetic. I especially enjoyed the episode on Tina’s job search. I enjoyed the Ice Chips episode. Interestingly both of those episodes had nothing to do with the plot of season 3.