As a long-time service industry employee and lover of Jeremy Allen White, to say I was eager to see The Bear Season 3 is an understatement. After the events of the Season 2 finale, I needed to know what would happen with Carmy and Claire, Syd, and especially Marcus. That finale perfectly mastered the feeling of being claustrophobic and helpless, creating incredible tension. The Bear Season 3 only ups the tension, but it might be at the expense of connecting with the characters this time around.
The Bear is well known for its anxiety-inducing dialogue paired with similarly stressful editing. The Bear Season 3 takes all the tension from the past two seasons and amplifies it like you wouldn’t believe. A big part of reviewing The Bear Season 3 is understanding the artistic choices and small nods that make the story so much more intricate than a bunch of people screaming in a kitchen. It’s understanding that the dialogue is meant to be awkward and uncomfortable. It’s understanding that you might not want the big happy ending you thought you did.
Season 3 starts off shortly after where we left off. Not a lot of time has passed, and no one has processed the events of last service. Last season, we saw episodes dedicated to specific characters like Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Marcus (Lionel Boyce). Episode 1 is dedicated to Carmen (Jeremy Allen White), but it feels completely disconnected from anything we have seen before—and I think that is the point.
“A big part of reviewing The Bear Season 3 is understanding the artistic choices and small nods that make the story so much more intricate than a bunch of people screaming in a kitchen.”
At this time, Carmy is going through something major. Between processing his life and the pressure that he thinks is on his shoulders—”Take us there, Bear”—he is not okay. As the season progresses, you’ll see that he is coming apart at the seams. Season 3, Episode 1 gives us a much deeper look at Carmen. We see more of his work history and all the different places and people that helped shape him.
The style in this episode is completely different from all the others in the entire series, with minimal dialogue and flashes between the past and present, more so than ever. It is almost as if Carmen is trying to figure out who he really is simultaneously as we, the viewers, are.
The entire season breaks down each character a little bit more than before, but it does so in this completely disjointed way. We had episodes for individual characters, but it never felt like they weren’t a part of the bigger picture. In The Bear Season 3, every closer look we get shows a little bit of these characters falling apart and feeling like they aren’t a part of the family anymore, whether that is literally or the restaurant family.
For instance, in Sugar’s episode, without going into spoilers, explores how she is incredibly alone when she needs help. Sydney’s storyline is very similar, showing how she feels like she isn’t an equal. Even when we dive into Tina’s past, we see how she wasn’t looking for the job of her dreams. She was looking for a team. A home.
“The entire season breaks down each character a little bit more than before, but it does so in this completely disjointed way.”
This season put a spotlight on Sugar (Abby Elliott) and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) that we have not seen before, giving both of these women a moment to shine, and they kill it. We leave The Bear Season 3 with a complete understanding of these women, including the history that has shaped them. The way each season breaks people down for us is intense and it is making it hard to pick a favourite. Ebon Moss-Bachrach does not have his own dedicated episode this year, but he is absolutely incredible, bringing more depth to Richie than even his own episode did, with a focus on his daughter and his restaurant family.
I think that is perhaps the biggest theme of The Bear Season 3: family. It has always been the theme of the series, but this season takes it to a whole new area. The Bear Season 3 explores family in so many ways, like what happens when people feel like they aren’t a part of that family anymore, found family, and the kind of family that will drive you mad regularly, but the second the world is on fire will be your calming force. See Episode 9, Ice Chips. As always, thank you, Jamie Lee Curtis.
On that note, The Bear Season 3 sees a lot of returning characters, like Jamie Lee Curtis, Jon Bernthal, Joel McHale, Will Poulter and Olivia Colman. It is interesting to me how they bring these people in, not just as names and faces, but as characters who completely change the story. Knowing them from past seasons, you would think you know their role and why they are there, but The Bear Season 3 never wastes an actor and uses these characters to teach our regular cast important lessons, good or bad. Joel McHale has a much bigger role this season. There is a lot to say, but I won’t spoil anything.
As mentioned, every episode this season feels completely different, but it all boils down to how The Bear Season 3 wants you to feel. Episode 2, Next, basically takes place in one spot, with most of the main characters joining the scene. Everyone interacts with Carmy directly, giving us a sense of where their relationship lies with him. This episode alone sets up the drama for the rest of the season. Each episode is just a little further into the breakdown of the family before they begin diving into their own personal stories and healings.
“I think that is perhaps the biggest theme of The Bear Season 3: family.”
Carmy’s character is the center point of the season, even if we are off exploring other characters and themes. The Bear Season 3 is finally Carmen’s chance to mourn and process everything he has gone through, including everything from childhood, moving away, different kitchens, the loss of his brother, and everything that happened with Claire. He believes he doesn’t deserve anything good and, in turn, begins to burn it all down in the search for control.
There is a very important conversation that Claire had in the past with Carmy, talking about physical trauma. The line “I don’t think it hurt yet” comes up and perfectly describes the hell that Carmy is currently in. All at once, he is mourning his brother, his career, his family, and even himself because he spent so much time avoiding it all. He was fine before, but once it all comes to a head, he does whatever he can to regain control.
He truly thinks that taking ultimate control, being a perfectionist, and demanding things far beyond what is healthy will fix things. That is why Jeremy Allen White is unlikeable this season, and it pains me to say that, but it means he is doing his job. The way Season 3 is edited together, you will see flashes of him from the past and in just these simple clips, White flawlessly displays the difference between who he was and who he is right now.
“If there is something The Bear does well, it’s controlling how you as a viewer feel, and they can manipulate us well.”
The acting in Season 3 is uncomfortable, and that just better drives a wedge between the characters and between the audience and them. We feel just as uneasy as flies on the wall, watching everything unfold, and make no mistake, that is a choice made by the writers and director. Many of the conversations feel unscripted in The Bear Season 3, and not in the way that improv is fun and funny.
Think of the last awkward or tense interaction you had. That is a lot of these scenes. Raw and real—and perhaps scripted and well acted. I think they may put some viewers off because these scenes don’t feel as polished as in past seasons, but I’d bet that the creators don’t want you to feel at ease here. They want you to feel like you’re not a part of the family anymore, either.
And all of this comes down to Episode 10, Forever. Again, avoiding spoilers, but this scene brings a lot of things to a head, including remembering the love of cooking and the importance of “family.” This scene features many well-established chefs like Grant Achatz, Kevin Boehm, Wylie Dufresne, Will Guidara, Genie Kwon, Anna Posey, Rosio Sanchez and Christina Tosi. We hear their stories, and you can see the reality behind it. If there is something The Bear does well, it’s controlling how you as a viewer feel, and they can manipulate us well.
The Bear Season 3 ends on a major cliffhanger, and while we don’t know what will come of Carmy, The Bear, Sydney and many others, we are given glimmers of hope. However, by the end of the season, I’m not entirely sure what it is I’m hoping for. So many things are up in the air. Things you wanted at the beginning of The Bear Season 3 may not be the same at the end. But that’s the beauty of The Bear, and I’m excited to see where The Bear Season 4 takes us.
