Forever

Some say that "The Bear" has been a mixed bag during its third season. It certainly hasn't been a mixed for me, as it has still been mostly set in the positive. However, it is understandable that some people may be underwhelmed with the show's third season, which doesn't seem to quite reach the excellence of the first two. A big reason is because of the show's repetitive nature when it comes to its themes and what it wants to say, but it's still good. The finale is a great example of that in an episode that could have been better, but was still good.

This is a show that is so based in its deep thematics. It works best when it revolves around the dramatic aspects, despite being labeled a comedy. And this episode isn't necessarily all about that as it mostly features the characters attending the Ever's funeral service, but it provides a great lesson for the characters. Just because it's all going good and great, doesn't mean that it can't all go away, and it's important to step out and watch the normal things and remember that you don't live in a vacuum, but in the real world. Those are the lessons that the show prides itself with, and it's constantly providing some great entertainment and things of actual merits, despite it not being packaged in the usual greatness that we got used to during the first two seasons. It's difficult to not like a show that still takes its time to focus on the characters and shows humanity under the stress and the yelling. Now, the episode does leave a lot of strings dangling in the air, with storylines still being left unfinished and a lot of questions about some characters who don't appear in this episode at all. This season was originally going to film back-to-back with the fourth season, so it could be that this is more of a two-parter, but it still feels a little unfinished. However, it's still a damn good show that continues to deliver the emotional punches you want, even if they could hit maybe just a little bit harder.

"Forever" is a solid ending to a subpar season that still manages to knock you down with genuine emotional punches that give you all the drama. It may not leave everything on a satisfactory note, but it still keeps your appetite active and makes you eager to come back for more in the near future.

This is not a season about a chef kicking arse and taking names. It's about massive internal struggles, grief, lack of self belief, self loathing, gratefulness and forgiveness. The episodes are edited in a way that juggles Carmy's inner struggles, the noise in his head and how that effects him and those around him. If youve been there (that headspace) you'll know how hard it is to see what's really happening around you. When success feels like failure. It's never enough when your self worth is tied to something like your job. If you're lucky you'll look up and release your surrounded by people who love you, and that will hopefully be enough. Jeremy delivers the goods again. Beautiful season.............................................

Yeah, I'm sure the acting is great. Esoteric. Remarkable actors.

But a whole season setting up each character's backdrop..? The entire season..?

There was nothing of substance in the operation of the restaurant...the whole season. I invested in every episode, and waited for months, for it to get back to the gourmet dining that was emerging from a sloppy Joe nook.

There was absolutely no payoff this year, with one depressive episode after another.

Now, after this wait, we are put off again until 2025?

I'm sure it will win more writing and acting awards, but this year it lost a viewer that was totally engaged after the first two seasons.

And, geezus, how is this considered a comedy..?

This review is as much about season 3 as a whole, but the points were all crystalized in these last 2 episodes, when I was finally pushed to fast forward through all of the pretty, pointless montages and celebrity chefs speechifying. There was maybe 15 minutes of actual show in that 43 minute runtime of the finale. The season finale was thrown away telling the story of another restaurant rather than being about The Bear.

The finale, really the last 2 episodes of the season, show more than ever that Christopher Storer has no interest in his own story. So little of this show is actually about The Bear (the restaurant or the guy). The cinematography is masterful, but the incessant food porn montages are so overdone and just come across as what they are at this point, time fillers. And Carmy was tortured by his family and the kitchens he worked in. We get it. We never need another montage of Carmy's past. The show is so obsessed with looking back that it never moves forward.

Storer avoids telling what we're led to believe is the story at every turn. The bottle episodes about individual characters are well done, but pointless. The acting may be great, but they're navel gazing. They don't tell us anything about the characters. And it's hard to invest in an entire episode about a supporting character when the show has done nothing to make us interested in them up until that point.

Speaking of the acting, some of the performances are unbelievable. Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Abby Elliot,and Lionel Boyce all turn in a masterclass in acting, but it serves nothing because the show doesn't go anywhere. And I don't get all the praise for Jeremy Allen White. Yes, he's intense, and that makes him compelling to watch...sometimes. We don't need any more shots of him miserably glowering. However, he's playing still playing Lip from Shameless, just in a different setting. There is no daylight between those characters.

The most frustrating thing about The Bear is that it can be compelling when it wants to be. A lot of talent and artistry are being thrown away on an airless souffle. Christopher Storer needs another voice in the room to tell him he's turned this show into a self-indulgent mess, and maybe they can turn it around in season 4.

This season is not like 1 or 2. It all feels like a prologue and the beginning of a story that never happens. We don't actually get any real progression in the main characters. Ironically we feel more attached to a restaurant that closes from Carmine's past than anything to do with his current one. Also the framing of the scenes dramatically changed, far too many intense close ups. Giving the feeling of crowding the pan. The acting is well done. The emotions are definitely felt. The issue for me is that the entire season feels like a very long backstory to the characters and their sorted histories. Interesting but I question why.