‘The Bear’ Season Three Goes From Chaos to Critics
design: Finley Banks
A recap on what made season three of ‘The Bear’ the emotional and anxiety-filled roller coaster that it is.
by LAUREN SMETANA ★ JULY 28, 2024
Since 2022, The Bear has enlightened viewers on the harsh reality of small business owners and the competitiveness and perfectionism within the restaurant industry. The cinematography and food montages will not only draw you in, but also have your stomach grumbling nonstop. Set in Chicago, Carmy Berzatto, portrayed by recent Hollywood heartthrob Jeremy Allen-White, plays an ambitious, talented, and cutthroat chef who takes over his family business following his brother’s death. Actors such as Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Abby Elliot, and Matty Matheson are just a few amongst the many talented people involved in this impressive cast. At the start of this year, as reported by Variety, the show was “nominated for 13 Emmys for the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, including best comedy series and acting noms for White, Edebiri and guest stars Jon Bernthal and Oliver Platt.”
Season two of The Bear ended on their “friends and family” soft opening night for the restaurant, which left the show in a very uncomfortable and questionable spot. As the night progressed and tensions rose, things quickly took a turn for the worst as Carmy got locked in the walk-in freezer for the entire night, driving him to have a full-fledged mental breakdown, which ultimately cost his relationship with his girlfriend, Claire (Molly Gordon)…ouch! The show did a great job of displaying how the environment within the kitchen — aggressive, fast-paced, technical — is vastly different from that in the restaurant itself — calm, moody, organized. This mixture of aesthetics was carried into Season 3, as we were constantly thrown from the restaurant to the kitchen, showing us what really goes on behind the scenes. A warning though: you may need to take this season one episode at a time, as the anxiety each episode evokes is next level…I even forgot to take a breath at times.
In addition to the constant shift of environments, we also frequently caught glimpses into several of the characters’ pasts with numerous flashback sequences. Episode 6, “Napkins,” focuses on the past of the stubborn, feisty, and hardworking Tina Marrero, played by Liza Colón-Zayas, before she began working at The Bear — originally known as ‘The Beef.’ As is Tina devastatingly laid off from her job, she must seek out new opportunities, going weeks without any luck. One day, when she misses her train home, she notices the famous Chicago deli, being drawn in by the loud voices and chaos. When Michael Berzatto, Carmy’s late brother and former owner of The Beef, notices Tina crying in the backroom of the deli, he strikes up a somewhat personal and emotional conversation, ultimately offering her a position working as a line cook. This episode is much less “fast-paced” than the others; this is partly due to the lovely Ayo Debiri serving as the director for this particular episode.
The season concludes with Carmy receiving text alerts that the long-awaited and highly anticipated food review on their restaurant was released. Words such as “confusing,” “excellent,” “sloppy,” and “brilliant” flashed before the screen, giving a very mixed review. Carmy cursed — as expected if you are familiar with his hot-headed character — and was shortly followed by a “to be continued.” Fans were not sure what exactly to make of season three and will now have to wait until season four to see how this review affects not only the restaurant, but each character's lives.