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Child Item

The Bear (chef drama, not kids' show!) on Disney+

[Deleted User]

I'm halfway through this and finding it just extraordinary viewing.

The "high octane drama set in a professional kitchen" thing isn't new, but this isn't just about the kitchen... it's about the worlds beyond it for the individuals working there too. About real trauma and tragedy and stress and addiction and mental breakdown. And relationships, friendships and family... and plenty of funny stuff too.

Beautifully written and acted - some quite new faces, the lead character (a former top-class fine dining chef taking over his brother's chaotic Chicago sandwich place) played 'Lip in the US Shameless - utterly brilliant in this.

It's mentally draining and stressful to watch in places (very short episodes for a reason imo) but so worth it. Brilliant television.

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Penn

As absolutely terrific as it is and as much as it deserves all the recognition and attention, it's a bit stupid that they won for Comedy Series categories, where they were probably nominated to avoid going up against Succession. Both series' are very dramatic at times but also with a lot of humour (usually uncomfortable black humour), but I wouldn't have called The Bear a comedy series.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121624557#Comment_121624557

Especially Richie (Ebon Moss) winning

JP Liz V1

Renewed For Season 4 To Film Back To Back With Season 3

McGrath5

Finished last night. Superb television.
Enjoyed season one but season two went up a notch.
From Marcus going to Copenhagen, the Xmas flashback, Ritchie going to the 3 star restaurant, it was fantastic.

EoinMcLovin

Back June 27th with all 10 episodes released at same time

The Black Oil

Teaser, chef.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlYakqjYNIU

EoinMcLovin

____-

https://youtu.be/rUlP-BkJUFs

The Black Oil

Some formalisation kicking and the chaos, naturally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHiwdDFPsZY

Penn

Just finished a rewatch of S1 & 2. So damn good. S2 especially, in a 10 episode season, has 3 of the best episodes of TV in the past 5 years. Fishes & Spoons are complete chalk & cheese in terms of tone and style but are utterly terrific, and the final episode is just tremendous from start to finish. Cannot wait for S3.

siblers

I thought the opening episode of season 3 was excellent, complete change of pace but thought it was wonderfully put together. Seems to have gotten mixed reviews online

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122312382#Comment_122312382

Yeah the first episode I thought was terrific. Not at all what I was expecting and didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know about Carmy, but still just worked brilliantly. That's an episode I know I'll rewatch occasionally even just by itself.

Relikk

The first episode was amazing, for sure. I just wish they didn't edit it like it was meant to have ad breaks.

yerwanthere123

Watched the first two episodes of series 3 last night but, to be honest, neither blew me away. Feels like a slower start to the series whereas the first two hooked me in straight away. I'm assuming it'll get better though.

youngblood

Don't think I'm really getting any episode of the bear so far this season, it's like I missed something? On episode 6 and starting to feel like a little better, pace, story etc, disjointed start I think

yerwanthere123

I'm up to episode 4 and I'm still not feeling it at all. It's fine, but way below the high bar the first two series set.

Bellbottoms

Not a massive fan of this season. TBF it is still head and shoulders better then a lot of stuff on TV. But it feels more like filer, nothing really moves forward. I have no idea how much time passes during the season, a month, three months, six months.

I think the issue stems from writing and filming it back to back to season 4. It is only half a season.

Also the Fak cameo was one cameo to many. The Faks are great. But in moderation, the season needed less Faks.

Penn

Finished the season. Yeah aside from the excellent first episode, the season as a whole felt a bit flat. The Doors episode seems to take place over a month, whereas everything after that feels like a week.

Still great performances, writing and directing, but yeah it feels like the first half of a season stretched out.

McFly85

I can’t stress enough how much I absolutely hated the season opener. 35 minutes of excruciatingly paced filler, I found the music grating after 10 mins too. It was beautifully shot but completely indulgent.

I watched a couple more episodes and it was nice to get back to the story but it’s still not a patch of the first 2 seasons. Might skip out until season 4.

siblers

Slightly frustrating season, it was enjoyable but it seemed to lack any cohesion and never quite got fully going (episode 8 I found quite dull)

The Last episode does give season 4 something interesting to build on so hopefully that will be an improvement, this season felt like a bit of a filler season, very little actually happens

paulbok

Couple of episodes in, seems to be a character building season with the back stories etc.

The two brothers that never shut up are really annoying though.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122312382#Comment_122312382

Just finished S3E1. That was a work of art. 10/10.

whitelaurel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122321222#Comment_122321222

I thought it was atrocious as well, just pure pretentiousness. And I was fairly excited for it haha

PTH2009

Found season 3 a lot more darker than imagined but was good writing for the most part

Not sure fully about what the ending meant

johnny_ultimate

Wanted to hold off on commenting until I watched the full thing, but now that I'm done very happy with that season as a whole. Some things I didn't love, but on the whole it was an ambitious, different season that I think pushes the show further in directions that were starting to form in season two.

I think it's fair to say in terms of pure filmmaking this was a real step up. The first episode was the most striking example of that (and some of the ideas there are quite powerfully revisited later on), but I also think episode three returned to more familiar territory but in a more formally intriguing way. There's a lot more willingness to have complex editing that weaves in and out of the characters' own histories. But also I think it really gets at the emotional core of the show too. A lot of this show is about trauma or at the very least people trying to come to terms with the hands they've been dealt. I think the editing style reinforces that throughout (and gets more fractured, even abrasive, in Carmy's case).

But also: there's no more empathethic show on TV, or at least one that doesn't rely on pure sentimentality to get there. You really saw that coming to the fore in season two, but it's doubled down on here. Between long, loaded conversations that are allowed to play out elegantly, to showing the multitudes of these openly troubled or flawed people, to the show's increasing fondness for close ups that allow these actors to really communicate the quiet depths and conflicts of their characters… I think there's a real willingness from the writers and directors to dive in here. Again, not everything totally worked for me - the humour remains a mixed bag, though I did enjoy the 'haunt' running gag - but generally it's really compelling, smart, affectionate writing.

Napkins (a beautiful bit of TV) and the opening are the strongest episodes IMO, but overall I reckon it's a more consistent season that works really, really well as a bit of long-form, serialised storytelling. The pace is well controlled over the season (although maybe parts of the finale was too low-key), with a lot more time for reflection amid the more high energy peaks. There's more room for all the characters throughout the season, whereas S2 maybe felt like some (including Syd) didn't get much space amid the tangents and side stories (great as they were). While the story didn't progress a whole lot relatively speaking - and arguably lacks the central hook of the previous seasons - I think we got more time to see these characters together. Both the tension and the warmth.

It's clearly half a season, though - I know S4 was shot back-to-back with this, but the abrupt cliffhanger here (if you want to call it that) very much suggests they were conceived as a whole. I think it's somewhat frustrating we have a wait until that arrives, given this wraps up fairly suddenly. But while the energy was different this time around, I reckon on the whole it was a positive change - a show that's willing to tweak the formula and evolve, along with its characters.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122321222#Comment_122321222

I really find people using the term "filler" to be extremely annoying and an indication of how a person does not get the show or just wants conventional TV with formulaic plot lines that follow a traditional path.

The episode was anything but filler and showed how Carmy's past experiences forms and develops his decisions and path today.

I thought it was a great episode that was different and brave. Up to E4 at present and enjoying it so far.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122337905#Comment_122337905

Yeah I fully agree. It didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know about Carmy and his journey, but it shows us a rich tapestry of his journey, jumping back and forth between the positives (The French Laundry where they chef nurtured the beauty of cooking food, Chef Terry's kitchen where he gradually grew more and more and was given greater responsibilities and showed how he surpassed most of the other chefs there) and the negatives (his own family stuff, working for Joel McHale who relentlessly drove him into the ground and demeaned/abused him).

It informs his need to abandon the personal and just focus on cooking, but even shows how he took some things from Joel McHale such as no repeat ingredients, different dishes, but also how he went against McHale and changed up the dish to one of his own design, which also just ended up being one that helped inspire Sydney.

The music is undoubtedly repetitive throughout and is far more noticeable considering the lack of dialogue throughout the episode, but I think it's also beautiful and really got stuck in my head. The episode is also tremendously shot and performed (again, considering the lack of dialogue is a great achievement).

I really loved the first episode. Again, no big revelation or anything really new to note in the episode, but it both shows us the past while also setting up Carmy's journey for the rest of the season (particularly with regards the damage McHale did, the corrosiveness of Carmy holding on to that resentment, and how in many ways Carmy could fall into the same trap of doing the same with how he pushes and ignores Sydney).

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122337905#Comment_122337905

And for me, I find it annoying when someone says I just don’t get the show simply because I have some criticism. I get it perfectly well, it’s subjective, anyone can have a valid opinion on it.

The first ep didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about Carmy and his development as a chef - the first 2 seasons wonderfully interspersed this information with other storylines. It looked great but I found it tedious in the extreme. It was just far too long.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338003#Comment_122338003

So there was no character development or info as to how Carmy developed as a chef and how the subtraction method he learnt is being used in new restaurant.

Nothing learnt about how he found out about his brother dying and how handled it or how has he relationship with his sister was strong.

Nor was it an attempt to show Carmy's mental state or what he was going through.

All just 37 minutes (which is by no means long) filler.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338003#Comment_122338003

FWIW I absolutely think your opinion on the episode is valid. I wouldn't say filler, but there's definitely a level of indulgence in the episode which can easily come across as over-indulgence.

For me, I loved the slow start to the season, acting as somewhat of a reset and easing back into things. I saw it as, following the events of the Season 2 finale, Carmy reflecting on his journey and the parts of it (good and bad) which have shaped who he needs to be if he's going to give everything he has to making The Bear what he needs it to be. Yes, it doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, but there are definitely aspects of it which come back throughout the season rather than being more integrated into those scenes or episodes like in previous seasons. But I also think considering Carmy is essentially putting his foot down with his non-negotiables and ethos of the restaurant from the start without consulting or discussing with anyone, it's valuable to have that stuff upfront and see it while Carmy is reflecting on it himself.

I think it also works when viewed as part of the whole season because so many of the other episodes are largely given over to other characters, like Tina and Sugar's episodes, or Doors which is about the daily struggles of the restaurant and the effects of Carmy pushing things how he is (which again, has already been set up from the first episode). I think for example saving the flashbacks of his history with Joel McHale (one day I'll google the character's name, but not today) until the final episode of the season where he confronts him would have been too late.

It was definitely a risky first episode considering how the pace of it is so different to most other episodes of The Bear, but I can see how it could divide opinions.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338003#Comment_122338003

Agree 100%, hate when people resort to "you just didn't get it!!" if you don't like something. I, like you, got it perfectly fine, I just didn't find it particularly interesting.

Am yet to watch beyond episode 4 but the comments on here don't fill me with confidence as to what's coming. Such a shame, the first two seasons of this were excellent.