Season Three of the Bear is MAGIC. Season 1 and 2 of the Bear are the closest thing to perfect television I’ve ever experienced. I am not a foodie. I don’t care about food. (Besides a huge slice of Chicago style, deep dish pizza, that is.) And yet! This food is unlike anything I’ve ever seen – and it’s all because of these characters, the writing, and the glorious acting helmed by Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri. Just… chef’s kiss levels of perfection.
The pressure cooker that is this show is phenomenal. The reveal of season 1 was so perfect as to never be replicated. The tension of season 2 was just completely off the rails (can I point your attention to episode 6?) and I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life. My family literally turned it off and walked away for a MONTH before were able to come back to it.
Now we find ourselves at Season 3. This post is just to highlight the fact that way too many of you have never heard of the show, let alone aren’t watching it. And already, having only just watched episode 1 of season 3, I am certain this is going to be an amazing season. The episode is actually an amazing homage to the previous two seasons. Carmy is trying to move forward from the TRAIN WRECK that was the last episode of season 2 (non-spoilers).
The Music of Episode 1
But I have to make a totally separate, totally different call out for episode 1, of season 3, of The Bear. The score. The score. The Score. Oh my lord, oh my lord. OH MY LORD was the score glorious. Ep1 is a very methodical and intentionally slow paced episode. It’s a rusty music box attempting to wheeze its way back to life. And there’s hardly a lick of dialogue in this normally dialogue heavy show. Instead, we are given a score that was crafted elegantly and hauntingly by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Basically the duo scored the entire episode as a cycling refrain of their song “Together,” which came from their album Ghosts V. If you have a vision of what you think of Nine Inch Nails as being – I don’t know – “Head Like a Hole”-esque… you have another think coming. The piano and the ambient strings of this orchestration is just other-worldly good.
The Character Journeys of Season Three
Let’s be clear. I’m here for the characters and the writing. I’m here for the trauma. I’m here for the acting. I’m here to watch these people that I care about grow, flail, and learn. Or fail to learn. Whatever. Come what may. But writing this good is hard to come by. Characters this good are so hard to come by. And pressure cookers this intense in order to purify or explode these characters? That’s … yeah, that’s not done. At all.
Look at a few of the most intense television series of all time, just as an exercise. I’m talking about TV Series that just rip your heart out. Series that just eviscerate their characters and toss the viewer over the cliff with zero reservation. What might they be?
- Breaking Bad
- Game of Thrones
- True Detective
- Mr. Robot
- Fargo
- Succession
- Severance
- Baby Reindeer
- Sopranos
- Mad Men
I’m placing The Bear among – and a top – some really great television right there. And The Bear really is worth every minute. And with episode 1 of season 3 we get this glorious flashback of visions, betrayals, insights and epiphanies, everything that brought Carmy to this moment. We can tell that The Bear has only just opened, survived it’s first test night, and already he’s shooting higher. I mean, where else is the chaos going to come from… but from inside that brilliant head of his?
Alright, regardless, I thought ep1 of The Bear’s season 3 was fantastic. (Why doesn’t he actually finish season 3 and THEN write it up… great question random internet reader. But that would be because my daughter has decided to join in… which means? I’m currently at Season 1 episode 2! hahah. And I’m here for it.) Can’t wait to eventually finish the season out… but it’s perfection, and I can wait.
Edited by: CY