"the bear" - new series on fx

[HornOnTheBayou 8927]

The whole season has dropped. I just finished the first episode and that's enough for tonight. Shit is too intense to watch more than one.

[Deej 76796]

Is he still all roided up from the Von Erich movie?

[Biff Tannen 45688]

50 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

The whole season has dropped. I just finished the first episode and that's enough for tonight. Shit is too intense to watch more than one.

Just finished the first one. Odd episode, but had me hooked the whole time. So intense!  I’m going one more tonight. 

[kingkoopa6 8350]

See yall soon.  Bout to binge and not sleep 

[huge 3793]

Got through 3. Frenetic.

[TonyTexas 10515]

11 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Just finished the first one. Odd episode, but had me hooked the whole time. So intense!  I’m going one more tonight. 

It was an interesting way to essentially recap the previous seasons. I enjoyed it. 

[RPM 26321]

Just finished Ep1. Haz no disappoint. This show is fine art.

[LCHorn 2620]

We got through ep 5 last night.  Hate to say it but I’m a little disappointed.  Best moment so far was a conversation between Carmy and Marcus in (I think) ep 1.  Cameos are distracting, particularly episode 5.  
 

I don’t think it should take this long to figure out what the writers are trying to say.  

[Mittens 8284]

 

[mackavelli 183]

Just finished Ep1. Haz no disappoint. This show is fine art.

Ep1 song

[Helobious 9454]

On 6/5/2024 at 3:11 PM, Stringer said:

 

Saw on a podcast that they improvised almost all of that. 

[kingkoopa6 8350]

4 down. 
 

me loving this. 
 

episode 1 was poetry 

[kingkoopa6 8350]

Nevermind. 5 down. I should prolly go to bed.  
 

Hartnett. Cena. 💪🏻

Edited June 28 by kingkoopa6

[LCHorn 2620]

We finished it off last night.  It’s not nearly as propulsive or compelling as the first two seasons.  
 

Spoiler

Whole episodes do little to advance an overarching narrative.  I loved seeing Jaime Lee Curtis perform as Donna, but do we need a whole episode devoted to her “acting” to show Sugar and her Mom reconnecting?  Moreover,  it’s wholly out of the restaurant.  
 

Same with Tina-on the one hand I enjoy getting some backstory, but it doesn’t do shit for moving the story forward.  
 

If I were breaking down the story I’d want the narrative to focus on either a main character (which the show tries to make Carmy but then wants to go off and on these little digressions), or the restaurant itself (that’s how I’d do it, make it about the restaurant, the space, only leave it for quick moments outside the restaurant).  
 

Also, the whole “I have a secret I NEED to get out but I just can’t bring myself to tell you.” is just the absolute laziest, rhetorical contrivance and shouldn’t be used except in a daytime soap opera.

 

[RPM 26321]

The Faks deserve a spinoff. I'd watch a Fak film. The Haunting.

Edited June 28 by RPM

[Stringer 1439]

I haven't gotten into Season 3 yet, but I have been rewatching 2.  The Fishes/Forks duo, as well as the finale have been discussed to death (deservedly so), but the two in between are really good too ("I wear suits now").  I had forgotten how much goes on in those and how well it brings us down and sets the stage for the finale.  Just really top notch writing and season building.

[MissingInAction 25079]

This entire season was character building, and setting storylines up for the next several.

All great shows have them.

Is JLC supposed to just disappear? Her character IS the driving force of the dysfunction.

Edited June 28 by MissingInAction

[mdmost 43002]

2 in so far. Episode 1 was beautiful. Felt like a love letter to food and the people who devote their lives to perfecting their craft all the while showing the trauma Carmie has to work through/against. Episode 2 drops us right back in. Loved both. 

[Okie State 3821]

22 hours ago, mackavelli said:

 

 

 

Ep1 song

 

 

 

I knew I recognized the song. I thought Episode 1 was great.

[LCHorn 2620]

They did not cheap out on music rights this season. 

[Biff Tannen 45688]

1 hour ago, LCHorn said:

They did not cheap out on music rights this season. 

They haven't on any seasons yet.

[Texzilla588 769]

Big music rights issues often impact lives of shows in reruns.

[RPM 26321]

Great article loaded with spoilers if you haven't finished.

All the Guest Stars and Celebrity Chefs in Season 3

[kingkoopa6 8350]

To be continued 

[4th&Five 41555]

Just finished. Really good but we’re pretty much where we were at the beginning. 

[crony 359]

Spoiler

So I guess in addition to having different menus and being all over the place in the kitchen, Richie may have fucked up the Michelin star when the fork was on the floor? At least that's what I remember when I saw that chef movie with Bradley Cooper. Also, dystopian butter lol.

 

[Gil Bang 25960]

yeah, I watched, but this season didn't really go anywhere.

[henrygandorf 29191]

213 just like my area code. 

[RomaVicta 29908]

15 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Just finished. Really good but we’re pretty much where we were at the beginning. 

We're through three. The Fuck You no Fuck You arguments are noisy and pointless beyond a few seconds. The misery of the workers starts raising questions about why they continue. The good cheer is gone amid the toil. 

The first episode is like a very well-crafted tone poem. That's hard to do because there is such risk that a single misstep will lose the audience. It's the kind of patient filmmaking you see in the Station Agent and The Visitor (Tom McCarthy movies). 

Now it's like being plugged into a wall socket. We'll finish because it's been so good, but I'm glad of the warning that it doesn't really go anywhere. Lowered expectations will be a boon.

[Mittens 8284]

4 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

The Fuck You no Fuck You arguments are noisy and pointless beyond a few seconds.

So annoying

[LCHorn 2620]

7 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

Now it's like being plugged into a wall socket. We'll finish because it's been so good, but I'm glad of the warning that it doesn't really go anywhere. Lowered expectations will be a boon.

Yeah, the biggest problem with season three is that the bar has been set so high.  

[BrazilHorn 6608]

I feel like this show has hit a wall. Just the same conflict between carmine and richie. Lots of yelling, stuff getting broken etc every episode. 

Also don’t need another scene with sugar and unc griping about the costs/money. 

[henrygandorf 29191]

5 hours ago, BrazilHorn said:

I feel like this show has hit a wall. Just the same conflict between carmine and richie. Lots of yelling, stuff getting broken etc every episode. 

Also don’t need another scene with sugar and unc griping about the costs/money. 

there were some great moments/eps this season, but it feels like the 10 episodes had 10 different writers and they all wrote at the same time. i don't need a super linear story, but the season-long questions pretty much all went unanswered through the finale.

even carmen's internal shit that he doesn't let anyone else know about (the mchale stuff) didn't really get resolved the way it could've, because of who he is and how he is.

[Party_Taco 3729]

there were some great moments/eps this season, but it feels like the 10 episodes had 10 different writers and they all wrote at the same time. i don't need a super linear story, but the season-long questions pretty much all went unanswered through the finale.
even carmen's internal shit that he doesn't let anyone else know about (the mchale stuff) didn't really get resolved the way it could've, because of who he is and how he is.

When they did 3 and 4 at once that was always my fear… that they would keep any meaningful resolution to the 4th season and 3 would become mostly filler. I haven’t had a chance to watch yet, but by many accounts that seems to be the place.

[austingirl 2191]

Stop thinking about pussy

I wasn't thinking about-

You were thinking about pussy

[Biff Tannen 45688]

Definitely my least favorite season, but I’ll wait til the very end to see if this was necessary for the set up. 
 

I never need to watch Ice Chips again. 

[DFWTexEx 276]

My favorite films and TV shows are the ones where you don't notice the filmmaking when you are watching it.  It's seamless and real and you just feel immersed.  Later, when you think about what you saw, you get the holy shit moment of what the director, the script, the editing, the score, the actors, camera work, etc. all did to make it great. 

This season of the Bear is the opposite of that.  I can sense the chatty script, the cuts, the back flashes, the forward flashes, hell, even the sideways flashes, the cameos, the music, etc.;  each filmmaking element just hits me in the face.  I am not saying it's bad.  Clearly, this is a great show.  But, the magic is gone.

[Yev Kassem 1031]

I feel like this whole season was watching that South Park episode where everyone was smug and loved the smell of their own farts.  It’s definitely very full of itself and it shows on camera.  This season, while cinematically beautiful, did little to progress the storyline. This would have been a better Season 2 than 3. 

All of this world building would have been better served a season ago. 

With that being said, I can’t wait for Season 3. 

[Pig Bellmont 8719]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

even carmen's internal shit that he doesn't let anyone else know about (the mchale stuff) didn't really get resolved the way it could've, because of who he is and how he is.

I was with you until here. My take was that Carmen heard Chef tell him he was excellent. Despite being so full of rage he received the recognition and respect he never had while working for him and it brought him to tears. I thought that conversation was great drama and acting by both 

[henrygandorf 29191]

1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

I was with you until here. My take was that Carmen heard Chef tell him he was excellent. Despite being so full of rage he received the recognition and respect he never had while working for him and it brought him to tears. I thought that conversation was great drama and acting by both 

agree with the last sentence. i don’t think that was carmy’s takeaway and doubt he felt as good afterwards as he should’ve. that relationship is beyond closure for him. 

[semitired 82]

23 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

We're through three. The Fuck You no Fuck You arguments are noisy and pointless beyond a few seconds. The misery of the workers starts raising questions about why they continue. The good cheer is gone amid the toil. 

The first episode is like a very well-crafted tone poem. That's hard to do because there is such risk that a single misstep will lose the audience. It's the kind of patient filmmaking you see in the Station Agent and The Visitor (Tom McCarthy movies). 

Now it's like being plugged into a wall socket. We'll finish because it's been so good, but I'm glad of the warning that it doesn't really go anywhere. Lowered expectations will be a boon.

No kidding. If this doesn't tone down some, I might have to move on.

[RomaVicta 29908]

8 hours ago, Yev Kassem said:

I feel like this whole season was watching that South Park episode where everyone was smug and loved the smell of their own farts.  It’s definitely very full of itself and it shows on camera.  This season, while cinematically beautiful, did little to progress the storyline. This would have been a better Season 2 than 3. 

Edit to note that I'm only through three episodes so far.

Well said. The show seems in love with itself. It's a state of mind where the creators set aside critical skills and doubt (so valuable) usually as a result of great praise. It leads to something like the Fuckyou!nofuckyou! arguments being drawn out in the place of actually creating a riveting dramatic scene. It's lazy. 

Those scenes play out in the way I've seen when actors improvise as an exercise. It always soars to absurd extremes and usually shouting. It's hard to come up with a clever, well-drawn conflict when you're working off the top of your head. That's what I see here.

Further, I don't believe what I'm seeing anymore. It's a display rather than a drama, and that's sad even if all too human.

Edited July 2 by RomaVicta

[henrygandorf 29191]

On 7/1/2024 at 5:03 AM, RomaVicta said:

The Fuck You no Fuck You arguments are noisy and pointless beyond a few seconds.

we all know shit gets heated in a restaurant, though usually during, you know, working hours when the place is open.

we all know there's creative friction (best way i can put it) that comes from violent collaboration, like between syd and carm.

last season carmy taught syd the hand signal for "i'm sorry, we're good, move on" and they used it.

i know he doesn't have that hand signal with richie, but their backwards dissent is not only annoying, but it also makes no sense considering where these characters have already gone. richie's growth arc was one of the more satisfying parts of this show (forks), and now they're back to s1 nonsense.

don't show that shit unless (a) something extraordinary has happened or (b) you're going to show us a new way out, or possibly (c) if it's hilarious. none of these happened in s3.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18549]

It's way too overindulgent and lumbering. The great parts (and there are no doubt some great parts) are too few and far between. They could have done that entire season in probably 4-5 killer episodes. I love this damn show, but this season was some bullshit.

[Helobious 9454]

I’m tapping out after episode 2. That yelling match between Carmie & Richie was the most annoying thing I’ve ever seen on television. 

[Sbbruin 21855]

8 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I’m tapping out after episode 2. That yelling match between Carmie & Richie was the most annoying thing I’ve ever seen on television. 

I'll keep giving it a shot, but I agree.  And that first flashback episode was a very much WTF episode.  I get them trying to underscore why he wants such high standards, but it was all over the place.

[NoName 16352]

sometimes i feel like i'm watching a different show than a lot of folks. i *loved* s03e01

[elguapo 4586]

S3 E1 annoyed me so much I wasn't sure I wanted to watch the rest of the season, and now seeing the reviews for it I don't think I will.  As a season premiere they decide to do a series "recap" that is just a bunch of random cut scenes thrown together, WTF???

[NoName 16352]

13 minutes ago, elguapo said:

S3 E1 annoyed me so much I wasn't sure I wanted to watch the rest of the season, and now seeing the reviews for it I don't think I will.  As a season premiere they decide to do a series "recap" that is just a bunch of random cut scenes thrown together, WTF???

Sepinwall broke it down/what it was: https://archive.ph/CaP0D

it's just showing his origin story with how it felt/seemed to Carm at the time. folks either love it or hate it, i loved it. but i get the complaints.

Quote

Calling this article “The Bear Season Three premiere explained” perhaps feels like we’re missing the point, doesn’t it? On the most obvious level, there’s nothing to explain about “Tomorrow.” It’s a Carmy Berzatto origin story, but we already know Carmy’s origin: He was raised in an emotionally broken family, revered his older brother Mikey, studied under some of the world’s greatest chefs, was the psychological pincushion for Joel McHale, came back to Chicago after Mikey killed himself, and took over the struggling family business. “Tomorrow” fills in a few blanks, but it’s much less interested in telling us what happened than in making us understand how all of it felt to Carmy. It’s a vibe, not a mystery.

So, why are we here? 

Well, Carmy spends much of the episode in various kitchens, real and fictional, wearing similar uniforms. Between that and the non-chronological nature of the storytelling — which follows Carmy from his first cooking job through his return to Chicago following Mikey’s death — fans who love The Bear but haven’t obsessively studied up on its hero’s career path might feel a little lost by the end.

 

Edited July 2 by NoName

[utee94 15823]

23 minutes ago, NoName said:

sometimes i feel like i'm watching a different show than a lot of folks. i *loved* s03e01

I think several people on this thread up above your comment, have expressed that they really liked S3E1, so you're not alone.

Personally, I didn't love it.  I think it came off as overly self-indulgent from the creative team, and it was so long that it also came off as insulting to the audience.  After ten minutes, we got it.  Everybody got it.  Even the cows got it.

Overall I don't hate the idea and the execution was beautiful, but it could have lasted about 1/3 as long and been more impactful.  

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

... and now they're back to s1 nonsense.

don't show that shit unless (a) something extraordinary has happened or (b) you're going to show us a new way out, or possibly (c) if it's hilarious. none of these happened in s3.

Agree with every word, that's exactly how I felt about it.

Anyway like others I'm still in on the show, but they're not making it easy for me.