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“Dreams are a son of a b*tch, aren’t they?” Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) asks Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) in the penultimate episode of the new season of “The Bear.” With a Chicago Tribune review looming, uncertainty clouds the future of the pair’s financial and culinary investments in the restaurant.

The theme of dreams — and balancing their personal and professional costs — echoes throughout season three of “The Bear.” Carmy and his crew get their restaurant of the same name off the ground and navigate the pressures of running it.

Living up to the narrative highs of season two would never be easy. The 2023 season masterfully delivered a character-driven story centered around hope and unity as the crew opened the restaurant, “The Bear.” Despite its innovative shift in approach, season three struggles to follow up its previous season.

Perhaps at the core of this issue is the season’s newly-emphasized pessimistic tone. While season two epitomizes the value of self-discovery as a step in achieving one’s goals, season three focuses on the self-destructive consequences of reaching and sustaining them.

Pessimism has always been a theme of the show. Carmy’s acquistion of the restaurant was the result of his brother’s suicide and the original restaurant “The Beef” being passed down to him. In season two, Carmy draws on his grueling journey through culinary school and toxic kitchens to reopen the spot as “The Bear.” These themes continuously haunt Carmy in season three and affect his whole staff.

Stories like Sydney “Syd” Adamu’s (Ayo Edebiri) and the brilliant arcs, redemptions and growth of characters like “Cousin” Richie Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Marcus Brooks (Lionel Boyce) and Tina Marrero (Liza Colón-Zayas) gave the show unique emotional depth along with the tense atmosphere.

In season three, however, everyone is miserable. Carmy, who sabotaged his relationship with Claire (Molly Gordon), puts his all into the restaurant, moving toward becoming the toxic chef he despised throughout his education.

Syd, who spends all season struggling with her role in Carmy’s kitchen, puts off signing to become an official restaurant partner with him and is presented with a job offer at a rival restaurant — which pays more and makes her the executive chef.

While Syd grapples with her decision, Richie is tormented by the upcoming marriage of his ex-wife, his role as a father and his ongoing feud with Carmy. Marcus reckons with the death of his mother and his awkward, and potentially romantic, feelings for Syd.

As each character deals with their issues, their focus on the restaurant becomes increasingly jaded. The show presents the character’s struggles with innovative and artistic sequences of montages, flashbacks and, at one point, a stunning shot of Carmy and Richie on opposite sides of the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

My biggest issue with the season, however, was not its negativity. It is worth exploring the impact that “The Bear” has on its character’s work-life balance and mental health. Instead, I was disappointed in the show’s inability, or refusal, to tie up loose ends.

Season two ended with Carmy’s relationship with Claire unresolved, and his relationships with Syd and Richie tense. So does season three. Instead of addressing those cliffhangers, the show adds new ones and shifts their resolutions to season four.

Although these aspects of season three fall short, the narrative signature dishes of “The Bear” still hit. The season’s “Napkins” episode’s flashback to Tina’s journey to end up at the restaurant beautifully portrays her struggle through the hopelessness of losing her job — and marks an impressive directorial debut for Edebiri.

The season’s well-written one-on-one moments — like with Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott) and her mother in “Ice Chips” and the finale’s encounters between Carmy and various chefs of his past — bring emotional, satisfying resolutions to some of the arcs that began in previous seasons.

Despite the unresolved storylines that have been pushed to season four, far too many scenes of the Fak family and an overall more negative approach, the new season of “The Bear” successfully tells hard-hitting stories through its incredible characters.

The show’s continued emphasis on the value of cherishing the people you find along life’s journey keeps it hopeful. The final “to be continued” title card left me hungry for “The Bear’s” next course.

Published on July 5, 2024 at 3:14 pm

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu