The Problem with The Bear by Samhita Adapa

 

The Problem with The Bear

When Hulu’s The Bear first came out, it seemed like that was the only thing that was ever talked about. Everybody and their mother seemed to watch The Bear. Everyone wanted to be The Bear. Channeling the chaotic tension that runs through Safdie films, The Bear is a show set in Chicago and follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, an award-winning chef, after he returns home to look after his recently deceased brother’s restaurant. Starring Jermery White Allen, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, and a plethora of other talented actors, the show particularly stands out for its acting. Every person on this show does their absolute best and it shows. Season 1 is probably one of favorite seasons of Television ever and season 2 matches it to a T. However, when season 3 came out, it didn’t gain the same reception as the first 2 and season 4 finally brought up the discussion, “Is The Bear still good?”. Personally, I had to go back and rewatch season 4 because for some reason, I just couldn’t finish it when it first came out. Now with Season 5 coming out this June, it's the final season, I just don’t feel the hype for it, both in me and others I talk to. So what went wrong?

The Bear’s downfall, I think, started with season 4. It dropped significantly in audience reception, especially after the near perfect reception for the prior 2 seasons. To me, it felt especially directionless. A few critics noticed this and said it got stale and lacked any narrative momentum. However, I still enjoyed the show. I still watched every episode as soon as it dropped and looked forward to the next season. If anything, Season 3 was just a warning, telling us the direction the show was going to take and previewing the divisive nature that would follow the release of Season 4. When Season 4 finally came out in June 2024, the discourse around the show heightened and people started to reconsider the show’s standing and where it was going to go. 

Season 4 was disappointing, to say the least, but at least a step up from the lows of Season 3. Everything felt artificial. The arguments feel manufactured and pointless. The tension and chaos I once enjoyed in the earlier seasons now felt forced and stale. The pacing was a mess and dialogue felt especially cringe. At the time I didn’t understand why I suddenly didn’t want to watch the show after a year of looking forward to it. The first two seasons were great in using the arguments for a purpose. There was intention and a movement behind them. They had use in the plot. Season 4 felt repressive, characters were just having the same arguments every episode and it was hard not getting bored or annoyed at the state of the show. The story barely progressed and every episode was just more yelling after yelling. The scenes that used to have me at the edge of my seat now had me trying to stay awake, which is really sad in hindsight. It is very obvious that the show got popular and now the showrunner had to drag it out to make more money. Another criticism of the show is its constant push into the comedy genre, especially in award season categories. It’s very obvious that the show is a drama after watching one episode. Just because a show is funny doesn’t mean it’s a comedy, just look at HBO’s Succession. There’s definitely resentment built up at the Bear stealing awards in the comedy section from real comedies, and that’s definitely played into the backlash. I think my biggest disappointment of season 4 is the lack of food. It’s a show about cooking. Some of my favorite scenes in the show are the cooking scenes. How can you not have cooking in a show about chefs?

However there is an argument to be made in favor of Season 3 & 4. The Bear has always been about Carmy’s journey from an emotional, chaotic individual, to someone a bit more balanced and mellow. Having all seasons be a never ending stress fest wouldn't have done the show any better. Some people see season 4 as an improvement over Season 3, which seemed endlessly plagued by fillers and never ending montages. The show was always going to tackle Carmy healing and growing and because of that, the show became slower paced, more mellow and the tonal shift likely pissed people off who expected a completely different show. It’s more character driven rather than plot and in some cases that’s good. The characters become more fleshed out and compelling. We are going through Carmy’s journey together, along with him. It brings into question, was The Bear ever about the restaurant or Carmy. Is it okay to be disappointed if the show turns away from something that was never really the main focus in the first place? 

The Bear, by no means, is a bad show. It’s still engaging and fun and honestly speaking, there are way worse TV shows out there. Even at its weakest, the actors were incredible and the plot is still good, just not as fast paced as in the earlier seasons. However, it would be lying to say the show has declined in quality and that’s why there isn’t as much hype for the final season as there was for previous ones. I think the first two seasons set the standards so high, I think it was inevitable for the following episodes to fall short. If Season 5 is able to capture some of the highs of season 1 and 2, it’ll be just as amazing and end the show with a high note.