The Bear

Reviews of Seasons 1 & 2 & 3

By Joshua Xiang

What I feel like when I'm watching The Bear is like listening to a soothing R&B. It's heavy and tinged with sadness, but indulging in the scenes brings you peace and a sense of comfort. The characters' discovery of their precious sentiment through struggles creates the bittersweet feelings that no other work can replace. When these poetic moments clash with the raw, realistic nuances of the characters' interaction and emotions from the show, it becomes heart-wrenching and inspiring.

Season 1: "Like an expertly confected sandwich, The Bear assembles a perfect melange of ingredients and stacks them for optimal satisfaction -- and thankfully keeps the crustiness for extra flavor." (Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus)

Season 2: "Instead of reinventing the menu, The Bear's second season wisely opts to toss its lovable characters into another frying pan of adversity, lets 'em cook, and serves up yet another supremely satisfying dish." (Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus)

Season 3: "Having set an exceedingly high standard of excellence for itself, The Bear spends its third season simmering, stewing, and giving off an aroma that whets the appetite." (Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus)

Context: "A young chef, Carmy Bear, returns to Chicago from the fine dining restaurant to run his family's sandwich shop after a tragic loss. Faced with the harsh realities of small business ownership, difficult kitchen staff bonds, and strained family ties, Carmy struggles with the aftermath of his brother's suicide. As he strives to transform both the shop and himself, he finds a new sense of family within his rough kitchen crew.

A young chef, Carmy, has achieved greatness in the field of culinary and returned to Chicago from a fine dining restaurant in order to inherit his family's sandwich shop which was run by his elder brother who committed suicide. With the custom of high standards set by his past psychotic head chef in head and his personal pursuit of perfection, Carmy struggles to deal with the harsh realities of his brother's aftermath (loans) and the small business ownership. Yet, through the process of Carmy pushing the restaurant into a better shape, wishing it to become a Michelin Star restaurant; he also learned a lot about himself and how to better interact with others. Furthermore, along with Carmy creating this enterprising atmosphere, it also inspired the kitchen crew around him to experience self-discovery practices too, which is heartwarming.

Imagine that you’re on an emotional rollercoaster that goes up, down, left, and right, at a tremendous speed. That’s how it feels when you watch The Bear. The acting, the character development and the music all contribute to what The Bear is known for. The five main factors that make this show so engaging are the performance of the characters, the dialogue, the music, the visual language of the scenes, and the plot.

The Bear excels at portraying mental health struggles, generational trauma, and the pressure to succeed, all in a deeply personal and raw way. Scenes often reveal characters’ insecurities, fears, and aspirations, making it relatable to viewers on many levels.

My favorite character in this show is Donna (mother of Carmy), acted by Jamie Lee Curtis. Quoted by the actress herself: "After this weekend of a lot of public celebrations and gatherings, in the middle of all if it, people talked to me about Donna. Strangers sharing how FISHES (episode 6 in season 2, my favorite episode across the three season) allowed them to crack open the sealed capsule of feelings and frailty that they had built layers upon layers around themselves from their experiences with their mothers and that watching The Bear somehow released them to a place of understanding and hopefully, reunification and recovery. That's really the gift and the award and the satisfaction at the end of the day. Touching people through words said with lenses and collaborations and creative group therapy, yielding the freedom to drop the rock of pain and move forward."

In my perspective, Donna is the character who kept elevating the topic of the bond of kinship in this show. While it's the audience's consensus that Donna is likely the primary cause of tension within The Bear family, her presence continually reminds the audience of the underlying familial love. This impact is heightened by the show's focus on the characters' stressful work lives, but it underscores the idea that, despite the demands of work, love cannot be neglected.

The ending for every single season is just a masterpiece, I wrote most part of this review during season 3 so I am going to just use season three's ending as an example of the exceeding level of story telling of this show.

The highlight of the ending of season three is how at the end Sydney has a panic attack due to the dilemma of whether to leave Carmy and start over a new restaurant with fitting conditions. This moment is a replication of Carmy's toxic cycle when he was under Chef David, and Carmy had unconsciously passed it to Sydney.

At the end of season 3 Carm checks his phone, where several missed calls from Cicero and Computer await him. The review (about his restaurant) has finally dropped, but we only get a highly edited glimpse: words like “brilliant,” “confusing,” “sloppy,” “tired,” “excellent,” and “stale” flash by. So, which is it? Carm lets out a frustrated “motherfucker!”, which sounds more angry than celebratory—but who can really tell? The screen fades to black with a “to be continued…” and that’s it until season 4.

Many people are complaining about this cliffhanger ending. However, I think when Carmy pulled up the mixed reviews about his restaurant, it was like a reflection of our common lives. We were expecting to find relief from shows and movies wishing it to have a clear result, either happy or sad. Yet, we neglect that the reality of things is multifaceted, things were never completely successful or a total failure. And that's the message The Bear kept trying to convey--living is bittersweet.

The Bear crafts a rich story that feels both raw and rewarding. It’s intense and sometimes uncomfortable, but it captures a real humanity that keeps viewers hooked across its seasons.