Review of The Bear Season 3

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

About a year ago (at the time of typing this) I quit my job as a professional film critic to explore what was out there in the world when it came to publishing about the movies and books I wanted to see, not just what was popular in the moment. Digital media and working within it can be fun and all, but it can be grinding when you’re just chasing after all the latest trends and clicks for SEO.

I started this blog four years ago, during the pandemic, but never really took it seriously beyond the occasional post here and there about what I was up to. In 2023 I began to realize the impact this blog was having on me, and other people were reaching out about reading it, so I expanded. Once I quit my job, I decided to focus on the blog more while job hunting, as I do make a few pennies here and there from the display ads on the screen.

During my time job hunting, in-between applying to jobs here and there, it happened to coincide with an economic crisis worldwide, which meant I had even more extended time applying to jobs. Because I had all of this newfound free time, I decided to catch up on all of the movies and television shows I’ve been wanting to get to throughout the years, but never felt like I had the free time to get to them.

And that’s how I ended up watching all of The Bear over the course of a month. I watched it at the beginning of 2025, but because of my backlog of posts, this isn’t probably coming out until around of May. At the time I’m even typing this, the release date for season four has come out, which is always exciting to see!

I put out my other reviews of The Bear’s first two seasons on the blog, so if you want a refresher on what happened in seasons one and two, then head on over to my blog’s main page.

I can feel myself rambling as I go through this introduction, so let’s get into the actual post! We don’t want to keep you waiting.

The opening of the restaurant comes with entirely new problems, especially as the pressure mounts.

At the end of the last season, we see how chaotic opening this restaurant has been on the Carmy and the other crew members, and he even says something he majorly regrets to Claire right at the end S2’s last episode. Their relationship might be in the dumps because he was an idiot in that moment, but for now, they have a job to do and have to get their grip together.

Episode one of this series is a reflection on Carmy and what led him here, especially when it comes to his restaurant experience and how he couldn’t bring himself to come to his own brother’s funeral with everyone else. It’s pretty striking to watch him attend from a distance, by his car, instead of joining the rest of the family in grief.

We do see throughout the season and series how exactly the family dynamics weren’t the best in some ways, which probably explains why Carmy has some of the problems he has. At least he apologizes to Richie for some of his behvaior at the end of the last season, although his next big decision is going to prove quite the controversy among the staff.

He wants to make an entirely new menu for the restaurant each night, which is going to prove to be a point of conflict later on in the series when a reviewer comes in, likes a dish that was literally made up on the spot, and the publication arrives the next day to take a picture of the dish.

Naturally, they are unable to actually do just that because no one has an idea of what exactly the dish was, nor do they have the ingredients to replicate it again because of the rotating menu. Another point of conflict is that Marcus’ mother dies early on in the series, creating a vacuum of grief for him as well.

The series then goes through the usual routine, with a flair for the dramatics because of this review. The standout episode for me was the one about Tina’s backstory. After being laid off from her stable office job, she was unable to find work, leading her to the sandwich shop. Michael and Richie offered her a job, and the rest is history.

Overall Thoughts

For me, this season falls flat compared to the previous two seasons. Don’t get me wrong: I still think this season is pretty good and the show is better than a lot of other shows out there right now, but I feel like it’s starting to lose some of the writing and magic that made it stand out.

We still get a glimpse into the characters’ lives, and that episode focused solely on Tina’s journey is absolutely fantastic. The direction in that episode makes it one of the best in the series, and I feel like it stands out in this season more because of how mediocre some of these episodes can be. The fixation on the review and its impact becomes a psychological problem for the characters, and their stress bleeds over into each other.

It’s still definitely worth watching in the long run, but I get the sense if the show continues in this direction, then it might tire itself out. That psychological pressure was always kind of there with the show, but it being over a review feels counterproductive and a loss of what the restaurant once was: a neighborhood joint beloved by local residents. I know reviews can make or break a place, hence why that pressure exists, and it’ll change the course of season four.

I say watch it regardless. Give it a chance and form your own opinions, as taste is so incredibly subjective. I might not like it as much, but you can love it. Neither of us are wrong.

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