I gave season 3 of “The Bear” a positive review, but I also noted the show felt like it was stumbling for the first time. Had Carmy and his team flown too close to the stove and melted their Italian beef wings? In my humble opinion, “The Bear” season 3 wasn’t bad. It was just a bit lost. In attempt to the keep the momentum up, series creator Christopher Storer and his team seemed to embrace an experimental approach with season 3. The first episode unfolded as one long montage — a decision that I liked even though many other people did not. As season 3 plodded along, the story felt a bit directionless, and then came the finale. Rather than give us a satisfying conclusion, season 3 spent a huge chunk of its runtime focusing on a group of guest-star chefs playing themselves. Then everything ended on a cliffhanger. It was disappointing and more than a little underwhelming.
Thankfully, “The Bear” season 4 is a major improvement. But more than that, there are so many apologies thrown around in this new season that you might start to think the series is apologizing for the misstep that was season 3. To be clear: this is probably a coincidence, since it seems like seasons 3 and 4 were written very close together. But asking for forgiveness becomes a major theme this season, and that’s worth noting.
