DEEP DIVE | The Bear Season 3 is a MESS (No Plot. Claire-Centric Disaster) 

I don't get why the showrunners are obsessed with Claire. It's weird. Can't believe Carmy has been reduced to this pathetic lovesick puppy.

I’m so tired of Claire. Like leave her alone. If anything, Claire’s purpose is revealing to Carmy his flaws and his improving moving forward. She don’t need to be here anymore 😂

I feel like they are forcing Clair on the audience to silence us SydCarmy shippers. Like damn it's not that serious ! Don't ruin the show in trying to prove us wrong.

I hate Claire with a passion lol. I know it's not her fault but the way she is so shoehorned in makes it unbearable. Carmy didn't even like her to that degree and now he's obsessed? This season felt like filler

I had to forward thru that episode 4-5 minute Carmy-Claire scene, they are so boring with no chemistry! Why, oh why do they keep force feeding us this relationship. And yes, this season was very underwhelming, hopefully they right the ship next season. But you're spot on!

If Chris Storer doesn't want Sydney and Carmy to happen, then fine (I didn't care either way knowing how much of a problem people seem to have with Black female characters), but forcing a boring character that a lot of people either don't like or aren't connected to, to have more screen time, is not a good move. I don't find the Faks funny either. Reviews for this season have been lukewarm.

They wanted to do this character analysis deep dive. Which is…fine. But they have to understand it stagnates the plot to constantly jump back in time or kick off the first episode by jumping into carmy’s psyche in an experimental and artsy way. I thought it felt like season 2.5 not season 3 if you get what I mean. It feels like a veerrrryyy dragged out setup for the season. Ep 10 with all the old friends gathering around to say farewell to a restaurant they worked at closing sounds like a way better kick off for a season then ending it there. Luca is there for a few months, carmy confronts his abusive ex boss, the reviews are pouring in for the bear. Lot of potential inciting incidents. Carmy slowly becoming his boss and just making syd suffer and panic was so strange. I don’t mind the idea that romance might not happen and it’s just a deep platonic connection, but now i can’t even say that partnership is strong now that they are so distant and awkward. I think carmy shouldn’t be with anyone, though. I don’t want her to suffer and I always thought their dynamic wouldn’t be as powerful and beautiful the way people have romanticized in their head. I’ve read some beautiful ahh fanfiction of them though lol so I see the vision, but he is a nightmare canonically. The tension isn’t spicy, it’s just cruel and unfair. Let’s not saddle syd with the responsibility to fix carmy. Ugh set my girl free from this guy’s mood swings. I felt more peace with syd talking to Luca for 5 seconds then any heavy back and fourth between her and carmy in the past seasons.

I agree with everything. The only highlight for me was seeing the staff at ‘Ever’ again. Other than that they seem to be dimming everyone’s light just so the Claire storyline can happen. As if they thought if we put enough distance between Carmy and Sydney it will make his chemistry with Claire look better by comparison. Where was the found family, commentary on trauma, and the humor that was so charming. All of it gone for some lackluster side plot that should’ve been buried with Season 2. Bad season but great video.

i saw a tweet from someone saying they stayed off twitter to avoid spoilers but came back and their weren’t any because there was nothing to spoil and that’s how i feel about this season. a bunch of a questions are raised at the beginning of the season and not a single one is answered by the end. which is a bad move for a, in my opinion, boring/repetitive/drawn out season. it feels like half of a season stretched out into 10 episodes. it was also weird how little the interactions between the core cast were. it felt like the actors had scheduling issues so they replaced them with the faks. very little changes from beginning to end. will he talk to claire? don’t know. will sydney leave? don’t know. will the review be good? don’t know. will the bear shut down? don’t know. will richie and carmy make up? don’t know. will carmy talk to his mom? don’t know. will carmy and sydney talk? don’t know. will richie go to the wedding? don’t know. why are we dragging every question into season 4? i feel like i could have just watched the first and last episode and i’m caught up for s4. i’m so disappointed i’m not even looking forward to s4 now. i’ll watch but my expectations are low. it had flaws in s2, but overall i enjoyed it. this season seems to say that the show will gradually get worse each season.

My goodness, you had me dying (of laughter), and that is such a lovely color on you! Someone posted somewhere else on another video about this season that Claire is a manic pixie dream girl with no manic or pixie and I agree. I'm confused about why they wrote her the way they did if they want us to believe she such an important figure in Carmy's life, not to mention they really dropped the ball on Ebra and Marcus for the Faks, it was funny the first time ONLY.

i think the producers just got GREEDY. everyone knows the second season is even better than the first, yet the first season won every single award you could think of. the second season hasnt been eligible for an award season yet. they knew they would get the same awards if not more for season 2. thats why they produced season 3 and 4 back to back. which means they wrote and produces 20 episodes in the same time that they used to write and produce 8 episodes .... AND IT SHOWS. the show has good moments, but so much slow and uninformative fluff. it could have been 5 brilliant episodes, but now their greed let them to stretch it into 10 good episodes with occasional greatness.

I feel like in separating Sydney and Carmy into their own disparate but parallel storylines, they forgot that the most dynamic relationship (romantic or not) on the show is Carmy and Syd's. They're the most important characters on the show and their relationship is the most important one.... Richie and Carmy's being a close second. The three of them are the BIG 3 (to steal from This Is Us) and this season, unfortunately, they spent a whole lot of time depriving us of their interpersonal dynamics to take the air out of the Carmy/Syd shippers sails to the detriment of the rest of the story. Claire was just not that important, even metaphorically, to have as much time dedicated to her and her relationship with Carmy as they did. Which is unfortunate because they handicapped the narrative of the show (whether you're a shipper or not, you can't deny that) just to make her character important unduly. As a result, we got minimal Carmy/Syd, very little Syd/Richie, and then all the Carmy/Richie was about them nonsensically arguing over Claire. Make it make sense. This season wasn't terrible but it was entirely an unforced error. In trying to hobble a small but vocal minority of shippers (while let's be real, still heavily pandering to them and baiting them) they threw a spanner into the entire internal engine of the season...robbing the show of all its forward momentum and steam. Which is a damn shame. I hope they right the boat in time for season four.

i 100% agree with everything you’ve said. I have been full sydcarmy the entire time and I would like Claire to kindly sod off and go have her own story somewhere else, blandly sweet as she is. I cannot believe she was featured and mentioned so heavily this season, I really thought she had a strong exit at the end of last season.

I firmly believe the first episode was just a weird romanticization of Carmy. We'd already seen or been told all of that information before they just wanted to try and make us fall for his story again but we already have. This entire season followed the theme of the abused becoming the abuser and it just didn't work the way they did it. You are absolutely right with the characters not calling Carmy out. There's only a few times where he's called an ass and then everyone just moves on and Carmy continues being an ass.

It’s crazy how Tiffany tells Richie that Carmy blames Claire for his failures at the moment. Now, the question is who told her that because if Claire actually heard Carmy in the walk-in. She would know that he was blaming himself and said that he doesn’t need (deserved) happiness. That he needs to focus on the restaurant. This just proves once again that Claire is not good for Carmy because she doesn’t see the real him. She believes her presence alone will be able to magically fix all Carmy’s issues. I’m not going to deny that I’m a Carmy/Sydney shipper but I don’t expect or wanted that to happen anytime soon. Honestly, they have more chemistry and understanding of each other. I wanted to see them grow as people and eventually come together. Of course, there will be conflict for the storyline but to force feed Claire to prove some point is weird. Just don’t make Carmy/Sydney a thing, don’t stoop this low and destroy the whole damn show. At the end, I hope Sydney does decides to leave for a bit and maybe develop some new friendships because I feel like she’s only one being held back from growth at this point.

I agree with almost everything except for the Tina episode slander. It was really cool to see her backstory, and seeing mikey was really (beautiful? Sad? Painful? Not sure). Plus that one actually had bear family characters do stuff, minimal faks and a resolved plot line.

u hit the nail on the head. the writing this season was just.. awful

I think the issue with Claire is she’s too perfect of a character and Carmy is a mess but they keep trying to focus Carmy to want her when he’s not good enough for her. And instead of taking the L and letting her go they want to make it seem like she was the one that got away. I don’t care if Carmy isn’t with Sydney and he ends up with a random girl or is single the whole show but Claire isn’t it.

If Sydney was white the storyline would already be established

IM BEING FORCE FED 🗣️ I FEEL LIKE A SUFFRAGETTE IN THE 1920S 💀💀 🗣️🗣️🗣️

YOU ARE SPOT ON!!!!!!! I was so disappointed in this season from start to end. Garbage.

i'm still in shock over how bad this season was.

So...wow. I love how you break things down. I binged S3 Wednesday night and I actually loved episode 1. Around ep 5 I had a horrifying thought, which was "I don't think I like this season". To me that nearly impossible. I was looking forward to psycho Carmy, the conflicts between him and everyone else reaching a climax and being resolved or resulting in a break up, and more character development of Syd, Richie, Marcus, Tina, and Natalie. I wanted to meet the baby and see how Carmy processed being an uncle. I expected clear Claire resolution at some point even if they got back together. Sydney had two very strong seasons so most of all I wanted to see her growth. The only crumb I had faith in from Syd and Carmy was a big, tense fight. But they just died quietly...There was Ep1 and just a few other hints of their partnership being meaningful, regardless of romance being part of it or not. They barely spoke to each other and that hurt. Same for Richie and Carmy. It was shocking that they took the two most interesting relationships and sidelined them in favor of the boring Claire flashbacks and those stupid Faks. Even Richie, the fan favorite of their white male audience, had a slow, pitiful arch. I am in shock. As far as Sydcarmy, despite the careful building of so many "soulmate" details and casting two actors with special chemistry, I'm not all that surprised if they don't happen. Chris Storer is the leader of The Bear, and Joana was off working on another project for S3. She only wrote and directed Ep 8. Chris's vision might be writing "The Great American Platonic Love Story" with Sydney as Carmy's Sidney Portier. In the 1950-60's in he played the "Black Jesus" prototype, the safe, asexual, black man who rescued white people. I love Sidney Portier btw. Anyways, S3 was mostly about setting up S4 and it suffered for that. I think each season should be a cohesive work that people can enjoy without the context of prior or upcoming seasons.

your montage had me crying

“why am i even in your mouth” had me crying laughing. i got distracted staring at the details of their faces. i really agree with what you said about all the missed opportunities. it literally just made me think about what it could have been. there was so much potential. and the hospital would have been the perfect scene to get our first interaction between carmy and donna since michael died! WHY were the faks there instead???? who made that decision????

its awful. i dont care what any of these positive critics say. it literally put me to sleep last night. what a disappointment, claire thing was overdone like we get it enough with these weird flashback scenes.

im sure this is a really good video but i was lowkey so disappointed when i looked at my recommended videos and saw this thumbnail, like i was so excited to watch the third season and i feel like its already been kind of spoiled without me even looking up a single review 😭

I remember nothing about this season. And i literally just watched it. Nothing was memorable outside of the Tina episode or the Natalie Birth episode. Also, way too much Faks.

I fell asleep in episode 1 and found out that nothing happened. Then I struggled to get through episode 2-3 and I haven’t gone back and idk if I even care enough to finish the season. Also, everyone talks about Claire like she’s a magical fairy that farts money and I just don’t get it. I don’t think we got that many episodes with Her and Carmy for us to care if Claire is not around.

This whole season was like a cluttered kitchen, yet also devoid of life. Idk, shit was meh to infuriating at times. Also, since I just watched your video on Interview with a Vampire. I would HIGHLY recommend The Ones Who Live on AMC, like Twitter got me to watch it and oh yeah, how refreshing it is to see a dark skinned woman as a romantic lead and a great lead in general. Danai Gurira also wrote one of the episodes and its the best one. (Obie winning playwright Queen!) Richonne is is such a great couple and unlike The Bear basically the Showrunners, writers and both actors fully support and drive Rick and Michonne being together.

This season just proved that sydcarmy voodoo is real

But that's not what the fallout between Richie and Carmy is about. Claire was just the catalyst for the argument. I was surprised that it went all season, but it was about deep cuts they took on each other, esp Carmy towards Richie, (loser, leech, can't take care of your kid?) FU was insufficient for that BS. Then, Carmy doubles down by being a complete nut w/his non-negotiable BS

16:04 oh CLOCK ITTTTT. I am expected to be up in arms about Claire MISUNDERSTANDING Carmy’s breakdown. He was bashing HIMSELF. TINA heard the beginning of his rant and keep in mind Mikey’s been dead less than two years at this point…and I’m supposed to gaf that Claire who didn’t respect his boundaries in S2 and went looking for his number, who seems to have such a handle on her life and career that she can go gallivanting around Chicago at random times…has her feelings hurt…when Carmen is bashing HIMSELF?? Like YOU said ily in your voicemail but now won’t even clear the air with him OR his insane family that we are reminded every 15 minutes that you know?? My major gripe from s2 was how in their haste to shut the sydcarmy shippers up, they separated the most important and fascinating dynamic in the show. And from then on the show has suffered. You don’t have to be a shipper to admit that as the seasons move, Carmy’s most important relationship shifts from Mikey to Sydney because she is someone he always wanted at The Beef/The Bear: a collaborator who gets his language. Sydney being as good as she is allows him to go to Al Anon and work on his relationship with Nat. And Carmen initially collaborating with Sydney gave her something I don’t think she’s ever had in a professional kitchen: trust. And that helps her confidence in herself grow. Their push and pull that is born not out of loyalty to a dead brother/boss/family friend, but because they see the world in the same way and WANT to work together…but a few internet people liking the chemistry and seeing a potential romance has the writers (it was actually only Chris writing this season) scrambling to overcorrect using Claire to his show’s detriment

Totally agree with the missed storylines!! I do feel like S3 is better when u watch each episode in isolation l, which is frustrating because S1 and 2 was so enticing from the start

I couldn't get past episode 2 and now I'm glad I didn't

another continuity thing was that Syd makes a fennel salad for first family meal but is allergic in s03. just interesting it's the same ingredient of all the ones to choose.

I want sydcarmy to happen but I enjoyed season 3. I’m hoping they’re going to make Carmy realise how much he needs Sydney once she leaves.

When I saw the preview I said oh god, Claire ..l have only looked at episodes 1&2. I can't watch anymore Ive been listening to reviews, Hoping that I'm wrong about the way I'm feeling.

Season three really had no direction and I wish they had set a goal ( ie food critics coming for a review and creating the right menu) that would’ve given better structure and a more linear plot to follow. I also agree and hate that it became very Claire centric and completely lost all the chemistry that Sydney and Carmy had developed. Sydney was barely in the season and nothing got resolved. It was quite disappointing

Boring season. Bunch of filler episodes. Terrible humor from the "funny" brothers....Not enough Oliver Platt. And the dialog...."Fuck this, fuck that"....so bad.

I agree with all this but I still happened to liked the season for its cinematography, editing, and culinary cameos. It was a love letter to Chicago and the culinary industry. I liked seeing Carmy's culinary history. I think that was important. I did like the Faks. But yeah, the whole Carmy being butt hurt over Claire all season and Richie being mad at him because he hurt Claire and said mean things to him. He apologized, move on. He has no idea what Claire heard, why pick a fight with him while he's stuck in a freezer. It's like they were backtracking everything that has transpired from S1 to S2 and put great importance on that vague relationship with Claire. She literally haunted the season. Why? But the show still had laughs and a lot of heart and we could see that found family dynamic. And it would be a huge blow if Syd leaves. Syd was Natalie's 2nd call after Pete when she was in labor and heading to the hospital. Syd is important but Carmy is too stuck to see anything but Claire and his abusive ex-head chef. There was some continuity issues too as you mentioned but good season overall.

Omg yes! I was so shocked they didn't do exactly what you described with Sugar's delivery. I thought all that stuff with her Mom went on way to long.

Girl, I couldn't remember who called the BS on the Claire subplot in S2!!! "Save It For Later" by the English Beat is one of my all time favorite songs, but that soundtrack was overbearing because they were "bro" tunes for the older white guy chefs, not our younger protagonists...especially not Sydney, Tina, Marcus or Carmy--who, according to stats on who buys hip-hop, as a white dude, would be listening to a more than a little hip-hop. These 35 to 45 year old songs...no. And even tho the camera lingers on the women and other chefs of color, the chatter was from the older white men...back to the music. ***I love the passion of your reviews. You should do more, please 🙏🏽 🎉

I watched the first and last episode and just read the episode descriptions for the in between. Episode 10 left me hopeful for season 4, but glad I did not waste my time on eps 2-9. Great review.

I honestly think season one was the best and season two was way too jam packed with way too many stars trying to act like characters. It was a distraction and felt over-crowded, at least for me. And the entire Claire thing was moot also.

I do ABSOLUTELY agree that Syd and Carmy do have chemistry in the most unromantic ways 😂

Couldn't agree more. The entire season was pointless. They better release season 4 soon. Bc this season will sour people on this show.

The minute goofy @ss John Cena appeared, i was done! This season is bad.

I'm in agreement with a good MANY of your assessments, & particularly as it pertains to the "F you" argument between Carmy and Ritchie which was TOO MUCH and for FAR TOO LONG. But theeennn.... when Richie decided to actually SPIT at Carmy, I was TOO through. As if this behavior, and the reasons behind it, weren't off-puttung enough - but now you want to add gutter-level disgust into the mix?? 😬😫💆🏽‍♀️ They took some ideas way too far while Others not far enough.

i had to fast forward through the labor episode it was so boring the whole season 3 was frustrating to watch. the Tina episode was top tier though.

I haven’t watched the last episode as of yet, but so far from what I’ve seen, if we’re supposed to believe after this that Carmy wants to make things right with Claire… I don’t see it. I think he has built her up in his head so much and if he can’t even call her, let alone send a text apologizing then I just don’t think it’s gonna happen BUT it does seem that she is still pining over him so she might just be waiting for him to call to take him back 😅

Why do shows tend to mess up on season 3?? I’m nervous for White Lotus

I’m not one to care for romance in television though I’m glad other ppl have fun with it, but my theory is Claire is an OC insert for someone’s real life partner bc I can’t for the life of me figure out why…

I was watching some of episode one and had to pause it. Was dragging and checked some reviews out of curiosity. What a shame

So sick of Claire plotline like get over it! We don't care. They should have never gone with that we didn't need it.

I’m not a fan on Claire and Carmy. However I don’t want Sydney and Carmy to happen. In the end Carmy is her boss and she is the employee. Leave the unnecessary romance out especially when Carmy is clearly not ready for one….PERIODT. I wanted the focus to be on the effect of season 2, the restaurant, and the employee friendships/dynamics for the remodel 😞.

I think i enjoyed the season to be honest vewing it as a setup season which i believe it is it was solid and not as good as the first two but it was beautiful and i know season 4 is going to be the payoff

Ya’ll are so goofy. The show was quite literally a meditation on purpose. It strived for a kind of natural aesthetic almost never achieved on television. Everyone seems to be whining about the missing points of drama and inexplicably destroying the Claire character for god knows what reason. I just think television criticism sucks today. And this is a perfect example. Because it’s always about what the critic wanted the show to do rather than examine what it actually does. The discussion here seems to imply that the manner this season was explored was some sort of freestyle experience. It is so incredibly intentional. This is a just one long season of reckoning on purpose, what matters and what one can and can’t live with. It lets every character touch that touchstone. It’s not fun. It’s confrontational and ruthless and searing most of the time. It’s a tough hang. It’s an examination of what it cheekily alludes to at the final dinner, a trauma meal. But it’s quiet, it’s a panic attack meets depression season arc that purposely makes you feel lost and stunted and broken. I suspect the real reason most people criticize it the way they have comes down to this notion. It could give a fuck about happy ending or storyline goals. I thought it was absolutely brilliant and a completely draining watch. But that was the point. It was so visceral you wanted to eject from it. I’m not sure that lends itself to the type of critique suggested here. It simply challenges.

Claire is not the problem, fringe fans are. I really like that so far the actors and the writers respect the integrity of the show too much to make Sydney and Carmy a couple just for fan service,

Love or hate Claire, it doesn't matter, what matters is the fact that Claire is important to Carmy same way Pet is important Nat. You are so hungry for plot and drama and you forget to remember that The Bear is basically a show about mental health. Episode 1 you are bashing is showcasing where Carmy is at, same way Marcus has his episode too. You didn't even give it atleast a month lmaoo. Go rewatch it, but this time open your heart and calm down.

Nailed it with the opening statement... but you lost me when you brought race into it with Claire. Can you explain your reasoning behind this?

How many times can Sydney say "Um.." and "Oh..." ? It's very annoying.

I can't believe you literally referred to the table scene as romantic. It's already bad enough that people have no ability to comprehend that having friendship or business partner chemistry doesn't automatically equate to romantic chemistry but the only argument people make for syd and carmy being potential romance partners is that they touched hands under a table. Literally that's it. Nothing else and that's because they have absolutely no romantic chemistry. They would never work as a couple and people only think they would cause of wishful thinking but when you actually think about that happening it makes zero sense and would never even happen let alone work.

Stay upset. Claire is a great character. Your misogyny is showing.