Review: 'The Bear' season 3 sets a new gold standard for what TV can do when it's firing on all cylinders
Spoiler alert: For those who don't want to know a single, delicious detail about the third season of "The Bear" -- binge ready since June 26 -- scoot back here after you've seen it and off we'll go.
Setting a new gold standard for what TV can do when it's firing on all cylinders, "The Bear" season 3 hit FX on Hulu this week for 10 game-changing episodes. My only complaint is that the Emmys classify these volcanic tales of depression, suicide, flaring tempers and familial PTSD as a comedy. Seriously? By those rules, "Game of Thrones" is a laugh riot.
Since we last spoke, the first season of "The Bear" picked up 10 Emmys, including best comedy series. Expect the even better second season to haul in more trophies on Sept. 15, barely three months after audiences have had a chance to digest the contemplative wonders of season 3.
Not bad for a food freakout about a family-run Chicago beef sandwich shop that transforms into a temple of haute cuisine as its bickering staff nearly implodes from dysfunction and the constant threat of financial ruin.
When we last saw chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, played by the insanely gifted Jeremy Allen White, this human stress magnet was locked in his kitchen refrigeration unit -- on opening night yet! -- cursing everyone, including his chef partner Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and his house-manager "cousin" Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). All three justifiably won Emmys first time out.
Before hothead Carmy is blowtorched out of the fridge, he calls Richie a "loser" who in turn calls Carmy a "baby replicant" who uses power phrases to self-actualize. Then Carmy breaks up with med student Claire (a lovely Molly Gordon) by shouting she's a waste of his time. Jeez.
The new season's 36-minute opener is near silent (who does that?) as show creator Christopher Storer -- a massive talent -- delivers the unexpected with a visual montage that shows how Carmy overcame a childhood with troubled mom Donna (a revelatory Jamie Lee Curtis) to work with the top chefs in New York until the suicide of his brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal) pulled him back in.
To avoid spoiler jail, let me just refer to the "non-negotiables" that Carmy -- who's just quit smoking -- shoves on his staff. They include "respect tradition, push boundaries, never repeat ingredients, change menus every day and constantly evolve through passion and creativity."
Impossible? You bet. But it's exactly what Storer and his team bust their butts to achieve and so often do. Within the traditional half-hour format, "The Bear" pushes its cameras into close-ups that border on personal invasion. And the actors are up for every challenge. Each member of this cast could teach a master class in how to use your eyes to tell a complete story.
You won't find better ensemble acting anywhere. White, Edebiri and Moss-Bachrach outdo themselves. And Ricky Staffieri and real-life celebrity chef Matty Matheson (executive producer on the series) bring much needed comic relief as the Mr. Fixits known as the Fak brothers. Adding startling new layers to their characters are Oliver Platt as mobbed-up Uncle Jimmy, the fab Liza Colón-Zayas as chef Tina (Edebiri directs a great episode about Tina's origins), Lionel Boyce as grieving pastry chef Marcus, and Abby Elliott as Carm's pregnant sister Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto.
Elliott astonishes when Natalie goes into labor with only the estranged Donna to lean on. If you thought Curtis knocked it out of park as the mom from hell in season 2, wait till you see her uncover a caring side to Donna that even Donna didn't know existed. You'll be moved to tears. An Emmy for guest actress doesn't seem enough to award Curtis' career-topping tour de force.
Storer has a habit of mixing his regular cast members with Oscar royalty such as Curtis and the sublime Olivia Colman as a top chef who teaches Carmy that cold perfection is no substitute for the nurturing human touch that only comes with messy living, good times and bum times.
They say a chef's kiss is made by pinching the fingers and thumb of one hand together, kissing them and blowing those smackers dramatically into the air to indicate deep appreciation. It's chef kisses all around for this the dizzying, demanding, utterly dazzling spellbinder. If you want a must-see TV series to binge like crazy, here's your baby. After three seasons, it's time to call "The Bear" what it is: an indisputable TV classic.
