Critic Reviews
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It’s as confident and singular in its artistic vision as ever. But even though more is happening than there was in Season 3, it’s not quite enough to give the show a shape. Its overemphasis on character and vibe at the expense of narrative momentum leaves it repetitive and flabby. Like the Chicago Tribune’s mixed restaurant review says, it’s missing some Bear necessities — namely, a compelling enough plot.
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The Bear tries to punctuate its narrative arc with elements of magical realism, bringing back our favorite familiar faces from across the seasons, but the series is spinning its wheels.
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Does it work? Partly. This season is more consistent than the previous one but also less interesting, with fewer big swings.
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Like its protagonist, The Bear feels trapped in a loop of its own creation. Will the restaurant succeed? Will Sydney be satisfied? Will Carmy find peace? To unequivocally answer any of those questions would denude the menu of its most appetising morsels, and so The Bear keeps on whetting our appetites, putting only the most delicate amusement in its amuse-bouche.
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OG fans of The Bear know its capacity for greatness, so when scenes become too self-indulgent and overextended bits read like forced comedic relief (cc: the Faks), the series feels tonally uneven. Even if The Bear still isn’t cooking like it once was, to ignore the show’s positive attributes would be disingenuous.
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It certainly feels like the narrative equivalent of a stretch meal, with too little protein and too many empty carbs. It’s almost comical how slowly the plot inches forward. .... It’s still a superlative hangout show studded with lovely, carefully observed moments.
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Season 4 can feel less like a cohesive statement in its own right than a sort of do-over, circling back to fill in gaps and pick up pieces that should’ve been addressed by now.
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Although kitchen scenes can be stressful to watch, moments when the crew works harmoniously and produces perfect dishes often thrill in their precision. Yet the bulk of the new 10-episode season — now streaming on Hulu — is maddeningly imprecise.
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Growth is in short supply on The Bear, save for a few effective moments when a character actually makes a decision—to move on, to forgive, to love, whatever. Maybe that slowness is indeed how people process things in real life, but it makes for fatally inert television.
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As nice as it is to be back, it’s also difficult not to notice a stagnancy setting in — as if Carmy’s inability to move on means that no one else is allowed to either.
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Every exchange is a heart-to-heart, every character is constantly trying to impart something meaningful, everyone says what is on their mind. It’s as if they are in a massive immersive therapy session. As such, the script is too often dragged down into a steaming swamp of triteness. Some of it is downright guff.
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Its fourth season, now streaming in full on Hulu, so exacerbates the stagnation that set in during Season 3 that it’s bound to make all but the least demanding fans impatient. The show still looks scrumptious. But it has, quite literally, lost the plot.
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