Summary
With the recent release ofThe Bearseason three, there have been many discussions and debates broached about certain plotlines being left unresolved, andits execution borrowed a very similar - and famous - scene from another show with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. The show follows a young chef, Carmy, returning home from working in fine dining to his family’s sandwich shop after the death of his brother, forming a found family through the hardships of managing a restaurant. For years,The Bear’s characters and casthave done a great job at giving the show life, investigating the characters' past to see why they sometimes do things that others wouldn’t think they would do.
Over the course of the series, Carmy is haunted by flashbacks to his time in the fine dining industry that reveal why he does and doesn’tdo certain things in theThe Bear’s kitchen. This confuses his fellow chefs throughout the show. The moment finally came for Carmy to confront a ghost from his past, a moment that has been building up since season one.
Why The Bear Season 4 Is All But Guaranteed To Avoid Season 3’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Problem
Some of The Bear season 3’s criticism makes sense, but the show’s trajectory indicates that season 4 won’t experience the same type of story issues.
ThroughoutThe Bear, fragments of Carmy’s professional cooking past are unpeeled layer by layer, revealing the tedious work that goes into the job as well as the abusive nature of the kitchen, especially at the hands of his old boss, David Fields (Joel McHale). For years, I have been waiting for the moment when Carmy gives David a piece of his mind, relaying just a fragment of the pain David caused to his employees. In season three ofThe Bear,Carmy and David’s confrontationfinally happens, butCarmy’s monologue is shattered by David’s nonchalant response: “I don’t think about you.”
The build up to Carmy’s confrontation with David was ruined because the similarity pulled my focus.
The interaction - surely knowingly - references the famousshadyMad Menburnbetween Don Draper and Michael Ginsburg, an altercation turned meme. Michael tries to one-up Don after a monologue by saying “I feel bad for you”only for Don to look offended at the gesture, cooly responding: “I don’t think about you at all.”The scene had become its own moment - as well as a meme - in pop culture, so when I heard almost an identical exchange inThe Bear, all I could think about wasMad Men, and the build-up to Carmy’s confrontation with David was ruined because the similarity pulled my focus.
Carmy & David’s Showdown Was The Bear’s Biggest Moment Of Payoff
Carmy and David’s relationship has been building up since season one, the dynamic between the growing chef and the merciless boss being a token I’ve been most interested in seeing fleshed out. There are numerousstorylinesThe Bearseason 4 has to resolve, since many were left unanswered - andCarmy’s confrontation with David was the biggest moment of a plot closure in the finale. The tension through flashbacks and through Carmy’s tedious actions in the kitchen built up the showdown since we saw what David put Carmy through, and there was finally an opportunity for Carmy to let go of that experience.
However, when the confrontation arrived, Carmy’s monologue was great - don’t get me wrong - butDavid’sMad Men-esque response took away from Carmy’s spotlight, a moment I’ve been anticipating since David was introduced. The response itself is perfectly blunt in both shows, but since the moment was so big fromMad Men, its use inThe Beartook away from the real aspect we needed to focus on, which was the significance of Carmy standing up to his trauma. This interaction resolved the tension built, but its execution should have been more original - instead of cheering, all I was thinking about wasMad Men.
The Bearseason three concluded with the giant plotline of Carmy versus David, even if its execution was remarkably similar to the famousMad Menexchange. Carmy didn’t win the scene in any shape or form, especially with David shutting him down immediately - just as Don did to Michael - but I feel the moment did resolve years worth of anticipation.The Bear’s use of the famous exchange definitely pulled me out of the moment, as I was thinking ofMad Meninstead of focusing on the importance of the confrontation, though it is hard to deny the simplicity and effectiveness of the “I don’t think about you at all” response.
