The shame about the great series "The Bear", now in its 4th season, is that after season 2, the series lost its way. What was so good about this series, which premiered in September 2022, is that for some reason, the writers and producers forgot that the greatest thing about this story is that it demonstrated for the first time the nightmare of hard work, chaos, and non stop problems that people who are high level Chef's in the best restaurants go through, every day. The other great part was showing what it takes to create the best food in the world. Then problems with expenses, employees, turning a profit, etc. In the last two seasons of The Bear, all of these most important ingredients that made the first two seasons so great are almost nowhere to be found.
With few exceptions, this 4th series seems to be about finding excuses for insane, talking at the same time, screaming arguments over issues that ordinarily would not require this level of rage and yelling. This is at its worst in the 10th episode, when Carmen, played by Jeremy Allen White, has an over-the-top, lengthy argument with Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri. This argument could have been resolved in 10 minutes, and yet it lasted almost the entire 34 minutes of the last episode, ending with Carmen's friend Richie, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, joining the argument. Regardless, the acting is impressive during many of these arguments, with no evidence of acting; it all seems like real life. However, the point of all yelling is lost, because the reasons for the arguments do not support the extreme overtalking and anger in almost all cases.
As with the 3rd season, there are numerous cameos from well-known actors in this 4th season, including Gillian Jacobs, Will Poulter, Joel McHale, Rob Reiner, John Mulaney, Josh Hartnett, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Brie Larson, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The first time appearance of Brie Larson, who plays Francie, was one of the best parts of this 4th season, including an ongoing, funny, foul-mouthed argument with Natalie during a wedding, played by Abbie Elliot.
By far the best episode of the 4th season was episode #7, about the wedding of Pete and Natalie, which includes the Francie and Natalie argument and an outstanding scene where a young girl is hiding under a table, and is joined, one by one, by the entire cast. The dialogue in this one scene is outstanding, showing the phenomenon that when people are gathered closely together in an enclosed space, tension and problems can sometimes seem to melt away. This episode was rated 9.5 on IMDB, by far the highest rated in this 4th season.
One huge complaint in this series is the nightmare of nonstop chain smoking from too many of the characters. There is no need for this much smoking in any movie, and the Tobacco companies should be barred from funding movies only if they show smoking.
The first two seasons of The Bear were rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the huge drop to 83% is for the reasons of forgetting all of the main reasons why the first two seasons were so good. I do recommend the 4th season of The Bear, mainly for the acting and for the great 7th episode.
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