Review: The Bear, "Legacy" / "Ice Chips" / "Apologies" | Season 3, Episodes 7-9
A long-promised climax for one character sandwiched between reminders of the season's (purposefully) slow pace
As I have yet to finish the finale, I haven’t been reading all of the responses to The Bear season three that have been posted over the past few days, but there’s a general vibe that’s hard to ignore: the reception to this season is definitely more mixed than in previous years.
I can’t know the specifics of this response, and obviously it will differ by person: I’ve seen enough to say that the Fak Hijinks and the pacing are two common concerns, but the former is definitely a “YMMV” situation if ever there was one. The latter is definitely a more objective criticism, and one that this stretch of episodes puts to the test. We’re now deep into the season, and the conflicts are…basically the same as they were when the season began.
Where these episodes do bring progress is by attaching clearer stakes to the status quo remaining as it is. I wrote in my previous review that the show seemed to be giving The Bear (the restaurant) a wide berth in terms of its failure, exploring the day-…