Unlike its predecessors, FX’s The Bear Season 3 evidently failed to impress viewers as much as it did critics. There is a drastic difference between the audience and critic scores for Season 3 on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics gave the latest season an impressive ‘fresh’ score of 89%, while the audience score shockingly remained low at just 51%, which is considered a ‘rotten’ score in RT’s terminology. FX CEO John Landgraf has shared his views on this situation.
In a recent interview with Puck News, Landgraf defended Season 3 passionately but acknowledged that it felt a bit “stuck.” He also promised that Season 4 would focus more on “unstuckness.”
“It [The Bear] is a very deeply personal show. That’s part of why it’s great. There are a lot of reasons it’s great, but one of them is the relationship between the creator, the author, and the characters, and he’s been stuck a lot at times in his life, and he wanted to make a season about stuckness. I’ve been doing this a long time. I was well aware that stuckness is not necessarily the most riveting [thing to watch]. But I also think there are so many things in that [season] that are just absolute masterpieces. And I will say, knowing what I do know about the upcoming season, for those that have stayed with it, they’re going to be really well rewarded. Because after stuckness comes unstuckness.”
The “unstuckness” teased by the FX boss in the statement above suggests that Season 4 will be more fast-paced than Season 3. In the Season 3 finale, we see Carmy facing stress as the Chicago Tribune’s review could determine the future of his restaurant. The episode centers on the “funeral service” for Chef Andrea Terry’s restaurant, where Carmy reflects on her positive influence. Meanwhile, Syd grapples with a job offer and her relationship with Carmy, while Richie experiences personal growth. Tensions peak when Carmy confronts his former mentor, Chef David, about their toxic past. However, we don’t learn anything about the review or Syd’s decision.
It seems that The Bear Season 4 will arrive at a much faster pace than Season 3, potentially due to the Tribune’s review. Syd could leave the gang, and, to be honest, she should, as her own mental health depends on it. But will we see her feeling guilty? We’ll have to wait and see! The last season did not show enough progress in terms of storyline and character arcs, so Season 4 needs to speed things up. Stay tuned for more updates.