TV REVIEW: THE BEAR - Season 3

4/5

The Bear Necessities

10 Episodes. Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, Oliver Platt, Jamie Lee Curtis & Jon Bernthal. On: Disney +.

R.E.M., Radiohead...just everything on your damn radio. The soundtrack of each season of the Emmy winning FX series 'The Bear' (Season 3, now streaming on Disney +) is so damn good and sought after, that it may as well come with its own sponsorship from the app Shazam (just like the fact that my favourite app needs to come with a direct Spotify curating and creating playlist link). But 'The Bear' growls louder than all that, even the once Gotham, gargoyle, classic Chicago skylines and cityscapes that aesthetically match the scoring soundtrack of this series. 

Yes, Chef, 'The Bear' is even much more than the legendary company of its Emmy winning guest stars like a punishing Jon Bernthal (that look between Jeremy Allen White and Jon in the closing moments of Season One, as 'OK Computer's' 'Let Down' plays, is everything), Oscar winning Jamie Lee Curtis and many more you could shake the menu of an award's season envelope at, that we simply shouldn't spoil like the soup.

Jeremy Allen White is a Springsteen star of the future, but his glory days are right now. And not just because this Calvin Klein ad man looks good in a pair of tighty-whities with the NYC skyline in the distracted background. Biting into his own Big Apple in the home of the deep dish, 'The Bear' is serving up an even bigger and better slice in the Windy City. Capturing the anxiety (and explicitly) of anyone whose ever worked in a kitchen (*dishwasher raw hands up*) perfectly. Especially the head chef. 

You should keep the receipts from the check machine of this nuanced and niggling performance, all the way down to the iconic, not so plain white tee under the apron his hands wipe on. Hiding, yellowing stains like the cigarette packet under his shirtsleeve like a convict. Imprisoned in his own world, a slave to the system of customers and perfection, under his fingernails, that won't shift like garlic, keeping his demons at the door. Or the chest freezer. Now that's service.

The thing is, 'The Bear' is more than the cousin of JAW too. Take Eban Moss-Bachrach, almost unrecognizable (it's those eyes) from his time playing Keanu Reeves' brother in 'The Lake House'. He's hit pay dirt with Marvel, all to play a pile of rocks for the 'Fantastic Four', but you just know this fantastic actor could get blood, sweat AND tears out of a stone. His first reminiscent, throwback moment with an also amazing Liza Colón-Zayas (for her own epic episode of origin story) truly gets some. Meanwhile, the acclaimed Ayo Edebiri steals the show with every course she takes. Motivated by Coach K and the Duke of this kitchen amongst all the black and bruised blue devils of s### shift work. 

Add the 'Sugar' of Abby Elliott running all of this and holding onto the breaking branches of the thorny family tree, and 'The Godfather' like presence (and best, Orwellian line of the series) of Oliver Platt, and this is the perfect recipe. Like the delightful, but heartbreaking, more than just desserts of Odd Future member Lionel Boyce (with an even brighter one on-screen). This show is as ever likeable as Matty Matheson, and after the appetizer, mains and dessert, we can't wait for a fourth course like a fresh cup of coffee. Nothing on television tastes like this. Grab a bite of what everybody's been recommending. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Beef', 'Succession', 'Burnt'.