"The Bear Season 5" A Reasonable Redemption

 

    Well there it is. Man I remember when this show first came out. It just had an immense level of juice it was ridiculous. The writing was great, the music was riveting, the camera work and the pacing were excellent. They just kept everything to a nice, crisp 20-25 minutes and you really never had to worry about anything. It was intense, it kept you on your toes, and it had you watch nearly the entire series all in one sitting if you tried. That's what I remember most about the first couple of seasons of The Bear. Then season three happened, and season four, and you just wondered where it all went wrong. The showrunners gave up the tight, snappy scenes for long, very character-driven scenes in which dialogue became everything. It sort of lost it's way. But now it's over, Let's talk about it.

    I will say, this is probably my third favourite season of the show though. It doesn't exactly quite right the ship completely, but at the very least they understood what needed to be done. No more hour-long episodes where every scene is somehow ten minutes and just involves two characters talking about how messed up everything is and how messed up they are. Instead the show decides to make this entire season take place during one service night. It's not like the first couple of seasons where it takes place over the span of weeks, but I will say they don't milk it. It's pretty solid.

    I still would have preferred they do it over the span of the week, but I'm not mad. I don't think they ended it on a unsatisfying note. They manage to hit most of the right notes. Their dire financial straits, which they've been discussing for so many seasons is finally (at least for now) seemingly put on pause now that Cicero has decided to franchise and open up ghost kitchens, which basically subsidize the main restaurant anyways. I think both Syd's and Tina's rise to power in the kitchen was well-deserved as well. And Carmy leaving the kitchen, while kind of sad and annoying was also pretty plausible. 

    I know I'm being quite timid in my praise of the show, but the truth is I watched this in the span of a couple days. It definitely scratched that same itch, even if it didn't feel as good. I suppose if I had to make a comparison, I would say this season was like watching fireworks. It shines really bright, and looks really cool for a moment, but it's so fleeting. It wasn't as memorable as I thought it was. Gone were all of the great track selections, instead we Hans Zimmer did the soundtrack for some reason. Gone was everyone coming into the kitchen every day. I'll admit I did miss that to some degree.

    But the food was good. The character dynamics were great. I don't think I really hated any change they made this season. Pete got some love. They cut back on basically any and all mentions of Claire except for a very brief Molly Gordon cameo at the end, instead giving up on character-focused episodes to focus on the real family in the kitchen. They also thankfully have much less Faks this time as well, though they do still exist. But it also just felt a little too little too late if that makes any sense. You've left so much toothpaste out of the tube, how could you possibly salvage what's left you know?

    Like the past two seasons felt like a lot of buildup, way too much buildup which was my main complaint in the first place. And instead of some big bang you finally right the ship, but this is all you bring? I sound disappointed, but I enjoyed this season. I just kind of wish there was more you know? It's like a solid consolation prize, but I don't know if I'd describe it as anything more than that.

Final Score: 75/100

    My praise and my criticism are so tempered because I don't know, I've just been burned too much by this show to really feel wowed by it anymore. Like a part of me almost refuses to as if I'm some spurned lover whose ex has come back to beg for forgiveness. I suppose I'll remember the show for what it was, not what it became. It came guns blazing and never looked back, then nosedived pretty hard only to resurface back to competency after some shaky seasons. Also on a side note I don't remember the last time I wrote this many reviews in a month. I'd have to go back and check but I still have at the minimum like two reviews left (The Dispossessed and Citizen Kane).