"The Bear"
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Third season became available on Hulu last week. Since we got nothing going on this weekend, other than seeing D4 in the hospital, I thought I'd binge through it.
10 30-minute episodes, and I haven't seen the last two, yet.
What a disappointment.
Yeah, it still has that edge, but sometimes the artsy-fartsy stuff gets in the way of telling a good and compelling story.
Example 1. The first episode is all about how Carm likes to prepare food, using a tweezers to put a sprig of some unnamed herb on top of a tiny piece of some unnamed meat (or fish) which is sitting in a puddle of some unnamed sauce. Flashbacks to when he worked elsewhere. A half hour of this.
Example 2. Natalie goes in to labor (unexpectedly, of course) and no one is available to be in the hospital with her (they're working and not picking up her calls), so her mom, Jamie Lee Curtis is with her. 30 minutes of mom/daughter bonding/reconciling with extreme closeups of their faces. At the end of the episode, still no baby.
Example 3. Tribune has done a secret visit, and they want photos. 20 minutes of the photographer grappling with lighting, etc.
Example 4: How many times do we need to be reminded that restauranting is a tough, tough business and margins are ridiculously thin and cuts have to be made wherever possible. I submit that twice is enough.
The good parts?
The flashback episode which tells us how, 4 years earlier, Tina lost her job and was desperate to find work. She ends up at "The Beef" where she has a great encounter with Mike. Memorable episode.
All the rest? Meh.
