What I Think of 'The Bear' Now

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Should The Bear Call It Quits?

In 2023, my New Year's resolution was to eat everything. People ventured outdoors more often after pandemic restrictions eased, and I thankfully didn't lose my sense of taste to the virus. So, I decided that I would look at the world with fresh eyes (or, well, with a fresh palette). If there was any delicacy I hadn't tried yet, or any food I was hesitant to explore, then that was the year to expand my taste buds. Some people aim to lose weight. I wanted to pack them on.

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon the idea. I was a picky eater as a child, though my parents could tell stories for hours about how I used to eat shrimp like it was candy. It's possible that the pandemic lit a fire under my ass to experience everything right now before it's too late. But at the same time, I think the idea stemmed from watching The Bear that summer.

There's something incredibly inspiring and magical about a show that hits the ball clear out of the park in its first season. We've seen a few recently—Severance, The Pitt, Shōgun, Squid Game, The Last of Us. Much like The Bear's first season, these electric shows just simply understood their material, their tone, their vision, and hit the ground running like Tom Cruise in a Mission: Impossible film. The Bear not only struck gold on a cast including Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and more, but the show's dramatization of stressful high-end restaurants hit home with a lot of professional chefs in the audience. (Much like how The Pitt resonated with healthcare workers). Hell, The Bear had me feeling so amped that I was dining in restaurants that served cow brains and fried chicken beaks for god's sake.

But read a headline nowadays about any one of the shows listed above (save for The Pitt and Severance), and you won't find much magic left. Even for a popular show's second or third season, many fans and critics alike are already finding themselves tired. (Save for Succession, which only got even better in season 2, if you ask me!). Take this past Wednesday night, for example. When The Bear season 4 premiered, most of the immediate reaction consisted of viewers questioning if it should have ended last season, or even outright dreading future installments entirely. After The Bear broke nearly every Emmy nomination record known to man last year, that's not a good sign.

Shows such as The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Succession used to run for five to six seasons before calling it quits, with fans applauding louder and louder with each new round of episodes. Daytime soaps? Those audiences last generations. But in today's streaming wars, even critically acclaimed dramas seem to overstay their welcome after just two or three seasons. So, what is the longevity of a TV show today?

Part of the frustration lies with the streamers themselves. Most spin-offs and prequels elicit groans more than cheers. Just this week, Squid Game season 3 ended with an absolutely batshit cameo that likely teases an English-language spin-off we certainly don't need. Even films like From the World of John Wick: Ballerina felt dead on arrival. (Maybe a better title would have helped!). But you never want to see a show with such powerful momentum as The Bear slow the plot down in season 4 just because the higher-ups assume they can stretch out their unparalleled success for two or three more seasons. From what I gather of The Bear season 4 premiere, the show wrapped up season 3's dramatic cliff-hanger and moved on just a little too smoothly for a series about losing your goddamn mind in the kitchen.

The modern audience is not without fault either. This is the swipe-left and leave him on read era, after all. Season 4? Not in this economy. I have my own trauma to sort through. If I left a party and saw Carmy absolutely going through it in the corner all night, I would hope someone would help that man seek out professional help a lot faster than season 4. Thankfully, from what our senior entertainment editor Brady Langmann wrote of the finale, it sounds like he's on his way there… eventually.

How are you feeling about The Bear season 4 so far? And how long is too long for a TV show nowadays? Write me your thoughts at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com and we can talk about it when we discuss The Bear's season 4 finale right here next Monday.

Steven Spielberg

Mailbag!

Thank you to everyone who read my Steven Spielberg send-up last week—especially to the reader who let me know about their soft spot for Empire of the Sun. "I loved stories and was already a movie fan by my teen years, having grown up watching everything I could," they wrote. "E.T., Jaws, and Raiders were on regular rotation. One viewing of Empire forever changed how I watched movies." Beautiful. – B.L.

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The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk

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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week

Winner: Denis Villeneuve

The Dune director nabbed the coveted job as the next James Bond director this week. If it's anything like his sci-fi films, we might see James Bond ride a sandworm in the desert by this time next year.

Loser: My Eyeballs

The Bear season 4, Squid Game season 3, F1: The Movie, M3GAN 2.0, Ironheart, and Love Island USA season 7 are all on my watchlist this weekend. Hard to complain when you watch TV for work, but that's a lot of TV, folks!

Winner: Kerry Condon

According to Eric Francisco, Kerry Condon's character in F1 is the heart of the film. "Condon drives the movie's forward motion," he writes, "allowing her to feel like a real human being in a film inundated with caricatures of arrogant masculinity." Go Kerry! I loved her in Banshees of Inisherin.

Loser: The New Golden Bachelor

Gerry Turner didn't exactly leave The Golden Bachelor with grace. This week, it seems like the spin-off's second lead is angering fans before the show even starts. Mel Owens, a 66-year-old former NFL player who is handing out the roses this season, reportedly told producers that he won't date any women on the show who are over 60. "I said, 'If they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them," Owens said. Yikes!

Winner: Brandon Sklenar

The 1923 actor celebrated his 35th birthday this weekend, following a trip to Milan Fashion Week to attend the Ralph Lauren 2026 Spring Purple Label show. I phoned Sklenar when he returned home to Los Angeles, and he told me all about his exciting new action film, F.A.S.T., with Taylor Sheridan.