'The Bear' keeps on roaring in its third season

At ten episodes with anywhere between thirty minutes per episode, 'The Bear' is nothing if not committed.

The first episode pulls us back into the hectic, chaotic world of fine-dining and the vortex of back-of-house shenanigans, but rather than merely recapping, it moves almost like a montage that through Carmy's life, from his previous restaurants and his failed relationship with Molly Gordon's character, through to where the titular restaurant is and where it's going. When it comes out of the reverie, there's a laser-cut focus on what's important and what isn't. To that end, Carmy pushes the entire restaurant forward - never settling, revamping the restaurant's menu every single night, and constantly improving.

Where much of the tension and drama in the third season comes not from trying to build something, but rather how to keep something on the road and how to make it last - even if the odds are absolutely against. Without giving anything away, the restaurant begins to expand and develop, but Carmy's constant need to make it as good as it can be comes into direct contact with reality. The restaurant is packed out, the reviews are glowing, but none of it is sinking, and the restaurant is almost always underwater when it comes to money. It's not all rah-rah-rah, however. There are moments of introspection, with an entire episode directed by honorary Irishwoman Ayo Edibiri that follows how one of the show's main cast - Liza Cólon-Zayas, who plays Tina - arrived at the restaurant, and the long and winding journey to it.

Elsewhere, Ayo Edibiri's Sydney start to come into her own in a real way, with more confidence and assurance in a way that's going to directly impact on her relationship with the restaurant. Abby Elliot's character, who was pregnant in the show and pregnant in real-life, deals with impending motherhood and her issues with her mother, played with insane gusto by Jamie Lee Curtis. From all of these moments and stories, a community and a family emerges and ties all of it and the restaurant - both front and back of house - together in a way that isn't often harmonious, but it's considered and authentic.

After the first and second season made such impact and displayed a willingness to reinvent and transform itself, the third season does feel like the grip is slipping - if it was ever there in the first place. It's almost as if the showrunners know themselves that the odds are against constant success, and that the pace and the constant demands of making it are going to catch up with them eventually. All they can do is keep going, keep trying, and keep caring. In an environment where there are endless options and constant churn of content, 'The Bear' is different. Fundamentally, it's a show about being who give a shit. They care about what they make. They want it to be great, all the time. Is that even possible? Can it hope to survive when everything - the economy, the repetitive nature of the business, egos, opportunities - are against it? Still and all, they're not just cranking something out for the sake of it. Who would keep doing this if it was just being chewed up or ignored?

Three seasons in, 'The Bear' is still impossible to ignore. It's not perfect, but it's still trying to be.