The third season of the American comedy-drama television series The Bear premiered with all episodes on June 26, 2024, on FX on Hulu. Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo serve as showrunners for the season. FX renewed the series for a ten-episode third season in November 2023. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's sandwich shop.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, and Liza Colón-Zayas return from the previous season as the supporting cast. In November 2023, following the release of the second season, FX renewed The Bear for a third season, which began filming in February 2024 in Chicago. The season consists of ten episodes, and received positive reviews.
Cast and characters
Main Jeremy Allen White as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard "Richie" Jerimovich Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks Abby Elliott as Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto Matty Matheson as Neil Fak Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero
Recurring Jon Bernthal as Michael "Mikey" Berzatto Joel McHale as David Fields Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim Corey Hendrix as Gary "Sweeps" Woods Oliver Platt as Jimmy "Cicero" Kalinowski José Cervantes as Angel Richard Esteras as Manny Chris Witaske as Pete Molly Gordon as Claire Dunlap Robert Townsend as Emmanuel Adamu Ricky Staffieri as Theodore "Teddy" Fak Adam Shapiro as Adam Shapiro Christopher Zucchero as Chi-Chi
Guest Carmen Christopher as Chester Gillian Jacobs as Tiffany "Tiff" Jerimovich Mitra Jouhari as Kelly Will Poulter as Luca Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna Berzatto Olivia Colman as Chef Andrea Terry Sarah Ramos as Jessica Andrew Lopez as Garrett Rene Gube as Rene Annabelle Toomey as Evie Jerimovich John Mulaney as Stevie David Zayas as David John Cena as Sammy Fak Brian Koppelman as Nicholas "The Computer" Marshall Josh Hartnett as Frank Daniel Boulud as himself René Redzepi as himself Thomas Keller as himself
Episodes
Production
Development In November 2023, following the release of the second season, FX renewed The Bear for a 10-episode third season. The season was announced with co-showrunners Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo serving as executive producers, along with Hiro Murai, Josh Senior and star Matty Matheson.
Writing Season 3 covers the period from May 28 to August 6, 2023. The episode "Doors" covers almost six weeks in June and July 2023.
Storer wrote all episodes in the season, except "Napkins", "Ice Chips" and "Apologies", which were respectively written by Catherine Schetina, Calo, and supervising producer Alex Russell.
Casting
Josh Hartnett was cast as Tiffany's fiancé after meeting Storer years prior when they discussed a possible role for a film. Hartnett accepted the role without even reading the script. John Cena was cast as Sammy Fak. "Forever" features cameos by Christina Tosi and Grant Achatz.
Costuming Costume designer Courtney Wheeler told GQ that picking out vintage neckties to go with Fak's suits was her special "pride and joy" in styling season three.
Set decoration and props Ceramicist Jono Pandolfi sent The Bear crew "a tonprobably 1,000 to 2,000 pieces, like a full restaurant load" of their plates and bowls for use in the on-screen Bear restaurant. The restaurant uses dishes from the Coupe and Square-Side lines.
In reality as on the show, a large budget line item in season 3 was fresh flowers for the restaurant. When not being immediately used for filming the flowers were stored in a backstage refrigerator to protect them from the heat generated by soundstage lights, engines, and bodies.
Filming Filming for the third season began in February 2024. In March 2024, scenes depicting the cast filming a funeral for "Doors" leaked to the Internet, with fans speculating that they would attend Marcus' mother's funeral. The church scenes of Mikey's funeral in the "Tomorrow" flashbacks, Angela's funeral in "Doors", and Natalie praying in "Children" were filmed at St. Mary's Catholic Church (St. John XXIII Parish) on Lake Street in Evanston, Illinois.
The second episode, "Next", was filmed in just two days. Main cast member Ayo Edebiri directed the sixth episode of the season, "Napkins", after joining the Directors Guild of America. Parts of the fourth season were filmed during filming for this season.
According to Scott D. Smith, the head of the sound production team since the pilot episode, "Overall, this season is much quieter than the previous two seasons." Cinematographer Andrew Wehde told Panavision about filming the show generally, and season 3 specifically, "The thing that I get from Chris [Storer] is that each season it's important to not be doing the same thing, not to repeat the trick. It's a weird thing because television's all about consistency, but he finds consistency through storytelling and characters and allows each episode to live and breathe as its own little film...They have different music, different pacing, and the emotions are different, but they connect so well because of repeat locations, the tone, and who the characters are."
Music The song used in the season 3 trailer is "Mixed Emotions" by the Rolling Stones, and "an added layer of resonance comes from the song's inspiration—the fractured relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards that nearly derailed The Stones in the mid-'80s—which echoes Carmy's strained partnerships with Syd and Richie."
According to a Block Club Chicago feature on composers Jeffrey Qaiyum and Johnny Iguana, "season 3 is quieter overall than the first two seasons, both in terms of score and 'needle drop' songs. Qaiyum praised the producers for pulling the whole thing together and not bogging down scenes with music that don't need it."
Release The third season of The Bear was originally scheduled to premiere on June 27, 2024, but ended up releasing on June 26, 2024, on Hulu and Disney+.
Reception
Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 87 critics gave the third season a positive review, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus states. "Having set an exceedingly high standard of excellence for itself, The Bear spends its third season simmering, stewing, and giving off an aroma that whets the appetite." The website also reported that the season was "as audacious as ever" and it "still seems to continue delivering compelling and often intense television with performances that are so dependably brilliant that they're not even mentioned in most of the reviews. Instead, at this point in a show's life, it's easier to find faults in its sameness or changes, or in its attempts to repeat or outdo itself." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 based on 44 critic reviews.
James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote, "It is for the third season of The Bear, in which one of the most brilliant shows on TV attempts a complex, at times confusing, elaboration on its themes. The 10 episodes are often innovative in execution but sometimes stale in their repetition of established conflicts. It's an astonishing display of talent. But it is likely to leave anyone hoping for narrative momentum disappointed."
Accolades The third season received 13 nominations for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Notable nominations include Outstanding Comedy Series, Jeremy Allen White for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Ayo Edebiri for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for the episode "Napkins"), Ebon Moss-Bachrach for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Liza Colón-Zayas for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Jon Bernthal for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result American Cinema Editors Awards Best Edited Single-Camera Comedy Series Joanna Naugle Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Comedy Series Jeanie Bacharach, Mickie Paskal, Jennifer Rudnicke, AJ Links, Kaitlin Shaw Cinema Audio Society Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – Half Hour Scott D. Smith, Steve "Major" Giammaria, Patrick Christensen, Kendall Barron, Ryan Collison, Connor Nagy Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Liza Colón-Zayas Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series Ayo Edebiri Duccio Fabbri Christopher Storer Golden Globe Awards Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy The Bear Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Jeremy Allen White Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Ayo Edebiri Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Ebon Moss-Bachrach Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Liza Colón-Zayas Golden Reel Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Short Form Steve "Major" Giammaria, Jonathan Fuhrer, Matt Snedecor, Craig LoGiudice, John Bowen, Evan Benjamin, Annie Taylor, Leslie Bloome, Shaun Brennan Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Broadcast Short Form Jason Lingle, Jeff Lingle Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Comedy Series The Bear Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Jeremy Allen White Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Ayo Edebiri Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Ebon Moss-Bachrach Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Liza Colón-Zayas Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Ayo Edebiri Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Jon Bernthal Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Olivia Colman Jamie Lee Curtis Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series Jeanie Bacharach, Maggie Bacharach, Jennifer Rudnicke, and Mickie Paskal Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series Joanna Naugle Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) Steve "Major" Giammaria, Craig LoGiudice, Evan Benjamin, John Bowen, Jonathan Fuhrer, Matt Snedecor, Annie Taylor, Jeff Lingle, Jason Lingle, Leslie Bloome, and Shaun Brennan Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation Scott D. Smith, Steve "Major" Giammaria, Patrick Christensen, and Ryan Collison Satellite Awards Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Series Jeremy Allen White Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series Ayo Edebiri Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries & Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television Ebon Moss-Bachrach Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Edwin Lee Gibson, Corey Hendrix, Matty Matheson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ricky Staffieri, and Jeremy Allen White Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Jeremy Allen White Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Liza Colón-Zayas Ayo Edebiri
References
External links The Bear at FX The Bear at Hulu