The original post: /r/television by /u/rackofroses on 2024-07-23 15:26:03.
i’d been meaning to watch the bear for a very long time, and my boyfriend finally sat me down to watch the first season. honestly, i’m pretty shocked at how mid it is (in MY OPINION) considering the mega media hype around it.
as a black woman with lots of friends in the service industry and experience in it myself, i thought the premise was prime time tv. i heard it was anxiety inducing and i was like, wow i cant wait to watch. i love anxiety inducing, i love “how will they get out of this pickle” plots, i love high stakes. so maybe my expectations were just a lot in comparison to the show, but i formed them based on what i’d heard.
in MY OPINION, this show felt like an NBC show. i couldn’t believe how saccharine it read to me. and i guess that’s fine, the show wasn’t BAD but i didn’t particularly like it. a lot of the dialogue had gilmore girls everyone-talk-in-fast-quirky-quips vibes i didn’t care for, everything that comes out of sydney’s mouth is delivered with identical sarcasm, a lot of the “we are a family” moments felt really unearned, and i just knew that even when the stakes were “high” they would be totally fine and some solution would fall from the sky. it’s a very corny show in my opinion. maybe that’s my fault because i was expecting something with a little more hard hitting drama, deep slow pacing, and character study.
that one-shot episode where sydney and marcus quit was just an infuriating watch. i really couldn’t understand the emotional beats that led us to that point. and it’s not sydney and marcus’ restaurant so i just found it unrealistically contrarian, and unrealistically cruel when sydney hits richie below the belt. idk, all of these plot points felt unearned, like i could feel the writers saying “how can we get staff to quit so that carm can learn about collaboration and teamwork.”
i watched through season 2 episode 1 and still really didn’t like it. so many things minimally explored, so many corny moments, so little interiority (if more of the show was like carm’s dream scenes + alanon speech i think i’d enjoy it a little more). also, THAT PLOTLINE WHERE THEY DRUG ALL THOSE KIDS AT THE PARTY? or the plotline where a black girl feels safe enough to confront white people with guns and appease them with free sandwiches? i cant.
everyone who loves the bear, hey that’s completely fine, i think there’s been a lot of value and freshness that’s sprung out of the show and new faces that hollywood desperately needed but for the life of me i can’t figure out why this show. please remember media is subjective and don’t come for my throat in the comments.
also — is the bear worth continuing into 2nd and 3rd seasons?