Thoughts on "The Bear" Coming to an End

It was announced yesterday that "The Bear" is going to end with its upcoming fifth season. Let’s discuss.

This is bittersweet, but I think it is the right call. "The Bear" is an amazing show. I was floored when I saw the first episode, and every season since seems to build on what they have done before. But let's be honest, they have kind of done pretty much everything they set off to do. Minor spoilers ahead for people who may not be caught up on the show.

The first season was all about Carmy coming back to the Italian Beef shop and trying to keep it going after his brother's passing. We met all the critical characters in that season, but it was all Carmy's journey from fine dining back to the basics. Sydney and Richie definitely have their moments in the first season, but the whole idea was to learn all about who Carmy is, warts and all. The first season did give us one of the best, and coolest things I have seen in a tv show in quite some time. They did an entire episode in one long shot, and it all occurred during a massive rush when they had nothing at the ready. This was some of the best tv I had seen up to that point. And the finale kind of set the rest of this in motion when Carmy found the money he needed, the letter from his deceased brother reading, "Let it rip", and the idea to turn their sandwich shop into a fine dining establishment.

Season 2 was the lead up to the new restaurant. This is where we got to see a ton of cooking from the cast members, a storyline I was very much a fan of. We got to see how great of a chef Sydney was in this season. She knows her stuff and she just needed to be able to show it. The episode where Marcus made his way to Denmark to learn from Luca was beautiful and glorious to watch. That half an hour has made me want to visit Denmark more than ever. We also got what many consider to be the two best episodes of the show ever. "Fishes" is a walk back down memory lane for Carmy, and it is difficult. But it also helps you understand why he has the issues he has and why his family is so messed up. This is an amazing hour plus of tv and it is drama at its best. "Forks" is Richie's time to shine, and that is just what he does. Going into a restaurant that Carmy loved working for, and learning from that staff was incredible to watch. It is such an uplifting episode from this show that has kind of beaten the viewer up to that point. "Forks" is my favorite episode of the series. And they close out that season with the opening of the restaurant. We don't get to  see how it goes, but we get a small glimpse of the chaos to come in season 3.

Some people dumped on season 3, but i liked it. It was logical in the progress of the show for me. I understood why they did what they did, and I quite enjoyed my watch. We also got more episodes that just focused on certain people for half an hour. Sydney and Marcus have their moments here.We see all of Carmy's insecurities come to a head when trying to run a restaurant. We get a whole lot more of The Computer and Uncle Jimmy. We got another banger of a flashback episode with "Napkins", where we learn all about how Tina started working at the sandwich shop. that episode made me cry pretty hard in fact. "Ice Chips" was Abby Elliot's time to shine. Seeing her go through giving birth with only her mom at her side was some wonderful acting from Elliot and Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis was such a phenomenal addition to this show by the way. And the season 3 finale was great because they brought on a bunch of famous chefs and just had them talk about what it is like to cook. I found this eye opening in a good way. We look at celebrity chefs with joy and think their job is easy when it is incredibly hard. This was a solid way to close out this third season.

The fourth, and most recent season, was kind of back to basics. We spend a ton of time with Carmy trying to figure out his life and what he wants. He is still in love with the girl he forced out of his life last season, and he is dealing with those feelings. Sydney's dad has a heart attack and she is grappling with another, much more secure job offer. She has a ton of plates in the air and she is trying to figure this stuff all out. Richie and Carmy will not speak to one another, but they have to find a way to work together. Luca comes back to work with Marcus in the restaurant. The waitstaff is still trying to find the right way to do things, which drives Richie up a wall. The restaurant is running out of money. There's a wedding, which is a movie length episode of the show, and totally worth every second. And the season closes with some hardcore questions unanswered. I'm sure we will find all that out with the upcoming season, and that makes me happy.

But I ask the question, after this fifth season, what else do they have to do and talk about? It feels like they've done it all and they're not going to overstay their welcome. The actors are all moving on to other stuff as well. Jeremy Alllen White is in the movies. So is Ayo Edibiri. Ebon Moss Bachrach is part of Marvel now. Matty Matheson has his own cooking show. Abby Elliot is going to continue to be a character actor. They all have bigger aspirations now and that is how it should go when you have a show as successful as "the Bear" has been to date. So while I'm sad to see it go after this season, my hat is off to what they accomplished in five seasons. They're doing the right thing and I'm stoked to see how they wrap it all up.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Iron Claw"

I had a free afternoon yesterday and I used it to watch "The Iron Claw". This is a movie I have wanted to see for a while now. I had tried to see it in the theaters with my dad, but the timing was never any good. Too many things going on with my kids. But, he and my mom had seen it recently, and my dad told me that I should watch. He wanted to get my thoughts on the movie. So I sat down and tuned in.

Right off the bat, this is a very, very well made movie. The wrestling looks real and looks amazing. The look of the movie transported me back to being a kid in the late 80's. The writing was never cliche or over the top. A lot of sports movies get cliche and easy to predict. This movie did not go that route and it is better for it. The direction is very well done. And the acting is top of the line. I enjoy Zach Efron as a person. He seems like a good enough dude and I appreciate that he is trying to get out from the Disney kid shadow. But I have not really considered him to be the best actor out there. Well, my mind has been changed. He absolutely nails it here. He does a fantastic job playing the oldest surviving brother of the family. And he completely transformed his body. He is shredded. The first image we see of him is him waking up and the dude is cut. Good for him. The other brothers in the movie do an excellent job as well. Jeremy Allen White gets to do what he does best. He is dramatic and doesn't have to say much. Harris Dickinson plays the brother who is kind of thrust into the limelight. He does great work with the whole trash talk thing that they do in professional wrestling. And the fourth brother, there are five in real life but they left one out which I was fine with, Stanley Simons, also nailed it. He was the outcast. He wanted to play music and not be a wrestler. He was kind of thrust into that world, and this actor's portrayal of that pain was done very well. And the mom and dad, Maura Tierney and Holt McCallany, play super serious, super intense enablers. They were both wonderful in their roles, especially McCallany. He was mean and bitter and tough and I grew to loathe him by the end of the movie. That is a sign of a well acted role. The back and forth between him and Efron was stunning to watch for many reasons. It was great acting, it was tough, I bought that this was a real relationship and I ended up feeling bad for both of them.

The first hour of this movie is a thrill. There are a bunch of wrestling things, both behind the scenes and in the ring that were an absolute blast to watch. Seeing the brothers interact and work off one another was cool. Seeing Kevin, Efron, find a person who loved him and see them grow and get married was great. Then, about an hour in, this movie turns very sad and it is relentless. This is where all the death and destruction of the family begins. I guess it is no surprise to people who know of the family that this movie is based on, but it felt like one tragedy after the next. Each kid, with Efron being the lone exception, dies in a tragic, awful way. And they show us. We see the bad things that happen. And it is brutal. Watching this movie, I got similar vibes to the first time I saw "Full Metal Jacket". Each movie starts all fast and moves quickly. But then it takes a dramatic turn and turns into something totally different. And both movies are really damn good.

I liked this movie. But, it is very tough to watch. You need to understand that going in. This movie is sad and it does not let up in the second half. But, I recommend watching. Hell, I'd say watch it for Efron's performance alone. He is wonderful, but so is this movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.