The Bear Season 3 Reviews: “Intense and Frenetic” but Its “Grip Has Started to Slip”

Season three of The Bear hit Hulu on June 26, and the verdict is in from the critics who rated this chapter a 94% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

It is, however, a slight slip from the universal praise of the first and second seasons, which scored at 100% and 99%, respectively, but 94% is not to be sniffed at — even if the critics seem to think the magic might be slipping.

" The Bear continues to be intense and frenetic," says Joel Keller at Decider , but its "grip has started to slip," believes Kathryn VanArendonk at Vulture .

VanArendonk isn't alone in this line of thinking. Alison Herman at Variety said, "the show remains more fallible than its rapturous acclaim may imply," and Chris Evangelista believes that this season "some of the ingredients are missing".

Nonetheless, even amidst the slight quibbles from critics, season three, for the most part, it is getting the same level of praise it always has done.

"The smash sensation is as audacious and assured as ever," says Nick Shager at The Daily Beast , and "it remains one of TV's most satisfying, thrilling, and remarkably human stories," as per Matthew Jackson at Looper.com .

The Bear Season 3 Review Roundup

• Globe and Mail: Season 3 feels very much like the show's entree: After a stellar amuse bouche and a surprising appetizer, the main has hit the table. It's a meat-and-potatoes course, with lots of necessary substance substituted for style.

• Hollywood Reporter: On an episode-by-episode basis, the third season of The Bear is as good as anything the show has ever done. Possibly better?

• TIME Magazine: What makes The Bear superior to so many other comedies where flawed characters strive to become better people is its patient realism. Despite a few epiphanies, the season declines to resolve its biggest conflicts.

• Boston Globe: Creator-writer Christopher Storer doesn't strain to outdo himself this time out so much as maintain the intensity of last year's tone... The results are consistent, eye-opening in terms of restaurant culture, and at times moving, if not next level.

• Rolling Stone: At its best, The Bear remains innovative, excellent, and so vividly rendered that it can feel delicious to watch. But the season also feels confusing, overdone, and inconsistent at some points.