'The Bear' Season 3 Had A Few Things Missing

The newest season of “ The Bear ” was just released last Wednesday and is already breaking records on Hulu. It is the largest premiere of a scripted series in the streamer’s history, Disney reported .

Fans have waited almost a year to date for the FX series to follow up on its stellar second season . In that chaotic Season 2 finale, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) gets locked in the walk-in freezer, pours his heart out to Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and ultimately breaks Claire’s (Molly Gordon) heart in the process. Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) shows her leadership skills (despite having an anxiety attack) and runs the kitchen in Carm’s absence. Cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) shows so much growth as he keeps the restaurant moving throughout the night. And Marcus (Lionel Boyce) misses several calls from his sick mother’s nurse.

Season 3 picks up just days after that friends-and-family night at The Bear — and takes its time to let us catch up with the chefs and crew.

Senior culture reporter Marina Fang and senior culture editor Erin E. Evans chatted about the peaks and valleys of the third season in this chat. See what we loved and loathed and where we think Carmy, Syd, Cousin Richie, Tina, Marcus and the other team members at The Bear could have sharpened their knives just a bit.