With its third season, FX’s The Bear truly hits its stride.The show asserts itself as not a fleeting phenomenon, but a culture-defining and truly unique piece of television that employs its breakout success to reach new artistic heights. This new set of episodes marks a sharp departure from what audiences have come to expect from the hit show, which has previously been defined by its nail-biting, explosive atmosphere. Now that the show’s characters have mostly achieved their goals, and shifted their focus to the delicate retention of their success, The Bear employs a more patient approach. The show opted to delve into the resting states of its characters rather than propelling them forward, which, if watched with an open mind, comprehensively elevates every aspect of the show’s being. Having established itself as an attention-grabbing cultural sensation, this season of The Bear is unafraid to creatively experiment, and the obvious freedom provided to the show’s directors, writers and actors makes for what is an incredibly exciting season of television that pushes the boundaries of what populist media can be.

This season picks up exactly where we left off, with Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) navigating through the opening of their fine dining restaurant. Joining them in the venture are staff members and friends Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Tina (Liza Cólon-Zayas) and Marcus (Lionel Boyce), all of whom spend this season grappling with complex personal circumstances alongside contributing to the restaurant. Other returning characters include Natalie (Abby Elliott), who gears up this season to become a mother, and the Fak brothers, Neil (Matty Matheson) and Teddy (Ricky Staffieri).

Perhaps the strongest and most infamous aspect of The Bear is its dialogue, whether it’s the razor-sharp insults hurled across the kitchen during dinner service or a tension-laced conversation between Sydney and Carmy while fixing a dinner table. This season, the show’s writers were faced with a new challenge, creating dialogue that remains engaging despite an overall decrease in pace and intensity. It quickly becomes clear, however, that the speed with which this show’s lines are delivered are not the reason it’s such a success; it’s instead the remarkably human way in which these characters speak and interact. No matter its subject matter, every conversation in this show manages to be fascinating, even when it’s something as seemingly monotonous as the financial intricacies of a functioning restaurant. Each expertly crafted moment of dialogue in this incredibly patient group of episodes provides something individual and necessary to the development of the story, Carmy’s motto of “Every Second Counts” was seemingly borne from the handbook of the show’s writing staff.

Every performance in The Bear is utterly pitch-perfect, it’s blindingly clear that these actors truly resonate with their characters and any and all situations that face them. There’s something of an innate fondness to watching this show’s characters, knowing that the creative process behind developing their traits and behaviours is incredibly honest and harmonious. The Bear’s ensemble cast is nothing but a masterclass on tonal accuracy and narrative design, both the show’s writing and acting ensure that even its most flawed characters are given room for rehabilitation. More central characters will be mentioned later on, but one of The Bear’s most admirable qualities is the incredible level of attention paid to its minor characters, namely Luca (Will Poulter) and Chef Terry (Olivia Colman). These characters have incredibly limited screen time, but both actors imbue their performances with such painstaking nuance that their impact exists far beyond their literal presence in the show. Every small moment observed with these characters is worth its weight in gold, audiences come to fully comprehend exactly what their role is both in the context of the narrative and in Carmy’s life.

In their now Golden Globe and Emmy-winning roles, Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri continue to command the screen, each actor benefitting from the slower pace of the episodes and the space allowed for their characters to simply exist in their day-to-day lives. Edebiri especially reaches new heights, a surprising moment with Sydney in the season’s final episode is arguably the actor’s best work to date. The infectious liveliness that Edebiri brings to this show’s relatively solemn ensemble continues to be a very welcome contribution to the action of each episode. This time, Sydney’s levity is underscored with a dichotomous internal struggle, that adds an increased level of depth to her already nuanced character. Allen White’s performance in this show is something almost unparalleled in this decade’s mainstream entertainment thus far; Carmy’s constant battle between his unyielding ambition and his waning physical and mental livelihood is incredibly gripping to observe. This season continues to uncover all the contributing factors to Carmy’s anxiety, the first episode is in fact entirely dedicated to retrospective vignettes of the character’s formatory experiences coming up in the restaurant industry. Allen White easily shoulders all the weight added to his role by these memories, bringing them into the folds of his performance and crafting what is one of the most natural and raw characters on television. For those craving more of these actors in the lead up to the fourth season, Allen White is excellent in last year’s criminally underseen Fingernails, while Edebiri is intoxicatingly scene stealing in Theatre Camp and The Sweet East.

In its third season, The Bear soars to unprecedented heights, establishing itself as something that exists not in the interest of awards or perhaps universal accessibility, but instead as an incredibly raw and vulnerable artistic expression of some of entertainment’s most exciting creatives. If anything, The Bear is quintessentially current, a show that encapsulates the cultural climate and seeks only the approval of itself. That brazenness is the secret ingredient to its success, and its ongoing promise of relevant and uniquely comforting entertainment is what keeps us hungry for more.