The Bear is being ruined by one annoying decision

The Bear has let it rip on Season 3, serving up all 10 episodes at once – but our gluttony isn’t worth the cost, nor does it befit TV of its stature. 

Netflix has altered the masses’ brain chemistry with the binge model. A novelty became the norm after the success of Stranger Things, whetting audiences’ appetites so fervently that the idea of waiting a week for a new episode became foreign. 

Excusing that series, though, can you honestly name a new TV show (Suits, Your Honor, and other licensed shows that originated from normal TV – in itself proving my point – don’t count) that’s benefitted from viewers being able to watch the whole thing in a single sitting? Has anything that’s dropped in a oner ever lastingly entered our lexicon, like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, or The Sopranos? 

The Bear is just as good (if not, dare I say it, better) than those television titans, but its frustratingly steadfast release strategy is the equivalent of a microwaved meal; the immediacy feels good in the moment, until it passes.

The Bear will never be released weekly

FX/Hulu

Following in the footsteps of the first two seasons, Season 3 premiered in full on June 26. While the head honchos at FX and Hulu considered a longer rollout, they felt it wouldn’t be fair to the audience. 

“When we came back for Season 2, we debated, since we knew now that we had a hit, can we milk it a little bit? Can we roll it out over weeks, more Bear is better?” FX boss John Landgraf said, as per Deadline. 

“We then thought that’s a rotten thing to do, to change it up for the audience. The way that Chris makes it, even though the episodes are separate, there’s a whole vibe to every season so we decided not to change what we had already set in motion.

“I have no doubt that we’ll keep doing it because we did it in the past. Even if we could, I don’t think we’d change it now.”

In the space of less than 48 hours, viewers across the world have watched every episode. Spoilers (tweets, images, and full clips) are everywhere, and sour-faced complaints over its cliffhanger and the inevitable year-long wait for Season 4 are being echoed across social media. 

By Monday, the souffle will fall. People will either move on or catch up, doomed to gorge on the next dispensable series or chase hype that started to dissipate the moment the show premiered… and so the cycle continues. 

The Bear should follow Shogun’s success

FX

FX isn’t stupid, but it’s possibly ignorant. Shogun, its next biggest success after The Bear, enjoyed a 10-week rollout earlier this year, steadily amassing a loyal audience that made its finale an unmissable event. It was prestige TV done right – so why is its most prestigious property being treated like fast food? 

Each episode of Season 3 is carefully crafted, individually impactful, and filled with scenes made to savor: the poeticism of Episode 1’s Nine Inch Nails-scored montage, Episode 4 and 5’s incredible guest stars, Sugar and Donna’s fraught, tender conversations in Episode 7. 

Instead, because of blind allegiance to an already outdated model, it can only marinate as a whole, and the entertainment cycle simply moves too fast for that to be effective. 

Take something like The Boys, which launched in 2019 by premiering all of the first season’s episodes. It was an incredible success, but Amazon recognized people’s hunger and pivoted to a weekly release on the next season (the streamer has even found a middle ground, often dropping two/three episodes in the first week before switching to single episodes in the weeks thereafter). 

Now, The Boys is one of the biggest TV shows in the world – but that’s not even the point. Even something like Secret Invasion, widely (and correctly) regarded as the worst TV series the MCU has ever produced, found a regular place in the conversation by releasing weekly. 

The Acolyte isn’t on the same level as House of the Dragon, yet both shows are the subject of fiery debates every week. HBO is a pillar of high-quality watercooler TV, so that’s not surprising, but Disney Plus regularly overcomes lapses in quality with appointment viewing; a sense of obligation is a powerful thing. 

Patience is a virtue, and The Bear is worthy of it; waiting becomes a craving, a craving becomes a need, and a need becomes a ritual – every second counts, even when we’re not watching.

Make sure you also check out our recaps of The Bear Season 3 and our breakdown of Season 3’s soundtrack. You can also find out the meaning behind “keep the spoon”, and check out other new TV shows streaming this month.