The Bear season 3’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score is much lower than its critics’ and significantly less compared to the ones achieved by previous seasons. This raises an intriguing question: Does The Bear season 3’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score make it an inferior season compared to its predecessors, or do the critical scores reflect something deeper? While the answer to that can be subjective, depending on several variables and viewer biases, it is worth speculating what led to this disparity in reviews and opinions surrounding the FX show’s new season.

When it purely comes to production value, cinematography, and performances, The Bear season 3 is undoubtedly no less engaging than the previous scenes. Owing to this, can its low Rotten Tomatoes score be attributed to its storytelling approach? Although that could be one of the major factors contributing to its score dip, a few other elements have also seemingly played a role.

The Bear Season 3’s 59% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Explained & What Critics Think

The Bear Season 3’s Audience Score Is Significantly Lower Than Its Predecessors’

Compared to its Tomatometer score of 94%, The Bear season 3’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience score is surprisingly low, dipping even lower than 60%. For a show that earned near perfect scores from critics and above 90% audience scores in both seasons 1 and 2, season 3’s fall to a 59% score says a lot about how viewers’ opinion has changed about the show’s overall quality. While The Bear season 1 still boasts the rare feat of achieving a perfect 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, season 2 does not fall behind with its 99% score.

Season
Tomatometer Score
Audience Score

The Bear season 1
100%
92%

The Bear season 2
99%
93%

The Bear season 3
94%
59%

The audience scores for The Bear have always been slightly lower than critics’ on the movie rating website. While season 1 stands at 92%, season 2 marks an improvement with its 93% rating. Compared to its predecessors, The Bear season 3 is down by more than 30%, highlighting how many viewers who loved The Bear seasons 1 and 2 were dissatisfied with the new installment. This change in the show’s ratings makes it hard not to wonder what might have gone wrong with The Bear season 3.

Why The Bear Season 3’s Audience Score Is So Much Lower Than Seasons 1 & 2’s

Audiences Are Unhappy With Its Slow Plot Progression & Inconclusive Ending

While the disparity between the audience and critics’ scores is not uncommon, often observed in several TV shows and movies, the drop in the show’s audience scores demands closer scrutiny. It underscores that some specific elements of the show fell short of audience expectations after seasons 1 and 2. As many complaints surrounding The Bear season 3 suggest, many viewers could not help but see it as a mere setup for season 3. This makes sense given how The Bear season 3 lacks as many plot progressions as its predecessors.

…when compared with season 2’s highs from episodes like “Forks,” “Fishes,” and “The Bear,” season 3’s best story beats seem relatively pale.

It still has incredible cinematography, poignant moments, memorable performances, and mouth-watering food montages. The Bear season 3’s cameos are also no less captivating. However, when compared with season 2’s highs from episodes like “Forks,” “Fishes,” and “The Bear,” season 3’s best story beats seem relatively pale. Many viewers also have issues with The Bear season 3’s cliffhanger ending, which leaves viewers clueless about the central restaurant’s fate, Syd’s future career-related decisions, and the future of Carmy and Claire’s relationship.

The Bear seasons 1 and 2 also left viewers with several questions about their conclusive arcs. However, unlike season 3, they offered a semblance of closure to audiences and marked the end of one entire arc for the characters. For instance, The Bear season 1’s ending confirms that not all hope is lost for Carmy, Sydney, and the crew. Season 2 also builds up to The Bear restaurant’s opening night and ends on a high note by affirming that the characters are about to start a new journey. The Bear season 3, in contrast, leaves way too many loose threads before its credits start rolling.

One Change Could Have Improved The Bear Season 3’s Audience Score

The Bear Season 3 Should Have Promoted As “The Bear Season 3 Part 1”

The Bear seasons 3 and 4 were reportedly filmed back to back, suggesting they follow a continuous storyline. This could be a big reason why The Bear season 3’s ending seems abrupt and inconclusive. The show’s creators could have easily avoided disappointing viewers with the ending by promoting seasons 3 and 4 as two parts of the same season. While season 3 could have been labeled “Season 3, part 1,” the follow-up could be “Part 2.” This would have prepared audiences for a more serialized narrative structure, where they would directly expect season 4 to tie all loose threads.

…The Bear season 3 did not have to rely on cheap tricks to keep viewers invested.

Instead of maintaining an air of ambiguity surrounding The Bear restaurant’s fate and Sydney’s final decision, The Bear season 3 could have also benefited from offering more resolution on key story developments. The FX show’s seasons 1 and 2 have established it as one of the best dramas of modern times. Owing to this, The Bear season 3 did not have to rely on cheap tricks to keep viewers invested. Even without the cliffhanger, it would likely have been able to retain its audiences and even improve its Rotten Tomatoes audience score.

The Bear Season 4 Will Likely Improve Season 3’s Reputation

The Bear Season 3’s Build-Up Will Make More Sense In Season 4

Given how The Bear season 4 will likely begin with the revelation of what the food critic from the Chicago Tribune wrote about the central restaurant, it already seems way more exciting than season 3. Even though season 4 has already been filmed, the show’s creators might even get some time to learn from season 3’s dip in critical ratings. This would allow them to make some necessary tweaks to its story to prevent it from repeating season 3’s mistakes.

As The Bear season 3’s story setups suggest, season 4 will also likely deliver many “payoffs.” This will prompt viewers to appreciate season 3’s build-up more than they currently do. Hopefully, The Bear season 4 will not tread the same path as season 3 and achieve the same critical ratings as seasons 1 and 2.