I just wrapped up all three seasons and saw a lot of bad reviews for season 3 when I was looking sumn up. The feel is totally different and there’s a lot of montages, but my take was it isolated the characters more for their individual storylines and development vs the first two that are about community development and the kitchens relationship as their bond. We’ve seen them switch some roles, open up, and at the same time deal with issues from their past directly. It was more arguing than I hoped for as I’m not a huge drama fan, but I’m looking forward to seeing the tension release in season four regardless of where it goes. That’s my prediction anyway. I felt like a lot of headlines missed that it’s supposed to feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable for emotional investment of resolution in the follow up and bringing those individual changes into the larger focus of the story.

Wondering what others thought. Maybe this is obvious to others. I’m only basing it off the bad review headlines I read. It’s been a trip to watch a show about the service industry that’s way more dramatic than anything I experienced with my time there, but holds all the insanity of the jobs tropes. It was bringing back memories of stuff I’d totally forgotten.

Edit- interested to rewatch at some point taking these ideas into account. I also am not a serial watcher of shows- I nearly always tap out by seasons three cause storylines and intentions lose perspective when I don’t watch them sequentially and have to wait. I wonder if watching them back to back as I usually prefer made or feel more like a movie and less like a show waiting to move forward. Especially since the show is very cinematically driven visually. I also wonder if this was taken into account with streaming services changing the format of distribution because times have changed. Can’t recoup DVD sales or premier views? Let’s turn this into a massive odyssey of a story where you’re forced to experience the characters beyond representation and climb into the absurdity of existence and its transgressions without addressing it.

The passage of Carm to his current state is illustrated well with the solitude at the French Laundry picking food and the isolation under a head chef at the NYC spot - can’t recall the name. It was redundant, but also really focused in on how he’s been alone since leaving Sugar at the platform station. Nothing needs to be said because the illustrations embedded the monotony and embroidery of the decision. Especially linked to the beginning of the series. There are a lot of good interpretations here, but I still get the sense it’s a set up like a joke for a punch line. Especially since it was broken up by more comedy with the Faks than drama. Things lose their value from the onset- Carms desire to master the craft - and fall into dealing with it constantly.

It’s nice to be into a show again as it’s happening. I have a tendency to be behind the times on a lot of things and love hearing others perspectives to enjoy the work and get a different perspective on what is unfolding. Especially with my own interpretations because nobody knows what will happen yet.