"The Bear" S3, Eps. 1-5.

So far my big worry has come true, as one of TV's better series sits in neutral.

“The Bear” was one of the series I was most looking forward to, with its frenetic, knife’s-edge pacing as it told the story of life in the restaurant business like no other series has done. But despite its amuse-bouche binge-ability and feed-me-more dramatic fireworks, it was always a flawed show and before the season launched I wrote about some of my concerns about S3, particularly since it had already been green-lit of a fourth season:

Those nagging worries are sometimes in your gut for a reason.

While I thought about making this a Box Set viewing experience, FX/Hulu dropping all 10 episodes — a decision I definitely agree with — made that impossible (the format works best on weekly releases). Furthermore, die-hards (and I’m counting myself here) were going to jump all over the launch and it would have been difficult to discuss episodes specifics with readers who were all over the map on their viewing schedule.

So it’s easier just breaking “The Bear” into two deconstructions — the first half and the second half.

As for the first five episodes, uh, yeah, that worry I had in “Preparing for ‘The Bear’ S3” has been a little too prescient. This already feels like a holding pattern for S4 unless something drastic changes in the second half.

And the more worrisome part is this: Outside of the first episode, the series is static in concerning ways.

That first episode, “Tomorrow,” a kind of experimental bit of “quiet” visual mood making amidst a flashback heavy montage, sneakily moved backward and forward with just the right balance of hints, insights and memories. It may not have been for everyone, since its limited dialogue and shifting perspectives was a curveball when you were expecting fastball, but taken on its own it worked wonderfully.

But add on the next four and the idea of that first episode feels ominous, a preview to a stall.