There are times when it’s difficult to tell who’s leading the action in modern prestige television drama. Is it the actors on screen? Or some of the stylised music determined to be acknowledged like an overacting performer?
As dramas lean further into flair, their relationship with music followed suit. Succession blends neo‑classical motifs with hip-hop to underscore its signature tension between family, youth and power.
Euphoria’s heady mix of gospel, soul, electronica and melodic house floods scenes with emotional cues. Severance harnesses a pensive, spacious minimalism to heighten emotional distance, while Industry constantly reminds us of its feverish pace through gleaming synths and propulsive beats.
Emmy Award–winning The Bear, returning for its fourth season on Disney+ this Thursday, does something different, however.
The score of the dramatic comedy – about a tight–knit crew running a fine–dining restaurant in Chicago – is the sonic equivalent of a meat and potatoes dish – direct, deceptively plain, but deeply rich when seasoned right.
The music isn’t there as subtext or to subvert. Instead, it hits that rare sweet spot of sitting within the scene. It doesn’t instruct you how to feel. Like a great relish, it simply enhances the brilliant writing and acting on screen. That restraint allows the music, a mix of mostly 90s alternative rock, pop and Chicago blues and roots, to stand out in the best way, not as an add–on, but as something fully enmeshed with the show.
As head chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) tells his team: “It’s nearly perfect".
Examples of the approach abound in nearly every episode, where up to four songs feature in extended montages or recur as motifs. Take the season two episode Forks, in which restaurant manager Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) discovers his purpose under the rigours of training in a fine‑dining restaurant. The emotional pay‑off isn’t hinted at or teased by the music - that’s all down to Moss‑Bachrach's superb acting.
Through the use of Taylor Swift’s Love Story (Taylor’s Version), played while Richie drives home with a new contentment, that realisation just unfolds. The song – through the chorus refrain of “It’s a love story, baby just say yes” – carries the feeling as plainly and literally as possible. It’s not a rocket science approach, but the kind of pitch‑perfect placement rarely heard on screen.
The same attention to emotional placement is found in The Bear’s use of R.E.M.’s affecting Strange Currencies. First heard in one of the show’s most intense episodes – Review in season one – it is used again in the following season to score the fraying relationships among the staff as they attempt to rehabilitate the once-dilapidated restaurant.
The song simply reinforces what’s already there, deepening what we feel without overstating it.
While The Bear’s licensing of well‑known tracks is not original, it’s the dynamic way it adopts them that’s notable. Songs are not there to keep scenes moving or offer subtle commentary. Certain episodes have extended moments of silence as staff quietly cleaning the restaurant.
Other times, the use of music is so present and long that it stands out, such as Eddie Vedder’s Save It for Later accompanying the restaurant’s morning preparation, or Wilco’s Spiders (Kidsmoke) during a chaotic evening shift that shows the crew’s weariness. These sections, sometimes lasting nearly as long as the track itself, don’t feel overindulgent. Instead, it does a neat thing of absorbing rather than directing the emotions of the scenes.
Succession, for example, takes a different approach. The music underscores the main themes of power and dysfunction. While the use of music is smart, it can sometimes feel performative. The inclusion of tracks such as KRS-One’s MCs Act Like They Don’t Know, part of a wider hip-hop playlist for media executive Kendall Roy’s 40th birthday party, serves as an extravagant cue – commenting on, or perhaps casting judgment over Kendall’s deluded self-image, rather than offering genuine insight into his emotions.
The Bear’s music isn’t concerned with that kind of cleverness or cultural commentary. It stands out for a kind of emotional honesty that other shows eschewed for better or worse.
The music isn’t used as a ready crutch to elevate tension or punctuate a scene. That restraint is what gives The Bear its unexpected weight that helped it win a total of 21 Emmy Awards over the last three seasons.
Like the premise itself, the music is also not revolutionary. It’s a reminder that great television scoring doesn’t have to push or nudge you. Sometimes, being emotionally on point is more than enough.
Season 4 of The Bear will be available for streaming on Thursday on Disney+
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
CREW
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Bio
Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind.
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.
DUBAI WORLD CUP CARNIVAL CARD
6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m
8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m
8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m
The National selections
6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold
7.05pm Final Song
7.40pm Equilateral
8.15pm Dark Of Night
8.50pm Mythical Magic
9.25pm Franz Kafka
More on animal trafficking
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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