The Bear is back for its final season, and with Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) announcing in the Season 4 finale that he was stepping back, leaving Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Natalie (Abby Elliott) in charge, there’s a lot up in the air. The timeline for Uncle Jimmy’s (Oliver Platt) funding has run out, and The Bear is hanging on by a piece of kitchen twine. Things aren’t looking good, and that somber tone is what drives much of the final season. But oddly, for this show at least, there’s a sense of hope behind it. That’s despite the reality that it seems there’s no chance in “H, E, double hockey sticks” they can succeed, every possible sign saying it’s over. But is it?
The season is slow to start but works its way up to a fantastic penultimate episode, the last I was able to see with screeners. While I haven’t yet seen the finale, I’m hopeful that The Bear won’t disappoint fans who have stuck with it through the entire journey from slinging sandwiches to plating fine dining dishes.
Note: This spoiler-free review is based on episodes 1-7 of The Bear Season 5.
What Else Could Possibly Go Wrong?
They say bad things come in threes, but for the team at The Bear, that’s a drastic understatement. It seems like just as the team, now led by Sydney, comes up with a clever way to pivot around a problem, another unexpected one bubbles to the surface like an unwatched pot. Whether it’s a kitchen fridge and freezer that are as bare as the toilet paper aisles in grocery stores during COVID, building issues that arise at the worst possible time, or Mother Nature rearing her head, that’s just the tip of the iceberg they’re rolling towards. It’s enough to make even you as the viewer want to throw in the towel and go home.
While the story is frustratingly slow in the beginning, the episodes are so short, you’ll be more upset you’re blazing through them so quickly than you are that many of them don’t involve a ton of story progression. The short, addictive episodes mean you’ll easily get through the final season in a night or two.
The sense of family that The Bear has always been about, albeit a dysfunctional one, remains at the center, though in a different way. When Carmy arrives back home to Chicago in the beginning, every shift at The Beef is a screaming, chaotic mess. Yet the team is happily serving customers who keep coming back for the incredible sandwiches. They took pride in their food and the sense of community in a way that even some fine dining establishments don’t.
With the switch-up from The Beef to The Bear, there was a similar level of pride. But it was more about having something to prove and impressing with unique menus. As a result, the sense of family was becoming lost, arguably fueled by Carmy’s micro-managing and his obsession with perfection. The level of tension was off the charts, the chaos much darker.
Now, with their backs against the wall and Carmy finally taking the time to sit back and reflect, the team has a chance to breathe and remember what’s truly important: family. When Richie casually calls Marcus “cousin,” it’s such a subtle yet meaningful moment that shows how far everyone has come and how much they view one another as family.
Every Second Counts
A family feel or not, the proverbial clock is ticking through the season, a literal reminder that every second counts. These words that Carmy’s mentor Chef Andrea Terry (Olivia Colman) instilled with her team play massively into this season. This comes in the form of the metaphor of a candle a few times as well. They burn slowly, but will eventually burn out. The good news is that you can rebuild one, add more wax, and light it again.
As they race against time and Carmy tries to shift to the background, the others must rise to the occasion and shine. Every main character gets their “moment” before the show ends. It’s obvious when this is happening, but the instances still flow nicely.
Marcus’ (Lionel Boyce) mic drop dessert moment is truly impressive. Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), Neil (Matty Matheson), Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson), even Computer (Brian Koppelman), get to be a part of how the restaurant moves forward as best it can during this defining make-or-break service. Interestingly, the story seems less about the potential future of the restaurant as it does this team proving they’re capable of more than they ever realized. This service could be a swan song, and if it is, they’re going to go out with a bang.
Alongside the goings-on in the restaurant, Uncle Jimmy has a concurrent, time-centric storyline that ties with not only The Bear’s future, but also his own. A few new characters and subtle but meaningful mentions of Albert Schnurr (the late Rob Reiner) add to the story. It’s a stark reminder that big dreams, amazing food, and wonderful service are nothing without money to back it up.
If Episode 7 “Caramel” doesn’t make you feel something, I’d be surprised. Next to “Fishes” and “Forks,” I’d rank it among the show’s best episodes. More than twice as long as the other episodes, it drives home how much this team has changed, learned, and is desperate to make all their hard work count for something. There’s a lot packed into the almost hour-long episode, yet it never drags. You feel every moment in real time like you’re there or at least want to be dining there. You yearn to be as blissfully ignorant about what’s going on in the back kitchen as the relaxed guests enjoying incredible meals and sipping on expensive wines are.
Richie is a highlight through the season, his story arc the most impressive through the series overall as well. Season 2, Episode 7 “Forks” when he is sent to Ever for training is a memorable turning point for the character. Something finally clicked, and three seasons later, Richie has come into his own. He’s surprisingly the person with a calm, level head, an insistence that they can make this work, despite everyone else’s reservations. It’s refreshing to see such a positive arc for a character on such a despondent show. His journey is arguably more crucial to the plot at this point than Carmy’s.
One Final (Or Not) Service
While you watch the teamwork happen through all the challenges of this final season, you can’t help but wonder what the end goal is. If they can pull off this service and impress the Michelin Star “Starman” inspector rumoured to be coming, what then? Maybe the restaurant will be flooded with bookings, and they’ll get new investors. Or maybe, as noted, this is simply about proving something.
At times, it seems the only goal is to keep their heads above water and figure the rest out later. You’re rooting for them to succeed, watching them grow in confidence, experience, ambition, even maturity. You’re waiting for a happy ending, no matter how it might come.
While I don’t yet know how The Bear ends, Episode 7 is the perfect set-up. Through its five seasons, the comedy drama combines light laughs with disturbing drama, frantic pace with quiet reflection. Every season had its own flavour, from sweet and sour in Season 1 to angry and spicy in Season 4. If I was to describe Season 5, it would be fiery with a dash of sour, a dollop of whipped cream, and a whole lot of cracked eggs that somehow whisk together to make something memorable. Is this season worth watching, the proverbial dish of entertainment it serves up worth devouring? The answer is a resounding “yes, chef!”