‘The Bear’ finds its spark again in season of ticking time, unsavory finances
Season 4 of "The Bear" sees Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) patch up his relationships with restaurant partners Richie Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Syd Adamu (Ayo Edebiri). With this closure, the show sets itself up for an appetizing next season, our columnist says. Hannah Mesa | Illustration Editor
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Season 4 of “The Bear” begins and ends with a clock ticking. It’s exactly what the show needed: a shot clock to propel the story forward after a third season of little payoff and plenty of treading water.
Since its 2022 debut, “The Bear” has been a mouthwatering television mainstay, following the culinary escapades of Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his flawed but lovable team. It was already renewed for another season just as the fourth hit streaming.
But for all its highs, “The Bear” hit a snag in Season 3.
After the crew reached their goal of opening their fine dining restaurant, The Bear, storylines falter. Although that was probably intentional — a consideration of how achieving professional dreams may not be as fulfilling as anticipated — it wasn’t as enjoyable a watch as previous seasons.
So, by kicking off the new season with a countdown to The Bear’s funding expiration and delivering pay to last season’s unresolved setup, it was clear producer and director Christopher Storer was ready to fire up the oven and get the story moving.
Season 4’s primary storyline is one of acceptance and closure. The finale — a single uninterrupted half-hour-long conversation between Carmy, Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — sees Carmy patch up his relationships with his partners and chaotically tell the two he’s retiring from the restaurant.
“Syd, you’re everything I’m never going to be,” Carmy said in the finale, setting up his partner to take his mantle. “I believe in you more than I ever believed in myself.”
It’s punchy, moving and Emmy-worthy, a stark contrast from the show’s other season finales, which are usually character-filled events. It’s simple and tasty, like Syd’s scallop dish, and differs from the show’s typical busyness. In the finale, which comes after Syd turns down the head chef job at another restaurant she was offered in Season 2, Carmy agrees to replace his name in The Bear’s ownership with Syd’s and Richie’s.
“You found something that you love. And it’s completely, 100% okay if, if you don’t love it anymore,” Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott) tells Carmy early in the season. “Because the most special part about it is that you are capable of that love.”
The season ends with Carmy accepting that he’s fallen out of love with cooking — an unhealthy obsession he used to hide from his grief and messy family situation. It’s unclear whether the decision will last, but it was a fitting conclusion to the character’s arc at The Bear.
Other storylines are also satisfactorily resolved. Richie’s inner turmoil about what his role as a father looks like as his ex-wife marries another man was moving and melancholic. Meanwhile, Carmy finally gives a long-awaited apology to ex-girlfriend Claire Dunlap (Molly Gordon), a complicated multi-episode arc that reflects the non-linear healing process of breakups.
As the season explores closure, its clock keeps ticking. The timer in the background is a brilliant visual for the season’s storytelling. Since life is temporary, it’s always worth finding closure and resolving strained relationships, the show argues.
“There’s always a clock,” Tina Marrero (Liza Colón-Zayas), another chef, says in episode six. Carmy makes good on that reality, working to solve his struggles, both with people around him and internally. Syd has the same realization when her dad has a heart attack — a storyline for which Edebiri should add another Emmy to her trophy case.
As expected, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Mulaney and Bob Odenkirk’s short appearances were memorable, and it was great to see actors Edebiri and Lionel Boyce get writing credits for the warm Syd-focused fourth episode, “Worms.”
By focusing on Carmy’s dynamic with the ensemble, “The Bear” sets itself up for an appetizing next season. Will season five follow Carmy’s passing of the baton, or skip ahead to Syd’s leadership of The Bear as it strives for a Michelin star?
Like any season of the show, “The Bear” is constructed like an elegant dish. The restaurant, the cooking sequences and the Chicago backdrop look and sound delicious. The ensemble shines brightly, the Fak brothers remain as tiresome as ever and the show is definitely still not a comedy.
“The Bear” Season 4 switches up its recipe just enough to rediscover its spark, and continues to emphasize the trademark ingredients that made fans fall in love with its early seasons. Next course, please.
