After four years, “The Bear” has served its final course.
The fifth and final season of the hit FX series was released June 25. The show follows world-renowned chef Carmen Berzatto as he attempts to transform his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop into a Michelin-starred restaurant, all while working through the grief of his recently deceased brother.
With the exception of the final episode, the season takes place over the course of a single day as Chicago is hit with a rainstorm of biblical proportions.
The metaphor isn’t subtle — this is an inflection point for the restaurant as it serves what could possibly be its final service as funding dries up. The Bear must either be baptized in the flood and emerge anew or be washed away in its current.
And this metaphor extends beyond the scope of the show’s universe. While the series’ first two seasons were met with much critical acclaim, the latter half hasn’t been met as warmly.
Many fans missed the show’s high-stakes tension as the pacing began to slow down and favor more introspective character work.
The final season — just like the final service — was a chance for the series to show just how special it is. And it did just that.
This season of “The Bear” is a return to form, bringing back the tension missing from the later seasons while retaining the maturity it developed by slowing down.
The show’s strongest quality has always been its characters, shown through both their personal depth and their relationships with each other. Watching the show’s dysfunctional work family force themselves to cooperate is often the most entertaining part of the series.
This final season does a fantastic job at giving each member of the main ensemble a chance to shine and each established pairing an important moment. Lionel Boyce’s character, Marcus, especially stands out, as he demonstrates himself as arguably the most talented chef in the kitchen.
But talent alone isn’t enough to sustain a restaurant.
The clash between profits and the pursuit of perfection has been a central conflict of the show since its first season. But where profits used to stand as a time bomb against the restaurant’s success, this season gives the scramble for money a different feeling as the kitchen works what is possibly its last shift.
Where in earlier seasons this race against the clock felt like watching a scrappy underdog find a way to live another day, this latest season gives the act a doomed quality. Watching the kitchen staff vacantly settle for whatever works within its budget isn’t inspiring in any sense.
Hustling selvedge denim to scrap up enough funds to pay for the next beef order feels like a success against all odds. Reducing portion sizes of a restaurant that costs $190 per person feels like watching a business die with a gasping breath instead of a shout.
On the topic of a nearly $200 meal, one major quality the show lost in its first season and failed to regain was its groundedness. While it's fulfilling to see the kitchen’s staff realize its full potential in a high-end establishment, it also comes with the unfortunate reality that the restaurant’s original incarnation, “The Beef,” has been downgraded from a community hub to a window — and now to a ghost kitchen.
What started as delivering relatable food to a local community turned into crafting high-end meals for tourists, with the original space left a ghost of its former self.
With Carmen, played by Jeremy Allen White, stepping down as head chef at the end of the fourth season, it was only natural that an increased emphasis would be placed on Ayo Edibiri’s Sydney, who was chosen to replace the titular chef at the helm of The Bear’s kitchen. But I wish this was a decision made earlier within the series, because the new roles lead to some tonal issues.
Within The Bear are two sides: the optimistic “This is where magic is made” attitude and the pessimistic “We need money, and we need it now” realism. Edibiri’s character is where the show’s two tones especially clash.
While the show has traditionally done a good job of maintaining a balance between these opposing sides, the final season leans far further into optimism, leaving Syd in the minority.
Watching the latest season almost feels like watching Syd enter the Truman Show; she’s the single voice of reason in an almost cartoonishly optimistic sea of restaurant staff. It’s like everyone in the series is aware this is a TV show except for her. This juxtaposition unfortunately puts what used to be the grounding force of “The Bear” into an almost antagonistic role for much of the season.
Syd struggling to step up to the plate is consistent with her character, but it would have been nice to see her realize her potential sooner so she could have more time to shine. Much of her new leadership abilities are implied rather than explicitly shown.
The finale shows an impressive amount of restraint. Not every plot thread is tied up, and the show has enough material to possibly run for another two seasons. But this is where the story feels like it is supposed to end, offering enough closure for a satisfying ending while leaving some questions unanswered.
The series’ final season feels like a return to form, delivering an impactful finale that demonstrates what made the show such a hit in the first place — this time with a sense of maturity only possible through four years of careful building.
Contact Christopher Rodriguez at crodriguez@alligator.org. Follow him on X @ChrisRodri29386.
