Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Bear season 4!After three seasons of pure chaos, The Bear slows down and reflects on the kind of show it wants to be in season 4, making for compelling emotional arcs but a less interesting story. After The Bear season 3, it’s clear the latest installment of the award-winning comedy, which often reads more like a drama, wanted to differentiate itself from the high-octane intensity we associate with the series. Picking up right after the cliffhanger ending of season 3, the stakes of the narrative couldn’t be more similar to the rest of the series, even if the approach is different.

Once again, we’re running out of money, the restaurant is on the line, and everyone is dealing with intense interpersonal issues that color their work in inappropriate ways. However, this time, the characters are really trying to work on themselves, though we’ve heard this many times before. The unfortunate truth of The Bear is that now that the healing is being done, the story is inherently less interesting. While we want to see Carmy and the Berzattos get better, this doesn’t make for great TV if the result is a storyline as repetitive as the one being delivered.

After Spending 3 Seasons Maintaining The Status Quo, The Bear Has Nowhere To Go But Down

Letting The Characters Evolve Shines A Light On The Cracks In The Bear

In most cases, it’s a relief in a TV show when the characters evolve and start the hard process of self-reflection. However, for The Bear, this made a tough situation worse. The series is in a difficult position this season, as many of the storylines that have been focused on throughout the past few years can be boiled down to the same problem the characters have faced since the beginning. Without the explosive drama and characteristic chaos, The Bear doesn’t have enough plot or thrill to justify making its characters less dynamic.

It’s not the performances that have dipped, but the actors don’t have anything new or original to work with when bringing their characters to life. At this point, it’s hard to say how much longer I can watch the same issues be rehashed to death. Though the ensemble and guest stars are what make the show great, The Bear has bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to the revolving door of faces in the story. Giving these great, but ultimately purposeless, moments to so many characters makes it easy to miss the important things.

Visually and culinarily, The Bear is as strong as it’s always been, and the attempts to anchor the story’s purpose to that of the safety and family of a restaurant are admirable. If The Bear has an essential question this season, it’s about what the definition of family is. It’s impossible not to compare “Bears,” the wedding episode, to one of the series’ most-acclaimed installments from season 2, “Fishes.” However, it’s a heartfelt discussion of what scares us, not a tense family blowout. The same family that sparked so much anxiety before is drenched in love, and it doesn’t quite land.

There are a few standouts besides the wedding, like “Worms,” which tees up Sydney’s rise to prominence and relies on Ayo Edebiri’s skills. After the events of the season finale, The Bear is nearing a precipice and starts to make the argument that the restaurant, and perhaps the show, might work better without Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy. Positioning Sydney as the heir apparent of The Bear and consistently reminding us that she’s part of the family could steer the show in a more positive direction if season 5 materializes.

The Bear Sets Itself Up For A Very Different Season 5

There’s A Chance That The Bear Could Refresh Itself Next Season

The question on everyone’s minds after finishing The Bear season 4 will be: where do we go from here? Carmy is ready to move on and find himself outside the kitchen, seemingly stepping aside completely for Syd to shine. Titling the season finale “Goodbye” indicates that even The Bear is aware this season never quite justifies itself or convinces us of the vitality of the story. While it’s unlikely, if this is the last installment of The Bear, the series has wrapped up everything it needs to and hasn’t left us wanting more.

The Bear tries to punctuate its narrative arc with elements of magical realism, bringing back our favorite familiar faces from across the seasons, but the series is spinning its wheels. It would have been impressive if The Bear found a way to make it exciting to worry about the fate of the restaurant again, but I couldn’t bring myself to care as much as I might have wanted to. The Bear‘s strengths are the characters and the clear sense of place and realism that have allowed people to see themselves in the show, but that might be all the show has left.

All episodes of The Bear season 4 are currently available to stream on Hulu.

The Bear Season 4

6/10

Release Date

June 23, 2022

Network

Hulu

Showrunner

Christopher Storer

Directors

Ramy Youssef

Writers

Catherine Schetina, Alex Russell, Karen Joseph Adcock, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Stacy Osei-Kuffour

Pros & Cons

• Still beautiful to watch & emotionally resonant, there are moments when the heart of The Bear shines through.
• The performances remain strong, and the characters are as lovable as ever.

• The Bear rehashes the same problems & character dynamics over again.
• The self-growth of the characters gets in the way of the drama we’ve come to expect from The Bear.