thoughts on the bear season 4

set me free from this prison and give me another Marcus storyline.

I started watching The Bear when season 2 was released in 2023. I loved season one, and my love for the show was only solidified by the masterpiece that was season 2. Season one felt like such a whirlwind; it’s intense and confusing, but it drags you in with such force that you have to binge-watch it in a night. Season two was such a turn from season one, but it worked so well, like a breath of fresh air from being in the kitchen all of season one. There are so many memorable episodes, I’ve never had that with a TV show before; Forks, Honeydew, Napkins, and Review come to mind.

Season three, I felt the show started to flatten. The season, while beautiful, doesn’t really move anywhere, and it finished without much progression. However, I do appreciate the slower pace. I enjoy film where ‘nothing really happens,’ so I did enjoy it in the visual and emotional aspects. But as a show you can truly sink your teeth into, I felt it meandered too far from the original mood to catch. I do think season 4 is a marked improvement from 3, but I still found glaring criticism. The “To be continued…” card that concluded Season 3 felt like nothing but words, with so many unfinished plotlines. Season 4 just felt like patchwork to brush over season 3; it didn’t feel like a part 2 to me, particularly. Plotlines are starting to feel unbearably dragged out, for example, Syd’s dilemma between the unsigned partnership agreement at The Bear and an opportunity to build a new restaurant from the ground up that took almost two seasons to finish. The show is so consistently beautiful, I like the dialogue, and it’s hard not to adore the characters; I keep coming back to this show, so they must be doing something right? My main gripe is that the writers seem to focus too much on certain aspects, and their ability to create beautiful individual episodes and scenes is not enough to make a cohesive TV series. The plot of S3 and S4 barely progresses. I would argue S3 goes nowhere. The performances are incredible, but they can only carry the show so far.

The season is shaped around the countdown clock, ending in The Bear’s closing; while this would be a good premise, it lacked the stress and pressure that shaped seasons 1 and 2- I know and appreciate that the tone has shifted, but I’m missing the shouting matches and 15-minute long intense kitchen sequences. For a show about cooking, it felt severely lacking in food. Part of the reason I loved the earlier seasons so much was the care taken in the intricately filmed sequences of preparing for service, the strain of perfecting dishes and fighting against negative reviews. They haven’t been abandoned, but it would’ve been nice to see more sprinkled in, it’s what sets The Bear away from all the other shows out there.

The side characters are somehow sidelined, Marcus, Tina, and even Syd feel like they’ve been put on pause in replacement of.. something else? It’s sad to see, considering some of my favourite episodes have been those centred around said characters. Tina’s involvement disappointed me, with her total arc this season being trying to shave time off of her preparation of a pasta dish, which in total leads to the same morals. I would’ve liked to see more of her. We got maybe one scene of her and Carmy. I love her character, and I think her character is unfairly wasted when she could be explored in such a beautiful way. I think she could be more involved with Sydney, forming a bond and creating another constant for her in her life (as she expressed about her father).

A gripe I had initially was the repetitive storyline of the season, but I do understand that it’s by design, the show having Carmy watch “Groundhog Day” in the premiere, and the character’s struggles with trauma, ambition, and personal relationships, all while giving everything into making The Bear work. However, it feels almost too cyclical, like we get it.

I just feel like the show is starting to lose its edge; I’m not saying i don’t think it’s refreshingly unique and artful, but it feels like a reuse and reliance on what made the earlier seasons so incredible, while the real story is put on a back burner. Episode 7, while heartwarming, felt a little overbearing. Don’t get me wrong, I adore that episode and it brought home the familial relationships of the show, but they may as well have all held hands, bowed, and said ‘We are.. The Bear!!”

By far my favourite episode of the season was episode four, written by Ayo Edebiri, She not only blew me away with her acting this season - possibly her best performance of the whole show - but this episode felt so authentic, her converstaion with her niece about the ‘sleepover’ - revealing her inner turmoil about her decisions, and the subtle comments she made nodding to her relationships within the bear. I just loved the way we saw another side to Syd, away from the bear and the pressures of her everyday life. Like season two, it gave a refreshing look into another aspect of this universe, definitely a stand-out episode.

Aside from this, as I said before, there was a definitive lack of anyone other than Carmy and Claire (groan). I missed Marcus this season. I may be biased since he is one of my favourites, but considering my favourite episode and arguably the most acclaimed is one centring him, following a story that developed his character so beautifully, I just felt like he was sidelined. The scene where he won the award for the best new cook could’ve come earlier, leading into, not even an arc, just an exploration of him achieving, learning and struggling. The return of Luca (which we all jumped up and cheered at) could’ve been a continuation of his time in Copenhagen, while we did get some good scenes building on all he learned, ending in his achivement of best new chef, I just felt I would’ve liked to see him more fleshed out.

Okay.. I need to talk about Claire..

My issue with Claire is that she’s barely a character; all we know about her is that she is a nurse and she and Carmy date(d). I would have absolutely nothing bad to say about her if she actually brought anything different to the story apart from being Carmy’s on-off girlfriend. For some reason, Storer has such a determination to make the audience like Claire, it’s so obvious. The scene where Claire comforts Sydney in the hospital is the best example of this. They attempted to make her do something other than date Carmy, but it felt so forced, that scene would’ve meant so much more had it been with someone Syd had a real connection with. The fact nobody went with Syd to the hospital is just insane to me, I dont know why they just omitted that storyline for her to talk with fucking Claire.

I don’t think they’ve ever worked together. She’s always seemed to have an undertone of wanting to fix him, but the refrigerator incident and how she took such offence to that when he was not even a year out from his brother committing suicide and the pressure of starting the restaurant. I get what he said was out of line, but she shouldn’t have been seeking a serious connection with him then, as he was clearly struggling and unwell. That amount of stress is a lot for anyone, and he needed support. She just kind of left, then poured her heart out to him. I don’t know, it just feels unhealthy, it’s like they don’t want what’s best for each other somehow, like they just find an escape in each other even when it’s not an escape at all, and they’re both under intense stress and sadness. They don’t balance each other out in the way they both need. I get she’s kind of symbolising the life that Carmy cannot accept, but I feel that his leaving at the end, which I suppose is to ‘find himself’, but I don’t know, that’s his life and his family, he’s just leaving for.. What? What is he going to do now?

I don’t even want them together anymore, but Sydney and Carmy have something so special that I just want them to finally listen to each other and realise that they do understand each other. It’s what makes Carmy leaving so awful, he’s broken every promise he’s made to Syd, he never listens, and just does brash things constantly, only to apologise the next day. I can’t count how many heart-to-hearts they’ve had that show they really can’t do this without each other. Carmy's leaving is his recognition that Sydney is extremely talented, but to put the immense pressure on an already pressurised Sydney is just mad. I’m sick of them doing the wrong thing!!!! Stop it !!!

If this is where the whole show ends, I will be disappointed. I feel like there is endless potential to finish off these characters in a perfect way; however, I absolutely have fleshed out in my head the worst possible way for this show to end. In all, I’m blown away by what “The Bear” has been and what it’s brought me, I love this show and its characters to pieces and this review alone does in no way reflect my feelings about earlier seasons, I really think S1 and S2 is some of the best TV released in a long time. I just pray to God we get one final season so we can leave this show on a good note, and I’m praying they don’t stretch the already long storyline another 8 seasons.