I am happy to report that despite a lackluster pair of seasons, the fifth and final season of The Bear manages to stick the landing. It’s a finale that successfully wraps up the series without leaving anything on the table.
This season picks up right after the shocking season 4 finale revealed that Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is leaving the titular restaurant, The Bear. The business has been bleeding money, and they are effectively out of runway. To make matters worse, an enormous downpour hits Chicago, which slows business down on its most crucial day of service.
The show does a great job of setting the stage for a dramatic and comedic comeback story. The odds are heavily against the staff, but they push forward, even as the building falls apart around them. On top of that, the team suffers a huge blow to morale when they find out Carmy is leaving.
Most of the season takes place during one day, which ends up paying off because so much of what was built up in the previous season comes to a head here. The raging storm outside also adds atmosphere and a nice dramatic parallel to the figurative storm happening in the restaurant.
This season also uses a cinematic widescreen ratio to give it more of a movie feel -- a good move because this whole season actually feels like one long movie.
Carmy isn’t as front and center this season, which makes sense given that he is leaving The Bear. It means that characters like Syd (Ayo Edebiri) and Natalie (Abby Elliot) get more of the spotlight and they both do their best work this season. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) also remains a constant highlight as his character becomes more introspective.
Speaking of Carmy, his fate is the big mystery that fans have on their mind. His decision to leave the cooking world behind is an effort to distance himself from all the trauma that he associates with the culinary world. This season drives home the two conflicting aspects of his story. One is that he probably is better off outside of any kitchen, but also that the kitchen is where he feels most at home.
Even the last episode makes it hard to say with absolute certainty where he ends up, but there are enough visual clues to believe that he gets the happy ending that doesn’t invalidate the arduous journey to finally get there.
While this season is certainly better than the third and fourth, it doesn’t really measure up to the greatness of the first two. The show doesn’t feel as raw; the story doesn’t have that same scrappy underdog appeal that gave it such grit and intrigue. It does, however, seem like a natural progression of the story and most of its characters.
A show that started off as good as The Bear, and which also ends with a good season, is a rarity these days. It didn’t get canceled prematurely; it didn’t overstay its welcome until it became a shadow of itself; and it didn’t betray its own story and themes. It’s something to be celebrated, and a solid ending makes the entire show a lot easier to recommend to viewers.
Author Bio:
Ulises Duenas is a senior writer and film critic at Highbrow Magazine.
For Highbrow Magazine