*contains spoilers*
Zoe Adey
Series 4 of Christopher Storer’s The Bear (2025) has returned, but is it for an acquired taste?
The doors have been opened to the Chicago restaurant, with our favourite blue-eyed chef, Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his family, ready to serve, but many have been sceptical of its return.
After a triumphant first and second series in 2022 and 2023, receiving high praise from critics and general audiences, series three was a disappointment to many fans.
“If you’re looking for a fast food fix of entertainment, The Bear (2025) is not for you”
The new series serves up a ten-episode course that feeds us a combination of Carmen’s inward and outward struggles, attempting to repair relationships and save the restaurant from closure.
I appear to be amongst the few that did enjoy the third series, and was equally enthralled by the fourth, but I can understand why it’s not for everyone.
Turning Up The Heat
Audiences know The Bear for its fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat storylines, and episode one of the new series opens as expected: Carmy asleep as he recalls a conversation with his now-deceased brother, Michael AKA ‘Mikey’ (Jon Bernthal).
When he wakes, the 1993 film Groundhog Day plays on the TV with Bill Murray’s character asking, “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same (…)?”.
This appears to set the initial tone for the series, with Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) arriving and, in typical style, drops a large digital clock in the restaurant, declaring the time left before the money runs out.
And suddenly, the heat intensifies.
The episode becomes an overlapping montage of dish preparation, table laying and team organisation, accompanied by a red line depicting success rates (or lack of) and the motif ‘EVERY SECOND COUNTS’.
Suddenly, there is a deadline for the restaurant, but it also starts to feel as though there may be one for Carmy, too.
A Place For The People
The series continues with contrasting themes of time running out, but also dedicates time to intimate conversations between different cast members.
Each episode opens with a similar slower pace, with episode two beginning with a conversation between sous-chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and pastry-chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce).
Subsequently, the two actors co-wrote one of the feature episodes that focuses entirely on Sydney and her hair appointment at a family member’s.
“One aspect that was clear from the beginning is that the show is not about the culinary experience or what it takes to work in a high-end kitchen — it’s about the people.”
But, what makes The Bear (2025) special is the time it spends on the individuals who make up the cast.
The show allows us to see each of their personal struggles that they either keep in or out of the kitchen, such as Cousin Richie’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) endeavour to deliver motivational team speeches, or Tina’s (Liza Colón-Zayas) battle to serve a pasta dish in under three minutes.
The introduction of new faces adds an element of freshness, whilst the return of old favourites such as Luca (Will Poulter) and even Carmy and Sugar’s mum, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), brings a sense of familiarity that’s comforting.
The continuation of Carmy’s unresolved issues provides the core ingredient to the synopsis, accompanied by an appropriate, equally emotional soundtrack dusted with shots of the Chicago scenery.
In It Together
The personable approach to the storyline of The Bear makes for emotional viewing and allows the audience feel as though we are experiencing similar situations.
You can’t help but feel emotional with the introduction of Sugar’s (Abby Elliot) baby daughter, Sophie, or during a standout, heartfelt performance by Ayo Edebiri in the same episode.
I would say that the series feels more like a documentary than a fictitious drama – we can all relate to the themes of grief, career challenges, family dynamics, or self-worth, we’re just seeing those stories told by someone else.
“You’re Never Truly Alone”
One aspect that was clear from the beginning is that the show is not about the culinary experience or what it takes to work in a high-end kitchen — it’s about the people.
Carmy refers to this in episode one, where he reminds Mikey of how restaurants ‘bring people together’, and in a later conversation, where he remarks on ‘never truly being alone’ when in a restaurant.
“The personable approach to the storyline of The Bear makes for emotional viewing and allows the audience feel as though we are experiencing similar situations.”
Furthermore, this is particularly evident in the longest episode of the series, ‘The Wedding’, where the entire Berzatto family comes together. Instead of the usual fraught arguments, we see reconciliation, camaraderie and a general sense of belonging within the family.
This is a special episode. For me, the most important message from the series is that the people and their experiences define whether it is a comedy-drama, black comedy or psychological drama…
The use of close-ups and two-shots reiterates how close the creators want the audience to feel toward the characters, as though we are part of the conversations.
Subsequently, there are very few shots depicting the whole restaurant environment — we rarely see the whole kitchen, and it is not until the final episode that the entire dining area becomes visible.
The Final Seconds
The series ends in a way only The Bear (2025) can end, set in the yard of the restaurant and involving only four cast members.
Simple, but completely effective, the series finale sees Carmy make overdue amendments, setting the table for a potential fifth series, but without a significant cast member. And no, it’s not who you think it is.
If you’re looking for a fast food fix of entertainment, The Bear (2025) is not for you.
But if you have a taste for a slow-cooked cuisine, made with perseverance, emotion and overall family love, then series four awaits your table reservation.
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