The Bear Season 5 Review: Every Second Counts in This Moving Final Course

The Bear Season 5 mostly takes place over the course of one day, and it’s a riveting, pulse-pounding affair bolstered by a stellar Ayo Edebiri. There’s a smaller, more intimate feel to the proceedings; it makes sense why this eight-episode last hurrah is so focused on the titular restaurant and its intrepid workers, though. After all, The Bear is itself a character. 

This go-round feels like a return to form, although it’s not quite as compelling as the show’s first two seasons. But it wouldn’t serve these characters to return to the visceral, anxiety-inducing heartache of Season 2’s “Fishes.” They’ve grown so much over these five seasons, and Season 5 honors their growth as they muscle their way through a pivotal dinner service that could make or break the restaurant they love. 

On the Edge 

The season kicks off the final festivities with a series of setbacks as a storm rages outside the restaurant’s doors. It serves as a tense backdrop for the majority of the season until the series finale. It provides plenty of atmosphere. While there’s certainly a lighter tone to Season 5 as everyone bands together, elements like the timer, the gripping score by Christian Lundberg (and produced by the Hans Zimmer), and the fast-paced, frenetic energy of the kitchen keep us on the edge of our seats. 

The only difference in The Bear Season 5 is that people aren’t screaming and cursing at each other, at least in “Caramel,” the penultimate outing devoted to this final service. As the new head chef, Sydney works hard to establish a different environment, a calmer, more supportive setting.

That’s not to say we don’t get a smattering of white-hot rage — the tension between Marcus and Luca simmers for most of the season until it boils over in Episode 6, “Focaccia.” It wouldn’t be The Bear without some fighting. The only difference here is that Carmy isn’t at the center of the storm. 

Well-Oiled Machine 

However, by the aforementioned penultimate episode, our favorite crew is like a well-oiled machine. It’s fun watching them in their element, thinking on their feet during the service when things go awry. Having worked in a restaurant, improvisation is key, and there’s something electrifying about that process. You walk away from a service, even one riddled with disaster after disaster, riding that high. 

Season 5 honors its predecessors with elements of nostalgia, lacing in flashbacks from previous seasons. However, the show never overuses them, inserting them at moments to, as Richie would say, “maximalize” their efficacy. These flashbacks are proof positive of just how far these characters have come, particularly Carmy, Syd, and Richie. 

There’s also plenty of tension between Carmy and Syd this season, especially as Carmy steps down as the head chef and Syd takes the reins. It’s challenging to navigate a transfer of power. There are times when Carmy oversteps without realizing it. However, Carmy’s self-awareness is refreshing. As he tells Syd, he would’ve screamed at everyone in his frustration, while Syd chooses to scream alone. 

Performances 

Carmy genuinely tries to step outside his bubble of despair, putting others before himself. It’s a marker of tremendous growth. Jeremy Allen White delivers an understated performance as Carmy. It’s the quieter moments, like when he drops that plate of lamb and even in the series finale at the architectural firm, where White really shines. 

While everyone brings their A-game, this season of The Bear belongs to Ayo Edebiri. Edebiri taps into Syd’s insecurities so beautifully. Syd’s nervousness is a tangible thing. Syd is essentially a ticking time bomb of frustration, and she tries to keep a lid on it until she erupts later in the season. Edebiri injects Syd with so much nuance, depth, profoundly relatable anxiety, and warmth. 

The only difference here is that Syd doesn’t want to be anywhere but in the kitchen, while Carmy recognizes that he never really loved being a chef. Despite his innate talent, working in kitchens around the world was a bandage over a festering wound. He was running away from his pain, especially after Mikey’s death. 

Grow, Grow, Grow 

Even the dynamics have evolved this season. Syd promotes Tina as her CDC, and you can see just how much they’ve grown as friends and coworkers. Carmy and Syd’s relationship is perhaps the most compelling dynamic. They’ve developed a fascinating nonverbal shorthand, where they can communicate so much without uttering a word. 

Syd and Richie are also in a significantly better place. Long gone are the days when Syd literally stabbed Richie in the back. Ebon Moss-Bachrach imbues Richie with an infectious charm and indomitable spirit. He thrives in this fast-paced environment and is a far cry from the confrontational man in Season 1 who was uninterested in reaching for the stars.

Now, he sees that he’s capable of much and more. But like with many of the characters in The Bear, imposter syndrome runs amok. You don’t need restaurant experience to understand what it’s like to feel unworthy of your career placement. 

What’s Next 

If anything, this final course makes the eponymous restaurant feel like a living, breathing thing. The characters work in sync with it. There’s a symbiotic relationship that Season 5 deftly explores. Despite the pain we’ve endured for most of its run, the fifth season ends on a positive note. Carmy’s future is uncertain, but it’s abundantly clear that he’s finally healing. He’s ready for the next chapter, whatever that may be. 

The Bear is in capable hands with Syd at the helm and Tina as her number two. Richie is in his element. Luca is returning to Copenhagen, but his friendship with Marcus is in a better place. Marcus and his father are even in the process of mending fences. Natalie and Donna are also closer than ever before, and Donna herself is thriving as a grandmother. 

This story needed a happy ending. The crux of The Bear is family — finding your inner circle to help you weather life’s many, many storms. Everyone uncovers the path of healing, and with their respective baggage left at the train station, they can move on to bigger, better things. There’s hope in that, which we desperately need in this increasingly volatile, uncertain world. 

To quote an entirely different show on the genre front, “Family don’t end in blood.” And the family at The Bear is eternal. 

Stray Observations: 

• As someone who worked for many years in a restaurant environment similar to The Bear … the PTSD is real. I was definitely having war flashbacks while watching the season’s penultimate episode. 
• A cursing-free, screaming-free restaurant is basically an oxymoron. Good on Syd for trying, though. 
• I’d like to think that you can summon the Faks like Beetlejuice — you just say their name three times, and they materialize. 
• Richie saying “Focus, b*tch” to himself is basically me every day. 
• I love the reappearance of The Original Berf of Chicagoland shirts. 
• Carmy turning an interview for an internship for an architectural firm into a therapy session is so funny. My self-serious king. 

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The Bear is now streaming in its entirety on Hulu. 

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