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The Bear‘s Season 4 finale will have fans of the hit FX dramedy screaming “Yes, chef!” and “No, chef!”
On one hand, “Goodbye” is a brilliant, ambitious, incredibly well-executed installment that boldly breaks form and inspires stellar performances. On the other hand, once the end credits roll, The Bear — both the show and the restaurant — won’t be the same. Oh, and also, you may be crying!
The fourth season of Christopher Storer’s Emmy-winning series sees Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edibiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and team race against a literal countdown clock to save The Bear in wake of The Chicago Tribune‘s negative review. After another hefty helping of culinary chaos, the finale — written and directed by Storer — delivers an unexpected twist designed to shake everything and everyone up in Season 5. (We’re assuming a renewal is imminent, or the people will riot!)
Season 4’s penultimate episode ends with Pete (Chris Witaske) finally telling Sydney about Carmy’s adjusted partnership agreement: One side names Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), while the other side names only Natalie (Abby Elliott) and Syd. Carmy removed himself from the deal entirely, and in the finale, we learn why.
Hungry for The Bear Season 4’s finale recap? Decider’s The Bear Season 4 ending explained has you covered. The Bear Season 4 spoilers ahead.
The Bear Season 4 Ending Explained: The Bear Season 4, Episode 10 Recap
On the heels of a tense dinner service, The Bear‘s Season 4 finale takes its chefs outside to hash out months, years, and seasons-worth of pent-up emotions, conflicts, fears, and harsh truths. As a palpably stressed Sydney rests her head against a fence, the restaurant’s door swings open and Carmy appears. When Syd says she’s smoking a cigarette in hopes he’ll head back inside, Carm clocks her lie, steps outside to join her and asks why she didn’t talk to him all service. She attempts to brush him off, but rather than ignore their issues like he would have in Season 3, Carm bluntly admits: “I don’t like the way this feels.”
Photo: FXSo Sydney cracks. She tells him about Pete’s call, and how wrecked she is to learn that he’s quitting and leaving her “with all the shit.” Carm knows he owes her an explanation — after all, he tried to tell her in Episode 5 — but caught off-guard, he can only muster: “This is the best thing for the restaurant. We have to put the restaurant first.” The vagueness upsets Syd more, and when he promises to get The Bear out of debt before he goes, she actually grabs a cigarette to take the edge off the painful exchange — one so agonizing that even Carm, who quit smoking, caves to take a puff.
As the two silently process their pain, viewers may assume the verbal sparring is over. Far from it. In one of The Bear‘s most ambitious swings yet, the 33-minute finale is entirely dialogue-driven. The chefs take turns to talking, screaming, crying, apologizing, and silently stalling until they’re emotionally cooked. It’s a heart-wrenching, cathartic, momentous feat that needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. But if you can’t wait to watch, or simply want to relive the experience, we’ve got you.
When Carmy finally speaks, he admits, “This is all I’ve ever done. This is all I’ve ever known. I think I did this — become a cook — so I didn’t have to do other things.” Syd reminds him that he loves cooking, and he shocks her by claiming: “I used to.” Back Episode 402, Natalie told Carmy, “You found something that you love and it’s completely 100% OK if you don’t love it anymore, because the most special part about it is that you were capable of that love.” So after an emotionally taxing season, and with permission to abandon the culinary intensity that ran his life for years, it seems Carmy’s ready to step away from the tortured chef life and see what he’s been missing in the world.
Photo: FXThough Carmy takes accountability for his actions and apologizes for “being a general menace,” he also tells Syd he knew she was considering leaving The Bear behind to work with Adam Shapiro. The bombshell inspires another failed attempt at smoking from Sydney. And though she apologizes for not telling Carm sooner, she never explicitly confirms she shut Shapiro down and chose to stay with him. As Carm tries to explain why he has to remove himself from the restaurant, he pours his heart out to Syd in hopes of reminding her of her worth.”Syd, you’re everything I’m never gonna be. You’re considerate. You allow yourself to feel things. You allow yourself to care. You’re a natural leader, and teacher, and you’re doing all this stuff for every fucking reason. I get it, this is a great opportunity, and it’s for a lot of fucking money and you can hire whoever the fuck you want, but this place right now, it’s starting to gel, it’s starting to feel alive, and you have seven people in this building who will jump in front of a fucking train for you. I’m gonna do everything I can to set you up for success, but any chance for any kind of good in this building, it started when you walked in. And any possibility of it surviving, it’s with you,” he gushes to a teary-eyed Syd.
Carmy admits he believes in Sydney more than he ever believed in himself. When she asks why, he replies: “Because you’re The Bear.” Bestowing his nickname on Syd with a line that hearkens back to the affecting Season 3 speech from Claire that rocked his world? BRB, SOBBING!
As Sydney desperately tries to change Carmy’s mind, reminding him he loves to self-sabotage and run when things are good, Richie walks outside to investigate the screaming and The Bear kicks things up another notch. Richie’s response to the news? “Right. You’re retiring. You’re 12. You on fucking drugs right now?” When Carmy assures his cousin he’s “fucking done,” Richie laughs in his face and also blames the move on “classic escapism.” Since Carmy’s been putting in some serious work this season, rather than respond with an insult when Richie takes a jab at his past behavior, Carmy chooses to apologize and let him in on his long-kept secret: “I went to Michael’s funeral.”
Photo: FXConvinced that Carmy is lying, Richie grabs him and forcefully presses their foreheads together, threatening to fight. After Syd begs them to stop, Carm explains that he went into Mikey’s service for a second, then hid out in his car, ashamed and unable to handle his grief. “When I came back, I didn’t know what to do. I was so fucking angry, and so fucking stuck, and I was so fucking scared, and I didn’t know how to deal with it,” Carm rants. “I never thought of it before, just how sorry I am, because I didn’t realize how you lost somebody, too.” Tissues where?! HANDS? I NEED HANDS!
Recognizing Carmy’s earnest emotions, Richie matches his vulnerability, admitting that he felt like Carmy resented him because he “failed” to keep an eye on Michael. Carmy puts Richie mind at ease, reminding him how much the Berzattos love him. If anything, he says, he resented Richie because he got to spend time with and get to know them when he was in New York. After the trio shares a smoke, Richie admits how much he missed Carmy when he was gone, reveals he bought a French Laundry cook book to feel closer to him, and reminds him that Mikey loved him.
“The restaurant — it’s gonna be good. It’s gonna be fine,” Carmy tells his pals. Richie says he knows because he still has Syd, and she says her employment depends on updated partnership terms: On one side, Jimmy. On the other side, her, Natalie, and RICHIE. Carmy asks if that’s what she wants and she corrects hims: “That’s what I need.” What she wants is for Carmy to stay; to keep the promise he made when he said he would never leave her alone again. Once he realizes the offer (“a fucking honor”) is real, Richie accepts but asks: “Exactly how the fuck do we keep this place open?” Before anyone can suggest a plan, Natalie walks outside, swiftly learns that her brother is leaving and went to Mikey’s funeral, and tearfully embraces him with a mix of sorrow, support, love, and pride. The two need no words. Everyone is talked out.
Photo: FXBefore The Bear goes back into hibernation, Season 4 shows quiet glimpses of Chicago at night and The Bear’s dark kitchen at 1:11 a.m. An incessant beeping in the background comes from the menacing countdown clock, and after the final 12 seconds tick away, a timer goes off and St. Vincent’s “Fast Slow Disco” (the song of the season!) plays viewers out as we battle perhaps our strongest bout Bear-induced agita yet.
While a half hour spent having crucial conversations was a step in the right direction, these chefs still have to talk. If Carmy really is leaving the biz behind, he promised to help The Bear get back on its feet first, and surely that will take time. Among the many loose ends still in need of tying ahead of Season 5, Ebra still hasn’t pitched Carmy his mini franchise plan, and “star man” Mr. Clark can still come through. And who’s to say those positives can’t convince Carmy to stay, work his shit out in a healthy way, find a better work-life balance, and recapture the initial spark and sentiment he had when he first set out to create a restaurant with Mikey — and again with Syd? Whether the chef backtracks on his decision or not, the restaurant’s dynamic is about to change. So if the show and the restaurant want to survive without Carmy, The Bear needs to rewrite its recipe for success.
THE BEAR – SEASON 4: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Can’t get enough of The Bear Season 4? For more insight, analysis, GIFs, and close-ups of Carmy’s arms, check out some highlights of Decider’s coverage:
- The Bear Season 4 Full Review: FX’s hit series needs to rewrite its recipe for success
- The Bear Season 4 Episode 1 recap: “Groundhogs”
- The Bear perfectly cast Rob Reiner as Ebra’s mentor, but went too far casting Brie Larson as Francine Fak
- Want to join in on the action but don’t have FX or Hulu? Smash that subscribe button below.
The Bear Season 4 is now streaming on Hulu.
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