The Bear season 5 is here to end the acclaimed series on a high note, but is it a worthy goodbye? Here’s our review of the series’ final season. Contains spoilers for The Bear season 4. Episodes watched: 7 out of 8. Forks. Review. Fishes. Braciole. The surprise special, Gary. These are just a few of ... The Bear season 5 review | The final goodbye
The Bear season 5 is here to end the acclaimed series on a high note, but is it a worthy goodbye? Here’s our review of the series’ final season.
Contains spoilers for The Bear season 4.
Episodes watched: 7 out of 8.
Forks. Review. Fishes. Braciole. The surprise special, Gary.
These are just a few of the many exceptional episodes of The Bear, a series that became a hit as soon as it hit Disney+ in 2022. One of the most talked-about shows of that year, it was one of the rare occasions where the hype was well earned: the series was just as good as everyone said.
For the past four years, The Bear has had us screaming “Yes, chef!” at our partners when they ask us to pass the salt, or “Corner!” going from the milk aisle to the bread section in the local Sainsbury’s. Or is it just me?
Set in a Chicago-based sandwich shop, left to chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) by his brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal) after he took his own life, The Bear’s adrenaline-pumping kitchen scenes and high-tension fights between the staff have made for compelling drama, seasoned with a heavy sprinkling of comedy. Over the course of four seasons, the sandwich shop has been transferred into a fine dining restaurant and the staff have found their own particular talents.
But now it’s time to say goodbye. We knew the day was coming sooner or later, but that doesn’t make watching the final season any easier.
At the end of season 4, Carmy announced that he was done with being a chef and was leaving The Bear to Syd (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Jimmy (Oliver Platt). As we head back into the kitchen in the first episode of season 5, there’s palpable tension in the air as not only are the rest of the staff still in the dark about Carmy’s decision, but also a huge storm over Chicago is flooding the restaurant. And thanks to dwindling profits, the place is about to run out of food, just as they’re on the brink of potentially earning a highly-coveted Michelin star.
If the previous seasons have been about pure chaos, season 5 leans into something a little different. Here, chaos is just brewing and everything is teetering on the brink of collapse – all except the roof, which really is collapsing.
Read more: Boiling Point, The Bear and drama in the kitchen
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It’s a slow start for a series that’s known for its blood pressure-elevating pace. It might prove too slow for some, but the season picks up the pace as it goes on. In fact, The Bear seems to shine brightest when binged all at once. The temperature is rising in the kitchen as well as outside of it, and that steady rise wouldn’t necessarily translate if we were watching it week by week.
The one thing that had been missing, at least for this writer, was the show’s love of food. Season 4’s focus on the struggles of a new restaurant and Carmy’s growing insecurity stole the show. Gone were the grease-dripping sandwiches and sizzling pans. Season 5 brings back a love of food. There are beautifully arranged plates, carefully constructed under chef Syd’s supervision. There’s now not just a love of flavour, but a love of art in The Bear. The food this season isn’t just to be consumed, but to be adored.
The series does struggle to include or at least compellingly tie off the storylines of its huge cast. Edwin Lee Gibson’s Ebrahim is particularly poorly covered and Matty Matheson’s – a real chef, by the way! – Neil doesn’t get much of the spotlight either. At the risk of sounding like Vin Diesel in the Fast & Furious films, The Bear is about family rather any one character, and it’s not until the season’s later episodes where that truly shows.
Only seven episodes were made available for the press ahead of the series’ launch, but they tap into that raw magnetism that made us fall in love with the series in the first place. Pots boil over, pipes burst and the pressure rises. Episode 7 in particular feels like old-school The Bear, coming the closest to the episodes in earlier runs. Unless the finale absolutely fumbles the bag, season 5 is exactly the goodbye we deserve.
A lot of TV shows don’t know when it’s time to gracefully bow out. Showrunner Christopher Storer’s creation goes out on its own terms, choosing quality over quantity. Season 5 is cooked to perfection.
The Bear season 5 streams on Disney+ from 26th June.
