The Bear Has Changed… Just Like It Was Supposed To

The Bear recently served up a fresh season for fans to satiate their appetites with, but, as was the case with the divisive third season, not every fan feels that Season 4 is up to the Michelin Star quality. Jeremy Allen White returns as Carmy Berzatto, who has transformed his deceased brother’s failing sandwich shop into a fine dining establishment. Season 3 saw Carmy push himself, and everyone around him, to the limit (both physically and emotionally). But there’s a different atmosphere in the kitchen for Season 4. While some fans argue that the series has lost touch with what made it great, Season 4 is what The Bear was always supposed to be.

The new season dropped on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (international) on June 28th. The 10-episode season earned strong reviews from critics, boasting an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score. Although, it’s far from the 100% and 99% that Seasons 1 and 2 held, respectively. Season 4 isn’t just the worst-reviewed season by critics; it also holds the lowest audience score on RT, at a measly 52%. Many of those disgruntled fans miss the high-energy chaos and passion of The Original Beef of Chicagoland’s dysfunctional kitchen. But that’s missing the entire point of the show.

The Bear Season 4 Demonstrates the Series’s Growth

One of the biggest misconceptions about The Bear is that it’s about cooking and food. While that is certainly an element of the show (after all, it is set in a restaurant), it’s far from the prevailing theme of the series. At its core, The Bear is about personal growth and overcoming grief. Carmy spent the first three seasons emotionally chained behind his passion and obsession for being the best chef in the world, which he used to distract himself from his shattered relationship with his late brother, Michael (Jon Bernthal). Across three seasons, this led him to push away everyone around him, and, as he admits in Season 4, create obstacles for himself and his own personal growth, stemming from a fear that he’ll actually reach that place.

But, after that iconic conversation with Chef David (Joel McHale) in the Season 3 finale, a switch in Carmy’s brain was flipped, and his stunted emotional growth was suddenly thrown into perspective. Season 4 introduced audiences to a new side of Carmy: the better version of himself. He might not be the maverick chef who took the culinary world by storm anymore, but he’s a far nicer person to be around.

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One of the biggest complaints about Season 3 was that it lacked an overarching narrative. Season 1 was about saving the sandwich shop, and Season 2 focused on opening The Bear. While Season 3 had the secondary goal of obtaining a star, there was no narrative drive to really progress the series. In many cases, the characters remained in the same dysfunctional positions they were in when they started the season.

Season 4 reintroduced that drive, but not in the way fans may have been hoping. Those who tuned in to Season 4 wanting more anxiety-inducing action were met with the polar opposite: a redemption arc…

The Bear Has Always Been About Redemption

Season 1 of The Bear introduced audiences to the dysfunctional found family of The Beef of Chicagoland, including the vexing Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), the impatient Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), the stubborn Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), and even the golden retriever in human form, Pete (Chris Witaske). Season 2 then immediately went to work redeeming some of the worst characters.

Pete was given more depth through his connection with Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), Richie starred in one of the show’s best episodes, “Forks,” which gave him new purpose, and Carmy learned to open up about his grief through Claire (Molly Gordon). Season 4 is the culmination of four seasons’ worth of redemption, as everyone from Carmy to Sugar (Abby Elliott) and Francie Fak (Brie Larson) got some form of closure.

Had The Bear returned to its past chaotic ways in Season 4, it would have undermined all of the work the characters have put into their individual growth. Of course, the hospitality industry is a forever-stressful job, but the characters in The Bear approach the stress of the kitchen in a new and healthier way in Season 4. After all, Carmy has spent four seasons saying he wants to make the restaurant “a place of calm.” Season 4 finally delivered on that goal.