‘The Bear’ Review: Season 5 Cools Things Down for a Hearty Final Course

For a series that drops new seasons like clockwork — every year for five straight years between June 22-26 (please clap) — “The Bear‘s” reputation has shifted erratically from beginning to end. Christopher Storer’s FX series, about a talented chef trying to tame his toxic work habits in order to rehabilitate his late brother’s ramshackle restaurant, was an awards darling and trendy TV favorite over its first two seasons. But in the following two, the sheen wore off and the complaints stacked up:

It’s too long. It’s too slow. It’s too pretentious. It’s not that funny. It’s too focused on the mopey white guy. It’s not focused enough on romance(s). Its cameos are distracting. Did I mention it’s not funny?

“Heard, chef.”

So says Season 5, literally and figuratively. As “The Bear’s” time in the kitchen comes to a close, not only do the goodbye episodes address recent criticisms by streamlining the story around one last all-or-nothing dinner service, they also can’t resist a few meta swipes at the complaints that suppressed the series’ cool factor (not entirely, mind you; “The Bear” is still quite popular and renown never evaporated, it only ebbed). Thankfully, there are self-aware jabs as well, and it’s all couched in a character- and ensemble-centric ending that has hearty portions that help the random sour bite go down smoothly.

The final season consists of just eight episodes (seven of which were screened for this review), the same as the first season and two less than every other. Five of the first seven episodes are under 30 minutes, and none cross the hour mark. Facilitating that reduction is a truncated narrative, taking place over a single day — the day after the Season 4 finale, when time ran out on the restaurant’s ability to turn a profit. (Remember Uncle Jimmy’s big clock?!)

Now, Syd (Ayo Edebiri) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are in limbo. With Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) quitting, they’re running The Bear as partners, but they don’t know if they have the money, let alone the expertise, to run it properly. Syd dreams of a kitchen without the chaos inherent what Carmy came up in (and that he’s unintentionally created himself). Richie wants what everyone wants: a job he enjoys, co-workers he cares about, and enough security to provide for his daughter. But he’s plagued by memories of Mikey (Jon Bernthal) — particularly one from last month’s surprise episode, “Gary” — and wants to do right by his memory. (The cliffhanger ending to that episode, it must be said, turns out to be a red herring.)

Similar fears for the future hover over the rest of the team. Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) dreads starting over, again, after learning so much, growing so much, and investing so much in her current role. Natalie (Abby Elliott) invested quite a bit herself, and with a new baby at home, she feels the impossible pressure to put all of herself into everything (and everyone) she loves. Marcus (Lionel Boyce), who won an award from “Food & Wine” at the end of Season 4, still has unresolved issues with his late mother (specifically, her husband), and hustles to prove himself once again on what could be The Bear’s last night.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Abby Elliott, and Sarah Ramos in ‘The Bear’Courtesy of FX

With Syd in charge, Season 5 feels more balanced than past Carmy-centric swings. He’s concentrating on being a team player instead of a panic-inducing dictator, which helps to simultaneously grow Carmy and elevate those around him. Meanwhile, the Faks — and a hard Chicago rain — help provide steady laughs. I can’t say there’s much progress for the ‘shippers, but those were delusional desires anyway (unless you’re on Team Syd & Luca, which may always linger as a missed opportunity), and the hyper-focus on the restaurant cuts the cameos way down (although the finale could still expand to include more famous faces).

“This is a cleansing, this is a renewal,” Richie says, trying to spin a catastrophic storm into a transformational opportunity. It’s not the only time dialogue can be interpreted two ways: Yes, in transitioning from Carmy’s kitchen to Syd’s, The Bear is attempting to leave its dysfunctional baggage behind. But after two clumsy seasons, so is “The Bear.” Other notable double entendres include characters complaining about non-staffers saying “Yes, chef” too often, noting that a dust-up amid dinner service “is not funny” at all, and speculating over Carmy and Syd’s relationship status.

How forced each wink and nudge feels may come down to how online you are, but this professional web scroller wasn’t too irked. Season 5 leans into the series’ best qualities, trusting its cast of breakout stars to turn a relatively simple meal into an indelible final course. Coming into the final season, all that really needs to be resolved is the fate of the restaurant and the fortunes of our chefs. Storer, operating without former showrunner Joanna Calo for the first time (the new “X-Men” scribe is not mentioned in the production notes), doesn’t expand the menu, nor does he complicate the presentation. His team of writers, producers, and craftspeople take their time building to the show’s trademark anxiety hour, and their deliberateness pays dividends.

Save for a minor mystery here and a pacing hiccup there, Season 5 arranges a steady, concentrated build toward the revelations we crave, packed with plenty of moving moments and without breaking from its day-in-the-life plot. (There’s no moody, montage-driven episode or sudden flashback to the Berzattos’ past — unless you count “Gary.”)

Historically speaking, TV finales resonant as strongly as they do is because the audience spends so much time with characters they care about. Week after week, season after season, year after year, it all adds up. “The Bear” did the work to stay in our lives consistently for five years, and it pays off in the final season. Maybe our love for Syd, Carmy, and Co. has changed, but it’s still there. So don’t be embarrassed to say “Yes, chef” one last time.

Grade: B+

“The Bear” Season 5 premieres Thursday, June 25. All eight episodes will be released at once on Hulu. Two episodes will premiere at 9 p.m. ET on FX, with one episode to air each week through the finale on August 6.