The Bear Season 5 Release Schedule: When New Episodes Drop On Hulu & FX

Jun 24, 2026 - 16:19

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The Bear Season 5 Release Schedule: When New Episodes Drop On Hulu & FX

Published Jun 24, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

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No matter what the future holds for the restaurant in the show, The Bear is closing up shop with the release of season 5. That's right, the hit comedy-drama and 21-time Emmy Award winner (at least so far) is ready to say goodbye after five tension-filled seasons featuring the transformation of a Chicago sandwich shop to a first-class restaurant at the hands of Carmy, Sydney, Richie, and the rest of the "Bears."

Despite a long and complicated journey, the Berzatto family, blood and otherwise, succeeded in opening The Bear. However, by the end of The Bear season 4, Carmy revealed that he's ready to leave the kitchen behind and possibly his career as a chef. But if the group can't turn things around, and fast, nobody will have a future at the restaurant that they all poured their blood, sweat, and tears into creating.

Granted, Carmy, Syd, and the others aren't ready to give up, with The Bear season 5 focusing on one final service that could potentially save the restaurant and secure a Michelin Star. In addition to Carmy's decision to quit serving as a distraction, the employees face a number of other massive challenges, such as a historic rainstorm, dwindling supplies, and emotions running at an all-time high. That said, it wouldn't be The Bear without anxiety-inducing episodes.

The Bear's Final Season Releases Thursday, June 25, On Hulu

The Bear season 5 is officially arriving on Thursday, June 25, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, marking the end of the critically acclaimed series. All eight episodes of the show's final season will be available to stream on Hulu beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Aside from the surprise release of The Bear's special prequel episode in May, the show has been very consistent with its release dates. Dating back to season 1's premiere in 2022, every season of the show has been released between June 22 and 25. That said, The Bear's fifth and final season is also getting a weekly broadcast on FX for the first time in the show's history.

The Bear Season 5 Will Release Weekly On FX - Full Episode Schedule Explained

While The Bear operated as part of the FX on Hulu brand, it remained a streaming release, available to those with Hulu and Disney+ bundles that included Hulu. That was until the prequel episode, "Gary," aired on FX's cable channel, in addition to its same-day Hulu arrival on May 5.

The Bear season 5 is following in the prequel's footsteps by embracing a weekly broadcast run on FX beginning on Thursday, June 25. At 9 p.m. ET, the season 5 premiere, "Soda," will air, directly followed by the release of episode 2, "Lamb." From there, one new episode will release weekly in the 9 p.m. ET slot on Thursdays through the first week of August.

The Bear Season 5 Release Schedule

Episode #	Hulu Release (at 9 p.m. ET)	FX Release (at 9 p.m. ET)
1 - "Soda"	June 25, 2026	June 25, 2026
2 - "Lamb"	June 25, 2026	June 25, 2026 (begins after "Soda")
3 - "Mint"	June 25, 2026	July 2, 2026
4 - "Ribs"	June 25, 2026	July 9, 2026
5 - "Raspberries"	June 25, 2026	July 16, 2026
6 - "Focaccia"	June 25, 2026	July 23, 2026
7 - "Caramel"	June 25, 2026	July 30, 2026
8 - TBD	June 25, 2026	August 6, 2026

The past three seasons of The Bear had ten total episodes, but the final installment is going back to eight episodes, as was the case with the debut season. However, The Bear has been known to have varied episode runtimes, and though not all have been confirmed, episode 1 will be 22 minutes, and episode 2 will be slightly longer at 25 minutes. It will be interesting to see if The Bear season 5 breaks the episode runtime record currently held by season 4's "Bears" at 69 minutes.

Why The Bear Is Ending With Season 5

Before any official announcement, Jamie Lee Curtis indicated that The Bear's upcoming season would be the show's last. Not long after, it was officially confirmed The Bear was ending with season 5. Concluding the show while it's still so popular may seem like a surprise, but it actually lasted longer than creator Christopher Storer initially planned. Going beyond the original plan, however, confirms that The Bear is going out on its own terms with a completed story, something that's becoming more uncommon these days.

Hulu's The Bear Is Ending At The Right Time

The Bear is set to end with season 5, and it's a good time for the culinary drama to call it quits, because it's close to outstaying its welcome.

The cast of The Bear also seemed to get busier as the seasons went on, as the series propelled the careers of several of the show's stars to new levels. Ayo Edebiri keeps popping up in new projects alongside voicing characters in major movies like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Inside Out 2. Ebon Moss-Bachrach joined the MCU while working on The Bear and will reprise his role as The Thing in the next two Avengers movies.

Of course, we have to mention Jeremy Allen White, who recently transformed into Bruce Springsteen for a biopic, voiced a character in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and will appear in Aaron Sorkin's sequel to The Social Network. Even without The Bear, it's safe to say that the cast still has bright futures ahead.