Daaaaaaa 'Bear'! (Part 2)
Let's talk about everything that happened to Carmy, Syd, and friends in Season Four
A special bonus What’s Alan Watching? news letter coming up just as soon as I pronounce “chives” with two syllables…
Welcome to your The Bear Season Four spoiler discussion zone! All three of my Bear stories are now live on Rolling Stone, and my descriptions of each will feature spoilers, so stop reading now if you haven’t finished:
First up: a spoiler-lite review looking at the ways the story in the season parallels the story behind the season, as Carmy spends a lot of time apologizing for past mistakes and trying to do better, while it sure feels as if Bear creator Christopher Storer learned a lot from the response to Season Three and tried to get back to what The Bear does best.
Speaking of The Bear at its best, I wrote an essay about my two favorite episodes of the season — and two of my favorite Bear installments, period — and how the show is just as good at keeping things small (a Syd spotlight that’s mostly her hanging out with her cousin’s daughter) or going very big (a wedding episode featuring 20 significant characters — including the returns of Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, and Jamie Lee Curtis, plus the introduction of Very Special Guest Fak Brie Larson — as well as the largest table in the history of the universe).
Finally, I dug into the finale, which is called “Goodbye,” and is about a goodbye — specifically, Carmy telling Syd that he intends to leave the restaurant business entirely, and will place her in charge of The Bear — even though it’s not clear whether this is meant to be The Bear saying goodbye, setting us up for a fifth and final season, or something else.
There’s a lot to talk about, in both those essays and in the episodes themselves. I exhausted most of my thoughts, so let’s head straight to the comments. What did everybody else think?
Danielle Deadwyler makes it all look so effortless, but I was really taken by the easy chemistry she had with Ayo Edebiri in their episode. It was weird how much this season felt like an echo/revisiting of previous seasons, right down to the musical choices. That said, some of that really worked- I loved the wedding episode specifically because there was an echo of Tiff being an honorary Berzatto and Syd becoming part of the family in a similar way. Also, I cannot believe how believable the evolution of Syd and Richie's friendship is- very good acting from both of them there. On the other hand, this conclusion is a bit dicey to me- it smacks of 'men will literally give up their calling and partnership in a restaurant to avoid therapy.' But I hope there's a Season 5 to delve into this further.
As a total tv nerd, I am grateful to have this space. S4 felt more thoughtful and I was practically weeping in episode 3 to see Ebrahim get to shine. But the fact that Claire got nearly as much (or more?) screen time than Tiff IN AN EPISODE ABOUT TIFF'S WEDDING is a hate crime.
After stewing for a few days, I finally realized why I feel such rage for this cipher of a character - the way everyone talks about her reminds me of all the times characters on Studio 60 talked about what geniuses the writers were and how special and hilarious and unparalleled the show was....and not once did I see evidence of this genius onscreen. Claire, as written (and as played) is a doctor with more free time than any doctor I've known in my life, and an absolutely tiresome personality. The fact that they keep trying to focus on her when there are spectacular female characters like Tina, Sugar, and Tiff is frustrating. So much time wasted.
The only solace to Carmy's departure is that maybe we won't have to see her any more.