One of the reasons why Season 3 of The Bear wasn’t as universally praised as the first two is that because the story didn’t particularly progress all that much, despite the fact that it takes place during the first few months after the titular restaurant opens. There was a ton of contemplativeness, plenty of cinematic frippery, and a heavy reliance on the groanworthy Fak brothers for comic relief. Season 4 takes place right after the restaurant’s first big review is published, and, despite the continued contemplative vibe written by creator Christopher Storer, the story seems to be going somewhere this season. It goes without saying that from this point on there are spoilers about the first few episodes of Season 4.
Opening Shot: On a snowy night in suburban Chicago, a timer goes off. We see pistachios being shelled and eaten, then we see a sauce being made.
The Gist: Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his older brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal) are visiting their mother Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), and talking about jobs, restaurants, and money. When Carmy gives Mikey his vision of what his restaurant would be like. He wants to foster the feelings and memories that they used to have when they went out to eat; “Restaurants are special places,” he tells Mikey. They decide that they’ll open a restaurant together, which we know ends up being The Bear, which Carmy opened months after Mikey killed himself.
We then see Carmy reading the Chicago Tribune review of The Bear, a review that more or less says that the place is trying too hard. The subhead of the review says it “suffers from culinary dissonance.” The only part of the restaurant that got universal praise is the Italian beef window run by Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson). .
At the restaurant that morning, Syd (Ayo Edebiri) tells him that “they didn’t like the chaos, and frankly I don’t know if I do, either.” She still has an unsigned partnership agreement on her laptop, with an offer from a rival restaurant on the table.
This is when Jimmy (Oliver Platt) and Nicholas aka “Computer” (Brian Koppelman) walk in; Computer sets up a giant countdown clock that starts at 1,440 hours. According to Jimmy, they have those 1200 hours to become a profitable enterprise or he’ll have to sell. Nat (Abby Elliott) — at home caring for her newborn — Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Neil (Matty Matheson) all get caught up on the dire situation quickly. Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and Marcus (Lionel Boyce) find out about it when they arrive to work.
Carmy confidently says the restaurant will get the Michelin star he’s been after before this two-month window closes, which will lead to profits. That’s when Richie says he had to let some servers go and hire some “Non-negotiables”: Three people from Ever, the just-closed restaurant run by Chef Terry (Olivia Colman), where Richie staged and learned some of the kitchen discipline he uses at The Bear now. Jessica (Sarah Ramos) is especially helpful as the new expediter, helping people do their jobs faster and without as much chaos as the kitchen has now.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Bear more or less stands on its own, but there is a British series about a restaurant kitchen called Boiling Point that relies on a similar brand of frenetic energy.
Our Take: OK, at this point we’re all in agreement that The Bear is a drama that provides an occasional laugh, mostly via the Fak brothers. And, after the up-and-down third season, we know that creator Christopher Storer and his writers aren’t particularly interested in keeping the same frenetic pace that he had established in the show’s first two seasons. What we wonder as the show enters a very contemplative fourth season, then, is if Storer sees the finish line and what that might look like.
It certainly seems so, as Carmy spends the first few episodes slogging through his days at The Bear, not nearly as invested in his passion project as he once was. We’re not sure where that may have come from; perhaps the “meh” review in the Trib, perhaps it’s his breakup with Claire (Molly Gordon), perhaps it’s just the idea that he’s more interested in building his vision than keeping it running. But you can see him ceding more and more decision-making to Syd on the food side and Richie on the front-of-house side. While that can be seen as Carmy finally letting go and not micromanaging everything, it feels like it’s more of a shutdown than a pull-back.
Like we said, the episodes start to slow down and get contemplative; the kitchen is bathed in colored mood lighting, and at times the customers are referred to but aren’t shown. While we do see some passage of time, as evidenced by the countdown clock, things don’t seem to be nearly as pressured as they were in the early seasons. Your enjoyment of this contemplation will really depend on how much you enjoyed Storer’s cinematic sojourns in Season 3, because through the first handful of episodes, Season 4 seems to continue that vibe.
Sex and Skin: Nothing but the usual food porn.
Parting Shot: In an life full of clocks and timers, and the fact that the phrase “Every Second Counts” is prominent in The Bear’s kitchen, Carmy eyeballs the countdown clock goes under the 1200-hour mark.
Sleeper Star: Edwin Lee Gibson’s Ebraheim is on a mission to “create opportunity” for the restaurant. He should be doing that, given that the Beef window is the only part of the restaurant that’s profitable.
Most Pilot-y Line: Carmy and Richie argue as both take the blame for the bad Trib review. Richie goes into his old, less-calm mode by calling his “cousin” “Martyr Carmen.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Will Season 4 of The Bear make up for the spotty third season? That’s yet to be seen. But it seems like the show will have some real story momentum and real stakes this season, which in our minds will make it an improvement over Season 3.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.