We’ve all had that day at work: tasks piling up, pressure mounting, and things going wrong left and right—on top of some personal issues you’re trying to keep to yourself. And what do you do? You take five, head to the bathroom to look yourself in the mirror, put on a smile, and head out, hoping that was enough to tide you through the day.
It is widely agreed upon that “The Bear” is an uncomfortable watch because each scene mirrors exactly what I had just illustrated beforehand: the anxiety, the stress, and the workplace dread—not just limited to kitchens, but in every industry.
And for its fifth and final season, set on a stormy Chicago day where everything that could’ve gone wrong, went wrong, the chefs and crew of The Bear gear up for an emotional last service.
READ: ‘Obsession’ and a wish for better pay
You just gotta do what you gotta do
“The Bear” Season five picks up immediately after Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) makes his choice to quit at the season four finale, leaving the restaurant to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Natalie ‘Sugar’ (Abby Elliott).
But things aren’t so simple. The restaurant is still facing closure on top of the surprise leadership change.
The show’s logline reads: “With no money, the threat of a sale and a torrential storm in their way, the new partners must band together with the rest of the team to achieve one last service, hoping they’ll finally earn a Michelin star. Ultimately, they learn that what makes a restaurant ‘perfect’ might not be the food, but the people.”’
In the season five trailer, pipes are exploding, the restaurant is flooded, deliveries have cut them off, and everything that’s gone wrong has gone wrong. But as Richie says, “We are outgunned, and we are outmanned. We have no money, but we have each other and nothing left to lose.”
Weirdly speaking, as stressful as this environment seems—even far greater than the infamous pre-order mishap in season one—there isn’t much panicking or screaming. The chefs and crew of The Bear know what they have to do, and they have each other’s backs this time around.
READ: 7 unreleased games we can’t wait to play
Carmy at peace
In a brief preview I’ve personally seen of the upcoming fifth season, Carmy is very different. He isn’t constantly smoking, anxious, or shouting at anyone. He’s dialed in, working diligently, and offering Sydney any help he can, while deferring to her as the new head of the kitchen.
If anything, he seems to be at peace—more so than at any point throughout the show.
And it all goes back to his conversation with Sydney at the end of season four: “You’re everything I’m never going to be. You’re considerate, you allow yourself to feel things, you allow yourself to care, you are a natural leader and teacher, and you’re doing all this stuff for every right reason.”
“Right now, this is starting to gel; it is starting to feel alive… I’m going to do everything I can to set you up for success, but any chance of any kind of good in this building started when you walked in, and any possibility of it surviving—it’s with you,” he adds.
By then, Carmy already knew that he no longer loved being in the kitchen—that he wanted to distance himself from it to see what he truly is as a human being. But he also saw how much Sydney, Richie, Natalie, and everyone at the restaurant loved being there, more so than perhaps he ever did.
Thus, his mission for the fifth and final season: ensure the restaurant’s survival, do whatever it takes to set up the restaurant and those who love it for success, and finally leave.
And considering everything he’s gone through in the past five seasons, it’s high time he did.
All eight episodes of “The Bear” Season 5 will premiere on Disney+ on June 26
