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Food and Drinks
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Andrew Sun
Mouthing Off
Andrew Sun

What The Bear’s final season got right, and one thing they’ve long got wrong

Season five of The Bear delivered compelling stories and character growth, but for Andrew Sun, the series was guilty of a lasting oversight

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Ayo Edebiri (left) and Jeremy Allen White in a still from The Bear Season 5. Photo: courtesy of FX
Andrew Sun
Andrew Sun has dabbled in many shades of the media spectrum for 25 years, from college radio, TV, print and online columnist to starting film festivals, managing music labels and authoring food books.
The fifth and final season of Hulu’s hit streaming series The Bear was released on June 25. I think sufficient time has now passed that I can talk about the food-related show without being accused of divulging spoilers and ruining the story for anyone not fully caught up.
If you are a fan, likely you binge-watched all eight episodes soon after it dropped; that is what diehard followers of the edgy series would do. This kind of devotion is also why cast members like Jeremy Allen White (as brooding chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto), Ayo Edebiri (the talented young chef Sydney Adamu) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (as foul-mouthed, hothead cousin Richie Jerimovich) have become in-demand stars.

Appreciation for The Bear’s chaotic kitchen theatre and the team’s ability to create haute entrées in a Chicago dive extends beyond restaurant nerds and fine dining snobs. I am sure I am not the only viewer who gets a kick from the annoying but lovable characters, all of whom have no clue how to express their feelings, instead redirecting them into microaggressions, personal acrimony and insults.

You also know you have made a successful restaurant show when you can score Easter egg cameos from industry icons such as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Rene Redzepi and Grant Achatz.
Famed French chef Daniel Boulud made a cameo appearance in The Bear. Photo: courtesy of Daniel Boulud
Famed French chef Daniel Boulud made a cameo appearance in The Bear. Photo: courtesy of Daniel Boulud

However, The Bear’s most significant cultural impact is adding a new honorific into everyone’s vocabulary. Even a simple request to pass the plate at a dinner party is now followed by someone barking in response: “Yes, chef!” and “Right away, chef!”

Anyway, I would say this last season was especially good. The stories have always been compelling, but it feels like they upped their game even more for the final episodes.

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