The ending of The Bear season 4 leaves us with a foreboding yet hopeful feeling. It’s not entirely sad, but it’s not upbeat either. I did find the beginning of this season a little bit slow, like what more can we see now to make this show feel as authentic and real as before, but here we are. The 4th season (which I for some reason had assumed would be the final) sets the tone for the beginning of something new. A different set of rules, a different life, a different approach for what’s to come next. Given we’ve enjoyed a good 3 seasons of chaos, I can imagine that with what happens at the end of season 4, things are going to be changing, not only at the restaurant, but also with the world we get to see and experience in the show. This season sees Carmy at his calmest yet. You can clearly see how much he’s grown as a person and that he’s genuinely trying, unlike previously, to make amends with everybody he’s let down. But to do this, he makes a decision that significantly affects everybody at the restaurant, Sydney included. While he makes this decision without consulting anybody, truthfully, it is all about him, and it makes sense. With that said, let me try to get into the whys in The Bear season 4’s ending.
Spoiler Alert
Why Did Sydney Choose To Stay At The Restaurant?
The big secret Sydney’s kept through this season and quite a bit of the previous one is that a man named Adam Shapiro (who previously worked at Ever) wants to give Sydney a new opportunity, i.e., a new restaurant that would allow her to make all the decisions by herself. To an outsider, this decision looks pretty cut and dry. The Bear is dying, Sydney is too talented to be stuck there with Carmy and his fickle mindset, and she’s going to get paid handsomely after she jumps ship; what more can a budding chef really ask for? Well, anyone at The Bear will tell you that it’s family. When talking to Donna earlier in the season, in the conversation that essentially made her decision for her, Sydney tells Donna that sometimes there’s no difference between a family-family and a restaurant-family. What she means by this is that she feels at home at The Bear, like everyone there is her real family. Syd hasn’t even been around for as long as the others, and it took so long for her to become a part of the inner circle; however, she now feels like she belongs. Even when she explains the two options to her niece by describing Adam’s place as a house with free pizza all the time, she realizes in her heart that no number of pizzas (i.e., she’s not a capitalist) can bring her the satisfaction she gets from killing it at The Bear. Plus, she has a deep connection to Carmy, even though he has no idea himself how far back that connection goes.
Sydney makes the decision in the 9th episode of the show, and she tells Adam that she’s thankful for his patience, but she still thinks she can do more where she is currently. Adam’s frustration isn’t unwarranted, but of course, the reason he’s really upset is that he’s losing an excellent chef. I mean, the girl can get pasta out the door in less than 3 minutes; she’s insane. Sydney’s will is further put to the test because her father has a heart attack mid-season. This completely flips her world upside down, and unlike Carmy, she’s able to express how she feels about her dad to Claire. Sydney realizes that she hates that her dad worries so much about her and that she’s giving him too much to worry about. She’s passionate, but she’s also kind of helpless. But fortunately, he’s okay, and things are going to be just fine. She does know that she can always rely on her dad whenever things don’t work out, but she also knows that he’s not going to be around forever. While this is scary, this situation kind of helps her come to terms with it. Everything has a deadline, no?
What Is Ebraheim Planning?
I don’t know if it’s been too long since I watched the show or if I’m right about this, so take it with a grain of salt, but I feel like this is the most I’ve seen Ebra talk in the whole show. Ebraheim, the sandwich guy, has one goal only: to create more opportunity. Despite The Bear having mixed reviews ever since the end of the previous season, Ebra’s sandwiches, i.e., The Beef original, have remained a constant in terms of making money, in terms of still being fantastic, and in terms of pumping out sandwiches. Despite the vibe having changed and the sandwich being a one-window thing, not just literally but in a narrow window of time, Ebra is able to make the same amount of money that the original restaurant made, if not more. That too with half the staff. He brings on a man to be a business consultant, Albert, and he proposes that they franchise The Beef to two other locations in the city with one central kitchen for consistency. After a lot of discussion with all the guys working with him, Ebra decides it’s a good idea to bring Albert on board as a potential partner, but will Carmy agree to this plan? Well, after what we saw in the final episode, I think he most definitely will. It’s quite an intelligent business strategy, too, even The Computer agrees, because it would bring in the money, and that money could then go to push The Bear, too. Help them stay afloat, you know? Think small, make big.
Does Marcus talk to his dad?
Why is it that everyone who works for Carmy has some sort of familial issue? For Marcus, it seems like since his mom died, he’s not been able to go see his dad. He burries himself in his work, and this pays off because the Food & Wine Magazine puts him on a list of new chefs to watch out for. Marcus has been so self-deprecative ever since stuff changed, but he’s eager to keep his creative juices flowing. A few things contribute to Marcus’ contribution and eventual contact with his dad. One is Carmy telling him that he’ll never feel alone at the restaurant, and the second is him making it on that list, because he finally realizes that he’s not doing this all in vain. Now, Marcus’ mum was sick for a long time and died while he was at work. So I feel like this moment is also, in a way, closure for him feeling guilty for not being around when his mom died.
Is Carmy Quitting?
In The Bear season 4’s ending, we have an entire episode of Carmy, Syd, and Richie having a massive meltdown behind the restaurant. This is because Sydney has found out at the end of the 2 month “parachute” Jim gave The Bear to stop bleeding money and become profitable, that Carmy is quitting the restaurant. The whole reason for her staying is now a waste, or so it seems. Carmy spends a good amount of time explaining to Syd that she is the reason this restaurant works, and she’s the leader and teacher that they need to keep going strong. What he doesn’t understand is that a lot of that push that Syd has can’t be attributed purely to self-discipline; it’s also because of Carmy. But the thing is, Carmy’s decision is largely important to him as an individual. As much as you’d want him to stay at the restaurant, all the trauma that being a chef has brought him is too high a price to pay for a life that isn’t worth living.
I don’t want to be that person, but if we don’t want another Mikey situation, Carmy must make this hard and heavy decision. To be honest, you can see his cogs turning throughout the season, because every time Syd does something impressive, and he stops to think of it as a challenge to his authority, he notices that she’s incredible at all the things he wishes he could master. Carmy is a great chef, but he can’t be a leader because he lets the chaos seep out of him rather than taking it all in. This is what Sydney is best at; they contrast each other so completely, so he already knows she’s going to keep the restaurant afloat, whereas he’d have sent this ship sinking. Yes, Carmy is quitting, but he’s not going anywhere. I feel like this means he’s really going to be around more, like a real person.
What Will Happen To The Restaurant?
Finally, Syd makes the decision to bring Richie on board as a partner along with herself, Nat, and Jimmy (who gets 50%, of course). This decision is bigger than we think, because Richie has felt like an outsider everywhere—in his own family, when his wife found someone else, and at the restaurant, because after Mikey died, he didn’t have a purpose. Richie found family in Carmy’s family, and Carmy was jealous of it, but Richie still always felt like he was sidelined as “cousin.” When Donna talks to Carmy and reads out her apology, she constantly mentions Richie because he’s part of the family for real. Carmy tells Richie the same thing, and Syd encourages him to set things in stone. The true shining moment for him, because it means he’s truly included, especially because Syd reminds him that she’s got no time for “gestures,” he truly belongs. I guess this entire season is about belonging and finding the balance between passion and belonging.
The show ends with the timer going off, meaning no more time for improvements, leaving us uncertain about The Bear’s future, because neither Syd nor Sugar nor Richie knows how to handle what’s coming next. However, based on what’s gone down in the show, I can imagine they’re going to get that Michelin star pretty soon, and this is not credit to one person; it’s to the whole team.
