Everything We Know About the Final Season of The Bear – and What’s Happened So Far

In an entertainment industry as relentless as the modern streaming market, truly excellent shows are becoming all the more precious. One example is FX’s The Bear, the acclaimed comedy-drama series that quietly debuted in 2022 and found a devoted audience on Disney+ in Australia.

Looking back, it’s difficult to place exactly when it exploded from indie project to household name, but when its popularity hit, it took off like a kitchen grease fire. Now, headed into its fifth and final season on Disney+, we revisit the story so far, the cast behind the chaos and the key questions still hanging over the show as it heads towards its conclusion on June 26.

The story in a mouthful

The Bear follows Carmy Berzatto, a young overburdened chef who’s left a fine-dining career behind to take over The Beef, a Chicago sandwich shop left to him by his late brother Mikey.

Arriving with ambitious plans and exacting standards, Carmy initially clashes with the restaurant’s long-serving staff. Over time though, he convinces the team to transform the struggling sandwich shop into a fine-dining restaurant called The Bear.

With financial and operational help from his family and a steady mix of support and challenges from his staff, they begin reimagining themselves and the business, which unearths more than a few loads of dirty laundry and family trauma. But Carmy risks everything by pushing the restaurant to try and win a Michelin Star, a determination that ruins his personal life and seems doomed to run the business into the ground.

Who’s in the cast?

The series centres on Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), restaurant manager Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), sous-chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), baker and dessert extraordinaire Marcus (Lionel Boyce), line cooks Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson), Carmy’s sister Natalie (Abby Elliott) and handyman-turned-waiter Neil Fak (Matty Matheson).

Part of the show’s charm has also been its impressive roster of guest stars and recurring cast members. That list includes Jon Bernthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Will Poulter, Olivia Colman, Joel McHale, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, Brie Larson, Sarah Paulson, John Cena and Rob Reiner.

Why is it so popular?

In its four seasons so far, The Bear has won five Golden Globes and 21 Emmys, breaking the record for the most Emmys awarded to a comedy series two years in a row.

It’s also been praised for its authentic portrayal of the industry. That’s thanks to series creator Christopher Storer, who worked with his culinary producer sister Courtney to perfect the portrayal. Speaking to Broadsheet in a 2022 interview, Courtney Storer explained that the showrunners “wanted to show how a kitchen can go either way – it can have a really good rhythm, or it can go off the rails”.

What do we know about season five?

Spoilers ahead for season four.

Season four left things in a dire spot. The team spent much of the season responding to a damaging review while confronting personal and professional tensions that had been building for years.

The season finale revealed that Carmy had decided to step away from the restaurant, leaving Syd to take the reins. Having lost his passion for cooking, he chooses to walk away from the career that once defined him.

And as the trailer for season five indicates, the restaurant is broke, about to be sold and also has been flooded – but despite all that, the team is defying their circumstances and going all-in on a last service for the history books.

Still, true to form, the team appears determined to push forward one last time.

Can The Bear survive?

Series finales are never easy to get right, but the baseline should be tying up as many loose ends as possible. For us, this season has a few narrative courses it can’t skip, especially surrounding the restaurant’s future.

One popular fan theory centres on Mr Cooper, a seemingly ordinary diner who appeared in season four. Some viewers believe he may have been a Michelin inspector, raising the possibility that The Bear could receive the recognition it has been chasing all along.

If not, has Ebraheim figured out the future? While the restaurant’s funding has run out, the line cook seems to be onto a profitable franchising plan for its sandwich-exclusive roots. Maybe The Bear will end, but The Beef will return bigger than ever? We’ll all find out together this week.

All eight episodes of FX’s The Bear will release on Friday June 26, exclusively on Disney+.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Disney+.