Plenty of series which are met with initial acclaim drop off either dramatically in their second season, or gradually over time.
The series, which had previously delivered strong character drama, visually arresting cooking sequences, high tension scenarios and big laughs became known as a slightly navel-gazing, very slow paced affair, with very little narrative momentum.
At the end of season 4, I wrote that we might be able to see light at the end of the tunnel, that the series could be about to return to its former glories. There were green shoots in the back half of that season, with episodes such as Tonnato and Goodbye delivering the goods.
View Green Video on the source websiteSadly, I have to report that not only did the Christopher Storer and his team seemingly not read my piece (shocker!) but they've actually followed the complete opposite track. Having seen seven of the eight episodes in season 5, I can comfortably say The Bear has made a huge mistake in its final run, one which could seriously damage its legacy going forward.
Fans' minds were whirring - would season 5 not feature Carmy? Would it follow him in a new arena? Or would he spend some time away, only to return soon into the season, with a renewed love for the game?
It turns out, we needn't have asked any of these questions. The show has no interest in answering them.
Without spoiling anything (although, honestly, it would be quite difficult to do so given how little takes place), the main action of the season sees the team re-grouping for another day at The Bear after Cicero's clock hit zero.
Why they've chosen to make this structural choice is unclear. Perhaps they saw the buzz The Pitt was getting, and thought copying its format could be a way of returning the series to the relevance it once had.
The problem is, The Bear isn't The Pitt and a kitchen isn't a hospital. In spite of its structure, which sees each 15-episode season taking place over a 15-hour shift, The Pitt still has episodic elements that delineate the instalments, and a pace which keeps the on screen action riveting regardless.
I would personally struggle to describe any one of the first seven episodes of The Bear season 5 independently. It's all just a mush of ongoing story, and a very slight ongoing story at that.
It also means that any decisions or revelations which are made are largely inconsequential. For instance, Carmy's decision to leave should have been seismic, but instead it really doesn't matter all that much to us as viewers - he's still there, turning up for work the day after, so it's primarily business as usual for this final season.
Of course, when watching any form of media it's important to judge what is there, rather than what could have been, some imagined version of the piece which never existed or was going to exist.
The Bear has always been a character-led piece first and foremost, which is why I gave season 3 the benefit of the doubt. However, that doesn't mean you can just abandon story entirely, at least not within individual episodes.
However, we've already seen all of these elements from The Bear before. By season 5, to focus so exclusively on that, makes the show feels like its spinning it's wheels, right at the point they should be coming to a natural stop.
However, after the first seven episodes of the season, that proposed finale would arrive more as a sigh of relief than as a joyful exclamation of a final season done right to the last.
The Bear season 5 will premiere on Disney+ on Friday 26 June 2026. You can sign up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month now.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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