WARNING: The following contains heavy spoilers for The Bear Season 4.
Both Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Syd (Ayo Edebiri) were at a crossroads throughout The Bear Season 4. Their counterproductive goals led to a lot more miscommunication throughout the season, even if the restaurant was doing better, and finally came to a game-changing head in Episode 10.
Carmy was under the gun in Season 4 to make the restaurant profitable after Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) revealed that the money was running out seven months sooner than expected. That meant rolling back a lot of Carmy's restaurant initiatives that they started in the hopes of scoring a Michelin star within the first year of opening.
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Meanwhile, Syd was struggling between staying at The Bear and making her co-dream with Carmy come true, or bailing on the sinking ship to run her own restaurant under Adam Shapiro (playing himself). Her sense of loyalty encouraged her to stay at The Bear, but Carmy's deteriorating mental state and inability to communicate were pushing her out the door.
Could all of this have been solved if Syd and Carmy ever had a straightforward conversation? Yes, yes, it could have. But that conversation didn't happen until the Season 4 finale when Pete (Chris Witaske), their lawyer, called Syd and informed her that Carmy had asked to be written out of the restaurant agreement. Syd had already told Adam she wouldn't be taking the job with him, but learning that Carmy was ditching The Bear was an emotional punch to the gut. Luckily, Carmy walked outside to where Syd was hiding out in the back courtyard, and the two could finally lay their cards on the table.
Carmy tried to explain that working at the restaurant wasn't healthy for him. It was too tied up in all of his family baggage, and he didn't know how to be a functional chef or manager when everything inside the restaurant reminded him of stuff he hadn't emotionally dealt with yet. If The Bear was sinking, Carmy felt like the cannonball that went through the hull, allowing the water to seep in.
While Syd initially struggled to understand how Carmy could abandon her, it started to sink in when Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) joined them and learned that Carmy was quitting —sorry, retiring — from the restaurant business. The cousins also aired their dirty laundry, with Carmy admitting that he was at Mikey's (Jon Bernthal) funeral and resented that Richie and Mikey had gotten so close. Richie had also been jealous that Carmy was so talented and made it out of The Beef. Again, we could have saved so much pain had these two just talked like family two seasons ago, but at least they got on the same page in this episode.
Related: Everything to Know About The Bear Season 4
Syd agreed to accept the new restaurant terms only if Carmy replaced himself with Richie. She, Richie and Nat (Abby Elliott) are going to run the restaurant together, with Jimmy still holding down the financial side of the business. Nat finally joined the party and was emotional to learn that Carmy wanted to leave the restaurant. But she had been one of the first people to clock that cooking wasn't making him happy anymore, so it took her less time to come around to the announcement.
What happens now? That's a great question, and it's not clear by the end of the season. Carmy promised to stick around to get the restaurant financially stable, but no one is sure exactly what that will look like. Jimmy's clock for funding ran out in the final seconds of the episode, so there's a question of whether any of them have jobs. The only part of the restaurant that's actually working is The Beef window, and Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) has plans to franchise it, but could that keep The Bear afloat as well? It would take Jimmy — and the new partners — signing off on the expansion.
Also, if Carmy doesn't work at The Bear anymore, does that mean we won't see him on the show anymore? Obviously, Jeremy Allen White is going to be busy campaigning for Oscars when his Bruce Springsteen biopic drops this fall, so it makes sense for the show to pivot away from Carmy. But plot-wise, this is wild. Carmy admitted in the finale that he hasn't done anything but work in kitchens, so quitting restaurants entirely feels like the talk of someone who has not taken a look at the current job market. It's not great out here, dude!
We've been waiting to see Sydney take the reins, but if Carmy is stepping down, The Bear is going to look very different from here on out. Would you still watch if Carmy wasn't at the restaurant?
The Bear Seasons 1-4 are now streaming on Hulu.
Related: Abby Elliott Breaks Down Her 'Resolve' With Jamie Lee Curtis in 'The Bear’ (Exclusive)
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