The Bear season 5 is officially here! The final season of the hit FX series arrives on FX, Hulu, and Disney+ on Thursday, June 26.
It's only been a year since The Bear season 4 premiered, but I'm sure there are some fans who will be binge-watching the final season who need a little refresher about the season 4 ending. I just rewatched the fourth season ahead of the season 5 premiere, and I shared six important things fans need to remember before watching The Bear season 5.
Before we get started, I also wanted to remind fans to watch the special episode of The Bear, titled "Gary." FX surprised fans with the special episode about Mikey (Jon Bernthal) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) on May 5, 2026. The episode acts as a prequel that follows the duo on an important business trip.
Carmy reveals he is quitting
The Bear season 4 ends with the major revelation that Carmy is officially quitting the restaurant. He doesn't want to do it anymore, and he needs to move on to something else.
Of course, this comes as a massive shock to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), who turned down an offer to become the head chef at Adam's new restaurant. Why she chooses to stay on this sinking ship doesn't totally make sense, but we're about to find out if it was the right decision.
On top of all that, we're going to find out if Carmy is actually serious about leaving the restaurant or if that was just another part of Carmy's journey.
Richie is upped to partner
In the fallout of Carmy's big news, Sydney has a request. With Carmy leaving, she wants Richie to have more skin in the game. She wants him to be an official partner in the business, along with her and Sugar. Basically, he's just stepping into Carmy's ownership role.
Obviously, this is well deserved because Richie has been busting his butt for so long and keeping his head on straight to make this restaurant a success. He definitely deserves a big, potentially more profitable role than he has right now.
Will he be able to handle the extra pressure? We'll have to wait and see.
The Bear's time has officially run out
At the end of the last season, the gang is officially out of time to make the restaurant profitable enough for Uncle Jimmy to continue investing. Literally, the countdown clock hit zero on The Bear. What does it actually mean? Well, they're either going to have to get very creative with the budget or get a lot more business, or they're going to have to change everything and start over.
We don't know what's going to happen. There are some indications based on what happened in season 4 that we could be going back to the basics and leaving the more fine dining behind, but we'll just have to watch the season to find out where this story goes.
Carmy reconnects with Donna
After all the Berzatto family has been through, the cracks within the family unit are still there. For years, Carmy struggles to have anything like a functional relationship with his mom, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Finally, in season 4, that starts to change. Carmy reconnects with his mom, who apologizes to him for everything. He does the same, and he makes her a dish, and the two begin to heal some of the old wounds that have kept them apart.
I feel like we're going to see at least one more big moment with Carmy and his mom in the final season, so I thought it was definitely worth mentioning.
Carmy apologizes to Claire
Carmy and Claire's romantic relationship has been a major storyline of The Bear across three seasons, basically. After the big blowup in season 3, Carmy goes to Claire's house and officially apologizes for what he said and how he treated her in their relationship.
This happens way earlier in season 4, which opens up the story for Claire to be involved with the story without necessarily being part of Carmy's romantic storyline. They also reconnect at Frank and Tiffany's wedding, and it's clear that there is still something there between them.
Will they get back together? Should they get back together? I don't necessarily ship these two just because of Carmy and the damage he has done. I just hope everyone is happy at the end of the day. Is that too much to ask?
Richie gets hit by a car
In the special "Gary" episode about Mikey and Richie, the story takes places mostly in the past. Well, in the episode's final seconds, we come to the present. Richie, while in the middle of a struggle, gets hit by a car while driving, and it appears to be very serious.
It's unclear if that's going to be the lead-in to the season or if it's just going to happen at some point this season. I have a feeling it's not going to be the first thing that happens, but it's possible that it could have happened immediately after learning he would become a partner in the business. We just don't have all the information left, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a major catalyst for the show's final season.
We'll share more news about The Bear season 5 as we find out! Don't forget to tune in at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 25, to watch all eight new episodes of the series.
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