The Bear is easily one of the best TV shows of the last decade! The fourth season of the hit FX comedy starring Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach premiered on June 25, 2025. With four seasons available to stream right now, I ranked the first four seasons of Christopher Storer's The Bear from worst to best.
The good thing about a show like The Bear is that there are no bad seasons. It's all varying levels of great to very good. Will that continue in The Bear season 5 and beyond? I definitely think so!
Let's get the list started with The Bear season 3!
4. The Bear season 3
I hate to say it, but The Bear season 3 is the worst of the series by quite a bit. The first two seasons, which we'll talk about, are as good as anything on TV, maybe ever. The third season just doesn't quite reach that level, and that's okay.
The Bear season 3 largely explores the restaurant's struggles after reopening and a new focus. Carmy continues to ignore his own issues in pursuit of making a great menu, which rotates daily, while the whole team tries to keep the doors open.
The third season had to be different than the first two seasons simply because we couldn't watch these characters continue down these destructive paths. I mean, we could, but does anyone want to see Carmy break bad and go full Walter White or embrace his inner Jesse Pinkman? I do not.
I understand what The Bear season 3 tried to be. In many ways, it was simply a transition season, a beautiful setup for what became The Bear season 4.
Largely, my only critique of The Bear season 3 was that it wasn't as enjoyable to watch as the earlier seasons. Everything else from the performances to the direction to the cinematography to the set design were fantastic, honestly. The Bear has one of the best casts and creative teams in the game right now. This show doesn't really miss, honestly.
3. The Bear season 4
The Bear season 4, which just premiered on Hulu and FX at the end of June, is the third-best season of the series. I really enjoyed The Bear season 4 a lot more than season 3, although it stalled out a bit at times. There were some incredibly impactful moments and episodes throughout the season. These characters were challenged in a lot of ways in season 3, and in season 4, we saw many of them take the first steps to create real change in their lives, Carmen, Sydney, and Richie, especially.
The character growth and development were obviously a big talking point for season 4. Many fans did not like how the season ended with Carmy's plan to leave the restaurant revealed in the season finale. I absolutely loved that episode, though! My favorite aspect was how none of the characters reacted the way I thought they would react in an incredibly intense scene, and that's really interesting for the writers to explore moving forward. Each character is on their own journey, and that's what The Bear season 5 is going to be about.
TV is a very weird medium because some of the greatest shows of all time feature characters changing very slowly or not at all over long periods of time. The Bear routinely puts its characters in positions to grow, or regress, and I don't think it's necessary fair that to judge the season or episode based on how we like their choices.
My only real critique of season 4 is that I'm kind of sick of the will-they-won't-they with the restaurant staying open or closing. Sure, that's a reality of the restaurant industry and many small businesses, but hey, I'd love to see something else be a source of drama in season 5.
2. The Bear season 1
The Bear begins with Carmen returning to Chicago after his brother's death to take over his restaurant, The Beef.
It pains me to rank The Bear season 1 as the second-best season of the series, but I don't think it's quite good enough to be considered the best season. And, that's wild to say considering just how good that season of TV is. I don't remember a TV show that made me feel as overwhelmed, overstimulated, or in need of a cigarette as The Bear season 1.
Clearly, that was what the show was going for, and it succeeded in every aspect. This is not news. It won tons of awards and made a huge splash immediately. For me, The Bear season 1 is all about ambition. These characters are trying to prove themselves in an unforgiving world in the shadow of tragedy. Everyone has been shaped or affected by death and grief, but they are all dealing with that grief in different ways. From a real-world perspective, it feels raw and real in a way that most shows can't show. It's art.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the first season of The Bear. It's perfect TV, but then the show made perfect TV even more perfectly when it returned for season 2.
1. The Bear season 2
There's no doubt in my mind that The Bear season 2 is the best season of the hit series. As mentioned, the first season set the bar so high, but season 2 passed it in almost every way. Across the board, the performances are stronger. The story is tighter and perfectly paced. We learn so much more about these characters slowly but surely.
For the most part, the story revolves Carmy's plan to take the restaurant from The Beef and turn it into The Bear. There are many stumbles along the way.
Some of the best episodes of the series were in season 2, as well. "Fishes" is my favorite episode of the series by far. It's probably my favorite episode of TV in I don't even know how long. It was a mess, a catastrophe, and a travesty all wrapped into one Christmas surprise. It's beautiful and horrible, funny and sad, and everything in between.
I also appreciate how the show continued to delve deeper into the backstory, peel back the layers of the onion, and show just what these characters are facing by exploring more of their past. It makes all of the difference as the series moves forward.
That's the ranking of The Bear seasons! We'll make sure we update the ranking when The Bear season 5 premieres. Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming season.