WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for The Bear’s season 4 finale!In a surprisingly contained episode for the notoriously intense and chaotic series, The Bear season 4’s ending reveals a shocking decision regarding Carmy’s role at the restaurant that will completely change the show’s dynamics and conflicts in the future. Season 4 lives up to the series’ long-standing trending of finales with complex twists that look to shake up the entire landscape of the kitchen, whether that be The Bear season 1 finale’s tomato can discovery, season 2’s refrigerator chaos during opening night, and season 3’s potentially restaurant-closing review. This time, however, The Bear restaurant stands to lose its main chef.
Skipping over the last dinner service under Jimmy’s parachute, The Bear‘s season 4 finale takes place entirely out back behind the restaurant as Sydney confronts Carmy about removing himself from The Bear’s partnership agreement. While they argue about Carmy leaving the restaurant, Richie enters and addresses his own resentments against Carmy and his exit. The argument leads to Sydney negotiating for Richie to replace Carmy as a partner, with the season 4 finale concluding as The Bear‘s main characters establish a new agreement: Carmy will stay on until The Bear works off its debt, leaving Sydney, Richie, and Natalie as partners.
Why Carmy Is Leaving The Bear Explained
Carmy Is “Retiring” After Season 4
Shortly after turning The Beef around, opening The Bear, and finally getting the numbers back on track to stay open, Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy decided he’s going to leave the restaurant. However, it’s not just The Bear itself that he’s leaving – it’s cooking and the restaurant industry as a whole. Cooking, kitchens, and restaurants are all that Carmy has ever known or aspired to throughout his life, and after all the heartache, stress, trauma, and self-destruction he’s experienced with this career, he’s ready to take a break – possibly forever.
[Carmy’s] life was gradually becoming akin to Bill Murray’s character inGroundhog Day, stuck in a time loop where he’s living the same day over and over again, unable to ever truly reach “tomorrow.”
Throughout The Bear season 4, Carmy had been grappling with the idea that he might not love cooking anymore, with his life gradually becoming akin to Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, stuck in a time loop where he’s living the same day over and over again, unable to ever truly reach “tomorrow.” After a conversation with Claire in which he realized how much the chaos of his career was hindering and affecting his personal growth, Carmy called Sugar’s husband Pete and had him change the partnership agreement to remove his name.
For the first time, Carmy wants to understand what he’s like outside the kitchen. He doesn’t know who he is or how he acts without constantly contending with the pressures of the culinary world and the pursuit of greatness in that line. He doesn’t know what it’s like to live in a world that isn’t so “loud” all the time. He doesn’t know what any other type of job would be like to work in. He doesn’t know anything different, and he’s never tried to do anything different before.
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1 Line In The Bear Confirms Carmy’s Biggest Career Struggle As A Chef
Carmy’s low self-esteem has been fairly constant throughout the first two seasons of The Bear, revealing a number of underlying battles within him.
Carmy realizes that he’s reached a breaking point in which he’s miserable and feels stuck in a monotonous routine that leaves him feeling like a failure, always on edge, unable to share his emotions or be involved, unable to get outside his own head, and ultimately unhappy. So, he makes the brave decision to leave, which he thinks won’t just be better for himself, but also for the people he loves. Sydney will thrive as the leader of The Bear’s kitchen staff, while Richie will thrive as a partner opposite someone as communicative as Sydney in the kitchen.
Carmy won’t be completely gone from The Bear’s world, but he can no longer, for the sake of himself and others, put himself right in the middle of it. His close bonds with Sydney, Richie, Marcus, Tina, Ebra, Sweeps, and The Bear’s Fak family will always keep him connected, but it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to step away while giving them the tools to thrive after he leaves.
Why Carmy Agrees To Make Richie, Sydney & Natalie The Bear’s Co-Owners
They Each Bring Something Different To The Bear’s Success
Originally, the plans for the ownership of The Bear would be split between Uncle Jimmy as one part and Carmy, Sydney, and Natalie as the other part. However, after Carmy decided to leave, Sydney compelled him to put Richie’s name in the partnership agreement instead. Carmy agreed, but Richie was initially hesitant because he didn’t want the offer to be just a kind gesture. For Richie to become partner, he wanted it to be because the others truly wanted him to take on that role and leadership with the company because he deserved it.
Thankfully, Sydney and Carmy convince him it’s not just a gesture – The Bear needs Richie as a partner just as much as the others. Over the past three seasons, Richie has gone through massive growth in his maturity, leadership skills, and commitment to the success of not just himself, but the restaurant as a whole. Every decision Richie made about the restaurant in season 4, such as hiring on Ever’s former employees, has benefited The Bear. Carmy and Sydney have witnessed Richie’s passionate growth and the improvements he brings to the restaurant, and they want those qualities in a co-owner.
| Character | Role At The Bear |
|---|---|
| Sydney | CDC |
| Richie | Maître d’ |
| Natalie | Project Manager |
With Sydney, Richie, and Natalie as co-owners alongside Jimmy, the partnership covers the main bases of the restaurant. Sydney brings expertise in the kitchen, Richie brings passion and knowledge to running the floor, and Natalie is skilled at handling the restaurant’s administrative needs.
Will Carmy Return In The Bear Season 5? What Season 4’s Finale Teases For His Role
Carmy Is Staying On Until The Bear Is Out Of Debt
With Carmy announcing that he’s leaving the restaurant, it’s reasonable for audiences to believe that Jeremy Allen White could be leaving the TV show after season 4. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case – at least not yet. Carmy noted that he would stay on with The Bear until they paid off the debt to investor Uncle Jimmy, which they don’t need to give him for another seven months after The Bear season 4’s ending. Hopefully, that should mean Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy will still be in the kitchen and working at The Bear through at least season 5.
The Bear has yet to officially be renewed for season 5 by FX.
That said, after Carmy finishes getting the restaurant out of debt, his role in the series could end up being diminished if he still chooses to leave. While The Bear could still feature Carmy exploring different avenues for a career, it wouldn’t make sense for the main character’s story to hardly take place at the titular restaurant. If that happens, then Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy could eventually become more of a recurring character while Sydney, Richie, and Natalie take on the show’s leading roles.
Why Carmy Finally Tells Richie The Truth About Mikey’s Funeral
Carmy Is Working On Apologizing & Dealing With Things He’s Scared Of
One of the most important discussions in The Bear’s season 4 finale occurs when Carmy finally confesses to Richie that he attended Mikey’s funeral. Richie and everyone else were always led to believe that Carmy skipped Mikey’s funeral, which is a major reason why Richie resented Carmy after he returned to Chicago. However, it was later revealed that Carmy was, in fact, at the funeral. He went in briefly, but couldn’t handle the emotions of facing Mikey’s death and those who he left to deal with Mikey’s struggles, so he sat in his car instead.
Carmy continued to hide that because he was more ashamed of leaving the funeral because he was too afraid than letting Richie believe he skipped it altogether. As he confessed to Bob Odenkirk’s Uncle Lee at the wedding, Carmy didn’t think he deserved to be at Mikey’s funeral, and he likely believed that Richie thought the same. However, in The Bear’s season 4 finale, Carmy finally tells Richie the truth because he’s trying to face the scary parts of life by being honest, apologizing for his actions, and dealing with that hurt and shame.
Why The Bear Season 4’s Ending Skips Over The Final Kitchen Service Day Under Jimmy’s Parachute
The Bear Needed To Focus On Setting Up Season 5’s Changes
Season 4 had been gradually building up to the moment the countdown Jimmy and The Bear’s Uncle Computer set would hit zero, putting more pressure on seeing the final day of service until the parachute of his funds ran out. However, The Bear’s season 4 finale picks up right after that last kitchen service ends and the clock is already hitting zero. The reason is that we don’t actually need to see that day – we can expect that the restaurant performed well, especially after Marcus’ article feature. What matters more is what comes after.
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How Uncle Jimmy Is Really Connected To Carmy’s Family: Their Backstory In The Bear Explained
Uncle Jimmy is one of The Bear’s most central characters, but his relationship with Carmy’s family is still a little perplexing for viewers.
They know how to work to get the restaurant out of debt now, which was highlighted by The Bear’s success in season 4’s penultimate episode rather than the finale. The bigger focus needed to be on how they move forward in the new era without the parachute, more directly setting up The Bear season 5’s story and major changes.
