"Yes, chef!"
I can assure you that you'll be saying that again and again because The Bear Season 4 is confirmed, and this is what we know about it so far.
The Bear Season 3 premiered back in June 2024 as part of the 2024 TV schedule. In a month filled with anticipated releases like the Disney+ Star Wars series, The Acolyte and the return of both The Boys and House of the Dragon, this series swooped in with its third season to close out an eventful month of television.
And, of course, The Bear received critical acclaim for its third season and was a hit on Hulu, one of the best streaming services out there. So it's not surprising that a fourth season for this popular dark comedy is already confirmed. But, when is it going to come out? Will this be the last season? Here is what we know.
What Is The Bear Season 4's Premiere Date?
At the time of this writing, in August 2024, there is no set premiere date for The Bear Season 4, which isn't that much of a surprise as Season 3 only just ended a month ago. Having a premiere date already would be quite surprising.
That being said, The Bear is one of those shows that has been consistent. While we wait years for most other shows these days – like Wednesday Season 2, or The Witcher Season 4 or even the next season of House of the Dragon – this series has a new season every year, so honestly, I'd say expect to see Season 4 in 2025.
The Bear Season 4 Cast
At the time of writing this, no one is confirmed to appear, but there are several characters from The Bear cast that we can expect to see back for Season 4. These include:
- Jeremy Allen White as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard "Richie" Jerimovich
- Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu
- Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks
- Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero
- Abby Elliott as Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto
- Matty Matheson as Neil Fak
It wouldn't really be The Bear without these prominent cast members, as the show does tend to focus on their lives, and sometimes in great single-episode stories. Heck, just from Season 2, Richie became one of my favorite characters – the solo episodes of the main cast are always some of the best.
The Bear has also been known to have plenty of great guest stars. Some that you might remember that occasionally appear on the show include:
- Jon Bernthal as Michael “Mikey” Berzatto
- Gillian Jacobs as Tiffany "Tiff" Jerimovich
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna Berzatto
- Olivia Colman as Chef Andrea Terry
- Will Poulter as Luca
- Sarah Paulson as Michelle Berzatto
There are many more guest stars who've also appeared. My personal favorite has always been Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna, and of course, her episode, "Ice Chips," in Season 3, was to die for. But literally, any of these guest stars could come back again, and I'd be happy.
What Is The Bear Season 4 Going To Be About?
So, obviously, there were plenty of things that were left up in the air after The Bear Season 3 ended, but two of them revolved around Sydney and Carmy.
In Season 3, Sydney, who is becoming a significant deal at The Bear, is offered a job as a CDC (Chef de cuisine) with Adam when he wants to open his restaurant and have her employed there. At the same time, she's been offered an agreement to sign a contract that would give her partial ownership of the restaurant, but she's hesitant to sign because of this and her resentment over Carmy since he started to take away any control she really has.
Near the end, Sydney is pretty panicky about the whole situation—so much so that she has a panic attack when she realizes just how much the restaurant has changed. Her decision hasn't been made yet, and this will most likely be a big storyline during The Bear Season 4.
On the other hand, we have Carmy, who, at the very end, sees that the Tribune review of the eatery has officially gone up – and he also has several missed calls from Cicero and Computer. We see various great adjectives and bad ones as well, and we have no idea what the heck is going to happen, leaving that in question, as well.
This review will also most likely be a big story point next season. Still, even actor Lionel Boyce (Marcus) said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in June 2024 that we can theorize all we want – the show will always find a way to subvert expectations, even his own:
The thing with this show is every season I'd be having theories, and without fail what actually happens is different. I don't know where they're going to steer this ship, but I think they do a good job of subverting expectations. I can ask Chris, or I'll just wait until I get to read the scripts.
Until then, that's all we know about the story—but it makes me eager to see what happens next.
Season 4 May Or May Not Be The End Of The Series – Depending On The Story
While Season 4 was confirmed earlier in the year, we have yet to get confirmation that Season 5 will happen, leading to rumors that Season 4 could be the end of the series.
However, in an interview with Variety in July 2024, FX boss John Landgraf said that it's really a "creative decision" when it comes to whether or not it'll end after Season 4 – meaning that if Chris Storer (the creator) wants it to end then, he can, or if he wants the story to go on, then it'll continue:
We really don't know. These decisions are really creative decisions. It was Sterlin Harjo who made a decision that "Rez Dogs" was a three-season series. And so it's really Chris [Storer's] decision on The Bear. It's about, how much more story does he have to tell? I mean, obviously, I'm hoping he has more than one more season of story to tell. But not to the extent that if there was one great season or three mediocre ones, I'd rather have one great one. You just have to follow the creative.
Honestly, I personally love The Bear and believe it to be one of the best shows on Hulu/from FX, so I'm eager for however many seasons I get from it.
Some Parts Of Season 4 Have Already Been Filmed
Last but not least, we do know that at least some of Season 4 has been filmed. In a report from Deadline back in March 2024, it was reported that Season 4 would be filmed back-to-back with Season 3. FX or Hulu has yet to confirm that officially, but we have gotten confirmation from a few other sources.
In a press conference in June 2024 (via Vanity Fair), Chris Storer and Ayo Edebiri (Sydney) commented on this when asked if the seasons were filmed back-to-back. Storer said, "something like that," while Edebiri responded, "Yeah, a little version of it, sort of. But not exactly."
Also, in an interview that Matty Matheson did with Variety in June 2024, he was asked several questions about filming back-to-back, and he didn't deny anything, to the point where the actor even said it was hard to remember specific points of both seasons he could talk about:
We can't talk about a bunch of stuff. But I kind of forget everything, which is perfect because I'm like, "I don't even know." I haven't even watched the season, actually. I've seen some edits and some early episodes, but I've only seen Episodes 1 through 4, really.
With no real confirmation if the entirety of The Bear Season 4 has been filmed, we're just going to have to wait to get updates.
What are you most excited about about for The Bear? All I know is that I'm ready to see all that delicious food and feel all that pain once more. Let's go.
