That Shocking 'The Bear' Season 4 Ending, Explained

How did The Bear season 4 end?

Carmy takes a huge step near the end of The Bear season 4 by going to see his mom Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) and return a photo album. They have their first true heart to heart in years (if ever??) where Donna apologizes for how she acted before Mike's death, and admits she's heartbroken over how their lives turn out. Carmy gets pretty close to tears himself and stays to cook her a meal, which of course makes him late to the restaurant and puts a bit of a strain on service...but when is there not a strain on service?

But the true, absolute meltdown comes at the end of the penultimate episode (after everyone celebrates Marcus being named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs, which I have to point out because I love him!!); Pete calls Sydney to discuss the new terms for the partnership agreement, and reveals Carmy has entirely written himself out of the agreement.

Why is Carmy leaving The Bear?

So The Bear season 4 finale opens with Carmy finding Syd outside, taking a smoke break (even though she doesn't smoke), and she reveals she knows about his plan to leave. She's frustrated he never talked to her, but he turns around and accuses her of doing the same thing since she was considering leaving for Shapiro's new restaurant (remember when Shapiro called Carmy? Yeah that was definitely how he found out).

The entire finale takes place outside as Sydney and Carmy argue about his decision; Sydney feels like she needs him to stay and help instead of put the entire restaurant on her and Natalie, while Carmy's convinced he needs to live a life outside of the kitchen to figure out who he is. And he's not worried at all because he tells Syd she's everything he'll never be. She's the Bear. When I tell y'all my jaw dropped.

Syd and Carmy yell at each other for quite a bit before Richie comes to see what all the noise is about...and then joins the fight. Carmy reveals he was secretly at Mike's funeral, which really sets Richie off until Sydney tearfully separates them, but it also leads to the true standout sequence of the episode for me: Carmy and Richie get into a whole conversation about their relationship after Mike's death. They admit they held resentment for each other's relationship with Mike, and didn't know how to bridge that gap. Narratively, it feels like releasing a deep breath we've been holding since season 1.

Sydney finally agrees to take over the restaurant under one condition: Richie becomes her new partner. I love them!! The weird best friends I never knew I needed!

Will there be a season 5 of The Bear?

Natalie finds the trio outside, and when Sydney tells her Carmy's plan, Natalie doesn't really say anything, she just steps forward and tearfully embraces him. When I watched it, it didn't seem like she was disappointed or upset, it almost felt like she was thinking, "Finally, my baby brother can leave the industry that's eaten him alive." (Although fans are already wondering if we'll get a moment in season 5 where Carmy returns like Sydney did in season 1.)

And in the last moments of The Bear season 4 ending, Jimmy's countdown hits zero. Thanks to some help from Richie's friends at Ever (AKA The Bear's new employees), the restaurant is finally on an upswing...but only time will tell if Jimmy allows them to stay open. Stay tuned for official news on The Bear season 5 — hopefully we'll get some soon!