u/Euphoric_Resource251

A year ago, I wrote a review of The Bear Season 4 and how it stacked up to the previous seasons. At the time, while I still enjoyed Season 4, I didn't love it like I loved the first two seasons. The season ended strong, but it was unclear to me how the show would proceed. So I had measured expectations for Season 5. Open to greatness, but prepared for stagnation.

I loved Season 5 like Seasons 1 and 2.

The good:

In my previous review, I posited that The Bear functions best as a viewer when:

1. the characters are independently and collectively striving towards improvement,
2. there is a deadline hanging over their heads, and
3. the storytelling is efficient.

Season 5 has every ingredient that makes this show lightning in a bottle.

The Bear has given us some of the finest examples of character-driven storytelling over the last 5 years. Usually, we've enjoyed entire episodes devoted to specific characters such as Forks, Honeydew, Tomorrow, Napkins, Worms, and many others. Those episodes include some of the strongest in the show's run. We have a strong sense of the Berzatto family history, as well as the backstories of Sydney, Marcus, Tina, Richie, etc. In season 5, that vast foundation that the show has laid pays off over and over again. We know these characters and this world really well now. The show can afford to drive with more subtle instances of character-driven storytelling.

One example that comes to mind is Sydney's comment to Carmy about her time at UPS and how she made sure drivers only took right turns because it was more efficient. In that moment, we know exactly what energy Syd is going to bring as head chef. Syd is a pragmatist. She isn't going to ignore the realities of running the business in favor of creating more beautiful food or proving that she's better than everyone or chasing her demons away. Carmy, on the other hand, is an artist. They don't need to rehash what happened in the last two seasons to make it clear why Carmy can't run The Bear. But Carmy's finesse and skill brings something exceptional to the team, and Carmy delivers under pressure more than once when Sydney is at a loss.

The triumph of Season 5 is the collective purpose of the staff of The Bear. In Season 2, Sydney is reading Coach K's memoir. I actually went and read it after watching that season. For those who haven't read it, this is a sensational book. Coach K is a genius in his own right, with incredible strategies for working together as a team, inspiring others with the motivation to overcome fear, and how having a strong mental game can allow you to win even the most impossible match-ups.

The premise is simple: the shift after the day Carmy quits the restaurant, where Chicago is plagued by an epic rainstorm. No one walks into the restaurant having a good day. The staff is faced with an escalating series of circumstances that make surviving the service feel impossible. The day isn't perfect: people spiral and get overwhelmed and lose their shit and lose hope multiple times. But every time, everyone locks in, gets focused, and regroups. I loved Richie's speech at the end of Ep. 4, "we are outgunned and outmanned", and the way everyone locked in after that as the clock hit 5:30. It reminded me of the end of Omelette (S2, Ep 9), when everyone is pumped up to open The Bear for the first time. And then, things look grim again at the top of Ep. 5, and again at Ep. 6. The characters respond with a new game plan (Paths 2 Success was brilliant), communication, and jazz (because, after all, jazz is collaboration).

A few notes on the characters and where they ended up:

• I don't believe for a second that Carmy has fallen out of love with cooking. The joy and love is all over his face when he makes the salmon ice creams and hands them to Richie, or when he's creating the lamb plate. Carmy will always love cooking. This is why he is as good as he is: because he is that passionate. But, I also understand why he can't stay at The Bear. He can't separate cooking from all the trauma he's lived through, both from his family and from other kitchens he worked in. We see him slip into the spiral a few times, starting to rant that it would be easier if he just plated everything himself. Sydney can snap him out of it, but it makes sense that if he stays, he won't get enough distance to shake those tendencies.
• The Bear started on the day that Sydney Adamu walked into The Beef and interviewed for a job with Carmy. >!What a beautiful payoff to see Sydney earn those two Michelin stars.!< The bond between Sydney and Carmy is emblematic of the show's main message: that family and connection makes us better. I never wanted Sydney and Carmy to become romantic partners. But they have an intimacy between them that we see throughout the show. From the "I'm sorry" apology sign, to "do you trust me", to "do you hear the music" in this last season. Everyone at The Bear wants to see the restaurant succeed and wants the stars, but it means something entirely different to Syd and Carm. They share the same passion. They get out of bed in the morning for the same reason: because they love to cook and because they want to be great.
• Cousin Richie... I love him so much. It was an interesting choice to preempt this season with Gary. It sets us in Richie's mindset coming into the day: thinking back to a day that was glorious at points but also included a vicious takedown by his best friend. I listened to Van and Charles' podcast on The Bear Season 5 this morning, and they made the point that since Forks, Richie has overcompensated too far into the "actualized, well-read, philosophical" persona and needs to recalibrate to something more honest. His turning point during the "we are outgunned and outmanned" speech was paced beautifully. From then onwards, we see Richie in his element in the front of house. So much of the success of the night rightfully belongs to Richie, for his intuitive understanding of people and his quick-thinking. I thought it was really meaningful that the show ends on his face, looking out of a plane window. To me, it says that Richie has taken on the mantle of the restaurant's heart and soul from Mikey. The torch has been passed; not to Carmy, as we expected, but to the guy who was always there.

The less-good:

I won't deny that I loved this season. To me, it's a rave and a fantastic finale. But, in the spirit of objectivity, I feel that I should make note of some things that I didn't love as much.

• The subplot about the franchise wasn't my favorite part of the season. I liked that it didn't take up too much screen time. I always wanted to be back in the kitchen with the core staff. I didn't totally understand why Jimmy wasn't on board with the franchise plan and why they needed to go on the goose chase about the air rights. If Ebra's plan was as good as everyone said, then why wasn't Jimmy more convinced that it would work out? I will say, that I still found this storyline pretty funny. It was worth it for Ebra's continued "You will not scare me with your blue eyes" alone. All the family hijinks and scenes were just the right touch, not too overbearing. It was tolerable, but not a highlight.
• Carmy's pivot to >!architecture!< felt pretty rushed. I was giggling throughout his >!interview!< at how... completely unemployable he is. As Sydney says, "Do you have any skills? Have you ever written a resume?" I like the idea of Carmy going to >!architecture!< in theory, but they could have had him making a call to schedule an interview. And if they needed a reason for him to give a monologue about that service, it could have been achieved in a different setting. Maybe he's talking to Claire or talking to a therapist. Such a personal disclosure felt a bit awkward in >!a job interview!<.
• I don't think it's unreasonable for two staff members to >!get into a heated argument like Marcus and Luca did!<. But, Marcus has a pattern of getting very emotional on the job and disrupting the service. Remember when he asked Sydney out and she rejected him, and he threw a tantrum? His behavior towards >!Luca!< reminded me a little of that. I understand why Marcus was behaving that way, and I even think it's in character. The problem I have is that no one reprimands him or lays down the line. Luca was right that he can't change up a dish after a certain point in the service, but he doesn't listen and calls for the raspberries anyways.

Conclusion:

I used to love this show because it was about people who had passion for their work and were driven to achieve excellence. You can win without being toxic; you can be a genius without being a jerk. But, now having watched the entire show, I think that is only a partial thesis statement for the show. The show's heart lies in the fact that greatness comes through collaboration, connection, and family. Jazz is collaboration. The Bear is family.

I see Meredith's surgical skill debated a lot on this sub. I don't think that Meredith lacks the surgical skill or the medical genius to earn her "exceptional" reputation. I actually think if you are watching closely in the first 11 seasons, Mer's growth arc as a surgeon is pretty logical.

• When we meet her, Meredith has an advantage on everyone in her residency class. She says that she literally spent her childhood in the hospital, and Ellis had all those old surgical tapes. She is the ultimate nepo baby – especially with the retcon that she didn't originally match to Seattle Grace and got into the program with Richard's intervention.
• On top of having all this knowledge via osmosis, Meredith is also often shown to be a good doctor. She has good diagnosis skills, her surgical techniques are regularly praised, and she interacts well with patients.
• However, early on Meredith is also deeply depressed and traumatized from her upbringing, her mother's Alzheimer's, and her love life. That distracts anyone's ability to buckle down on work, but Meredith does a pretty good job despite that. In the first two years of residency, she works through the toughest parts of her trauma, resulting in her getting together with Derek in S4E17.
• In this phase (S5-9), Meredith kind of stagnates. She still is shown to have legit talent in the OR (she doesn't often make mistakes), but she isn't pushing herself as much. She even gets a little sloppy (dropping the kidney). But that's more circumstantial than indicative of a lack of skill. She's very comfortable in the OR being supervised by either Derek, Richard or Bailey.
• She prioritizes her relationships over her surgical education (e.g. when she and Jackson win the Catherine Avery contest in S8 but she scrubs out without question just bc Cristina asks). There are multiple instances where Derek sabotages her career. Every time, Meredith is reeallyy mad but gets over it to keep the peace in their relationship. She later gives up neuro and then has no clue what her specialty should be. Overall, Meredith doesn't mind letting Derek and Cristina shine as surgeons more than she does, because she doesn't want to jeopardize her relationships with them and lose the security they give her.
• However, we all know Meredith is an ambitious person. She also wants to shine as a surgeon and knows she can, but realizes those closest to her may take her talent for granted. This leads to a reckoning in S10, where she fears that she has fallen behind professionally due to her choices to prioritize her relationships and her family. Mer gets into big fights with Cristina and Derek, flounders with her portal veins research project, and finally stands up for herself with Derek after Cristina validates her skills as a surgeon in the S10 finale.
• It's not a coincidence that after Cristina and Derek leave Grey Sloan in S11, Meredith starts to shine as a surgeon. It's huge for her to realize that even if Cristina and Derek aren't around, she's okay. And not just okay, but actually begins to thrive professionally. And, for a while, we are often shown that Meredith is thriving in the OR. She starts coming up with more inventive solutions in the OR (i.e. 3D printing the Odyssey tumor, the balloon pump), and she has a long streak where she doesn't lose a patient.
• Things kind of fall apart with her professional arc around when she does the abdominal wall transplant and wins the HA/CF award. That's when the writers start telling us Meredith is amazing more than showing us, hero worship, etc.

Curious what you think! I agree that the writers take it too far and the writing for everyone in later seasons of Grey's is seriously disappointing.

In the scene with Molly and Candice/Dro in the cupcake shop, doesn't it seem like Candice is already jealous/catty towards Molly?! Probably reading too much into this but ehhh whatever, this is fun.

Candice first makes the joke about Molly's dress color (and it seems like a recurring joke that she's made before, she's "STILL wearing those u**y colors"). Then she starts saying she came up to LA with Dro to make his work trip into a weekend and cuddling up to him, a little like she's marking her territory. She then rolls her eyes when Dro makes the joke about Molly only needing one fork for her two cupcakes.

Molly and Dro do have a natural chemistry, but it's clearly more from his side. Molly is approaching both of them like close friends, and she's totally relaxed and appropriate here.

I think the subtext is that Candice probably picks up that Dro always lowkey had a thing for Molly. So she's a little catty to her here and there, but overall nice. Molly is just oblivious at this point and doesn't clock it.

I love the layers in this show.