It's official, TV's most chaotic kitchen is returning to our screens as a fourth series of Disney+'s hit chef drama The Bear is on its way. In the sizzling new series, we'll catch up with Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and the rest of the team we've come to know and love for another nail-biting culinary adventure in Chicago - and it seems things are about to really hot up in the kitchen!
If you're new to series, the popular drama is set in a street corner sandwich shop, which for Carmy and the gang is much more than a business. It's family history, multiple livelihoods and a desperate strive towards greatness in the restaurant game. Of course, things are never smooth sailing, and not just in the kitchen as the drama extends far beyond the doors of the shop and into the personal lives of each of the main characters.
Ahead of series 4's arrival on our screens very soon, here's everything you need to know about it to get you up to speed...
What is The Bear about?
The Bear introduces us to chef Carmen Berzatto, known as "Carmy" (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to his hometown from the starry heights of restaurant success, following the death of his brother Michael. Carmy inherits the family's sandwich shop (renamed The Bear) along with its initially surly kitchen crew and staff, which includes Carmy's turbulent cousin, Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). While the duo refer to each other as 'cousin', they fight like siblings, with blazing rows over everything from how the day to day runnings of the kitchen should go, to how to fund the necessary repairs and refurbishments.
It's an often tense watch, as Carmy fights to turn the sandwich shop into an upmarket success, bringing in chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) as his number two. Full of grand ideas but with resistance from all around, Sydney has her own professional struggles at every turn, as everyone vies to make The Bear a success in their own way. And that's before we even get to the personal problems, such as Carmy's difficult relationship with his alcoholic mother, Donna, played by Jamie Lee Curtis (who won an Emmy for her stand-out performance in the show).
What has happened in The Bear so far?
*Spoilers ahead*
In series one of The Bear, we saw Carmy finally making headway as he battled to retrain staff and change the trajectory of the restaurant towards high-end fare. While he was often dismissing and butting heads with Sydney, he does begin to listen to some of her ideas and she manages to win over the kitchen team - most notably Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas). There are multiple near-closure experiences, from a poor healthy and safety result to potential financial ruin (solved by the discovery of wads of cash hidden in tomato containers), but the restaurant does make it into a second series.
Of course, the heat is never turned down for long in an episode of The Bear. We saw the stress kick back in as Carmy and Sydney strived against the odds towards the dream of a Michelin star, now that the old sandwich shop had become a fine dining establishment. Meanwhile, Carmy reconnected with a flame from the past, Claire (Molly Gordon), who became his girlfriend. However, the pressure of the restaurant (and his past trauma with a vindictive boss in his past cheffing days) were getting to Carmy, particularly in the finale episode, leading him to lash out at everyone around him. The series ended with Carmy trapped in a fridge, while his relationship with Claire - and much of the team - in tatters.
As series 3 opens, Carmy is luckily freed from the freezer but he had a lot of making up to do. The restaurant might have officially opened, but the pressure was really on to keep the place going against constant hurdles. For instance, Carmy finally came face to face in real life with his former head chef who has haunted his nightmares - which sends his self-doubt soaring. However, Carmy does have a nicer reunion during a 'funeral' for a closing restaurant, from his former mentor Andrea Terry, played by Olivia Colman. Meanwhile, Sydney was delaying her decision to either join a rival restaurant or stay with her chosen family at The Bear. With the restaurant losing money, a seemingly mixed review from The Chicago Tribune and Sydney undecided, we left series three with huge question marks hanging in the air. Luckily, series 4 is on its way and will hopefully hold some of the answers answers...
What will happen in The Bear series 4?
In series 4, we're hoping that the cliffhangers from the previous series will be resolved and, as ever, that the team can strive ever-closer towards their Michelin star goal. Of course, we're expecting more off-the-wall obstacles and devastating mistakes, but surely this season they've got to get at least close? With Carmy in an almost permanent state of despair, we're hoping things might calm down in at least some parts of his life. For instance, we don't know for certain if he'll reunite with Claire, but we're expecting plenty more will-they-won't-they suspense throughout the upcoming series.
And, if Sydney does decide to take a job elsewhere, we can only imagine how that will splinter her relationships with the whole team, but especially with Carmy. Will the career benefits be worth it? Equally, if she doesn't leave and still finds herself being overlooked, will she end up filled with regret and resentment? Plus, we can't imagine the financial warnings (regularly delivered by Uncle Jimmy [Oliver Platt]) are going anywhere, so it's likely that the very existence of the business will continue to hang tentatively in the balance. Whatever happens, we're sure it's going to be a sizzling and suspenseful watch.
Who's in the cast of The Bear series 4?
There's been a brilliant cast line-up across the previous three series and, while we haven't had the entire cast list confirmed, we know that Jeremy will return as Carmy and Sydney will be back as Ayo, at the very least.
Here's a refresh of the cast to date:
- Jeremy Allen White as Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto
- Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu
- Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard 'Richie' Jerimovich
- Lionel Boyce as Marcus
- Abby Elliott as Natalie 'Sugar' Berzatto
- Matty Matheson as Neil Fak
- Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim
- Corey Hendrix as Gary 'Sweeps' Woods
- Richard Esteras as Manny
- Jose M. Cervantes as Angel
- Oliver Platt as Uncle Jimmy
- Ricky Staffieri as Theodore Fak
- Molly Gordon as Claire Dunlap
- Chris Witaske as Pete
- Carmen Christopher as Chester
- Christopher Zucchero as Chi-Chi
- Robert Townsend as Emmanuel Adamu
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna Berzatto
- Olivia Colman as Andrea Terry
How can I watch The Bear series 4?
The Bear series 4 will air on Disney+ from Thursday 26 June, and you can catch up on all the episodes so far now. You can also watch series one on Apple TV+.