Ever since the white-hot FX dramedy series The Bear ended its third season on a sort of cliffhanger, fans have been eagerly waiting to find out just what was in that restaurant review. It turns out, they won’t have to wait too much longer, with a premiere date for Season 4 officially announced. Even after a somewhat divisive third season that frustrated some longtime fans, anticipation is high for a return trip to Carmy’s chaotic kitchen.
Little concrete information has been shared about The Bear’s fourth season yet, despite its premiere date coming relatively soon. Since the first season became an unexpected smash, it’s made huge stars out of some of its cast, particularly Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ayo Edebiri, and their demanding schedules have made filming the series increasingly difficult. Luckily, everyone involved in the show seems to love making it, so they’re likely to keep coming back as long as they can. Here’s everything we know about The Bear Season 4.
When Will Season 4 Be Released?
Up until very recently, nobody outside the production knew when The Bear’s fourth season would see the light of day. Just a couple of days ago, co-showrunner Joanna Calo revealed the date not in an official press release, but in a red carpet interview with the Brazilian media company Omelete. Calo dropped the news that the fourth season would premiere in the US (and possibly elsewhere) on June 15th.
The date itself isn’t all that surprising, since The Bear has always managed to premiere on or near the same days in June, but given the chaotic shooting and release schedules of some of the stars’ other projects, it wasn’t clear if the show would be ready for an early summer premiere this year. Luckily, it seems like the creators are confident enough to share the date with the world.
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When Was Season 4 Shot?
Last year, it was announced that Season 4 had been shot at the same time as Season 3, mostly to take advantage of having all the actors in one place. However, according to The Playlist, this plan was scrapped when the scripts weren’t ready in time for shooting. At a press conference last June ahead of the Season 3 premiere, the cast confirmed that they had done “a version of” shooting the two seasons at the same time, but not entirely. What this means exactly wasn’t made entirely clear, but it makes a certain degree of sense given that production logistics have likely gotten much more complicated.
Who Is Returning for Season 4?
So far, there haven’t been many official announcements of returning cast members, but all the major players, including White, Moss-Bachrach, Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, and Liza Colón-Zayas, among others, are expected to return. There wouldn’t really be much of a show if Carmy suddenly decided to move back to New York or something, so White’s return was probably inevitable. Season 3 saw Edebiri’s Sydney being tempted to jump ship and help open a new restaurant, but she’s clearly conflicted about the possibility, so it’s highly doubtful she’d suddenly disappear from the story.
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It was also recently revealed that Edebiri and co-star Lionel Boyce, who plays kindhearted dessert chef Marcus, would be writing a Season 4 episode together. It’s unclear what the episode will be about, but Sydney and Marcus have danced around becoming romantically involved in the past, so maybe the two will finally get an episode all to themselves to explore this possibility.
What Will Season 4 Be About?
In the short term, it’s inevitable that Season 4 will have to deal with the fallout of the restaurant’s first official review, whatever that may be. At the end of Season 3, Carmy’s Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) is frantically calling and texting him about the review, and the season’s final moments have Carmy reading the review for himself. Whether the review was positive, negative, or mixed is unclear, not given much of a clue from Carmy’s final, ambiguous “Motherf*cker!”
His exclamation could have been out of anger at a bad review, or a mix of excitement and fear over what a good review could mean. One of The Bear’s most enduring themes is the new problems that inevitably come from success, so while a good review may very well mean longevity for the restaurant (particularly since Jimmy made it clear that a bad review would lead to him pulling out as a financer), it would also likely mean more scrutiny and the pressure of maintaining excellence.
Luckily, all the clues shared so far point to Season 4 being a bit lighter than the previous outings. In that same red carpet interview, Calo said that Season 4 would contain a great deal of joy, which isn’t really an emotion often associated with the series so far. Last year, FX head John Landgraf teased that while Season 3 was partially about “stuckness,” Season 4 would explore the “unstuckness” that comes after. This implies that the new season might see a great deal of momentum after a season that found its characters struggling to break out of their old patterns.
Where Will Season 4 Be Streaming?
Like previous seasons, The Bear season four will be premiering on Hulu in the United States.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
