The Bear season 3 once again served up some fantastic television, as Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Natalie (Abby Elliott) attempted to deal with making their new restaurant work as well as a flurry of personal issues and new professional opportunities. All of that boiled to a season 3 ending that will leave many fans eagerly waiting for The Bear season 4, just like Carmy and company have been anxiously awaiting their review.
After pulling off the Herculean task of reimagining The Beef into a fine dining establishment in The Bear season 2, this latest season sees the team try something even harder — turn it into a successful restaurant. However, Carmy raises the stakes, proclaiming he indeed does want to pursue a Michelin star for the restaurant. To do so, he creates what he deems a list of "non-negotiables," basically a set of rules/goals he wants everyone to follow to achieve this goal. The problem is that these "rules" range from overly ambitious (a new menu every day) to the contradictory (honor tradition but push boundaries); even the simple ones, like breaking down boxes before you throw them out, prove hard to achieve.
Adding to the struggles is that The Bear team may be even less cohesive than they usually are. Carmy and Richie are at odds all season after their walk-in fight; Sydney struggles to find a groove with the new, even more intense Carmy; Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) is breathing down their necks about when they'll start making money; and more and more Faks pop up, creating even more dysfunction despite their good intentions (but thankfully for viewers, providing the best comic relief of the season).
Things out of the kitchen aren't much better. Carmy still struggles with how things ended with Claire. Richie also has relationship problems, though it's him finding his place in his own family now that his ex-wife Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs) is getting married to a generally nice guy, Frank (Josh Hartnett). Natalie must come to terms with her fears about becoming a mother and her complicated relationship with Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis). And for Sydney, she is presented with an opportunity to run her own kitchen with a new restaurant but is torn between it and leaving The Bear.
Hanging over all of that is the fact that Ever, the Chicago restaurant Carmy and Richie trained at and is seen as the gold standard, announced its closure. Plus there's the all-important review hanging over their head that could save or sink them.
Read our The Bear season 3 recaps to get an in-depth breakdown of the full season, but here we are breaking down the biggest questions after the credits rolled on The Bear season 3.
What does the review say for The Bear?
As we learn in The Bear season 3 episode 9, the upcoming restaurant review from the Chicago Tribune could determine the entire fate of the restaurant. Jimmy tells Carmy that he's reached the point where if the review isn't good, he is going to need to pull the plug on the restaurant (what he doesn't tell him is that his financials have taken a major hit, so the review may not actually save them).
Still, perhaps more importantly, Carmy feels it will serve as a referendum on him, his talent and everything he has done this season to make The Bear a significant culinary experience. So what does the review say?
Short answer, we still don't know! The Bear opted to go with a cliffhanger for season 3. The final moments of the season see Carmy walking the streets of Chicago, having been shattered by his interaction with his old tormenter Chef David (Joel McHale), who believes Carmy should be thanking him for making him to the chef he is today, then receiving a bit of bliss after his talk with Chef Terry (Olivia Colman). All of that is disrupted when he checks his phone and sees the review is in and he has a bunch of missed messages from Jimmy (Carmy has him as "Cicero" in his phone) and The Computer (Brian Koppelman), Jimmy's math wiz.
Carmy has visions of what the review will say, with words racing through his head like "confusing," "excellent," "innovative," "brilliant," "sloppy" and more. This leads him to gritting out a "mother f**k" as the final line of the season. However, this seems to be more that his rare moment of serenity was disrupted rather than a reaction to the review, because he never opens it. As Carmy looks to the Chicago sky and sees an elevated train pass by, the opening strums of Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm" play and a "To Be Continued" appears on the screen, leaving the fate of the Bear up in the air until next season.
That's not the only cliffhanger we get in the episode though.
Does Sydney decide to leave The Bear?
Sydney has been battling with what she wants to do with her future all season. Carmy and Jimmy offer her a partnership deal at The Bear, but she never actually opens it, Pete (Chris Witaske) has to give her the details. Meanwhile, Chef Adam (Adam Shapiro) wants her to become his new head chef at a restaurant he is opening, offering better terms than The Bear and a chance to run a kitchen her own way.
On the surface, it would seem like a no-brainer, but despite the frustrations she has with Carmy all season, she is constantly reminded of everything The Bear has meant to her and the connections she has made with Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas), Marcus (Lionel Boyce) and the rest of the team and acknowledging how they have all grown.
These complicated feelings culminate when she has The Bear team and staffers from Ever (including Chef Terry, eager to party now that the responsibilities of running a restaurant are over) over at her apartment for a party. Seeing a review for The Beef (from what we can tell this is not the review for The Bear but rather the original restaurant from season 1) brings it all to the forefront. Sydney removes herself from the party, going out into the hall and having what appears to be a mini panic attack.
It's a heartbreaking place to leave our young chef, as her future remains unclear: will she stay with The Bear or branch out on her own?
Some other quick things to note about The Bear season 3 ending: things with Richie and Carmy are still icy (the two don’t talk at Ever’s funeral), and Carmy has yet to speak with Claire (Molly Gordon). That leaves plenty of stuff to unpack in The Bear season 4.
Watch all episodes of The Bear on Hulu in the US and on Disney Plus in the UK.
