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This article contains spoilers for "The Bear" season 4. The season 4 finale of "The Bear" ended on a shocking note for many fans: Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) announced he'd be leaving the restaurant. He's realized he doesn't know who he is outside of cooking, so he's decided to take an indefinite amount of time off to explore what life really has to offer. Also contributing to Carmy's decision is his restaurant's still-precarious financial situation; removing himself from the payroll will help the restaurant stay afloat, especially now that Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) have long proven themselves capable of running the kitchen just fine without him. Carmy leaving is easily the biggest shakeup to the show's formula since at least the season 1 finale, when the crew found a massive stash of cash that let them shut the whole restaurant down to build a new one. This is arguably an even bigger shakeup, depending on how serious the show is about Carmy leaving. Will season 5 feature Carmy totally out of the picture like with Fiona in the final two seasons of "Shameless," or will it continue with him in a major role? Will he still be the show's main character, or will this be like Detective McNulty's situation in season 4 of "The Wire," where he'll be temporarily relegated to ancillary status? Let's look at the evidence and try to find out. Jeremy Allen White has remained tight-lipped about the upcoming season 5, which still has not begun filming. In a recent interview with Vogue, White explained, "Carmy shed so much in that [season 4] finale and came clean in so many ways. He's trying to do what he thinks is right or best. ... I'm always so touched by the way [creator] Chris [Storer] writes and develops this story, and I wish I could act with all those guys forever, honestly, if there was a way to figure that out." There's not much to go on here yet, except that it sure seems like White enjoys working on the show and wants to return. This is the same guy who stuck around for eleven seasons on "Shameless," after all, so he doesn't seem like the sort of actor to leave before the show's finished to pursue a bigger project. Then again, "The Bear" has made White more famous than "Shameless" ever did, and has propelled him to a newfound movie star status with roles in "The Iron Claw" and "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere." His fellow "The Bear" cast members are also in high demand in Hollywood; Edebiri is starring in even more projects than White, arguably reaching an even higher level of fame. It's possible that "The Bear" is facing a similar situation to BBC's "Sherlock" a decade earlier, in which the two main stars have gotten so famous that it's actually hurting the show's longevity. While it seems likely that White is returning in at least some capacity in season 5, it's hard not to read Carmy's big season 4 decision — combined with White's real-life rise in stardom — as a sign that "The Bear" is entering its endgame. As of October 2025, the writers behind "The Bear" have stayed silent about the next season, giving speculating fans little to work with. If you look at interviews they gave before season 4, however, it's possible to infer some things. For instance, one interview with Esquire that Storer gave in 2022 implies that Carmy's leave of absence was something considered far in advance: "Another thing that I found in common with a lot of chefs was how much time a restaurant takes away from them. I can't tell you how many cooks would tell me, 'Dude, I would walk out and have no idea what time it was. ... My personal life was in shambles. But when I was in the restaurant, I was obsessed with time.' Which became this theme in our show. All the cooks and dishwashers are always under such pressure inside that the minute they step outside, it's hard to even relate to the life you're missing." Likewise, there's an interesting quote from co-showrunner Joanna Calo about the season 2 finale, where she mentions how the "Carmy trapped in the freezer" plot point was planned ahead. She and Chris Storer "had this idea that we needed to get rid of him," Calo said about Carmy, with one of the reasons being, "We really wanted to give Sydney a chance to rise into power." This season 4 finale seems like a continuation of that idea, except this time Carmy is removing himself intentionally so Sydney could continue growing as a chef without him. Just as Peggy from "Mad Men" needed a season where she thrived without any help from Don, maybe season 5 is when Sydney will get her chance to do the same. With nothing to go on from the showrunners themselves, we can only conclude that if the show does end, it won't be for want of better ratings. As FX Chairman John Landgraf noted in his announcement of season 5, "The Bear continues to be a fan favorite worldwide and their response to this season — as seen through incredibly high viewership — has been as spectacular as any of its previous seasons. Year-in and year-out, Chris Storer, the producers, cast and crew make The Bear one of the best shows on television, and we are excited that they will continue to tell this magnificent story." Some fans have zeroed in on his use of "continue," not "conclude," but it's best not to read too much into it one way or the other. After all, the official statement from HBO when they announced season 4 of "Succession" gave no hint that it would be the last season, nor did the original announcement for season 4 of "Yellowjackets." It helps that, unlike "Yellowjackets," it's easy to see how "The Bear" might continue for several seasons without growing tired. The Beef is about to become a chain franchise, Marcus (Lionel Boyce) and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) seem poised to take on more central roles, and of course there's the whole looming mystery of Carmy's father to deal with. Season 5 could easily be a triumphant finale or the start of a new era in the series; the show could go either way and still come out on top. Whatever they do with Carmy in season 5, I hope the writers grapple with the idea that Carmy's decision to remove himself from the restaurant might not be as healthy as he thinks. Throughout the show, it's been implied that part of why his brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal) died by suicide is because he believed his friends and family would be better off without him; part of why Mikey didn't want to start a restaurant with Carmy in the first place is because he believed he'd be holding him back. It's hard not to see the parallels between this attitude and Carmy's season 4 decision. It might seem healthy for Carmy to remove himself from a toxic environment, but it also feels like Carmy is jumping from one extreme to the other. There's also the issue that by the end of season 4, Carmy has successfully helped turn the restaurant into a healthier, more functional place. His friends and family have all grown and improved thanks to him sticking around. It's hard not to see Sydney and Richie's points during their big argument with Carmy in the season 4 finale — that Carmy is running away again when he should be seeing the situation through long-term. My hope for season 5 is that Carmy finds himself outside the kitchen like he wants, but only for a couple episodes. Then I want him rediscovering his passion for food, returning to the restaurant not to deal with his trauma, but out of a pure love of cooking. Christopher Storer stated in that Esquire interview that Carmy in season 1 is trying to save his brother's restaurant for the wrong reasons; I'd like season 5 to end with him returning to The Bear for the right ones.
