Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Bear Season 4.Although romance was not a point of focus in The Bear‘s first season, the introduction of a love interest for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) in Season 2 had a lot of potential, particularly for his character arc. Claire (Molly Gordon) has always felt a bit one-dimensional, and her and Carmy’s romance has never seemed like it was meant to last, but this relationship did put Carmy in a really interesting position. Throughout Season 2, Carmy found himself torn between Claire and his responsibilities to The Bear, which ultimately got him stuck in a walk-in fridge during Friends and Family Night.
Now two seasons later, though, The Bear continues to push the romance between Carmy and Claire. While this romance worked for one season in order to further Carmy’s character arc, it just does not have the lasting potential to be the show’s central romance. The Bear does both drama and comedy well, and as of the end of Season 4, the emotional stakes of the show are higher than ever. Still, the show’s misguided focus on Carmy and Claire’s relationship continues to hurt it, especially when it neglects pairings with better romantic potential in the process.
‘The Bear’ Needs to Stop Trying to Force Carmy and Claire’s Romance
Although Carmy and Claire’s romance made sense for Carmy’s character arc in Season 2, it has always felt forced. Claire as a character feels underdeveloped, and she falls into a number of classic Manic Pixie Dream Girl tropes. She always has an effortlessly clever line to insert as a comeback, even when the situation would better call for the continuation of a deeper conversation. Additionally, Claire has a long, complex backstory with Carmy and his family that was conveniently written into the show at the same time as her introduction. The argument could have been made early on that Claire was intentionally one-dimensional because viewers were seeing her through the mind of Carmy, who put her on a pedestal. Still, though, she has been painted as the perfect love interest for the past three seasons, and even got to support Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) at the hospital and save the day with Eva (Annabelle Toomey) at the wedding in Season 4.
In Season 3, The Bear continued to double down on Carmy and Claire’s romance through flashbacks where he grieved the loss of their relationship. Everyone who was close to both of them made Carmy out to be a villain for what he said in the fridge in an emotionally vulnerable moment, when he didn’t even know that Claire was listening. Although Claire and Carmy aren’t back together yet, it’s only a matter of time before they reunite. Over the course of Season 4, Carmy apologizes to Claire, spends more and more time with her, and then leaves The Bear to finally find himself outside of it. Now that Carmy doesn’t have the restaurant to focus on, it won’t be an obstacle in his relationship with Claire, and they will probably reunite soon.
This doesn’t feel like growth for Carmy, though; it feels like regression, and it is something that he will have to work through in a potential Season 5. The Bear has been pushing Carmy and Claire’s romance from her very first appearance, even though the relationship just doesn’t have the spark that many of The Bear‘s other potential romantic pairings do. All that Carmy and Claire have going for them is off-camera history. On-camera, though, their conversations all feel surface-level, and the deeper moments of confession from Carmy don’t feel earned.
‘The Bear’ Already Has Better Potential Romances To Focus on Instead of Carmy and Claire
The Bear spends so much of its energy in Season 4 on Carmy and Claire, and in the process, it sidelines two much more interesting possible romances: those between Carmy and Sydney, and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Jess (Sarah Ramos). As it stands, Carmy and Sydney have always had a much more dynamic chemistry. While Carmy and Sydney’s relationship could just be read as an especially intense friendship and working partnership, their motivations make more sense in a romantic context. When Carmy had an especially overwhelming panic attack in Season 2, thinking about Sydney was the only way he was able to ground himself. In Season 4, Sydney spends her day off with her cousin’s daughter, TJ (Arion King), and she stresses out about whether to leave The Bear for Adam’s (Adam Shapiro) restaurant. Upon hearing this, TJ immediately guesses that Sydney has a crush on Carmy, and Sydney denies this in a way that doesn’t feel all that believable.
Carmy’s relationship with Claire has always felt like a foil to his relationship with Sydney, as well as an obstacle that could serve the purpose of eventually bringing Carmy and Sydney together. Carmy’s poor treatment of Sydney over the last few seasons has only led to more tense moments between the two of them, like their Season 4 finale fight, which feels more vital and interesting than any of his scenes with Claire. As of the end of Season 4, Carmy and Claire are on better terms than he and Sydney are at the moment, but this only means that future seasons could capitalize on bridging this rift between them. Regardless, Carmy’s relationship with Claire seems to represent the past, while his relationship with Sydney represents the future.
Season 4 feels like a turning point for both Richie and Jess, and Carmy and Sydney. Jess is working at The Bear now, and she and Richie have a number of deep conversations and moments that feel romantically-charged. Still, though, Richie struggles to move on from Tiff (Gillian Jacobs) until he dances with her at her wedding. Now that Richie has let go of Tiff, it is very likely that The Bear will take that next step for him and Jess in a potential Season 5. It is less clear whether The Bear will ever take a chance on Carmy and Sydney, Carmy may still be set on Claire at the moment, but can he truly leave the restaurant behind forever? In a potential Season 5, Carmy may just find his way back to The Bear, and could possibly reconsider his feelings for his former partner in the process.
The Bear Season 4 is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
