The Bear’s Season 4 Renewal Raises 1 Major Concern About The Show’s Future

The Bear has been renewed for season 4, which raises one particular concern about the show’s future. The Hulu series debuted in 2022, with a second season following shortly after in 2023. Set photos from the filming of The Bear season 3 confirm that the show’s third run of episodes is currently in production. Even so, a fourth season has already been renewed, which will film immediately following season 3.

Revolving around the professional and personal lives of the staff at a failing Chicago sandwich shop, The Bear features an ensemble cast, including Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The show has garnered acclaim for its writing and realistic portrayal of a workplace kitchen environment. Given its popularity, it’s hardly surprising that the series has been renewed for a fourth season far in advance. However, there’s one major concern that The Bear‘s season 4 renewal raises; the show could end up outstaying its welcome.

The Bear Season 4 Is Exciting News (But It Raises 1 Concern About The Show’s Future)

The Bear is, arguably, one of the most consistent shows currently on TV. There is a risk, however, that the longer The Bear sticks around, the more likely it is to run out of story. After all, the first two seasons predominantly focus on the attempts by White’s Carmy to transform his late brother’s struggling sandwich shop into a high-end restaurant. By the end of The Bear season 2, this goal has largely been achieved, even if Carmy’s own personal struggles come close to sabotaging it.

Essentially, The Bear works best when its characters are struggling. Carmy’s own emotional arc sees him haunted by the death of his brother and grappling with his inability to have a life outside his work. In the season 2 finale, just as everything finally looks like it is about to work out for Carmy, it all ultimately falls apart. While this ending nicely sets up season 3, it also makes clear that, for the show to continue, its main character must always fail to find happiness. Because of this, there is a danger that the show might become repetitive.

The Bear Risks Making The Same Mistakes As Other Beloved Workplace Shows

Another element of The Bear that is at risk of becoming repetitive is the show’s setting. It’s a problem that has been witnessed before on numerous other workplace shows that have run out of steam. The Bear‘s restaurant setting separates it from other shows on TV, but there are only so many stories that can be told that are unique to that place. Fundamentally, the longer the series goes on, the greater the likelihood becomes of it exhausting all story possibilities at the workplace.

This was certainly the case for The Office, for example, which, after utilizing its office setting well for several seasons, had difficulty finding fertile ground in its later years. Even shows such as Parks & Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, despite not experiencing the same level of drop in quality as The Office, still found themselves treading all too familiar ground in their last couple of seasons. While The Bear may still be a long way off reaching the episode counts of those shows, there is, nevertheless, a chance it could go on past its expiration date, with the show suffering.

How The Bear Can Keep Its Story Fresh In Season 4 & Beyond

Fortunately, The Bear’s sudden drop in quality remains a hypothetical notion for the time being, and there are plenty of directions the show can go in to stop it from feeling stale. The biggest weapon it has at its disposal is its ensemble cast of characters. The restaurant’s staff is made up of a diverse band of big and fully-realized characters, many of whose backstories the show has yet to explore. Characters such as Tina and Marcus have had great moments, but there is certainly room to go deeper in upcoming seasons.

Another way the show can keep its story fresh is by delving further into Carmy’s family. The season 2 flashback episode “Fishes” became an instant favorite, largely because of how it centers around the Berzatto family as they try, and fail, to have a pleasant family Christmas. It introduced a string of new characters and gave greater insight into Carmy’s life prior to the start of the series. Expanding on character-focused subplots certainly opens up potential and should ensure The Bear won’t outstay its welcome any time soon.