a better dish than Season 3, but still lacking flavor

Bear necessities. 

“The Bear” is back for Season 4 (now streaming on Hulu), after an aimless third season. 

TV’s worst comedy – as the Golden Globes and Emmys keep awarding it in that category despite it being a drama – follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), as he takes over his late brother’s (Jon Bernthal) Chicago restaurant and wrangles the kitchen staff into giving it a fine-dining makeover, including Syd (Ayo Edebiri), his volatile cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Tina (Liza Colon-Zayas) pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce), and handyman Neil Fak (Matty Matheson). 

In Season 4, they’re trying to get the restaurant (also called The Bear) back on track after a bad review – which feels unintentionally meta, as Season 3 of the show got numerous negative reviews.

They’re also on a ticking clock, as The Bear will have to close in a matter of months if they can’t make enough money. 

Season 4 is adequate – not incredible, but a marked improvement over Season 3. 

The story is tighter (which means its still meandering and aimless, at times). There’s slightly more plot. Characters outside of the main trio (Carmy, Sydney, and Richie) get to shine. 

Carmy has a modicum of emotional growth. But, it’s largely fueled by people around him stating obvious points that don’t need to be spelled out to us (like, “you’re miserable” and “you’re hiding from things”).  

By the end of the season, it seems like he’ll shake up the show’s status quo. 

He supports his staff more, and he moves his rocky relationship with his sister Natalie (Abby Elliot) to a more stable level. 

Unfortunately, his emotional progress means that he also revisits his boring relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Claire (Molly Gordon). Big snooze there. 

Sydney’s home life gets the spotlight more. Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) also gets a glimmer of development. (He’s one of the chefs, in case you forgot, since the show forgot, too). It only took four seasons for “The Bear” to remember there are more characters in its kitchen ensemble, aside from Carmy, Sydney, Marcus, and Tina. Progress! 

The show’s biggest problem has always been that it doesn’t have much plot, but it also doesn’t have much character development instead of plot. Carmy has spent most of “The Bear” spinning his wheels, and the show pretends to be an ensemble, but previously never fully fleshed it out, beyond its main trio. 

So when a show is lacking in both plot and character, what does that leave it with? 

In the case of “The Bear,” it’s left with scenes vaguely gesturing at restaurant life, held together by duct tape, with just enough flashes of good acting to trick the Emmys into thinking it’s profound. 

In Season 4, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jon Bernthal return to steal scenes, joined by a few new guest stars such as Brie Larson and Rob Reiner. Will Poulter also reprises his role as Luca the tattooed pastry chef. 

They’re all fun to watch, and give Season 4 some nice flavor. (For those keeping track of The Hartnetassaince, Season 3 guest star Josh Hartnett also briefly returns). 

Bernthal is as magnetic as ever, but he’s now appeared in the show a half-dozen times. When a show relies on flashbacks of dead characters for emotional impact, that’s never a good sign. It means the present day action isn’t compelling enough on its own, if a story needs to ride the coattails of a ghost. 

The ingredients are all there for “The Bear” to be as good as the Emmys and Golden Globes think it is, but the dish is undercooked. 

It remains that way in Season 4, even as the show is on the upswing after an insipid Season 3. 

The meal this season serves up is decent, but not stellar, and the aftertaste fades too fast.