One among my favourite moments in Season 4 of “The Bear” is a type of delicate ballet earlier than the chaos—a dialogue-free sequence that lasts practically three minutes. With the digital camera swooping in elegantly sluggish vogue in regards to the kitchen, Ayo Edebiri’s Sydney prepares a seared scallop dish, with the hauntingly lovely sounds of “Sluggish Disco” by St. Vincent offering a lush soundtrack (Am I pondering what everyone’s pondering? I’m so glad I got here, however I can’t wait to depart…). The background colours change from stylized hues of blue to purple and magenta, furthering the calm, dream-like vibe.

You must be supremely assured in the extent of affection and religion you’ve reached along with your viewers to tug off such a quietly audacious scene, and “The Bear” creator Christopher Storer and his significantly gifted group of artists have unquestionably earned that belief over the course of a sequence that has garnered extra awards in its first three seasons than some other comedy in the historical past of tv has over the identical time span. (The argument about whether or not or not “The Bear” is a comedy is over; it’s not, however as a result of most episodes run shorter than an hour, and since the FX people properly place it as comedy when submitting for awards, a comedy is what it’s formally labeled.)

“The Bear” can also be some of the intense sequence of the last decade, no matter style; I do know some people who love the present however couldn’t make it by the “Fishes” Christmas Eve flashback episode as a result of it hit too near dwelling and was too demanding. Whereas the 10-episode Season Four has no scarcity of heavy baggage unpacking, together with one episode that unfolds in tight confines and performs out like one thing you’d see onstage on the Steppenwolf Theatre, the general tone is comparatively lighter this time round, highlighted by  a visitor star-studded episode that breaks the shorter-than-an-hour sample, working for 1 hour and 9 minutes. Even this episode accommodates a few hard-hitting dramatic moments, however on stability it’s some of the buoyant and joyous items of tv I’ve skilled in years.

All through the present’s run, the crushing strain of time has been a relentless theme. Gotta construct the brand new restaurant in 12 weeks. Gotta get the home prepped in time for doorways opening. Gotta make that dish in underneath 5 minutes. Gotta be certain the shoppers are served in well timed vogue. Gotta rush to the farmer’s market, gotta pay the payments on time (or a minimum of make sufficient of a fee to purchase a little bit extra time). We actually get a ticking time clock in the premiere episode of Season 4, when the restaurant’s monetary backer Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), and his monetary analyst Laptop (performed by Brian Koppelman, co-writer of “Rounders” and “Ocean’s 13”) burst into The Bear, and Laptop plugs an infinite digital clock into the wall. The clock is about to 1,440 hours, i.e., 60 days, and when it runs out, the restaurant will stop operations, except a miracle transpires. Reminders of time passing are sprinkled all through the present, from exterior pictures of clocks on buildings round Chicago to the repetition of the “EVERY SECOND COUNTS” mantra to sure motion pictures enjoying on TV units, e.g., a time-loop film from the Nineties, and a scene from a Nineteen Fifties Western the place one character says to a different, “Squeezin’ that watch ain’t gonna cease time.”

As per common with the prolonged Berzatto clan (in addition to the “work household” of staffers), practically everybody’s life is in a state of flux, with parental points continuously in play. Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy is attempting to handle his anger whereas persevering with to maintain his mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) at bay. Syd is considering a suggestion to leap to a brand new restaurant. Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Richie is dealing with the approaching marriage of his ex, Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs), to the rich and annoyingly likable Frank (Josh Hartnett). Abby Elliott’s Sugar, Edwin Lee Gibson’s Ebraheim, Lionel Boyce’s Marcus, Liza Colón-Zayas’ Tina, and Corey Hendrix’s Sweeps have their respective challenges to face. (The primary solid is as soon as once more excellent, and sure, there are some most welcome returning visitor stars, and a few A-list first-timers as nicely. The writing on “The Bear” makes good actors even higher, and makes nice actors wish to get in on the sport.)

The dialogue crackles and sears, whether or not it’s a painfully trustworthy monologue that should have taken up two pages of a script, or keenly observational one-liners, as when Richie says to Carmen, “Can I lock up, or is that gonna interrupt your mopin’?” or when a Berzatto-adjacent character explains the household to a newcomer: “It’s lots of people with very particular and distinctive personalities that really feel issues very strongly.” I’ll say.

Camerawork and enhancing stay first-rate, because the sequence continues to search out new and distinctive methods to showcase the choreographed chaos of the kitchen, whereas celebrating the craft of elevated cooking and baking. We additionally enterprise exterior for insightful detours, as when Carm takes a drive to Oak Park, or with a fully pretty and warmly humorous episode written by Edebiri & Boyce that showcases Sydney’s neighborhood roots, and her life exterior the restaurant. Showrunner Storer is a maniac in relation to needle drops, whether or not it’s expertly positioned callbacks to songs from earlier seasons, or he’s augmenting sure moments with choices starting from “That’s the Approach” by Led Zeppelin to “A lot of the Time” (time!) by Bob Dylan to “It’s Magic” by Doris Day to “Throw Your Arms Round Me” by Ed Sheeran. (Everything of Episode 2 is paced like a musical, however don’t fear, the characters don’t really burst into tune.)

We don’t but know if there will likely be a Season 5 of “The Bear.” My guess is it should occur, and there are definitely a plethora of storylines but to be resolved. Nonetheless, if we left the characters the place they’re on the finish of Season 4, they’d nonetheless stay on in our imaginations for years to come back. We all know these individuals. They’re three-dimensional, they’re passionate, they’re deeply flawed, they’re able to breathtaking generosity and irritatingly tiny pettiness. Their lives are noisy and humorous and heartbreaking and chaotic, and we love watching them undergo all of it.

All 10 episodes of Season 4 of “The Bear” have been screened for assessment.