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In the past few years, I've worried about the patients and doctors at a Pittsburgh hospital, visited a post-apocalyptic bunker, and wished that I lived in an idyllic seaside town with a quirky mayor. Okay, that last one might not be true, given the curse that its residents have to deal with. While The Pitt, Paradise, and Widow's Bay are some of the most engaging TV I've watched in the last little while, there's another special show that I want to talk about, and it has a high Rotten Tomatoes score.
All eight episodes of The Bear's fifth and final season dropped on Thursday, June 25, 2026, and at the time of this writing, the series is #6 on FlixPatrol. It also has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and I believe the story about food, hard work, and love couldn't be more deserving.
'The Bear' Is One of the Most Impressive Streaming Series
Yes, The Bear has a few weaker seasons and slower moments, so I won't say that it deserves 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. But 93% is pretty high, and the series absolutely lives up to that number. Over five seasons, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) figures out if he really wants to be a chef working in the world of fine dining or if he could be content elsewhere. The incredible performances and smart, honest writing are just two reasons it's ranked so highly by viewers and critics.
At the beginning, Carmy runs his late brother Mikey's (Jon Bernthal) restaurant, and that would be compelling enough. Season 1 brings up some interesting questions about how to take on someone else's dream while still working toward your own, and how you can grieve someone you didn't truly know. As the show continues, Carmy and the others work toward opening The Bear... and then more than one thing starts going wrong. The cast of characters truly shines, and Ayo Edebiri's performance as Sydney is one of the best I've seen in recent years.
Many point out that Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is a standout The Bear character, and I'll praise him, too. Season 2's "Forks" alone would be enough to justify the show's 93% Rotten Tomatoes score. If the series were being judged on that episode alone, it would deserve 100%. As Richie realizes he can be happy and set goals, we root for him just as much as we do for Sydney and Carmy. But Sydney's story is special. From the moment she joins the team, she's the organized one who has great ideas and who we want to see thrive. As she decides between The Bear and another opportunity in Season 3, her anxiety makes for a particularly moving storyline. What twentysomething hasn't panicked when picturing their future or wondering if they're doing the right thing?
The more I think about The Bear, the more I appreciate Carmy's sister Natalie/Sugar (Abby Elliott) as well. Although she isn't a chef, she's been involved with the restaurant from day one, and she cares just as much as everyone else. While the running joke of the Hulu series is that her husband, Pete (Chris Witaske), is boring, their relationship is as interesting as Carmy and Claire's (Molly Gordon) bond. Sugar's character arc is powerful because, through her, we see someone moving on from family trauma and creating her own new life. She doesn't want to live in an unhappy and chaotic home like the one she grew up in, and she wants to show her daughter that you can dream big, have fun, and feel good about yourself. (No, I'm not tearing up thinking about that.)
'The Bear' Season 5 Is a Great Ending
Like most people who sit down to watch the final season of a beloved TV show, I was a bit nervous about The Bear Season 5. After four seasons of dealing with (and not dealing with) trauma, cooking, dreaming, and all those inside jokes among the Fak brothers, could these last eight episodes end the story properly?
When I compared all five seasons of The Bear, I didn't rank Season 5 as number one. However, it's still a beautiful last season, and it accomplishes what it should. There isn't much more that you can ask for. The team works well together. Sydney is given the accolades she deserves. Ebra (Edwin Lee Gibson) follows his dream of running a franchise of The Beef. And you feel that everyone is left in a nice, peaceful, and optimistic frame of mind. I'm envious of anyone who starts The Bear without having seen a single episode... which means I'm going to rewatch it from the first episode soon.
