The Bear wrapped its final season on Hulu with a subtle nod to the late Rob Reiner, woven into a scene near the end of the series finale.
According to The Wrap, Reiner guest starred in Season 4 as Albert Schnurr, a restaurant consultant who helped Ebraheim, played by Edwin Lee Gibson, think through ways to improve the Beef walk-up window. His advice led Ebra to develop a plan to franchise the Beef, a storyline that carried into the final season.
Reiner died in December. He and his wife Michele were found dead on December 14 in what the L.A. Medical Examiner ruled a double homicide from multiple sharp force injuries. Their son Nick Reiner was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. He pleaded not guilty in February and is set to appear in court next on September 15.
Though it was unclear whether Reiner had been scheduled to return for Season 5, the show found a way to acknowledge his character and his legacy. In the finale, Ebra calls Albert to share the news that his franchise plan has been approved. At the end of the call, Ebra says "as you wish" — a direct reference to Reiner's 1987 film The Princess Bride.
Season 5 took place over the course of a single day, as the staff of the Bear navigated a flood, a reservation system glitch, and a shortage of food. The chaos set the stage for a major shift in the kitchen's leadership.
That shift was central to Episode 7, titled Caramel, which Variety covered in depth. With six minutes left in service, Carmy, played by Jeremy Allen White, drops a plate of lamb he had been carefully preparing. Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri, steps in immediately.
"It's a heartbreaking moment where you think all might be lost, or Carmy thinks all might be lost, but the truth is it was such an important moment for Carmy's growth," White told Variety. "In the moment, it's the end of the world, but ultimately it allows him to really step back with some confidence and allows him to accept help and support, which he's been really incapable of for the whole time that we've known him."
Edebiri described the scene as a moment of shared vulnerability. "OK, I have to suppress all the anxiety that I might be feeling because of the practicality of the situation, while also wanting to be there for this person who I know is going into the worst places in his head and in his mind — while also getting rid of all that, and getting down to brass tacks," she recalled thinking. "But the way that we have to do this is by being together and then is, in a weird sort of way, I think both of them [discover this idea of] having the humility to have confidence. They're both going through different versions of ego death."
Richie, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, walks into the kitchen after Carmy drops the lamb and tells him what he needs to hear. "One thing that I love about that moment is the danger and fragility of the kitchen, and how chaos and just a mess lurks around anything," Moss-Bachrach told Variety. "And a simple act of just dropping a plate, which we all do every day, can unleash just complete terror."
All five seasons of The Bear are now streaming on Hulu.
