A beautiful bittersweet chef’s kiss

Reviews for the fourth season of the acclaimed and award-winning series “The Bear” have been mixed. My verdict, though? Chef’s kiss.

Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe winners Jeremy Allen White (Carmy Berzatto) and Ayo Edebiri (Sydney Adamu) in Season 4 of ‘The Bear.’ PHOTO FROM DISNEY

The previous season may have been a bit of a filler; it was slower paced, with lots of conversations, music and montages. Nevertheless, it gave fans a chance to let some characters unfold further.

The current season of The Bear does not have the frenetic pace of the first season nor the dramatic intensity of the second, which hits a crescendo in a key double length flashback episode called “Fishes.”

Season four works on the assumption viewers are now roped into the lives of the staff and the extended Berzatto family. We have characters we love, characters who drive us nuts, characters we’re fond of, characters we’d want to hang out with on game night, have a beer with, characters we want to give a lot of leeway to and characters we want to hug.

The situations currently focus on asking for and giving forgiveness, listening and letting go of pride. It’s about vulnerability and generosity. It’s about having the courage to speak and the openness to listen. This season of “The Bear” reminds us it’s almost guaranteed we will get into tussles and deep misunderstandings with people we love, but as long as they hold a piece of our heart and we hold a piece of theirs, then there’s always that thread somehow binding people together. We may just be surprised to find out what we thought was frayed, can still hold strong.

The overarching theme of the season is growth, evolution and maturity. It’s about seeking wisdom and imparting that hard-earned wisdom. It’s about wanting our selves and our relationships to be better.

Get ready for returns of your favorite cameos — there are now four Marvel movie actors, Oscar winners and at least one Tony award winner on this show. Everyone in the cast is great, but Jamie Lee Curtis (as mom Donna Berzatto) is a standout. And Ebon Moss-Bachrach is just so consistently good.

The Bear makes me feel like I’m eavesdropping on meaningful conversations. If you happen to watch this while going through a rough patch and you wish all the pain and heartbreak would allow space for grace, healing and humor to seep in through the cracks, you’re likely to find something in common with at least on character.

There’s also great music to tug at the heartstrings and let us feel some levity. Counting Crows, Paul Simon, REM, St. Vincent, Eddie Vedder, Wilco, Everything But the Girl and Bob Dylan are among the artists whose music in the soundtrack for the season.

Cooking doesn’t always have to be about fire and high heat; there’s also a simmer and a cooling. Food need not always be a thrill; there’s also comfort and nourishment to be had.

I enjoyed this season of “The Bear” because in the words of chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edeberi), “It’s not what I want, it’s what I need.”

The fourth season of “The Bear” is now out in the Philippines on Disney+.