WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Bear season 4.
Carmy’s culinary replacement in FX’s The Bear season 5 has to be one of the series’ best guest stars who became a recurring cast member in season 4. Carmy’s shocking decision to leave his restaurant in The Bear season 4 finale leaves a massive gap in leadership while also alleviating a great deal of tension.
While Sydney (played by Emmy-winner Ayo Edebiri) is the natural choice to become the new executive chef of The Bear in Carmy’s absence, there’s truly only one natural character choice to take Sydney’s former position as Carmy’s CDC (chef de cuisine).
Will Poulter’s Luca Can Help Fill Carmy’s Place In The Kitchen After He Leaves
He Could Become The New Executive Chef Or Take Sydney’s Role As CDC
At this point in The Bear, Sydney is still the CDC, although all signs point to her signing on as the executive chef in Carmy’s place. This would allow her the culinary freedoms that had initially enticed her and made her consider leaving The Bear by teaming up with chef Adam Shapiro at his new restaurant.
That said, Sydney will need someone else to help lead the kitchen and take over her previous role during service. Luca seems like the best, if not most obvious, answer to that problem. He’s only staging to earn his keep at The Bear and to fill an insatiable need for pressure and success, but with Carmy leaving, Sydney could bring him on full-time.
Alternatively, Sydney could retain her position as the CDC while handing the executive reins to Luca, who is an elite chef with similar prestige and experience to Carmy. However the cookie ends up crumbling on paper, the lead dynamic at The Bear would rationally switch from Sydney and Carmy to incorporate Luca at the highest level.
Luca Already Fits In Brilliantly With The Bear’s Staff
He’s Good Friends With Marcus & Works Great With Sydney
In the context of the show at large, Luca is a fan-favorite supporting character who has emerged as a lovable series regular. Carmy still exists at the heart of The Bear as its lead protagonist, which implies that season 5 will take place outside of the kitchen more than ever before.
Luca has been a good fit with the other members of the kitchen staff since he mentored Marcus in Copenhagen in The Bear season 2. He also worked with Carmy in the past at one of the world’s most renowned restaurants, so they naturally have similar culinary backgrounds.
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Luca would provide an interesting contrast to Carmy if he ends up taking his place as executive chef or CDC. They are more or less cut from the same cloth in a professional sense, having both survived intense “trial by fire” training.
Sydney may be scared to see Carmy go, but Luca would likely make a much more reliable and less stressful business partner than Carmy.
That said, Luca seems more stable and put together than the unpredictable Carmy, who often brings his own dilemmas into the workplace. Sydney may be scared to see Carmy go, but Luca would likely make a much more reliable and less stressful business partner than Carmy. Plus, there are subtle instances of a spark between Luca and Sydney, which would certainly spice things up in The Bear season 5.
The Bear
9/10
Release Date
June 23, 2022
Network
Hulu
Showrunner
Christopher Storer
Directors
Ramy Youssef
Writers
Catherine Schetina, Alex Russell, Karen Joseph Adcock, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Stacy Osei-Kuffour