SINK OR SWIM (THE BEAR, S5 & HACKS, S5)

 

THE BEAR, S5

Two of the finest US televisions shows of recent times have finally reached the end of the road.

For six years, 'The Bear' and 'Hacks' have built loyal audiences, wowed critics and hoovered up a lot of television  awards.

Over five seasons, FX's 'The Bear' has, in particular, gripped US and international audiences as it chronicled the trials and tribulations of a Chicago fast food joint transformed into a fine dining restaurant.

A show that flits between intense drama and dark comedy, it has made stars of Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss Bachrach.

It has also been able to impressively call upon some heavyweight names for supporting or recurring cameo roles.

Jon Bernthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Oliver Platt, Will Poulter, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Olivia Colman, Robert Townsend, Bonnie Hunt and John Mulaney have appeared at various times in the show.

Hell, even Jon Cena unexpectedly popped up in one episode, while Paul Rudd has lent his voice in an uncredited cameo while a cardboard cut out of him has become a bit of a running gag in the show.

At the heart of Christopher Storer's comedy drama has been Jeremy Allen White's tormented head chef Carmy Berzatto and it's been fascinating to watch his character mould a team of fast food workers into a world class fine dining crew.

Over the course of the run, we've witnessed Carmy lose his gra for the restaurant trade as hard financial truths began to threaten The Bear's existence.

We've seen Edebiri's talented chef Sydney Adamu grow into the role of Carly's heir apparent despite having moments of huge self doubt.

Then, there's Ebon Moss Bachrach's impulsive and hotheaded divorced dad of one, Richie Jerimovich who somehow transforms himself into a great front of house manager.

Over the course of the show Richie finds his calling but even when it's going swimmingly, you're still convinced he could screw it up any minute.

Other members of The Bear's crew also blossom.

Lisa Colon-Zayas' cook Tina Marrero overcomes her fear of change and lack of self confidence to become a key player on the kitchen with Sydney's gentle encouragement.

Lionel Boyce's bread baker turned pastry chef Marcus Brooks dazzles diners and his co-workers despite underplaying his ability.

I'm the final season, however. all that talent is put to the test as The Bear's principal investor, Oliver Platt's Jimmy 'Cicero' Kalinowski tries to back out a loss making business that is haemorrhaging money.

Unlike previous seasons, Season Five unfolds mostly over one day.

Storer and his fellow writers Rene Gube, Karen Joseph Adcock, Catherine Schetina, Rachel Wiggins and Nicole Kohut throw into the mix a storm hitting Chicago that causes additional headaches for the team.

This proves to be a stroke of genius.

In the hands of Storer and his fellow director Duccio Fabbri, it gives the show not just the usual dynamics of a restaurant drama but the sensation that the staff are actually in the eye of a storm a la 'Moby Dick'.

With no intranet to check they haven't been double booked, burst pipes and a depleting stock in the fridge, Sydney, Carmy and the rest of the crew, including Abby Elliott's business manager in the restaurant, Natalie 'Sugar' Berzatto, are sailing blind.

They constantly have to improvise, dealing with whatever the day throws at them.

This includes a worrying event depicted at the end of the recent one-off, flashback side episode 'Gary' - a surprise episode that provided an insight into the twisted dynamics of a friendship between Richie and the character whose suicide has haunted the show for its entire run, Jon Bernthal's Mikey - Carmy and Sugar's older brother.

While Mikey's spirit still lingers, the final season is more interested in Carmy, Sydney and Richie's demons.

During the course of it, Carmy make a decision that rattles the entire crew.

And all the while, Cicero and his associates, Brian Koppelman's Computer and his niece, Elsie Fisher's Terry 'Cheese' Chedario are circling The Bear like sharks considering when to kill their prey while salvaging what remains.

One possible way for them is to run with Edwin Lee Gibson's line cook Ebraheim's idea of taking The Bear's successful sideline business, the Berzatto family's original beef sandwich and find investors who might be able to turn it into a franchise.

But to do that, they need Carmy's blessing.

With the action taking place over 24 hours, the final eight episodes of The Bear' unfold a little bit like HBO's medical drama 'The Pitt'.

They're typically tense, especially when the storm passes and Richie and the team start to realise they are indeed massively overbooked.

They're also really gripping, with Edebiri, Allen White and Bachrach leading from the front and the entire cast on song.

Sydney, Richie and Carmy are exactly how we like them, vulnerable but capable of genius while under huge pressure.

Sugar's anxiety levels go through the roof while she tries to keep her eyes on a sinking business and her ears on her erratic mother, Jamie Lee Curtis' Donna as she minds her baby.

Koppelman, Fisher and, in particular, Platt flap around, desperately looking for solutions as the scale of the financial hit Cicero is about to take becomes clearer.

Amid all the uncertainty, Tina and Lionel continue to dazzle in the kitchen but are still riddled with self-doubt - the latter's bromance with Will Poulter's fellow pastry chef Luca even coming under strain.

Matty Matheson's waiter Neil Fak and his brother, Ricky Staffieri's handyman Teddy remain the class clowns of the show - their bickering, gaucheness and incompetence often making matters worse.

The big challenge for Storer is getting the tone of the concluding episode right in a way that doesn't leave most of the audience feeling cheated.

That is, of course, no mean feat as David Chase knows from his experience of 'The Sopranos'.

Storer somehow manages to tie up most of the show's loose ends, while not completely closing the door on the world of the Berzattos, Richie or Sydney.

Some fans may quibble about the decision by Storer to go for a Michael Mann style Hans Zimmer score instead of The Bear's usual selection of eclectic indie rock needle drops.

Although it has to be admitted, the Zimmer score gives the final season an epic feel and deserve my so.

The way it all unfolds, you can't help but think this crazy final installment may be the best of the five seasons that Storer and his writers have served up.

Fans will miss the trials and tribulations of Carmy, Sydney, Richie, Sugar, Cicero, Tina, Marcus, Donna, Neil and Teddy  - unless Storer can surprise us with one more glimpse into their chaotic lives.

I'll happy take that, whether it's on the small or big screen.

(Season 5 of 'The Bear' was released on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK, Ireland and other countries on June 25, 2026)

HACKS. S5

If 'The Bear' has been an intense rollercoaster of a show, 'Hacks' by way of contrast has been a light hearted, camp romp through the world of showbiz.

A smartly written show about the ups and downs in the working relationship of an ambitious comedy legend and her quirky bisexual writer, it's been propelled by award winning central performances by Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.

But it has also wonderfully lampooned the shallowness of showbiz in LA and Las Vegas.

In previous seasons, we have seen Smart's tough, ageing showbiz dame, Deborah Vance go from being a stale Las Vegas residency comedian to a revitalised stand-up who could hold her own with the very best to a late night talk show host, only to see that particular dream crumble.

All the time, she has had a weird surrogate mother and daughter relationship with her up and coming writer Einbinder's Ava Daniels who constantly craves her approval and often feels let down just as they appear to be riding the crest of a wave.

Like 'The Bear,' 'Hacks' has thrived on the back of a wonderful cast of intelligently written characters.

Deborah and Ava's agent is a small time operator, Jimmy LuSaque, played by one of the show's creators Paul W Downs, whose loudmouth assistant and later partner in his business, Megan Stalter's Kayla Schaefer has a terrible habit of putting her foot in it.

Carl Clemons-Hopkins' Marcus Vaughan graduates from initially being the Chief Operating Officer of Deborah's home shopping business ventures to being a businessman in his own right, building his own casino.

Kaitlin Olson's DJ is the daughter of Deborah who has struggled to make her own mark in the world and has battled addiction, while having a fractious but dependent relationship on her mother.

Christopher McDonald's Marty Ghilain is the vain CEO of the Palmetto Casino and Deborah's old flame whose decision to end her residency in Season One forces her to take risks with her career.

Other notable recurring characters include Rose Abdoo's "tell it as she sees it" housekeeper Josefina, Mark Indelicato's camp personal assistant Damien Asada Agosto, her personal blackjack dealer Poppy Liu's Kiki Loas and Lauren Weedman's eccentric Las Vegas Mayor Jo Pezzimenti.

There's also J Smith Cameron's Kathy Vance, Deborah's estranged sister, Ava's endearingly batty mum, Jane Adams' Nina Daniels and Robby Hoffman's feisty personal assistant to Jimmy and Kayla, Randi.

'Hacks' final season finds Deborah and Ava in one of the trough points of their careers.

Following the spectacular crash and burn of her talk show, Deborah is gagged by the network and its hard nosed executive, Tony Goldwyn's Bob Lipka from doing any new projects in the US or speaking publicly about what happened.

Social media has been abuzz about rumours of her death while performing in Singapore where she could do so because of a loophole in the gagging order.

With Deborah's career being suffocated in the US, Lipka has been mounting a smear campaign which is also damaging Jimmy and Kayla's business.

Refusing to be defeated, the comedian sets her sights on becoming an EGOT (an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Toby Awards winner) but needs Ava to refocus her on rebuilding her comedy career.

Ava and Deborah exploit another loophole in the gagging order by organising with Jimmy a secret comedy tour where the audience are banned from bringing their phones into the performance.

Inevitably a clip is leaked, resulting in Lipka taking them to court.

While a judge sides with Lipka's gag, the publicity it attracts puts Deborah in the spotlight and she announces a plan to perform in Madison Square Garden once the gag ends without checking if it is available.

Focusing on achieving that goal of a sellout show, Deborah and her team go to a fan convention in Las Vegas where she has to mend her relationship with her angry fanbase.

She also gets paparazzi attention in Las Vegas after being wooed by a young, twentysomething Harry Styles like pop idol, Christopher Briney's Nico Hayes - a dalliance which ends abruptly and really badly. 

Ava struggles to get a script optioned for a TV show she has been working on but is sent in a different direction by one executive.

At an exhibition in Los Angeles' Paley Center celebrating the sitcom that made her a household name, Deborah finally snaps in public about all the adulation her now dead ex husband, Peter Strauss's Frank Vance received as her contribution was overlooked.

Deborah and DJ take part in a celebrity season of 'The Amazing Race' which goes disastrously. while Marcus progresses plans for a new casino The Diva with his boss's support.

Will Deborah get her Madison Square Garden gig and will it be the pinnacle of a decent, if turbulent career?

And can her friendship with Ava survive?

Once more, 'Hacks' relies on the strength of its performances and again Smart and Einbinder remain on top form.

Downs, Stalter, Clemons-Hopkins, Olson, McDonald, Hoffman, Abdoo and Indelicato also deliver, while Goldwyn makes a suitably nasty corporate villain without ever going pantomime.

Briney, Strauss, Ann Dowd as a former celebrity at the fan convention, Alanna Ubach as a talent booker for Madison Square Garden and Alex Moffat as an irritating venture capitalist all impress.

Cherry Jones and Leslie Bibb are especially good as a couple who in one of the funniest episodes assume Deborah and Ava are in a lesbian relationship with a similar age dynamic.

Like previous seasons, the quality of the episodes is mostly good with the occasional misfire.

Nevertheless Downs, Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and their writing team of Ariel Karlin, Aisha Muharrar, Samantha Riley, Pat Regan, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Guy Branum, Andrew Law, Bridget Parker, Genevieve Aniello and Jess Dweck manage to prevent the show from going off the boil.

Lucia Aniello, Downs, Statsky and their fellow director Jeff Rosenberg give the final season the sprinkle of glitter it needs.

More importantly, the team delivers a concluding episode that is among the best of any comedy drama that we have seen in recent years.

And while 'Hacks' may not quite have hit the heights or consistency of 'Succession' or 'The Bear,' when the last final credits roll, you realise the show wasn't that far off.

Television comedy drama will be all the poorer for its absence and you can't ask more of a show than that.

(Season 5 of 'Hacks' on HBO Max in the US and HBO Max/NowTV in the UK and Ireland between April 9-May 28, 2026)