‘The Bear’ Drops Surprise Episode Ahead of Season 5 Premiere

The Bear fans are in for a treat, as the hit FX show just dropped a surprise episode on Wednesday.

The episode, titled “Gary,” is set as a flashback following Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Jon Bernthal) on a work trip to Gary, Ind.

The episode examines “the two friends’ complicated relationship, uncovering new layers of Mikey’s mental state while offering crucial insight into the man Richie is when audiences first meet him in Season 1 — adding emotional context that reframes their story from the very beginning,” as per its official description.

Moss-Bachrach and Bernthal co-wrote the episode, with The Bear creator Christopher Storer directing. Moss-Bachrach took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce the episode’s drop, noting to fans that the episode is listed under its own title on Hulu instead of alongside the rest of The Bear catalog.

“COUSINS! PRIMOS! CUGINI!!! Get ready for GARY!!!! We are so excited to finally share this little adventure with Richie and Mikey,” Moss-Bachrach captioned his post. “Written by me and @jonnybernthal . Directed by the one Christopher Storer. Making this was a dream come true. Thank you to the beautiful people of Gary, Indiana and as always Chicago, Illinois.”

The episode drop comes ahead of the highly-anticipated fifth season of The Bear, which does not have an official release date yet, but which is expected to premiere in June, in time with all of its previous seasons.

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It’s widely believed that Season 5 will be the final season of The Bear. While the announcement has not yet been made official, recurring guest star Jamie Lee Curtis has shared the news herself numerous times.

In February, the Oscar winner shared a photo of herself with co-star Abby Elliott from the set of Season 5 on Instagram, captioning it, “FINISHED STRONG! Surrounded by an extraordinary crew and group of writers and producers and scene partners on the show that Chris Storer created, completing the story of this extraordinary family that we have all fallen in love with.”

Then, in an interview with Access Hollywood, Curtis was asked if she was confirming the show’s ending, to which she responded, “But everybody’s confirmed the show is ending. I don’t understand why that’s such a [big deal]. Unless I’m gonna get a call from all the people saying, ‘You just told [everyone],’ I think everybody understood that it was the last season of the show. If it isn’t, then I’ve completely blown it.”

The Bear, which premiered in 2022, also stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Matty Matheson, Oliver Platt and Molly Gordon. Alongside Storer, executive producers include Josh Senior, Joanna Calo, Cooper Wehde, Tyson Bidner, Matheson, Hiro Murai and Rene Gube, with Courtney Storer serving as co-executive producer and culinary producer.