The Bear Season 4 will break an exciting franchise record when it is served up on Hulu starting on Wednesday, June 25. The fourth season of the award-winning kitchen-based dramedy is days away from release, pushing audiences back into the stress-filled world of Jeremy Allen White's Carmy Berzatto, a Chicago-based restaurateur and head chef just trying to get by in the high-intensity world of haute cuisine.
Fans are in for a treat with The Bear Season 4, as a new listing revealed that the hit FX on Hulu series' fourth season will include its longest episode ever. This lengthy runtime could mean big things for White's Carmy as well as the rest of the Bear cast (which includes A-listers like Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach), potentially diving into one of the show's biggest mysteries.
The show's Season 4 runtimes were posted on X by ScreenTime, showing off a few lengthy episodes for the new season, including one that will run 69 minutes.
Most of the new season will stick around that typical 30-minute mark the show is known for, except for Episode 7, making it the longest episode in series history. The previous record holder was the acclaimed "Fishes" episode (Season 2, Episode 6), which reached 67 minutes.
Season 4 will run 10 episodes, totaling 369 minutes (6 hours and 9 minutes).
See the complete list of reported The Bear Season 4 runtimes below:
- Episode 1 — 31 Minutes
- Episode 2 — 31 Minutes
- Episode 3 — 37 Minutes
- Episode 4 — 32 Minutes
- Episode 5 — 33 Minutes
- Episode 6 — 29 Minutes
- Episode 7 — 69 Minutes
- Episode 8 — 36 Minutes
- Episode 9 — 38 Minutes
- Episode 10 — 33 Minutes
The Bear Season 4 will continue the ever-unfolding plight of its titular Chicago-based restaurant and the colorful cast of characters that work within/around it. The series will again be led by Jeremy Allen White's Carmy, with names like Ayo Edebiri's Sydney, Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Richie, and Liza Colón-Zayas' Tina backing him up in the kitchen. Season 3 saw The Bear team finally open, attempting to put their stamp on the high-stakes world of high-end cuisine in the Windy City. It left audiences with big questions (like whether Sydney will leave The Bear) that Season 4 will hopefully answer.
Why Fans Should Be Excited for The Bear's Record-Breaking Episode
From the outside, this may look like nothing more than a list of numbers telling fans how long The Bear Season 4 will be; however, there is some crucial information fans can likely glean from this news heading into the new episodes. Specifically, this is exciting when honing in on that record-breaking 69-minute episode.
The Bear fans have become accustomed to a specific format for the show. Each episode runs about 30 minutes or so, with a breakneck pace being baked in that does not relent until the credits roll.
However, it occasionally deviates from that, usually to debut some of its best episodes. Season 2, Episode 6 (the previous runtime record holder) has been described as one of the best and most tense hours of TV ever.
So, if this mystery, lengthy Season 4 episode follows this series trend, audiences should have that one earmarked for something special when it eventually hits Hulu.
Some speculated that this extended runtime could tackle one of the most significant story moments yet to be depicted on-screen in the show: the death of Jon Bernthal's Mikey.
Bernthal's character died before the series' events, but he has still been a big part of the story thanks to lengthy flashback sequences. Perhaps it is time to tackle his death head-on, adding even more layers to the cast's already spanakopita-like motivations.
