Along with starring in movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Haunted Mansion and Freakier Friday, the last several years have seen her recurring on The Bear as Donna Berzatto, the mother of Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy and Abby Elliot’s Natalie. Last July, a month after the fourth season premiered to Hulu subscription holders, The Bear was renewed for Season 5. However, Curtis may have just let slip on social media that this will be the show’s last season.
Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but there’s a sense of finality in the post Curtis shared on Instagram of herself with warmly embracing Elliot, whose handle on the platform is @lilcutieforever, on the set of The Bear. Here’s what she wrote as the caption:
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. Got to finish it out with my baby Berzatto bear, @lilcutieforever @thebearfx
With words like “finish” and “completing,” I’m sure some, if not many of you reading this are joining me in wondering if she’s saying that The Bear will end with Season 5. A post like this seems like it’s too weighty if the powers-that-be at FX on Hulu have already decided to renew the show for a sixth season, even if that’s not public knowledge yet. Jamie Lee Curtis makes it sound like the Berzatto family saga will come to an end sometime on the 2026 TV schedule.
To be fair, five seasons is a healthy run for a streaming-exclusive TV show these days, so it’s not like The Bear was taken too soon. Far from it, as the Christopher Storer-created series has earned numerous awards and accolades since it premiered in 2022, including Jamie Lee Curtis winning the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the Season 2 episode “Fishes.” It’s fair to say The Bear won’t be easily forgotten, especially considering how much it’s boosted Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s profiles, among others.
There is another possibility regarding the meaning of Jamie Lee Curtis post: what if The Bear isn’t ending, but her time on the show is? Perhaps Season 5 will see Donna Berzatto passing away, devastating Carmy, Natalie, Richie (who’s basically her surrogate son) and Uncle Jimmy. I’m less inclined to think this is what will happen, especially since The Bear Season 4’s ending seemed to lay the groundwork for the beginning of the end, but I won’t entirely rule out this story twist just yet either.
Maybe we’ll learn about The Bear’s fate post-Season 5, or maybe it will be announced a few weeks after the Hulu premiere. Whatever the future holds in store for the show, I look forward to seeing more of Jamie Lee Curtis on it.
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