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‘The Bear’ honours late guest star Rob Reiner with heartfelt nod in series finale

By Poppy Burton Jun 27, 2026 | 5:41 AM

The Bear paid tribute to the late legendary director and actor Rob Reiner in its final episode.

Created by Christopher Storer, the acclaimed FX kitchen drama stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard “Richie” Jerimovich and Abby Elliott as Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto.

Before Reiner’s tragic death, he appeared in a three-episode arc in The Bear’s fourth season as restaurant consultant Albert Schnurr. The 78-year-old filmmaker and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found murdered in their home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles late last year.

In the last episode of the new and final season, line cook Ebra (Edwin Lee Gibson) calls Schnurr to deliver news about the future of the restaurant, saying:  “Albert, we are in business. It’s perfect. I will have all the documents, email it to you immediately. Anything else I can do?”

While viewers don’t hear what’s said by Albert, Ebra pauses and then says: “As you wish,” a nod to Cary Elwes’ Westley in the Reiner-directed 1987 classic The Princess Bride.

Reiner’s son Nick, 32, was arrested in connection with their deaths last year and was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder with “special circumstances”, pleading not guilty to the charges at a court appearance in February.

Tributes poured in for Reiner after the news broke in December, with the likes of Jack Black, Jane Fonda, Stephen King, Barack and Michelle Obama, Paul McCartney, and Meg Ryan all penning moving odes to the late filmmaker.

As for The Bear, its final season premiered last night (June 26), and picks up after Carmy’s decision to step away from the restaurant industry, leaving Sydney, Richie and Natalie to carry The Bear forward without him at the centre of the kitchen.

With money running out, a possible sale looming, and a torrential storm hitting Chicago, the team are forced to pull together for one last service as they try to keep the restaurant alive and chase the recognition they have been working towards.

In a four-star review of season five, NME wrote: “The exact fate of The Bear will be discovered by viewers when the final episode arrives, but the fifth and final season is a suitable send-off to these unlikely comrades. It might not reach the boiling temperatures of the show at its peak, but it’s a satisfying final course.”

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