This isn’t to say this season is devoid of high points. The final three-episode stretch sends The Bear off relatively nicely. Episode 7, “Caramel,” is legitimately triumphant — and could be counted amongst the series’ best episodes — as The Bear executes on its potential final dinner shift. Every member of the staff finally locks in to pirouette through the high-wire act of an impossible service; for as awful as the situation is, everyone is “maximizing,” as Richie has demanded with newfound positivity.

It’s not even necessarily disappointing that each of its long-struggling characters have made (albeit predictable) personal breakthroughs. Carmy has learned to tame his rage and speak to those around him with compassion instead of red-faced screaming when his pot boils over. Syd, the quality of her cooking acknowledged by the industry, has learned how to be the confident captain of the ship. Richie has become exactly the kind of creative and caring hospitality manager he’s admired. Marcus begins healing the broken relationship with his father. Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), Gary (Corey Hendrix), Ebra (Edwin Lee Gibson), even Neil (Matty Matheson) — they all reach new pinnacles in their restaurant careers. On paper, it’s a lovely clean way to end things. In practice, it borders on mawkish, a sugary dessert that turns cloying after a few bites. It’s the happy ending you probably could have anticipated after Season 1; it didn’t need five seasons to get here.

“Restaurants suck, everything sucks,” cousin Richie says midway through this season that is often engaging in metatextual conversation with itself. While its characters continue to dig into their own personal ambitions, failures, anxieties, they’re also talking about the show itself, down to the impact The Bear (and the cottage industry of other glossy food TV shows like Chef’s Table) have had on how non-industry people perceive restaurants. The same kind of thinking is even reflected in the score. Instead of the same “New Noise” riff that’s become practically synonymous with The Bear, it’s backed by a steady, synthy Hans Zimmer score that seems to say the show, like its namesake restaurant, has left its scrappier days in the past for something more streamlined and mature.

In its hour-long final episode, The Bear flies off into the lens flare to finish with a soft landing that — without spoiling too much — finally gives Syd her flowers and I think pretty clearly answers what Carmy’s up to next, even if he doesn’t say the words explicitly. The series’ extraneous cast of cameos gather around for one last family party, for once drama-free. By then, the score and dead wife-style camera work working in tandem, The Bear has succumbed to the sentimentality it was teetering toward all season long. To use one last restaurant metaphor: It wasn’t a bad meal, but I wish the server dropped the check 20 minutes ago.