Overall, it was a good episode, but it did not avoid the show's overall bad trajectory.
The good: The series of short set pieces worked well, and some of them: Nat and Francie; Donna and Sydney; in particular Michelle and Tiff, were excellent. Donna (I'd have gone with Foreboding, but Apprehension works too) not being a freakshow tells me the writers have not completely started mailing it in yet. Richie's arc worked fine. Despite the desperate flailings beating us over the head with Syd this season, Richie is always the star of this show, and his closure gave me genuine relief.
The okay I guess: Carmy and Clare Bear had the first scene together that was watchable since The Fridge. I particularly liked how unflattering the closeup of Clare is -- a brave choice to un-Mary Sue her and show her as highly flawed and homely. Contrast with how most of the other women are portrayed at their best for the wedding, even, surprisingly and interestingly, Donna.
The bad: under the table as Ionesco's The Chairs could have been a far better scene if it hadn't been written so mawkish and poorly. The Bear is always at its best when it is oblique. Directness kills nuance, and this scene being played for Absurd But Sniff Piquant was cringey Emmy bait and for the birds. Sure, it was the season's "showstopper" to make the lofos yap about it, but it was in microcosm why the show has become lame: it was Try Hard. The Bear started as something in the corner of your eye, but 4 seasons in it is jumping up and down screaming Pick Me! The scene's failure wasn't enough to ruin the episode, because there was still so much quiet, delicate substance. But the show as a whole is overcooked now and needs to go to the trash.
Nothing good lasts forever. Two excellent seasons followed by 2 weak ones is a better track record than almost all shows in history (cough West World). But I still wish they could turn down the money, not smell their own farts, and quit after creating art.
Die young and leave a pretty corpse.