We open The Bear Season 4 Episode 6 with Syd in the hospital, checking in on her father’s heart attack. (Thank you to the writers for gifting us with some continuity and not a flashback to toddler-aged Faks involved in some bouncy castle scheme that will confuse viewers.)
Alright, back in the kitchen! There’s a lot of yelling about the upcoming wedding between Richie’s ex-wife, Tiff, and Frank. So much drama: Richie is nervous because he thinks her new soon-to-be husband, Frank (Josh Hartnett), will replace him as a father to his daughter, as he is wealthier and friendlier. Sugar is mad at Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) because he invited his sister, Francie Fak, to the wedding despite there being an unknown but apparently unconscionable betrayal that Sugar has never gotten over. And then Carmy is waffling about attending the wedding since Claire Bear is going, and those two haven’t figured out how to be in love yet without Carmy imploding and locking himself in the walk-in fridge. So, yeah, back to normal.
Comedy!
Syd, visibly shaken and guilt-ridden by all of this, runs into Claire Bear, who just so happens to be on her shift. There, she’s able to offer Syd consolation and friendship but not a tissue, which is unfortunate because Ayo Edebiri had to generate an impressive amount of tears and snot for this scene. (Advanced congrats on your Emmy award, Ayo!)
Meanwhile, still lost in the woods of secondary character plotlessness, Tina and Sweeps go over some of the restaurant’s service deficiencies. Sweeps subtly implies that his wine service would be better if Tina could get her cavatelli out faster, a problem she’s had all season. She finally gets some alone time with Luca, who explains to her that the pressure that’s overwhelming to her right now about the cavatelli will someday become such a drug that you won’t be able to live without it, which means that there will be another emotionally abusive maniac addict in that kitchen. (This whole plotline feels like a demotion for actor Liza Colon-Zayas. Remember last season’s lone high-point episode, “Napkins,” focused solely on her origin story and gave her something to do besides stir sauce and fret about money. And now, this year, she has to stir sauce faster. Congrats in advance on your second Emmy award nomination, Liza!)
What else: Richie and Jessica (TK) are clearly about to fall in love, which should work out great. Anyone who has ever worked at a restaurant knows how genius it is to start hooking up with a co-worker. It’s the perfect environment to cultivate gentle communication skills.
Meanwhile, Carmy is out in the back of the restaurant, doing a check-in call on Syd. After he hangs up, he takes a call from Shapiro. The contents of that call, although not shown, are most likely this:
SHAPIRO: “What’s up with Syd? Why is she flaking? This is a tremendous opportunity! We have secret compartments in this restaurant for chefs to store secret ingredients or forbidden knives. But this is also a very safe space for everyone!”
CARMY: “Heard.”
But Syd is not in an emotional space to think about any dream jobs or nightmare jobs right now. She sits at her father’s bedside as he recuperates from the heart attack. She insists she should move back into his house to take care of him, but he forbids it.
We move on from the dram portion of this episode and downshift right into the amedy. So that means I take a deep breath, pray for an instant and painless death, and endure the Faks. In this scene, the two main morons sniff around baby Sophie like a couple of sweaty moron hyenas.
There we go. (Congratulations in advance on your Golden Globe nominations for actors in a best supporting role, Matty Matheson and Ricky Staffieri!)
Meanwhile, Sugar finally rescues her baby and plops it into Carmy’s arms. I know Carmy is supposed to be selfish and clueless around a baby, but Jeremy Allen White has two young daughters and can’t pretend he doesn’t know how to do a gentle daddy bounce.
That lack of commitment to the role will cost you an Emmy nomination this year, Jeremy. You had a good run.
THE BEAR SEASON 3 EPISODE 6: LEFTOVERS
QUESTIONS I STILL HAVE: Why does everyone feel obligated to attend the wedding of an ex-cousin-in-law? And also, Tiff and Frank – why would you invite a dozen of the most disruptive, unstable people who clearly should never be near an open bar to your blessed event?
MIDDLE-AGED DAD NEEDLE DROP: “I’m Always in Love” by Wilco. This is a track off the Summerteeth album, but this version sounds like it could be one of those solo Jeff Tweedy B-side versions licensed exclusively for The Bear.
CARMY ARM PORN: THE CELLY!
THE BEAR – SEASON 4: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Can’t get enough of The Bear Season 4? For more insight, analysis, GIFs, and close-ups of Carmy’s arms, check out some highlights of Decider’s coverage:
A.J. Daulerio is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. He is also the founder of The Small Bow, a recovery newsletter.
Read the full article here
