“Every customer gets treated like one of us. Every customer is family.”
The Bear is a pressure cooker, as any restaurant would be. As in many workplaces, camaraderie develops through the highs and lows of the business. With Carmy and co, they’ve all been through the ringer together; a complete tear down of an old establishment, the stresses of building a new one with ridiculously high standards, and everything in between.
In “Sophie,” various characters are experiencing that “everything all at once” to the maximum. Richie is having a crisis of self because of Tiff’s wedding and the recurring thought that he’s going to lose his daughter, Eva, when Frank is officially christened “the step-dad.” The Richie-specific part of the review stating he’s “detached from the kitchen” is primarily true because he and Carmy have still not hashed things out. They get in a massive argument in this episode, throwing various jabs at one another (Frank, Claire, Donna).
“The Bear” — “Sophie” — Season 4 Episode 6 (Streams Thursday, June 26th) Pictured: (l-r) Ricky Staffieri as Ted Fak, Matty Matheson as Neil Fak. CR: FX.
Tina is still struggling to make time for dishes. In this season, she’s been the motherly figure who has been giving some small nuggets of valuable advice. You hope she can eventually relax, juxtaposed against her fears of aging, in her standalone episode in season three. I don’t think anyone at The Bear would view Tina as anything more than an asset. Then, there’s Sydney with an extremely emotionally touching performance from Ayo Edebiri. Throughout season four, Syd’s character has become the focal point as Carmy continues to go on his personal journey of self-discovery. All of those complicated feelings she’s been experiencing throughout the first three seasons and five episodes all come to a head with her father’s heart attack.
It jumps off what Tina said to Marcus, “parents are human, too.” This phrase hits harder for Syd because Emmanuel is the only constant in her life who has loved her through it all. If Richie feels like a rock in isolation, Emmanuel is surely the rock Syd can always count on. He knows The Bear is a risky proposition, but backs her anyway. Through her failed business, etc, Syd’s dad has never looked at her as diminished. As children get older, you see your parents in a different light. Your mom and dad aren’t as spry and invincible as you once thought. They go through scary health issues that shake our stability. Morality is such that once one thing happens, you’re always looking over your shoulder for a shoe to drop. Syd has this huge decision to make and feels as though this burden has also sent her father to the hospital.
“The Bear” — “Sophie” — Season 4 Episode 6 (Streams Thursday, June 26th) Pictured: Abby Elliott as Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto. CR: FX.
That’s why it’s sad to witness Syd come apart in that way, because she’s doing the best she can. Good on Claire for being there as a friend. The conversation between Syd and Emmanuel is beautiful because he’s giving her the fatherly reassurance she needs still. Carmy is still trying to find out the best way to show up for her. In their call, he even says he’d leave and come to the hospital. That overture is different than what we’ve experienced with Carmy in the past. It’s another instance where something besides the restaurant is the most important thing to him, like Richie, Syd, and Carmy have some things to say to one another. There is more to be said between them, but that “I appreciate you” from Syd to Carmy hit hard. It shakes him in a good way.
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That’s not to downplay Tina saying “you da s–t” from “Replicants.” If anything, it continued the process of Carmy relaxing a bit. He got validation from someone who was really in the thick of it with Mikey (unfortunately, he tuned out Richie in the freezer fight). Now, his best friend and kindred spirit expresses it. Although it would be nice for Carmy to say it back.
The wedding is on the horizon, and as Natalie says, you don’t have to hide from things. It seems that this event will be a convergence point for some resolutions or another big “Fishes” type blowup for the Berzattos. But heading into episode seven, it’s nice to see other characters have their own issues to tackle outside of The Bear’s family. There’s a well-rounded quality to that in what feels like smoother sailing ahead. (Then again, it’s The Bear, so who knows!)
