Honeydew – As this episode of The Bear begins, Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto (Abby Elliott) tells Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) that they’re seven weeks out and things are not going well. Their building is now considered a biohazard. They got rejected because they filed for a new name without filing for a first name. They have to file to do business as The Bear and pay a fine for not doing business as The Beef originally. When Natalie feels a stomach pain, she has to come clean about being pregnant although she asks Carmen not to tell anyone.

When the wall behind them falls, everyone says congratulations. Marcus (Lionel Boyce) tells his mother that he has to get on a plane and go overseas. He has to come up with three great desserts. Marcus admits he is nervous. He tells his mom not to worry because Kristy will be there while he is away. Marcus speaks to Kristy (Alka Nayyar) and gives her thorough instructions. At the airport, Chester (Carmen Christopher) makes sure Marcus has everything he needs and will use the airport mode on his phone. Chester promises to check on his mother every morning on his way to work.

Marcus arrives in Denmark and finds a note from Marie with instructions. Then, he meets Luca (Will Poulter) so he can begin work. He quickly receives his first lesson. When Luca asks if he knows how to make Gelee, Marcus claims he does. However, he has to search for a recipe online. Luca brings him a recipe and he gets started. Marcus works through the recipe with Luca’s help. Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) speaks to potential recruits for the restaurant. She managed to find one person to hire. Luca and Marcus move on to ice cream. Later, he calls home and says he really likes the city. He sends Kristy a photo of what he is making so she can show his mom.

Luca tells Marcus to watch him and jump in when he is comfortable. When he gets back to the boat, he speaks to Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) and the others on the phone. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Neil argue about whether the balloon will pop. Once it does, the call with Marcus ends. Back at work, Marcus tells Luca that he has been a cook for about a year and a half. As for Luca, he says it has been 14 years now. They discuss where they grew up before Luca admits he didn’t do well in school because he got into trouble. Marcus tells him about his past jobs and playing football in college. His mom got sick four years ago so he had to find a better job. They say his mom’s life expectancy is only a couple of years, but that was four years ago.

He tries to spend as much time with her as he can. Marcus has a younger brother while Luca has a younger sister. Luca tells Marcus how he got so good at this. One day, he started at a really good place and another chef started so he thought they were competition. They weren’t because the other chef was better and worked faster than Luca ever could. That was the first time he realized he wasn’t the best and would never be the best. He started looking at it like it was a good thing and tried to keep up with him. Luca got better than he thought he possibly could be just by trying to keep up with him. At a certain stage, it becomes less about skill and becomes more about being open.

When he isn’t at work, Marcus explores the city. As he is coming back one night, he finds a man who is on the ground and injured. He manages to free the man who ends up hugging him. The man rides away on his bike. Marcus goes in and tries to talk to Sydney on the phone. She tells him about the book she is reading and that the restaurant failed the test. Marcus confesses that he feels a little guilty not being at home. He keeps having a nightmare that Kristy is calling to say his mom is dead. Sydney admits that she misses him and he says the same. Marcus works on desserts until the episode ends.

 

The Bear Review

The fourth episode of The Bear’s second season was probably the best episode of the season even though it did very little to push the story forward. Truthfully, this didn’t even feel like an episode of The Bear besides a few scenes with Richie and Neil screaming at each other. In some ways, the series has dropped what made it so unique in the first season.

In that sense, the season has been unbalanced a lot in terms of chaos and calmness, but it hasn’t managed to achieve the same level of chaos as the first season. Despite being the best episode of the season, it felt like a side story that added very little to the core story and didn’t push it forward any.

The scenes with Marcus and Luca together were great because we actually got to learn a little about both characters. It is a little unbelievable that a struggling restaurant can afford to send a chef to Copenhagen though. In terms of story development, the episode could be skipped and nothing would be lost.

However, this was the most enjoyable episode yet so we can hope this is a sign of things to come. This episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Bear are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.