Violet – As this episode of The Bear begins, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) asks Claire if she knows what day it is. Claire (Molly Gordon) knows it’s Wednesday. Carmy claims he had no idea. Claire admits that happens to her all the time. She tells Carmy that she likes Mondays. Carmy doesn’t like Sundays because that’s when the restaurant is closed. That creates anxiety because he has nothing to do. Claire asks about the scar on his hand. Carmy claims he grabbed a really hot pot. He agrees it hurt so much that it didn’t hurt at all. Claire mentions a girl who came in with cuts all over her on the Fourth of July. Claire claims that’s the worst time.

Claire says the girl tripped and fell into a glass table. They couldn’t figure out what the source of the bleeding was. The girl didn’t know what had happened. Claire read her chart wrong because they were slammed. The girl had a penicillin allergy. The girl went into shock. Claire confesses that the experience was terrifying and she felt horrible. When the girl woke up, she couldn’t stop laughing. Claire doesn’t think it hurt yet. Marcus (Lionel Boyce) sits down and turns on the ventilator next to him. He goes outside and takes a picture of a small flower. Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) receives a partnership agreement from Carmy. She checks out an apartment with her dad, Emmanuel (Robert Townsend). He says it’s small and expensive. Emmanuel thinks she should stay with him.

He reminds her that she hasn’t told him what the partnership agreement says. Sydney claims Natalie hasn’t sent it yet and they’re still fine-tuning it. Emmanuel thinks it’s thin and he’d prefer her to take her time. He takes her to a secondhand store to help her find a couch. Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) speaks to Eva. He says she’s going to have fun today because Frank is taking her to the Museum of Science and Industry. Eva asks who Frank is. Richie says he’s mama’s fiancé. Eva thinks Richie is alone when she’s not with him. Richie insists he’s okay. He learns Auntie DD is coming to the wedding. Later, Richie takes his ring off and leaves it in the bathroom. Pete (Chris Witaske) hugs Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott). They talk about Natalie visiting DD.

Pete is leaving. He promises to be back a week from tomorrow and they can FaceTime. Natalie says it’s two weeks away. Tina Marrero (Liza Colon-Zayas) says hello to Jerry Boone (Jerry Boone) who tells her there are fewer and fewer months to grow vegetables. Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) and Theodore Fak (Ricky Staffieri) have something to show Carmen. When Carmen enters, Neil explains they have pictures of every major food critic. Carmen admits he hates this feeling, but he thinks it’s smart. Carmy asks Theodore to help Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) slice bread. In private, Neil tells Ted that people need to realize it’s code red if one of the critics comes into the building. Ted believes Carmy is starting to respect him. Neil argues that Carmy would tell him that first. Carmen sees Chi-Chi (Christopher Zucchero) outside.

Chi begins giving Ebraheim advice. Richie speaks to Eva about what animal she’d be. Richie drops her off at Frank’s place. In private, Richie tells Frank that Eva asked him what she should call him. She picked Waldo. Frank wants to talk to him about something, but he isn’t sure how to. He thinks he should’ve given Richie a heads-up before asking Tiff to marry him. Frank believes he should’ve talked to him about it. Richie argues that Frank didn’t need his permission. They talk about Frank’s house as well as his parents. Richie says they can come to The Bear when it’s perfect. Adam Shapiro runs into Sydney on the street. He tells her that she snuck into The Bear about two weeks ago. He says the vibe was perfect. Adam says it was excellent. He says there was a scallop dish that was lights-out and not Carmy.

Sydney says it was both of them together. Adam says it was really great. Sydney admits she didn’t think that was what he’d say. Adam invites her to stop by before leaving. Back at the restaurant, Sydney has to take over for Carmy. She asks what he changed. Carmy says he lost the habanero. Sydney reminds him that was the whole point of the dish. Carmy asks her to try it before getting pissed. She complains the communication between the front and back of the house is killing them. Carmy says Richie is out of his mind. Sydney agrees although she reminds him that the menu was supposed to be locked. Carmy admits that was bad communication. He asks about the place and learns she got it. Carmy confirms he’s still not smoking. Richie learns that Natalie is researching the star system.

Richie shows her a picture of a Zen garden. A director he admires visited the place and began to realize the rocks are people and they’re all separated. He realized they’re all alone in this world. Natalie knows already because Pete told her. They talk about how she is feeling right now. Richie asks if it’s better for him to back off. He doesn’t want to back off, but he thinks it might be confusing for Eva. Natalie thinks it’d be weird if he wasn’t around. She says tomorrow they will have made the week. Natalie believes Jimmy is going to freak out. She gets a call about photos. Natalie and Richie approach Sydney to ask why the Tribune is coming to take photos. Carmen curses. Sydney explains they’re being reviewed. She admits they’ve already been here.

 

The Bear Review

The fourth episode of The Bear’s third series was okay although it feels like the story is scattered. There’s so much going on so there is a little something for everyone. There’s romance with Carmy and Claire. There are parental issues with Richie and Eva. Sydney is moving out, Marcus is dealing with the passing of his mother, and Natalie is preparing for the baby’s arrival.

This episode didn’t have so much chaos and instead felt like a typical television show. Truthfully, this wasn’t a bad episode although it was a little dull at times. The Bear thrives in the unfiltered chaos and it’s deep, emotional moments. This might be a step towards those things, but there was nothing out of the ordinary here.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Bear can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent voice at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show with friends at the Reel Mockery Forum.