In this episode, there is a brilliantly written monologue for us to understand grief and what is going on, as Marcus stands at the podium at his mother’s funeral. She was an amazing mother, and he confesses that despite being unable to talk to her in her last few months, he enjoyed the intimacy of no words and needing to be present. Marcus explains, “I do not know what it is like to be a parent, but I know what it’s like to be a kid who is listened to, and that was special.” This monologue is full of powerful lines that show Marcus’s grief and depth of feelings. Lionel Boyce offers an incredible performance and serves his quiet giant poignant moment so well. Not only this, but we see every staff member from the restaurant present, there to support him. It highlights the closeness and what it means to be part of the restaurant family.
The supporting characters of this show are incredibly strong actors and their poignant performances make what are small parts of the show feel so massive to an audience. In this episode, it was the relationship between Sydney and Tina as they must deal with the men amongst them yelling at each other. We see here that Sydney knows how to be a boss, and a great one at that. She understands that Tina knows the job and gets overwhelmed, and doesn’t tarnish their relationship by yelling, “faster chef”. They instead have a close moment over tortellini, with Sydney reminding her to calm down.
This episode finds Carmy seeing visions of Claire. Either her looming on his mind, or his nicotine withdrawal has him agitated over every little benign thing. But his visions of her will not stop, and his agitation with any little benign thing has also relapsed. He is mostly taking it out on Richie, as Richie has chosen to try and fight back non-negotiables with a list of some of his own. Nothing has been resolved and the restaurant is still under fire as it is barely able to break even.
The directing of this episode is meticulous and intentional, flashing “every second counts” across our screens in almost every episode this season. This small detail sticks out most and feels like it might come back with high stakes later. Another note that a true fan of The Bear would recognize in this episode is Richard, as he takes a long gaze at a fork that has fallen on the floor. What seems to be so simple, was an entire episode in season two. Richard went to stauge at a restaurant, to regain purpose as he was touching rock bottom. For an entire week, he was on fork polishing and nothing more, leading him to realize the importance of detail and being meticulous. He walked away a changed man. In this episode, he comes face to face with a fallen fork. Is this a symbol for his life purpose changing, or becoming something he is doubtful of?
Rating: 8/10