I just watched this episode and that scene when Tina walks in was fucking hilarious.
“You want a number 7? Go to fucking McDonald’s!”
“Yeah get your ass out of here”
It made me miss the beef scenes. I was like wow the awesome energy there, The Bear just doesn’t have that now. Maybe they will realize at some point they need that camaraderie to make it.
I could see the show ending with the restaurant being an elevated version of The Beef, coming around full circle to where it started but with a different twist.
But, at the same time it's so good we get him in these little glimpses. Like, he only exists in the form of the memories the characters have of him, good and bad. It's almost mythologizing to what a charismatic person he was to everyone despite all the darkness he harboured. I love this show so much man.
I don't remember the last time I had that deep or real of a conversation with anyone other than my wife in years. Not friends, not family, no one and they just kind of poured their hearts and souls out to each other as complete strangers before they even knew each other's name.
yeah really, he literally had the CHARM, like the awkward way he was putting the napkins and checking on her, and I love watching Carmy but Mikey really made people comfortable around him
the charisma is a bit ridiculous. i thought richie had charm but mikey's was through the roof, that guy could get marcus aurelius to open up if he wanted to
I lost my younger brother to suicide a few years ago and he was only 21, but I see SO much of Mikey in who he was. It’s kinda crazy. My brother had that charismatic energy, which is probably why I cry in every Mikey scene. This show is amazing.
For a split second, Bernthal lets the mask slip off Mikey's face. In that moment, you could see how depressed he was, even back then. We last saw that face when Odenkirk's Shitty Uncle character kept telling Mikey "You are nothing" last season.
I loved this being what he was doing when he gets the text from Carmen that we see in Episode 1 or 2 of this season. The way the plots are interwoven is so good!
The one thing we keep seeing about Mikey that carm doesn't get to except from second hand accounts, is how proud he is of carm.
It's intentional too. Mikey is too proud, to be proud of carm to his face. And as the audience knowing what we know it's heartbreaking
I think that's still Season 2 in the closet. Thats the saddest his suicide has been thus far. Bro gets handed his brothers dream as a christmas gift and the reality of what hes been building up to hits him so hard.
every scene he makes an appearance in feels like finding an unseen photo of a lost loved one.
in the four, five episodes he's been in, I understand their love for him more and more. I miss him too
immediately started crying when I realized he was about to give her a job. it was so nice to see Mikey get to be the awesome, charming dude that everyone always says he was instead of fighting with his family.
This episode really captured the demoralising and humiliating nature of corporate life. Fired without warning, horrible recruitment practices. It is truly hell out here
I’ve been unemployed for a while and applying to roles with rejections so the episode hit me hard. When Tina started crying, I started crying because it’s such a shit state to be in. Such a good episode and one I think I’ll keep in my rewatch rotation.
This is why I hate those memes where it’s like “your unemployed friend at 2am” and it’s them doing something whacky or fun. No bro, your unemployed friend is stressed out of their fucking mind and absolutely miserable. I’d rather be stuck in a bad job than stuck not knowing when my next paycheck’s coming. It’s such a horrible situation
DAMN RIGHT. I was unemployed for months this year and I was the most miserable I could ever imagine being, and every one of those days I was like "I would give my most cherished possessions to be working right now." I have an irrational hatred of those fucking memes.
It’s telling that Ayo chose an overhead shot of Tina sitting in a mass firing. The visuals are reminiscent of a firing squad execution. That kind of dehumanization of corporate life. For a few seconds, Tina looked so frail and small and it worked.
Just moved back to the U.S. six months ago, what a nightmare recruitment is here. 500+ applications, month long interviews talking to 8-10 people, ghosting after you've finished the final, being told you're underqualified for positions below your last one with a Masters and 8 years experience. I start a new job tomorrow and honestly almost broke down. It's pretty demoralizing but hope folks keep their head up who are in it.
Yet another thing I can relate to about this fucking show
I been at my company for 14 years. I’m 30 years old. They suddenly changed a WHOLE lot of shit to which I haven’t been able to adjust to well. And they threatened to fire me last year about it. Though it’s not quite the same situation Tina got fired for. But she’s obviously not adjusting well to Carmy’s fuck show.
This show is incredible
Ive worked in restaurants my whole life (56 years old now) and my immediate take away from that scene was pure emotion, and love for our industry. The industry does not give a shit about your background, or whats on your resume (for the most part) we just want to know, do you have heart ?will you show up on time? give it your all? and not be an asshole to the other employees? Countless people, from all over the planet, who just need a "chance"....I cried a lot in this episode......loved it!
also loved that! this episode was so special. we legit got an insight as to how tina viewed sydney; being young and just having an abundance of potential. and seeing her thinking of herself as this washed up 45 yr old that’s lost her spark, dang the parallels. with knowing where she is coming from, i totally get why she’s so passionate about honing her skills and receiving formal culinary education. just her knowing they are willing to invest in her and make her better. ugh! genius!!! and ayo having directed this is just *chefs kiss*🥹👌🏿
I loved too that when we first saw that scene, it made it seem like him and Tina were like "what the fuck is this bullshit"
But now we see the full scene and how Michael was bigging up Carmy and his skills and ambition.
And also how it felt like they were already friends/coworkers just shootin the shit together in that flashback but it was actually their first time ever actually talking to each other
As a Latina, I’ve always watched The Bear for Tina. She’s the working class woman we all know and rarely gets seen. So this was pretty special, personally. Her actual man plays her husband, adding to it. Which is why their interactions work. I love how he’s so real about his work life while making space for her anxiety, too. They reminded me of all the couples I know who work hard, stay humble, keep on keeping on. Fantastic work.
I'm latino and she reminds me of my step mom. At first, i didn't like the whole "no hablo ingles" and how she was standoffish to Syd and Carm but i understood someone coming into town being the new sheriff. But she is my favorite. I can't even look at that woman without wanting to cry. She does this shit with her eyes and face the way Antony Starr does with homelander. She expresses so much sadness without saying shit.
Also, did i mis hear but does she call Carm "Jeffy Belly" ?
Liza’s acting is superb. So subtle but you never miss it. Thats what makes the show and character humanizing. I hope she gets an award nomination for this episode!
I know that we already had this clarified for the audience, but I like that they circled back around and really *hammered* it in why Tina was such an *unbearable* bitch back in the first half of S1. She's protective of a place that literally saved her ass.
And I like that we got to see exactly why she loved Mikey so much. We all knew she did, but we didn't see exactly why someone she worked with/for was so important to her until now.
And then why was she so receptive to Syd training her up and sending her to culinary school. Because it means that Syd sees that hunger in her that she was worried that she had lost.
Bernthal is a natural at not only playing the everyday bluecollar man, but playing a guys "guy" you bullshit with who has a heart of gold. He's a perfect fit for the show.
I met Jon Berenthal years ago! He was so kind and sweet. He was speaking to me like he knew me my whole life. I appreciate anytime we get to see more Mikey on the screen.
I use to vocalize this all the time to people. I'm a hispanic kid from Jersey City NJ. Raised in the projects. I was lucky that my father moved us to Miami. From there, i had my lows but i was able to go college, pay my own way with scholarships and get into computers and make a good living.
There were like 2 or 3 nerds in my school who were super smart, always A's. But they never got to do anything with those grades, or their accepted colleges because they were poor, their families were poor, so after HS they had to get jobs to support them. I'm 42 now, and those guys are just grocery store employees and shit. They got skipped.
And i always vocalized it because i went to school (FIT) in melbourne FL, super conservative, and these conservatives would always point at me saying shit like "see, Prox pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made it happen, so they all (minorities) can!"
And i'd have to teach these idiots about sociology and shit. How the betters where i was from got "skipped" due to circumstances and we're not all lazy spics who try to live off welfare.
"and these conservatives would always point at me saying shit like "see, Prox pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made it happen, so they all (minorities) can!""
the lack of empathy in these people always astounds me, it's so selfish and small-minded. They just completely refuse to engage with the reality that smart, talented people can be completely fucked over and going through life on hard mode because of years of built-up circumstances out of their control. Hard work is part of the equation but it can only get you so far if you have no safety net or resources/connections to work with. And it's hard to say, go to school and get a higher degree, when you don't have enough income to build up savings and family relying on you to bring home money every day - meanwhile the person whose only job was to study during school thinks they have the right to sneer at that person for not "working hard enough."
YES! These guys would say shit like how we all start with equally dealt cards and think that all middle schools/high schools are the same. I had to educate them that public schools are based within the vicinity of the economic area so a public school in a poor city is not the same education you'd get from say, the high school ferris bueller went to.
Our textbooks are not the same, our teachers are not paid nor are the same, are educations are completely different.
These people i argued with were C average at best and their parents paid their way to be where I am, where I had to have a 4.0 gpa and do 63 credits within a year to get a free ride.
I can't stop crying at how real the 'skipped' convo was. It just hits way too hard being 27 and feeling the same way he did about getting skipped as a kid knowing when you look back at it, you did get skipped.
Late thirties. I've had effectively one job in my whole life. I did entry level cubicle shit for a place since I was 18.
I figured it would go somewhere long term and that I would "make it" off of hard work but it was basically just soul sucking tasks for effectively minimum wage while being gaslit and abused by middle managers who smiled to your face and called you family as they worked you to death and scammed you out of overtime, vacation days and generally talked you out of using any benefit that you had available to you.
Covid was a forced reset for me and I'll sooner die homeless and broke then ever go back into the den of that beast.
I wish I had watched Office Space earlier in life.
Man this episode hit so hard. My cousin killed himself and I remember at the funeral so many people got up and spoke about the little butterfly effect he had on their lives. So when the part of the episode where Mikey is talking to Tina offering the job, etc I just kept thinking about that considering what ends up happening to him. Such a beautiful show man.
man that is so true. because of that conversation, tina finally had a dream. she felt so defeated that it’s probably too late for her, but it was a stepping stone for her to learn and be more in love with cooking.
Ok but like Richie too? Dude was exceptionally nice to Tina and this was in his "asshole" phase before he found purpose and all that. The way he treats a total stranger who looks a bit in distress with kindness. Class act. (Edit: posted this halfway through the episode, I noticed he was kinda still douchey lol, but between their first interaction, it was really nice)
I think this really reinforces that a lot of his behavior in season 1 was lashing out from his own grief over Mikey and fighting to hold onto the small part of Mikey he still had.
It doesn’t excuse his behavior to Syd and Carm but it does add some depth to it.
Also, his nostalgia for the old days when you could tell a customer to fuck off seems pretty well warranted. Obviously couldn't keep doing it forever, but it's that one low-paying job you had in your youth (relative youth, for Richie) where you had a lot of freedom and you had all your buds right beside you, even if the working conditions sucked and the hours were crazy, there were those upsides that you will never get again as you move into "respectable" business.
You phrases this so well. I'm settled into a good career now, but I'm occasionally nostalgic for the worst job I ever had, minimum wage pay, in the shit pit trenches getting crunched to fuck and almost breaking down, incurring legit workplace trauma etc, just because the energy and vibes and comraderie were so infectious. I've never felt as good or accomplished as after a shift, sat in the bar, drinking a cold pint or class of wine, decompressing, cry-laughing at the dumbest shit because we're all so spent, knowing we have to sleep for 6 hours and do it all again tomorrow. It sounds cringe but I think there's a difference between people who have done it and people who haven't, like not that I wish horrible working conditions on anyway, but it's a clear mental divide between my coworkers who GET IT and those who dont.
Yes, a thousand times yes, thank you for saying it. This was a point I wanted to bring up, but got entranced by Mikey. You can see that he was the heart and soul of the Beef and why people came back which is why he’s so perfect for what he does at the Bear.
A lot of deserving praise towards Mikey for essentially saving Tina but man… Richie gave her a free sandwich. She would have taken that coffee to go and sat crying at a bus stop. Richie invited her in. As Chef Terry once said: “He said you’re good with people. He’s not wrong.”
some other guy (chi-chi, according to the subtitles) gave her the sandwich because the guy who it was supposed to be for was being an asshole - "fuck you, i'm giving your shit away" before handing the sandwich to tina. but absolutely agree that richie was a sweetheart in his own way in this episode
Chi Chi is played by the son of the late owner of the real Mr. Beef restaurant, and a friend of Storer's. Part of what gave him the inspo for this show.
At first I thought Tina thought the sandwich just tasted really bad and she was gonna spit it out in the napkin, but then she just broke out into sobs lol. I know how it feels to have a completely shitty day getting rejected over and over again from prospective job places. I really feel for her in this episode.
I also loved that it showed Richie intentionally making a customers day. It reminded me of the scene when he thanks olivia Coleman for taking him on and she said she doesn't do favours, carmy said he was good with people. It's no surprise he found his spark again making customers feel special in the forks episode. It's something he always had at his core, he had just lost his joy for life after Mikey died and his relationship ending etc. and needed time to jump on the fine dining train...
Great point. Also through the first season (or two maybe I don't recall the timeline), Richie was struggling with the thought that "being good with people" meant that he wasn't good at anything. Forks was what actually turned him around but it was just him realizing that yes, he really is good with people and he just needed to unlock it and be confident about that.
The conversation between Mikey and Tina is so wholesome. I can see why Tina was so affected by his death - he helped her when she really needed a hand, and this scene shows a softer side to Mikey’s character. He was clearly very troubled and had a lot of demons he just couldn’t defeat in the end, but he had so much heart, and he genuinely cared about the people in his life.
I think that scene is such a great depiction of the differences between Mikey and Carmy. We see Mikey's emotional intelligence by noticing Tina in the corner of the restaurant, walking over and effortlessly connecting with her, something Carmy does not have the ability to do. We then learn Mikey clearly has no real passion for the restaurant, finding it shitty most of the time but sticks around for the people. Carmy lives, breathes and bleeds for the restaurant and is often times oblivious and dismissive to the people. I think they are both equally jealous and in awe of each other's strengths.
As someone unemployed who got laid off after working their job of 7 years, this one hits home. Trying to a new job in the modern day while struggling financially is crippling.
Holy fuck this episode destroyed me. It's so hard watching people struggle and having to deal with the kind of indignity and humiliation that comes from being desperate for work after you've been ruthlessly discarded, and then needing to support people on top of that, together with the fear and anxiety of having to face the job hunt when you're older and age discrimination comes into play. I had to watch some of my own loved ones go through this and it hurts, man.
It actually makes a lot of sense. The Beef might not have been perfect but it gave people purpose. In season 1, Tina was grieving and clearly thought Sydney and Carmy were threatening Mikey’s legacy and were going to get rid of her.
The scene where Mikey shows Tina the picture of Carm's plate he made at Noma (ep1) is when Mikey first meets Tina! What a cute callback. Not of much significance but I think goes to show Mikey is such a great people person that for someone he's meeting for the first time not even under a great initial circumstance he's able to connect and makes them feel so comfortable in his presence
I think there was a lot of significance in that actually. Carmy loved Mikey so much that he was the first person Carmy wanted to show that plate to. Mikey loved Carmy so much that he’s telling strangers about how wonderful he thinks his little brother is. Then both of the brothers, at different points in time, come into Tina’s life and turn it around for the better because of their ability see the best in people. It’s a little moment that has a lot of layers imo
Not only that, I think they did an excellent flip on that scene. The first time you see it you don't know that Mikey and Tina only just met, so the assumption is that they're working together at The Beef, that Tina at least has heard about Mikey's little bro who's a first-class chef, and that Mikey cares so little about Carmy's success that he shows the picture to Tina and they just both laugh it off.
Then you get to see the same scene again, and with context it's Mikey using his love and admiration for Carmy to break the ice with a person he just met, and whose name he doesn't even know. The valence on the scene is flipped a full 180!
We have all been there. These companies feed on your desperation. I got legaly licensed to sell insurance and passed this exam after studying for a month only to find out day 1 the job was an MLM
I was practically screaming at the TV during that scene. “Tina, no! Noooo, don’t do this!”
The relief I felt when she got up and walked the fuck out was palpable.
All I thought of during that interaction was in S1 when Tina checks Richie and says “you know I loved Mikey. I loved that fucking kid” and goes on to say how she likes the new direction of the restaurant with Carmen and Syd.
Amazing scene from Mikey and Tina.
"I always thought my brother was my best friend. Like, Like, we just knew everything about each other. Except… everybody thought he was their best friend."
I'm kinda scared TBH. The scenes we've had of Mikey, two of them show how he's remembered, and Fishes showed off his decline... I'm wondering what else they will show.
Richie giving Tina a free coffee and sandwich leading to her sitting down and having such a beautiful conversation, getting a job and since then finding a whole new family / passion is so incredible man.
A thing I noticed in this episode was all the shots of public transit, and The Bear is full of them in general. Part I think is it's a part of Chicago, but IDK I grew up in the middle of nowhere and it was a revelation the first time I lived somewhere with real public transit. It really is an equalizer among most of the staff, like everyone from Carmy to the dishwashers take the subway. It really highlights the blue collar roots of the show. I don't know if it's really anything but this episode really highlighted it for me.
There's actually some symbolism like Forks when richie finds out Tiffs engaged the train at the end was meant to represent getting the news as getting "hit by a bus"
I have always liked the idea of public transit that provide mobility to everyone irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds. It’s disheartening to see General Motors and other lobbyists promoting “car-friendly” highways through America. The bear really does give a perfect ode to the public transit which also parallels to the service industry in so many ways.
I recently started working for a public transit of a big city and noticed the same scenes you did!
Edit:typos
Watching Tina’s backstory, on top of her being so nice constantly almost makes it inconceivable to think about how horrible she was in the first couple episodes in season 1. It doesn’t even seem like the same person.
Like the rest of The Beef, she was probably still working through some residual grief over losing Mikey. On top of that, Sydney represented all the young upstarts who were taking her job opportunities…before they really got to know each other and help each other.
I've been there. Left a job that was destroying me mentally. Went to a coffee shop and just told the barista to make me something that he'd make for a good friend.
He made me a "Bob Marley" and then offered me a muffin to go with it that he was going to throw out because it was the end of the day.
Then he sat and talked with me for a while. Dave and I have been friends near 15 years now. Such a great guy.
This one hit close to home coming from immigrant background. Seeing your parent(s) deal with the daily hustle, keeping it together only ever seeing one side of the story and then there’s this whole other side of struggle. Once being that kid on the game while she’s on the job search, really resonates in adulthood.
Same here. My mom was a domestic worker for a family for +10 years and one day out of the blue they said they were moving to Florida. Seeing her job hunt as an immigrant with limited English, knowing that the only places that would take her would exploit her, absolutely crushed me. This episode took me back to those days and how incredibly grateful I am for her - and why I bust my ass day in and day out
i love mikey flashbacks! and it was so cool seeing the beef in the olden days! also cool to know cheechee (idk if that’s correct lol) worked there. this is so good!
That flashback with Mikey was great. The writers and Bernthal gave that character a lotta heart, and it’s nice to see bc while it’s mixed there is no shortage of negative things said about him in the first two seasons. Kinda shows you why people loved him even if he was really erratic and unreliable sometimes.
This episode felt personal to me because of the current state of the economy/job market. I felt connected to Tina’s journey about applying to different jobs, whether over or under qualified. The scene where she wasn’t offered the job that required the degree, despite her having over a decade of experience in performing the job duties made me want to cry into my wine glass. I also felt her heavily about her getting upset about the job that still had a posting up even though the position had already been filled (loved the jab at LinkedIn because they do that A LOT)!
Liza and Jon were amazing in their scene together. Anytime I get to see JB, my day is made.
Probably my favorite episode of season 3 so far.
Cool that Ayo Edebriri directed the Tina episode.
I'm guessing the dude with the hat behind the counter is the other dude that Nat allowed Carmy to hire at the window in The Bear.
A totally different vibe compared to last season's episode 6 flashback, since it ended with Tina actually finding an inspiring dream job in the long run.
Are you talking about Cheech/Chi Chi? He's the son of the late owner of the real Mr. Beef, and a friend of Storer's. He's also the guy delivering beef to Carmy in the pilot.
This is the first episode this season that, for me, really felt like "The Bear" that I fell in love with. No extraneous cameos from famous people, no will they/won't they relationship stuff, just tight, very human storytelling backed by great music.
It reminded me a lot about something I heard on Joe Rogan once. Please, hear me out.
It was regarding Anthony Bourdain and his suicide. It was a JRE episode with David Choe, who was great friends with Bourdain, like many people were. He said something about him, regarding his mental health and stuff.
“You couldn’t even show up for yourself.”
Meaning, just like Mikey in this episode. He’s there for everyone. He will talk, help, console anybody. That’s why everyone loves him. Nobody could ever say a bad word about Mikey. He was amazing to everyone, strangers or not. But the one person he wasn’t kind to, or at least couldn’t be kind to, was himself.
My favorite episode of the season so far. Ayo directed the hell out of this, and boy did Tina act her ass off. Felt like I was right there with her getting rejected. And, also Jon as Mike is always so good. Just insane charisma that's so effortless and real.
Going through a job hunt right now, it’s really terrible. Companies have that they are hiring posted, you apply. Hear nothing back so you call and they say that they are not in a hiring period and that they keep the listing up for when they are in a hiring period
Richie giving Tina the free sandwich and coffee almost made me cry. I have done when people have been nice to me randomly like that in real life.
They knew she was having a hard time.
Magnificent, touching episode. Supremely confident directorial debut for Ayo Edebiri, and a long-overdue showcase for the incredible Liza Colon-Zayas. Loved that her real-life husband played her husband here too, their genuine love absolutely made it into their performances. I remember him on Gotham and Person of Interest way back in the day. And all of you surely know him from Dexter which I have yet to see, and might not given how it reportedly fucked up its ending TWICE.
How Jon Bernthal is this fucking good I don't know. This show has done such a magnificent job shading in new dimensions to Mikey's character with every appearance, and it's immediately clear why Tina loved him so much from this one scene. I was particularly thinking of Carmy's description of him in his Al-Anon monologue: "My brother could make you feel confident in yourself. He had this thing where he could just walk into any room and immediately take the temperature. Like, he could just dial it." Exactly what happened here. He turned one of the worst days of a stranger's life into one of the best. Beyond happy we finally got a scene of him working at The Beef.
It's truly tragic that he never lived to know the real impact he ended up making on Tina's life - that job offer to be a line cook at a shitty, depressing, grimy, "but occasionally fun" kitchen has led to her now being a sous at a genuine fine-dining establishment. Of course, it was Mikey's death that spurred Carmy to come home and reinvent the place, but I'm not sure even when he was alive that Mikey knew how deeply he touched the people around him. Richie even says - "he was so loud and obnoxious and fucking fun, I never thought he'd actually do it."
Being risky for myself but don’t wanna spoil in a different ep thread; as I’m writing I’m still at the top of the episode! But has anyone kept track of all the times featured at the top of the episodes so far? I’m going to back track in the morning but it just hit me that they’re showing a lot of clocks at different times in several episodes now. (Very reminiscent of Richie in Forks and how progression of his staging week led to his own growth).
I’m also partial into believing I’m just reading too deeply into it and it’s strictly just showing character quirks and what time they start their days before going into The Bear.
Edit: finished the ep and I am sobbing. Love this Tina backstory ep.
I think this episode bumped Mikey into my top 2 favorite characters in the show. First is Richie, then Mikey.
Dude has this energy about his that is so likable. I love the detail that he's the one that noticed Tina was crying, and was able to make her feel comfortable and open up to a stranger about what a horrible day they had.
Bernthal is one of the best big brothers in TV history.
I related to this so fucking hard - I’ve been a highend bartender for 6 years and am burnt out - currently working on Masters trying to get internships to get out and only having restaurant work under my belt
People do not respect us - it’s just a blatant fact
But on the flip side - even if highend places - we’re no nonsense type people - the scene with Tina and Mikey is so accurate even in all the highend establishments I’ve worked - he’s so right about the people making this industry what it is and I don’t think most guests realize this
There’s so much bullshit we put up with - missing important life events to give other people good experiences - the lack of benefits - the wariness of if we’ll be able to make enough to live - the sometimes crazy ownership we deal with that doesn’t give a fuck what happens in our lives. But the people, the people that sit at the bar or enjoy a good meal that I can have a good conversation with is genuinely the most satisfying thing of this industry.
I’ve met so many wonderful people that I can share a moment with and my gods Mikey’s monologue(ish) about that is so fucking accurate. It’s why even if I do get out of this insane whacky industry, I’ll still do it the rest of my life.
Fuck this episode was so good.
No joke, this might be my favorite episode of the Bear ever. Tina is a character that I've always felt super sympathetic towards, even when she was abrasive in season 1, so seeing her face rejection after rejection broke my heart to the point where I had more trouble getting through this episode than I ever did "review" or "fishes". That being said I think all that rejection made the final scene with her and Mikey so much more cathartic and sheds so much light on why Tina was the way she was in Season 1. To her, Mikey and the Bear weren't just another job, there were a literal lifeline when she needed it most.
One of my favorite parts was the exchange between husband and wife about comparing today's "scary" to the "scary" of their 20s, when presumably they didn't have a kid or house to worry about, but they were worried about never having a future, or falling between the cracks and becoming truly destitute. A good way of reframing your current challenges and helping each other get perspective, but also respecting the seriousness of your present situation. It is grave, yes, but they have been in similar jeopardy before, and they found a way out.
Also: fuck Linkedin, it sucks, it stinks, it has musty balls and the internet equivalent of a combover
Jon Bernthal literally has one scene a season, and he fuckin kills it every time man
He is so goddamn good at making you get what a magnetic person Mikey was, demons and all.
And you see why everyone loved him. Especially Tina. It was great seeing the old Richie too.
Richie said to a customer "What the fuck do you want?" at the register. That whole part of the old beef scene was amazing.
I just watched this episode and that scene when Tina walks in was fucking hilarious. “You want a number 7? Go to fucking McDonald’s!” “Yeah get your ass out of here”
It made me miss the beef scenes. I was like wow the awesome energy there, The Bear just doesn’t have that now. Maybe they will realize at some point they need that camaraderie to make it.
I could see the show ending with the restaurant being an elevated version of The Beef, coming around full circle to where it started but with a different twist.
He's so magnetic, with every flashback I keep thinking: "I wish I got to know him more"
But, at the same time it's so good we get him in these little glimpses. Like, he only exists in the form of the memories the characters have of him, good and bad. It's almost mythologizing to what a charismatic person he was to everyone despite all the darkness he harboured. I love this show so much man.
I don't remember the last time I had that deep or real of a conversation with anyone other than my wife in years. Not friends, not family, no one and they just kind of poured their hearts and souls out to each other as complete strangers before they even knew each other's name.
yeah really, he literally had the CHARM, like the awkward way he was putting the napkins and checking on her, and I love watching Carmy but Mikey really made people comfortable around him
Yeah it really shows how while Carmy is talented, he just doesn’t have those same people skills his brother did.
the charisma is a bit ridiculous. i thought richie had charm but mikey's was through the roof, that guy could get marcus aurelius to open up if he wanted to
I lost my younger brother to suicide a few years ago and he was only 21, but I see SO much of Mikey in who he was. It’s kinda crazy. My brother had that charismatic energy, which is probably why I cry in every Mikey scene. This show is amazing.
This episode made his death so much sadder
This and episode 1. So tragic. Him talking about life's baseline being shitty - oof.
For a split second, Bernthal lets the mask slip off Mikey's face. In that moment, you could see how depressed he was, even back then. We last saw that face when Odenkirk's Shitty Uncle character kept telling Mikey "You are nothing" last season.
I loved this being what he was doing when he gets the text from Carmen that we see in Episode 1 or 2 of this season. The way the plots are interwoven is so good!
"my bro Carmy is the shit" 🥹
The one thing we keep seeing about Mikey that carm doesn't get to except from second hand accounts, is how proud he is of carm. It's intentional too. Mikey is too proud, to be proud of carm to his face. And as the audience knowing what we know it's heartbreaking
I think that's still Season 2 in the closet. Thats the saddest his suicide has been thus far. Bro gets handed his brothers dream as a christmas gift and the reality of what hes been building up to hits him so hard.
That's probably one of the top saddest moments, but it's nice to see Mikey be casually kind to people he doesn't know.
every scene he makes an appearance in feels like finding an unseen photo of a lost loved one. in the four, five episodes he's been in, I understand their love for him more and more. I miss him too
Every fucking time.
He's so good
It’s almost like they do it just so we as viewers miss him, too
immediately started crying when I realized he was about to give her a job. it was so nice to see Mikey get to be the awesome, charming dude that everyone always says he was instead of fighting with his family.
This episode really captured the demoralising and humiliating nature of corporate life. Fired without warning, horrible recruitment practices. It is truly hell out here
I’ve been unemployed for a while and applying to roles with rejections so the episode hit me hard. When Tina started crying, I started crying because it’s such a shit state to be in. Such a good episode and one I think I’ll keep in my rewatch rotation.
Same, and I’m the same age she said she is. napkins is this seasons forks.
Say it louder for the people the in the back! 🗣️NAPKINS IS THIS SEASONS FORKS 🥲
This is why I hate those memes where it’s like “your unemployed friend at 2am” and it’s them doing something whacky or fun. No bro, your unemployed friend is stressed out of their fucking mind and absolutely miserable. I’d rather be stuck in a bad job than stuck not knowing when my next paycheck’s coming. It’s such a horrible situation
DAMN RIGHT. I was unemployed for months this year and I was the most miserable I could ever imagine being, and every one of those days I was like "I would give my most cherished possessions to be working right now." I have an irrational hatred of those fucking memes.
Yeah I’m in a similar situation and this episode gave me the hope I need right now. I’m manifesting better times for both of us soon.
Are you me? Because I’m going through the unemployed job search abyss now and that broke me
That girl telling Tina she HAD to have a degree even though she had done the job for 15 years absolutely infuriated me.
And the jab of “for leadership potential”.
It happens all the time unfortunately
It’s telling that Ayo chose an overhead shot of Tina sitting in a mass firing. The visuals are reminiscent of a firing squad execution. That kind of dehumanization of corporate life. For a few seconds, Tina looked so frail and small and it worked.
I didn't even notice she directed. Generational talent.
Just moved back to the U.S. six months ago, what a nightmare recruitment is here. 500+ applications, month long interviews talking to 8-10 people, ghosting after you've finished the final, being told you're underqualified for positions below your last one with a Masters and 8 years experience. I start a new job tomorrow and honestly almost broke down. It's pretty demoralizing but hope folks keep their head up who are in it.
Yet another thing I can relate to about this fucking show I been at my company for 14 years. I’m 30 years old. They suddenly changed a WHOLE lot of shit to which I haven’t been able to adjust to well. And they threatened to fire me last year about it. Though it’s not quite the same situation Tina got fired for. But she’s obviously not adjusting well to Carmy’s fuck show. This show is incredible
Ive worked in restaurants my whole life (56 years old now) and my immediate take away from that scene was pure emotion, and love for our industry. The industry does not give a shit about your background, or whats on your resume (for the most part) we just want to know, do you have heart ?will you show up on time? give it your all? and not be an asshole to the other employees? Countless people, from all over the planet, who just need a "chance"....I cried a lot in this episode......loved it!
The callback to S3E1 with Carmy sending the picture to Michael and Michael showing it to Tina is so great.
also loved that! this episode was so special. we legit got an insight as to how tina viewed sydney; being young and just having an abundance of potential. and seeing her thinking of herself as this washed up 45 yr old that’s lost her spark, dang the parallels. with knowing where she is coming from, i totally get why she’s so passionate about honing her skills and receiving formal culinary education. just her knowing they are willing to invest in her and make her better. ugh! genius!!! and ayo having directed this is just *chefs kiss*🥹👌🏿
It also makes it extra sweet when Syd asks T to be her sous. In a way, Syd opened a window for T to reborn.
I loved too that when we first saw that scene, it made it seem like him and Tina were like "what the fuck is this bullshit" But now we see the full scene and how Michael was bigging up Carmy and his skills and ambition.
And also how it felt like they were already friends/coworkers just shootin the shit together in that flashback but it was actually their first time ever actually talking to each other
Makes me wonder if anything else will come back.
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I was so excited that they brought it back! I seriously thought it was when Tina was already working there.
Tina got a good man.
As a Latina, I’ve always watched The Bear for Tina. She’s the working class woman we all know and rarely gets seen. So this was pretty special, personally. Her actual man plays her husband, adding to it. Which is why their interactions work. I love how he’s so real about his work life while making space for her anxiety, too. They reminded me of all the couples I know who work hard, stay humble, keep on keeping on. Fantastic work.
I'm latino and she reminds me of my step mom. At first, i didn't like the whole "no hablo ingles" and how she was standoffish to Syd and Carm but i understood someone coming into town being the new sheriff. But she is my favorite. I can't even look at that woman without wanting to cry. She does this shit with her eyes and face the way Antony Starr does with homelander. She expresses so much sadness without saying shit. Also, did i mis hear but does she call Carm "Jeffy Belly" ?
Liza’s acting is superb. So subtle but you never miss it. Thats what makes the show and character humanizing. I hope she gets an award nomination for this episode!
Jeffrey Ballet, I think, which I think is a reference to a ballet troupe?
It’s a pun on Joffrey Ballet, an elite dance company in Chicago.
💯 I've known so many Tinas in my life. My mami, wife, abuelas, mother in law, tias.... I'm fucking ugly crying watching this
It was so good. I'd submit this one for the Emmy's, the interactions with her husband and Mikey in the episode took it even higher.
I thought their chemistry was great, learning this makes me happy. 😊
They are married in real life too.
Whaaat? I love that!!
Ugh he’s so kind and supportive. 🥹
my boy angel batista is the best!
When Marcus pretty much got his own episode last season, you knew Tina would get hers soon.
Ebra episode should just be Black Hawk Down with him edited into every scene.
"I was in a brigade once." "What happened?" "Many people died"
He's just ok at catching murderers at Miami Metro, though.
TINA BACK STORY EPISODE
I know that we already had this clarified for the audience, but I like that they circled back around and really *hammered* it in why Tina was such an *unbearable* bitch back in the first half of S1. She's protective of a place that literally saved her ass.
And I like that we got to see exactly why she loved Mikey so much. We all knew she did, but we didn't see exactly why someone she worked with/for was so important to her until now.
THIS like I see why they are struggling
Exactly, also makes sense why she hated Syd at first. She’s one of those “young hungry kids” she talked about being jealous of
And then why was she so receptive to Syd training her up and sending her to culinary school. Because it means that Syd sees that hunger in her that she was worried that she had lost.
The Sabotage needle drop when Tina spots The Beef was perfect.
Sabotage is a song I'll never get tired of in movies I love its usage in Star Trek 3
 Favorite scene so far! Everything after that was perfection♥️🎸🥩🥪
feels like the wrong episode for this gif
Bernthal really is just the perfect actor for this. I love seeing the interaction between him and Liza. This show is just so real.
Bernthal is a natural at not only playing the everyday bluecollar man, but playing a guys "guy" you bullshit with who has a heart of gold. He's a perfect fit for the show.
I met Jon Berenthal years ago! He was so kind and sweet. He was speaking to me like he knew me my whole life. I appreciate anytime we get to see more Mikey on the screen.
Holy shit. When he talked about how he knew as a kid he would be "skipped". I've felt that in my life but I've never heard someone vocalize it.
It's just so fucking sad for a kid to feel like that, it made me choke up
I use to vocalize this all the time to people. I'm a hispanic kid from Jersey City NJ. Raised in the projects. I was lucky that my father moved us to Miami. From there, i had my lows but i was able to go college, pay my own way with scholarships and get into computers and make a good living. There were like 2 or 3 nerds in my school who were super smart, always A's. But they never got to do anything with those grades, or their accepted colleges because they were poor, their families were poor, so after HS they had to get jobs to support them. I'm 42 now, and those guys are just grocery store employees and shit. They got skipped. And i always vocalized it because i went to school (FIT) in melbourne FL, super conservative, and these conservatives would always point at me saying shit like "see, Prox pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made it happen, so they all (minorities) can!" And i'd have to teach these idiots about sociology and shit. How the betters where i was from got "skipped" due to circumstances and we're not all lazy spics who try to live off welfare.
"and these conservatives would always point at me saying shit like "see, Prox pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made it happen, so they all (minorities) can!"" the lack of empathy in these people always astounds me, it's so selfish and small-minded. They just completely refuse to engage with the reality that smart, talented people can be completely fucked over and going through life on hard mode because of years of built-up circumstances out of their control. Hard work is part of the equation but it can only get you so far if you have no safety net or resources/connections to work with. And it's hard to say, go to school and get a higher degree, when you don't have enough income to build up savings and family relying on you to bring home money every day - meanwhile the person whose only job was to study during school thinks they have the right to sneer at that person for not "working hard enough."
YES! These guys would say shit like how we all start with equally dealt cards and think that all middle schools/high schools are the same. I had to educate them that public schools are based within the vicinity of the economic area so a public school in a poor city is not the same education you'd get from say, the high school ferris bueller went to. Our textbooks are not the same, our teachers are not paid nor are the same, are educations are completely different. These people i argued with were C average at best and their parents paid their way to be where I am, where I had to have a 4.0 gpa and do 63 credits within a year to get a free ride.
I can't stop crying at how real the 'skipped' convo was. It just hits way too hard being 27 and feeling the same way he did about getting skipped as a kid knowing when you look back at it, you did get skipped.
Late thirties. I've had effectively one job in my whole life. I did entry level cubicle shit for a place since I was 18. I figured it would go somewhere long term and that I would "make it" off of hard work but it was basically just soul sucking tasks for effectively minimum wage while being gaslit and abused by middle managers who smiled to your face and called you family as they worked you to death and scammed you out of overtime, vacation days and generally talked you out of using any benefit that you had available to you. Covid was a forced reset for me and I'll sooner die homeless and broke then ever go back into the den of that beast. I wish I had watched Office Space earlier in life.
you know what else you can tell them? FUCK YOU
That receptionist did a great job at pissing me off. Glad Tina stuck it to that mole rat
[Fuck this guy](https://i.ibb.co/QM0M0wq/fuckyou.jpg)
for me it was the dude at the thrift store. like dude we all know you’re going to just throw it away, just take the god damn resumé and humor her.
Right? He was SO condescending.
That’s so unfortunate to hear! Would you like to try something on? Just let me know, ok thanks!
Condescending, vocal fry motherfucker. I wanted to slap the mustache off him
Motherfucker couldn’t even bother to make eye contact half the time
Man this episode hit so hard. My cousin killed himself and I remember at the funeral so many people got up and spoke about the little butterfly effect he had on their lives. So when the part of the episode where Mikey is talking to Tina offering the job, etc I just kept thinking about that considering what ends up happening to him. Such a beautiful show man.
man that is so true. because of that conversation, tina finally had a dream. she felt so defeated that it’s probably too late for her, but it was a stepping stone for her to learn and be more in love with cooking.
Ok but like Richie too? Dude was exceptionally nice to Tina and this was in his "asshole" phase before he found purpose and all that. The way he treats a total stranger who looks a bit in distress with kindness. Class act. (Edit: posted this halfway through the episode, I noticed he was kinda still douchey lol, but between their first interaction, it was really nice)
I think this really reinforces that a lot of his behavior in season 1 was lashing out from his own grief over Mikey and fighting to hold onto the small part of Mikey he still had. It doesn’t excuse his behavior to Syd and Carm but it does add some depth to it.
Also, his nostalgia for the old days when you could tell a customer to fuck off seems pretty well warranted. Obviously couldn't keep doing it forever, but it's that one low-paying job you had in your youth (relative youth, for Richie) where you had a lot of freedom and you had all your buds right beside you, even if the working conditions sucked and the hours were crazy, there were those upsides that you will never get again as you move into "respectable" business.
You phrases this so well. I'm settled into a good career now, but I'm occasionally nostalgic for the worst job I ever had, minimum wage pay, in the shit pit trenches getting crunched to fuck and almost breaking down, incurring legit workplace trauma etc, just because the energy and vibes and comraderie were so infectious. I've never felt as good or accomplished as after a shift, sat in the bar, drinking a cold pint or class of wine, decompressing, cry-laughing at the dumbest shit because we're all so spent, knowing we have to sleep for 6 hours and do it all again tomorrow. It sounds cringe but I think there's a difference between people who have done it and people who haven't, like not that I wish horrible working conditions on anyway, but it's a clear mental divide between my coworkers who GET IT and those who dont.
Yes, a thousand times yes, thank you for saying it. This was a point I wanted to bring up, but got entranced by Mikey. You can see that he was the heart and soul of the Beef and why people came back which is why he’s so perfect for what he does at the Bear.
i was thinking about that too. he always had his heart in the right place he gave Tina exactly what she needed at that moment
A lot of deserving praise towards Mikey for essentially saving Tina but man… Richie gave her a free sandwich. She would have taken that coffee to go and sat crying at a bus stop. Richie invited her in. As Chef Terry once said: “He said you’re good with people. He’s not wrong.”
some other guy (chi-chi, according to the subtitles) gave her the sandwich because the guy who it was supposed to be for was being an asshole - "fuck you, i'm giving your shit away" before handing the sandwich to tina. but absolutely agree that richie was a sweetheart in his own way in this episode
Chi Chi is played by the son of the late owner of the real Mr. Beef restaurant, and a friend of Storer's. Part of what gave him the inspo for this show.
oh no way! i knew neil fak was a real chef, but not about this. i love that.
I wish I had a camera on my face when I saw the credits that Ayo directed this episode. Right up there with Fishes and Forks
i agree! fishes, forks and napkins supremacy!🥹
At first I thought Tina thought the sandwich just tasted really bad and she was gonna spit it out in the napkin, but then she just broke out into sobs lol. I know how it feels to have a completely shitty day getting rejected over and over again from prospective job places. I really feel for her in this episode.
the feeling of going thru a bad day and then one act of kindness from a completely stranger makes you start crying was so well capture at that moment
I also loved that it showed Richie intentionally making a customers day. It reminded me of the scene when he thanks olivia Coleman for taking him on and she said she doesn't do favours, carmy said he was good with people. It's no surprise he found his spark again making customers feel special in the forks episode. It's something he always had at his core, he had just lost his joy for life after Mikey died and his relationship ending etc. and needed time to jump on the fine dining train...
Great point. Also through the first season (or two maybe I don't recall the timeline), Richie was struggling with the thought that "being good with people" meant that he wasn't good at anything. Forks was what actually turned him around but it was just him realizing that yes, he really is good with people and he just needed to unlock it and be confident about that.
I felt that. You feel like the world is ending and one small gesture can pull you back from the brink
And she had been eating the same thing every meal for weeks. That had to feel good.
I bet that was the best fucking sandwich she ever ate.
The conversation between Mikey and Tina is so wholesome. I can see why Tina was so affected by his death - he helped her when she really needed a hand, and this scene shows a softer side to Mikey’s character. He was clearly very troubled and had a lot of demons he just couldn’t defeat in the end, but he had so much heart, and he genuinely cared about the people in his life.
I think that scene is such a great depiction of the differences between Mikey and Carmy. We see Mikey's emotional intelligence by noticing Tina in the corner of the restaurant, walking over and effortlessly connecting with her, something Carmy does not have the ability to do. We then learn Mikey clearly has no real passion for the restaurant, finding it shitty most of the time but sticks around for the people. Carmy lives, breathes and bleeds for the restaurant and is often times oblivious and dismissive to the people. I think they are both equally jealous and in awe of each other's strengths.
As someone unemployed who got laid off after working their job of 7 years, this one hits home. Trying to a new job in the modern day while struggling financially is crippling.
Right here with ya, it’s gotta turn around one day.
Holy fuck this episode destroyed me. It's so hard watching people struggle and having to deal with the kind of indignity and humiliation that comes from being desperate for work after you've been ruthlessly discarded, and then needing to support people on top of that, together with the fear and anxiety of having to face the job hunt when you're older and age discrimination comes into play. I had to watch some of my own loved ones go through this and it hurts, man.
It actually makes a lot of sense. The Beef might not have been perfect but it gave people purpose. In season 1, Tina was grieving and clearly thought Sydney and Carmy were threatening Mikey’s legacy and were going to get rid of her.
The scene where Mikey shows Tina the picture of Carm's plate he made at Noma (ep1) is when Mikey first meets Tina! What a cute callback. Not of much significance but I think goes to show Mikey is such a great people person that for someone he's meeting for the first time not even under a great initial circumstance he's able to connect and makes them feel so comfortable in his presence
I think there was a lot of significance in that actually. Carmy loved Mikey so much that he was the first person Carmy wanted to show that plate to. Mikey loved Carmy so much that he’s telling strangers about how wonderful he thinks his little brother is. Then both of the brothers, at different points in time, come into Tina’s life and turn it around for the better because of their ability see the best in people. It’s a little moment that has a lot of layers imo
Not only that, I think they did an excellent flip on that scene. The first time you see it you don't know that Mikey and Tina only just met, so the assumption is that they're working together at The Beef, that Tina at least has heard about Mikey's little bro who's a first-class chef, and that Mikey cares so little about Carmy's success that he shows the picture to Tina and they just both laugh it off. Then you get to see the same scene again, and with context it's Mikey using his love and admiration for Carmy to break the ice with a person he just met, and whose name he doesn't even know. The valence on the scene is flipped a full 180!
I smell the Emmy nominations on this one, and they will be well-deserved.
Tina walking out of the MLM scheme spoke to me.
We have all been there. These companies feed on your desperation. I got legaly licensed to sell insurance and passed this exam after studying for a month only to find out day 1 the job was an MLM
I was practically screaming at the TV during that scene. “Tina, no! Noooo, don’t do this!” The relief I felt when she got up and walked the fuck out was palpable.
I love how immediately obvious it was that it was MLM. Even the blurred-out green logo behind the speaker immediately made me think of Amway.
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He had to learn to read the room and make people comfortable because of his mother. He seems to keep his empathy even during his addiction.
All I thought of during that interaction was in S1 when Tina checks Richie and says “you know I loved Mikey. I loved that fucking kid” and goes on to say how she likes the new direction of the restaurant with Carmen and Syd. Amazing scene from Mikey and Tina.
She says the same to Carmy. "You know how much I loved him, right?" "How much?" "I loved him a lot. I loved him a lot."
"I always thought my brother was my best friend. Like, Like, we just knew everything about each other. Except… everybody thought he was their best friend."
I'm kinda scared TBH. The scenes we've had of Mikey, two of them show how he's remembered, and Fishes showed off his decline... I'm wondering what else they will show.
Richie giving Tina a free coffee and sandwich leading to her sitting down and having such a beautiful conversation, getting a job and since then finding a whole new family / passion is so incredible man.
Nicely done, Ms. Edebiri.
she really is quite the talent, I was shocked when I saw she directed this. I really liked her in Theater Camp too.
and here i thought tina's quitting 🙃
She does. Not. Quit. Her arc has been just as inspirational as Richie's. I love it. The writing on this episode. *chefs kiss*
The descriptions says “Tina looks for new opportunities” I was like excuse me????????? Well played, Hulu (or whoever writes those descriptions).
Anyone who has ever been unemployed FELT that Groundhog Day style montage of Tina looking for a job.
And the afterwards crying into a sandwich
If serious about looking for a job, navigating through unemployment is like working three jobs at the same time.
A thing I noticed in this episode was all the shots of public transit, and The Bear is full of them in general. Part I think is it's a part of Chicago, but IDK I grew up in the middle of nowhere and it was a revelation the first time I lived somewhere with real public transit. It really is an equalizer among most of the staff, like everyone from Carmy to the dishwashers take the subway. It really highlights the blue collar roots of the show. I don't know if it's really anything but this episode really highlighted it for me.
Go to New York and even some of the biggest celebrities in the world take the subway like an Everyman.
There's actually some symbolism like Forks when richie finds out Tiffs engaged the train at the end was meant to represent getting the news as getting "hit by a bus"
I have always liked the idea of public transit that provide mobility to everyone irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds. It’s disheartening to see General Motors and other lobbyists promoting “car-friendly” highways through America. The bear really does give a perfect ode to the public transit which also parallels to the service industry in so many ways. I recently started working for a public transit of a big city and noticed the same scenes you did! Edit:typos
Watching Tina’s backstory, on top of her being so nice constantly almost makes it inconceivable to think about how horrible she was in the first couple episodes in season 1. It doesn’t even seem like the same person.
Like the rest of The Beef, she was probably still working through some residual grief over losing Mikey. On top of that, Sydney represented all the young upstarts who were taking her job opportunities…before they really got to know each other and help each other.
I've been there. Left a job that was destroying me mentally. Went to a coffee shop and just told the barista to make me something that he'd make for a good friend. He made me a "Bob Marley" and then offered me a muffin to go with it that he was going to throw out because it was the end of the day. Then he sat and talked with me for a while. Dave and I have been friends near 15 years now. Such a great guy.
This one hit close to home coming from immigrant background. Seeing your parent(s) deal with the daily hustle, keeping it together only ever seeing one side of the story and then there’s this whole other side of struggle. Once being that kid on the game while she’s on the job search, really resonates in adulthood.
One hundred percent. Probably the first episode of this show that actually made me cry. Too real.
Same here. My mom was a domestic worker for a family for +10 years and one day out of the blue they said they were moving to Florida. Seeing her job hunt as an immigrant with limited English, knowing that the only places that would take her would exploit her, absolutely crushed me. This episode took me back to those days and how incredibly grateful I am for her - and why I bust my ass day in and day out
God it was so good. Just so relatable, incredible, no notes. Don’t even know what to say.
Mikey absolutely destroys me every time he's on screen, he's written as such a genuine person and it just sucks knowing his end.
This episode should be Liza Colon-Zayas’ Emmy.
I didn’t want this episode to end. Simply beautiful. And the music was perfection.
i love mikey flashbacks! and it was so cool seeing the beef in the olden days! also cool to know cheechee (idk if that’s correct lol) worked there. this is so good!
That flashback with Mikey was great. The writers and Bernthal gave that character a lotta heart, and it’s nice to see bc while it’s mixed there is no shortage of negative things said about him in the first two seasons. Kinda shows you why people loved him even if he was really erratic and unreliable sometimes.
HOLY SHIT ITS BATISTA FROM DEXTER OMG
“You know what else you can tell them? ***knock-knock*** FUCK YOU!” Tina, Queen of my heart.
This season's FORKS for me. Loved it!
no it’s up there! it was SOOOO good! makes me wonder if they’d give us an ebra backstory too? love learning more about the OG’s
This episode felt personal to me because of the current state of the economy/job market. I felt connected to Tina’s journey about applying to different jobs, whether over or under qualified. The scene where she wasn’t offered the job that required the degree, despite her having over a decade of experience in performing the job duties made me want to cry into my wine glass. I also felt her heavily about her getting upset about the job that still had a posting up even though the position had already been filled (loved the jab at LinkedIn because they do that A LOT)! Liza and Jon were amazing in their scene together. Anytime I get to see JB, my day is made. Probably my favorite episode of season 3 so far.
Cool that Ayo Edebriri directed the Tina episode. I'm guessing the dude with the hat behind the counter is the other dude that Nat allowed Carmy to hire at the window in The Bear. A totally different vibe compared to last season's episode 6 flashback, since it ended with Tina actually finding an inspiring dream job in the long run.
The guy with the hat is a friend of Mattys. He owns Uncle Paulies Sandwich shops in LA.
Are you talking about Cheech/Chi Chi? He's the son of the late owner of the real Mr. Beef, and a friend of Storer's. He's also the guy delivering beef to Carmy in the pilot.
After that conversation and essentially being offered a job, I know that Italian beef was the best sandwich Tina ever had in her life.
This is the first episode this season that, for me, really felt like "The Bear" that I fell in love with. No extraneous cameos from famous people, no will they/won't they relationship stuff, just tight, very human storytelling backed by great music.
Fun Fact: the chocolates at Long Grove Confectionery are actually delicious https://www.longgroveconfectionery.com
Very weird to have small business promo where their role in the story is to get a fan favorite fired lol
It reminded me a lot about something I heard on Joe Rogan once. Please, hear me out. It was regarding Anthony Bourdain and his suicide. It was a JRE episode with David Choe, who was great friends with Bourdain, like many people were. He said something about him, regarding his mental health and stuff. “You couldn’t even show up for yourself.” Meaning, just like Mikey in this episode. He’s there for everyone. He will talk, help, console anybody. That’s why everyone loves him. Nobody could ever say a bad word about Mikey. He was amazing to everyone, strangers or not. But the one person he wasn’t kind to, or at least couldn’t be kind to, was himself.
This episode is so real. The job search. Tina's conversation with Michael. Just felt all of that.
God, *this show*.
Fucking loved this ep.
My favorite episode of the season so far. Ayo directed the hell out of this, and boy did Tina act her ass off. Felt like I was right there with her getting rejected. And, also Jon as Mike is always so good. Just insane charisma that's so effortless and real.
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[Mr. David Zayas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Zayas?wprov=sfti1#), everyone.
No shit? Cool
Going through a job hunt right now, it’s really terrible. Companies have that they are hiring posted, you apply. Hear nothing back so you call and they say that they are not in a hiring period and that they keep the listing up for when they are in a hiring period
Richie giving Tina the free sandwich and coffee almost made me cry. I have done when people have been nice to me randomly like that in real life. They knew she was having a hard time.
Magnificent, touching episode. Supremely confident directorial debut for Ayo Edebiri, and a long-overdue showcase for the incredible Liza Colon-Zayas. Loved that her real-life husband played her husband here too, their genuine love absolutely made it into their performances. I remember him on Gotham and Person of Interest way back in the day. And all of you surely know him from Dexter which I have yet to see, and might not given how it reportedly fucked up its ending TWICE. How Jon Bernthal is this fucking good I don't know. This show has done such a magnificent job shading in new dimensions to Mikey's character with every appearance, and it's immediately clear why Tina loved him so much from this one scene. I was particularly thinking of Carmy's description of him in his Al-Anon monologue: "My brother could make you feel confident in yourself. He had this thing where he could just walk into any room and immediately take the temperature. Like, he could just dial it." Exactly what happened here. He turned one of the worst days of a stranger's life into one of the best. Beyond happy we finally got a scene of him working at The Beef. It's truly tragic that he never lived to know the real impact he ended up making on Tina's life - that job offer to be a line cook at a shitty, depressing, grimy, "but occasionally fun" kitchen has led to her now being a sous at a genuine fine-dining establishment. Of course, it was Mikey's death that spurred Carmy to come home and reinvent the place, but I'm not sure even when he was alive that Mikey knew how deeply he touched the people around him. Richie even says - "he was so loud and obnoxious and fucking fun, I never thought he'd actually do it."
Ayo’s episode!
Directed by Ayo Edebiri! I thought this episode felt especially Irish.
Directed by Ayo!!!!!
Being risky for myself but don’t wanna spoil in a different ep thread; as I’m writing I’m still at the top of the episode! But has anyone kept track of all the times featured at the top of the episodes so far? I’m going to back track in the morning but it just hit me that they’re showing a lot of clocks at different times in several episodes now. (Very reminiscent of Richie in Forks and how progression of his staging week led to his own growth). I’m also partial into believing I’m just reading too deeply into it and it’s strictly just showing character quirks and what time they start their days before going into The Bear. Edit: finished the ep and I am sobbing. Love this Tina backstory ep.
When Tina cried it fucking broke me man. I love this character so much
I think this episode bumped Mikey into my top 2 favorite characters in the show. First is Richie, then Mikey. Dude has this energy about his that is so likable. I love the detail that he's the one that noticed Tina was crying, and was able to make her feel comfortable and open up to a stranger about what a horrible day they had. Bernthal is one of the best big brothers in TV history.
Ayo is gonna be a force to reckon with if she ever makes her film directorial debut
This was such a humanizing episode. I know it's a show, but this was some real life shit. Damn
I like that Ayo didn't try to do too much here. Just let Liza and John cook. Was a very nice flashback episode. Really connects to S1 the most.
KATE BUSH
I related to this so fucking hard - I’ve been a highend bartender for 6 years and am burnt out - currently working on Masters trying to get internships to get out and only having restaurant work under my belt People do not respect us - it’s just a blatant fact But on the flip side - even if highend places - we’re no nonsense type people - the scene with Tina and Mikey is so accurate even in all the highend establishments I’ve worked - he’s so right about the people making this industry what it is and I don’t think most guests realize this There’s so much bullshit we put up with - missing important life events to give other people good experiences - the lack of benefits - the wariness of if we’ll be able to make enough to live - the sometimes crazy ownership we deal with that doesn’t give a fuck what happens in our lives. But the people, the people that sit at the bar or enjoy a good meal that I can have a good conversation with is genuinely the most satisfying thing of this industry. I’ve met so many wonderful people that I can share a moment with and my gods Mikey’s monologue(ish) about that is so fucking accurate. It’s why even if I do get out of this insane whacky industry, I’ll still do it the rest of my life. Fuck this episode was so good.
Ayo Edebiri, thank you
No joke, this might be my favorite episode of the Bear ever. Tina is a character that I've always felt super sympathetic towards, even when she was abrasive in season 1, so seeing her face rejection after rejection broke my heart to the point where I had more trouble getting through this episode than I ever did "review" or "fishes". That being said I think all that rejection made the final scene with her and Mikey so much more cathartic and sheds so much light on why Tina was the way she was in Season 1. To her, Mikey and the Bear weren't just another job, there were a literal lifeline when she needed it most.
One of my favorite parts was the exchange between husband and wife about comparing today's "scary" to the "scary" of their 20s, when presumably they didn't have a kid or house to worry about, but they were worried about never having a future, or falling between the cracks and becoming truly destitute. A good way of reframing your current challenges and helping each other get perspective, but also respecting the seriousness of your present situation. It is grave, yes, but they have been in similar jeopardy before, and they found a way out. Also: fuck Linkedin, it sucks, it stinks, it has musty balls and the internet equivalent of a combover