[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Bear Season 3, Episode 6, “Napkins.”]
The Bear‘s third season has arrived and with it comes the introduction of Tina’s (Liza Colón-Zayas) backstory in the spectacular entry, “Napkins.”
Serving as Season 3’s emotional and feel-good episode in the way Season 2’s Richie-centric (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) episode “Forks” did, this installment flashes back to a point in time when The Beef wasn’t even a twinkle in Tina’s eye. Picking up years before her culinary prowess as a sous chef, Tina finds herself out of a job and her husband (played by Colón-Zayas’ real-life husband, David Zayas) is keeping his fingers crossed for a promotion that’s likely never coming.
As the couple deals with raised rent prices and bringing up their son, Tina struggles to find a responsive reception to her hand-delivered resumes. After weeks without a job and following her latest rejection, Tina floats into The Beef to wait out a delayed bus. There, she asks for a black coffee and finds herself handed a sandwich by Richie, free of charge.
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When she takes a seat in the restaurant area, she breaks down crying, leading to her introduction to Mikey Berzatto (Jon Bernthal) who acknowledges her breakdown. Together, the pair share a human moment, venting about the frustrations in their lives and the struggles that come with being an adult without the luxury of dreams.
Artfully directed by series star Ayo Edebiri, it’s easy to feel the instant connection between these characters and when Tina walks away from the interaction with a job, we as viewers better understand her devotion to Mikey and the Berzatto family as a whole. When it came to collaborating with Edebiri, Colón-Zayas says, “She is a superhero. She’s so smart, she’s observant. I don’t know how she has this energy and this intelligence at such a young age, and she’s easygoing,” the performer gushes. “I love working with her. I loved her. She’s going to run the world before you know it!”
What Colón-Zayas really appreciated was that Edebiri, “let this woman, this older woman, do her thing with respect and gentleness. So I’m really looking forward to the fans seeing this episode.” When it comes to fan reactions, Colón-Zayas has a particular hope, saying, “I think people are going to really relate and hopefully cry a little bit. I want you to cry.”
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Sharing more than 10 minutes onscreen with Bernthal’s Mikey, Colón-Zayas says of her scene partner, “He’s such a gentle, kind, open, beautiful artist.” She remembers asking Bernthal to run lines, “I get a little nervous,” she admits, saying, “And he was like, ‘Absolutely, you want to do it today?’… And he was right there [knocking] on my trailer ready to just give me what I needed.”
“Everyone is so easy to roll with on that set,” Colón-Zayas notes, gushing about the show’s ensemble behind the scenes. When it came to her initial reaction to learning about Tina’s story, she remembers, “I burst into tears when I read that script,” but she assures that she had zero apprehensions about taking center stage.
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“I felt ready… And it’s so beautiful. I’m so grateful that they see Tina and I love this episode. It’s so powerful.” We couldn’t agree more. And it only serves to elevate Tina’s role in the present as Season 3 sees her experiment more with the Farmer’s Market ingredients she’s been tasked with charging.
What did you think of the pivotal episode, “Napkins”? Let us know in the comments section, below, and catch Colón-Zayas’ full interview in the video, above.
FX’s The Bear, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, Hulu
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