overnights

The Bear Recap: When You Need a Helping Hand

The Bear

Worms
Season 4 Episode 4
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
saved
Comment

The Bear

Worms
Season 4 Episode 4
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Photo: Copyright 2025, FX Networks. All Rights Reserved.

It’s always nice to get a Sydney-focused episode of The Bear, and this one is a doozy. Co-written by Ayo Edebiri and Lionel Boyce and directed by Janicza Bravo, the fourth episode of the season pulls in onscreen heavy hitter Danielle Deadwyler as Syd’s cousin and hairdresser, Chantel, for a departure episode that is both a placeholder and a catalyst. At the end of the previous episode, Carmy was making some big last-minute change to the restaurant’s partnership agreement, and while we see a passing mention of that agreement in a text from Pete later in this episode, we, like Syd, still don’t really know what that change was.

One thing’s for sure, though: If Syd knew about that change, you have to assume it might steer her “slumber party” decision a different way, reminding her that while Carmy is scattered and shouty, he’s still probably better — or at least less icky — than the almost-too-well-intentioned Shapiro. Sure, Shapiro’s restaurant is big and expensive and will have secret compartments hidden around the kitchen for seemingly no reason. But in a way, what he’s talking about building — an equitable kitchen with a diverse staff, educational opportunities, and potential health-care benefits — already exists at The Bear. Syd was able to help shape Tina, a former bookkeeper with no culinary skills beyond mixing beef, into a world-class sous-chef. Ebra has been given carte blanche to grow his window as he sees fit. And both Sweeps and Marcus were able to rise through the ranks at The Bear, becoming key players despite having almost no training when they first came through the door.

Plus: Chef Shapiro is kind of a dope, right? Syd credits him with being well-intentioned, and he is, but just assuming Syd has opinions on hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean flavors? Woof. He gets credit for understanding he should have known more about what it means for Syd to get her hair done, but to then turn around boasting that he watched Good Hair? It’s performative at best and patronizing at worst, and you have to think that working around someone like that — as empowering as they might want to be — could suck the life out of someone like Syd. Shapiro seems like one of those guys who wants you to know how virtuous he is and so he puts all his good deeds on display, whether through his Instagram account or through that big open window into the kitchen. It’s gross, man, and even watching Syd humor him is bumming me out big-time.

The thing is, though: I get it. When Syd gets roped into babysitting Chantel’s daughter, TJ, she really does lay out her case for why The Bear is both a comfortable slumber party and an unknown one. It’s “energetically musty,” she tells TJ, and “low-key, high key, feels crazy.” While there’s the potential at The Bear for things to feel amazing all the time, at Shapiro’s house, there’s a blank check, unlimited pizza, and a ton of video games. I’m certainly biased here — we’ve spent years watching The Bear come to life, so obviously that’s where I want Syd to stay — but Shapiro’s spot seems like Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island. It’ll be fun for a bit, but instead of being turned into a real chef, Syd is going to end up a donkey.

That doesn’t mean that The Bear’s the right choice for Syd, either, I suppose. As TJ says, The Bear isn’t her house — Or is it? Read the agreement, Sydney! — so “what if they just don’t let you fix it?” I’d argue that if Sydney actually sat down with Natalie and Carmy and made the case for the things she wants in a clear, confident way, she’d get them and then some; but also, if she thinks of Carmy as a mentor, as a big brother, and as whatever else, then I get why that’s scary. Plus, with Natalie out on Sophie leave, Syd could see her as being a bit out of the picture.

I’m not sure where I land on what Syd says to TJ about how, sometimes, when you’re really good friends with someone, you can be cruel or mean to them. You can take them for granted or neglect them, and while you know it’s awful, that’s just what friendship is. In some ways, I think that’s true. Like, you can deliver criticism to someone who knows you love them because they’ll understand it’s coming from a good place, while someone who you don’t care about might not even be worth the effort of criticizing. On the other hand, I’d like to think that most of us don’t go out of our way to be shitty to people we consider our friends. Long story short: I agree with Syd in theory, but I also think she could have found a better way to explain the nuance there to an 11-year-old.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Deadwyler and Arion King, who plays TJ. Deadwyler has been a legend for years and is great as Chantel, with her code-switching on that phone call telling more than a few stories, but King seems like a relative newcomer to the onscreen world. She plays a great grumpy tween, and her eye-rolling is second to none. There’s an art to acting like you don’t care at all and King has mastered it, so hats off to her.

What’s clear after this episode is that Sydney still really thinks she’s an island. It’s not hard to infer why — we don’t know a lot about her backstory, but maybe she has always felt a little out of step in her schooling, in her home, in the kitchen, wherever — so whatever vibe, intentional or unintentional, she’s been picking up at The Bear must only exacerbate that. But it’s not only on her to suck it up and realize she’s appreciated, loved, and wanted. For The Bear to work, for Sydney to really shine, it’s going to have to be a collaborative effort.

Small Bites

• Please someone try out Syd’s Hamburger Helper modifications and let me know how it goes. Inquiring minds want to know.

• Was TJ calling Chantel’s potato salad garbage or was she referring to Chicago-style “garbage salad”? Maybe both!

• The movie Syd’s watching at the beginning of the episode is Jumpin’ Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg, which checks out considering Letterboxd let me know that Edebiri watched it in September 2023. Some blogs have even posited that she should star in a remake if it ever happens, which is a fun idea.

• Darnell sounds like a real piece of shit. A second family in Texas? Fuck off, Darnell.

The Bear Recap: When You Need a Helping Hand