‘The Bear’ Season 3 Episode 4 Recap: “Violet”

Alright—is everybody in? The first flashback scene in The Bear Season 3 Episode 4 (“Violet”) is between Carmy and Claire saying cutie-pie shit to each other as “Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops” by the Cocteau Twins plays in the background. What, no Wilco?

Meanwhile, Marcus is back at his mother’s house, stewing in grief, figuring out what to do next, listening to the beep of his mother’s breathing machine. On the way home, he finds a violet peeking out through overgrown, dead shrubs on a fence and takes a picture of it in case he’s inspired to make a fancy cannoli. 

Sydney has officially signed a lease on her new place, assuring her independence for once and for all, even as her Dad walks around inspecting it (“These walls are thin!”), she manages not to let him talk her out of it. 

Tina is at the farmer’s market, realizing that the farmers are struggling and don’t have much to offer anymore. A wise old farmer’s market philosopher tells her how farms have been ravaged and that there’s not enough fruit and veggies to go around anymore:  “Whatever grows together, goes together.” (I’m pretty sure that line will get recycled several times before the season ends. Maybe Neil Fak will get it tattooed on his earlobe.) 

Back at The Bear, we have a noisy Fak-filled sequence in which the showrunners pander to this country’s premiere list of coastal elite journalists. 

Richie meets his ex-wife’s new husband, is daughter’s new stepdad, Frank (Josh Hartnett, handsome as ever), who sheepishly apologizes to Richie for not giving him the heads up on the marriage proposal. “You don’t need my permission, Frank.” Richie demonstrates his growth and grace—whatever Pema Choödrön books this man has read, he’s learned from it. Would Richie have handled Frank’s awkward apology this skillfully in Season 1? Doubtful. That version of himself probably would have attempted to brain Frank with a shovel.

Next, we see Sydney exiting the train on the way to work, where she runs into Adam Shapiro, a chef at Ever, the three-star restaurant owned by the luminous Chef Terry (Olivia Colman) where Carmy worked and Richie staged in the best episode of the series, “Forks.” Shapiro praises The Bear and gushes over Sydney’s scallop dish, setting the wheels in motion for her inevitable poaching. 

At The Bear, we see Marcus playing with purple goo to make whatever dessert mush his lonely flower photo inspired.

Sydney sees Carmy slicing up grapefruit and shoving nicotine gum into his mouth because the little psycho has managed to go 41 days without cigs. Sydney tries a piece and immediately spits it out. However, the real issue is the need for more communication between the front and back of the house. As we found out, Carmy changed the menu again and didn’t tell anyone. Sydney mildly scolds him, and Carmy admits his mistake but doesn’t apologize (again). 

Meanwhile, in the office wing, Sugar is agonizing over two different intrusive thoughts: the restaurant’s continual slide toward financial ruin and the impending birth of her daughter, whom she fears may get infused with the screwy Berzatto genes. 

Richie tries to console but moves off of it quickly. Still rattled after dropping his daughter off at Frank’s palatial Chicago wonderland, he considers if he should be a presence in her life anymore. Sugar tells him not to be stupid and just to be a dad. Also, in this scene, Richie hangs a postcard of the Philosopher’s Path in Kyoto, finding inspiration from it thanks to his new enlightened path as front-of-the-house manager. “I’m gonna go there someday,” he tells Sugar. 

Sugar gets a distressing phone call—the Chicago Tribune is sending over a photographer for an upcoming review. Everyone available in the kitchen lines up to have their faces express horror and concern. Nobody who works at The Bear thinks they’re ready to be officially reviewed—a bad review right now could be devastating. 

Fingers crossed that the reviewer went on “Surprise Tuesday.” 

THE BEAR SEASON 3 EPISODE 4: LEFTOVERS

MIDDLE-AGED DAD NEEDLE DROP: “Getchoo” by Weezer. Blue album freaks must be livid. Turns out The Bear is a TV show for Pinkerton heads. 

QUESTIONS I STILL HAVE: I have a couple:

• What happened to the heart sign language Carmy used to apologize to people? Remember how much of a thing that was? He could have used that about sixty million times so far this season but has, instead, chomped on nicotine gum and acted like a real penis to everyone he feels has gotten in the way of his culinary “vision.” 

• Richie also mentions that he learned about the Philosopher’s Path from a “director I admire,” who turned out to be William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist and The French Connection. If you remember last season, Richie had a poster for the Ridley Scott film White Squall in his kitchen. I can’t tell if this signifies more growth for him or if he’s just subscribed to the Criterion Channel in order to become more culturally evolved.

CARMY ARM PORN: Those triceps look nervous!

A.J. Daulerio is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. He is also the founder of The Small Bow, a recovery newsletter.