[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. 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.
