‘The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas (And Tina) Deserved Better From Season 4

I lost track of how many times I thought about the phrase, “Mama this pasta is killing me,” while watching The Bear Season 4.

IYKYK, and if you don’t, allow me to break it down for you. Near the top of Episode 5, the above phrase flashes on Sydney’s (Ayo Edebiri) phone screen in the form of a frazzled text from Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas). The message is meant to emphasize how stressed Tina is about her slow pasta turnaround time, but for me, those six words served as a comedic/depressing reminder that in Season 4, the chef’s entire personality essentially boils down to…pasta.

Fresh off Colón-Zayas’ surprise (and historic!) 2024 Emmy win and Season 3’s Tina-centric episode, which showed her journey to The Original Beef of Chicagoland, I hoped T would have more opportunities for meaningful character development in Season 4. Rather than keeping her well-earned momentum going, however, The Bear egregiously put Tina on the back burner and periodically checks in while she works towards a single goal: cooking a single serving of pasta in less than three minutes.

After The Chicago Tribune’s reviewer noted his pasta was late on all three visits to The Bear, Tina understandably makes it her mission to improve. “I gotta get head in game, focus, get faster,” she tells Ebra (Edwin Lee Goodson) in Season 4’s premiere. “Head down, good work. That’s my system.” And it’s a great system! But when the season spans a period of two months and Tina spends the majority of that time trying (and failing) to speed-cook pasta, it’s as frustrating to watch as a pot of water slowly working up to a boil.

Photo: Kurt Iswarienko/FX

When Tina isn’t timing her technique, the chef makes quick trips the the farmers market and shares supportive words of wisdom with colleagues. She famously reminds Carmy that his niece, Sophie, exists! She helps convince him to stop changing the menu every night and start apologizing to people! And she hypes him up with a much-needed, “You’re the shit, baby. You got nothing to prove.” Meanwhile, she believes she does have something to prove — both to herself and her fellow chefs. Mastering the challenge and reassuring herself that she can successfully show up for The Bear in the way the restaurant and team needs holds real value to her. I only wish the writers found a faster, more satiating way to achieve the end result — one that gave Tina (and Colón-Zayas) more time to shine and meatier ways to contribute to the season as a whole.

In the premiere, Tina offers to help Marcus with pastries, which could have led to special shared scenes. In Episode 5, she asks her husband to try a dish she’s working on. He says he loves it, and that’s that! And in Episode 8, she shares one of her most compelling scenes of the season with Luca (Will Poulter), but sadly, it’s about her #PastaProbz. (Say it with me, now: “Mama this pasta is killing me!)

Photo: FX

When chatting with Variety about Season 4, Colón-Zayas explained that while the depth may not be noticeable at first glance, Tina does experience important growth this season: “I may be under the impression that everyone else is so much better, that everyone else has got it much more together than I do. So [Luca] recognizes — and so does Carmy, and so does Syd — they recognize that I need to be reminded that it’s repetition. It’s growth. It’s part of the journey. Nobody started out like that. They had their own ‘slow pasta’ story. It helps when I hear that from these other characters and they believe in me.”

Season 4’s penultimate episode shows Tina finally mastering the clock, and I’m thrilled for her, but I’ve also missed her! The curse of crafting such compelling supporting characters is that The Bear needs to strike the right balance each season. After watching Tina warm up to Syd and embrace change in Season 1, take on more responsibility (and slay karaoke) in Season 2, and sharpen her skills at culinary school in Season 3, witnessing her development stall for months was a real bummer.

To paraphrase the sidelined chef, Tina and Colón-Zayas are the shit, baby! They deserved more than a pasta challenge from Season 4, and if The Bear returns for Season 5, here’s hoping that solid narrative progression and character growth don’t come at the expense of the Emmy-winning star’s screen time and storylines.

THE BEAR – SEASON 4: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Can’t get enough of The Bear Season 4? For more insight, analysis, GIFs, and close-ups of Carmy’s arms, check out some highlights of Decider’s coverage:

• The Bear Season 4 Full Review: FX’s hit series needs to rewrite its recipe for success
• The Bear Season 4 Episode 1 recap: “Groundhogs”
• The Bear Season 4 Episode 2 recap: “Soubis”
• The Bear Season 4 Episode 3 recap: “Scallop”
• The Bear Season 4 Episode 4 recap: “Worms” (Related: This is Season 4’s standout episode.)
• The Bear Season 4 Episode 5 recap: “The Replicants”
• The Bear perfectly cast Rob Reiner as Ebra’s mentor, but went too far casting Brie Larson as Francine Fak
• The Bear Season 4 Ending Explained: Can the restaurant survive?
• Want to join in on the action but don’t have FX or Hulu? Smash that subscribe button below.

The Bear Season 4 is now streaming on Hulu.