Hi y’all, it’s an extremely cold day in mid-Northern western Canada and what better time to bake some bread and watch The Bear season 2? No better time, woooooo! Rolling into my recap of The Bear S2:E04 Honeydew after the break!
We open with all the stressful symbols of glory for a construction project: overdue this, behind budget that, rejected inspection whatshispickle. Carmen ‘Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) does his best to understand what project manager and sister Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto (Abby Elliot) is explaining: basically, Mikey didn’t do any correct paperwork, which is absolutely on brand for Mikey and The Original Beef of Chicagoland). Sugar’s sudden physical discomfort finally forces her to disclose what literally everyone would have guessed by now: she’s pregnant.
How…can this be the first time Carmy notices.
She doesn’t want anyone to know, especially ‘cousin’ Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich (Ebon Mass-Bachrach), which is unfortunate as she yells out ‘PREGNANT’ just as the wall separating them and everyone else falls.
Richie knew it!!
This episode is not going to be about Sugar and Richie or even Carmy, however, today is all about The Beef’s patissiére Marcus (Lionel Boyce), who is off to Denmark to study under pastry Chef Luca. Marcus has to come up with three new desserts. Three!
He says goodbye to his non-responsive mama and his roomie Chester (Carmen Christopher – big fan), with a hug that is not nearly romantic enough for me, and he’s off!
Intercontinentally!
Is anyone else afraid of literally all air travel these days? I have been on exactly one flight since COVID – one way – and I haven’t quite worked out how I will get to Portugal without that sort of thing.
OMIGOD – shout out to Charlie for Marcus’s trip starting off to ‘Holiday Road’ from Lindsay Buckingham from the American Vacation soundtrack!
I’m sorry – a hot dog with pickles on top is perplexing me and I think I will have to try this Danish curiosity.
Marcus makes it to his lodging, a houseboat on a canal and I am not jealous at all and I’ll stop talking about myself but he’s in a HOUSEBOAT on a CANAL.
He gets up extremely early; leaving the boat before the first light of day to arrive at the kitchen where Chef Luca (Will Poulter rocking a…British accent?) is already throwing around 50 kg bags of flour.
I’m not sure why we’re slotting garlic slices into piped custard, but I guess it’s to teach Marcus to be confident and not second-guess himself.
I’m slightly more concerned about how much he wants Chef Luca’s approval.
On to gelee!
What IS dextrose? The phone isn’t much help, but Chef Luca coughs up a recipe and then we get to see Marcus make a watercress gelee?
I don’t know why you would blanch greens then blend and strain them and add gelatin to pour into a mold but it is truly thrilling to watch and I love that Marcus asks all the why questions. Are there bubbles?? Is that okay??
Chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) interviews chefs (hire Fak!!!), hiring a twitchy looking one, name to follow!
(My favourite was when a good candidate received her compliments for his resume then asked when he would meet the chef, turning negatively introspective when she informed him he already was.)
Marcus learns and learns and misses his mom and eats weird things and researches and learns. Neil Fak (Matty Mattheson) calls to go over some kind of fire suppression test – something with a rubber glove that shouldn’t pop but.
I don’t know what Marcus is supposed to do about that from Copenhagen…
Chef Luca is so calm. Quiet. Patient. Basically think a young, hot Gordon Ramsay with a lobotomy.
We learn about Marcus, too, he used to play Division 3 football and I have no idea what that means. Neither does Chef Luca, from London. But he does know about basketball, when Marcus compares Chef Luca’s learning experience to being Scottie Pippen to another chef’s Michael Jordan (was it Carmy?? Was it?? Was it Carmy who was the best chef Luca had even seen and inspired him to amazing heights??), from Luca understanding that he was good, but never the best. He chose to follow the best, to push himself and never leave the sight of the one who was the best who was maybe Carmy.
I love his advice to Marcus: stay open. You can do what you can in a kitchen through repetition and practice but you need inspiration to be truly amazing, you have to engage with the world and live. And be open to be great.
Also: his mom could die at any time and Marcus is just trying to hang in there.
Marcus explores Copenhagen, tasting and learning and plating garlic slices into piped custard for a really unfortunate looking dessert.
He’s walking alone at night when he hears yelling, spotting a man trapped under / in a steel fence and helps the man free himself, earning a hug in return. Marcus hugs him back with all his heart, this bleeding and elderly stranger in the middle of the night in Copenhagen and why do I keep crying this episode??
Sydney calls, they catch up but what is this.
What is THIS. I love how quiet he was. Of course Sydney ruins the moment by joking around; his gentle ‘you play too much” after is 100% real. She’ll grow up.
Marcus creates a dish with a perfect quenelle, it’s small, but he digs it! And we are out.
Well. That was a lot of Marcus and not a lot of chaos and I loved it.
Cheers, everyone, until next time.
