Napkins (The Bear)

In 2018, Tina Marrero (Liza Colón-Zayas) lives with her husband David (David Zayas) and son Louie, while working at an office. On November 9, 2018, her company announces layoffs, and Tina is dismissed from her job. While David is still employed at a different job, she still wants to find a job as they are struggling with debts.

Tina visits many locations in Chicago, but all turn her down. Tina continues using her handwritten résumé, but the employees now ask her to submit it through LinkedIn. Some reject her as she does not have a Bachelor of Arts degree, while some prefer hiring younger employees for different positions. Dejected, she makes a stop at the Beef and orders a coffee. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) gives her the coffee on the house, along with an Italian beef sandwich. She goes to the adjacent room to eat; as Richie and Fak (Matty Matheson) play on an arcade, Tina starts crying after tasting the sandwich.

Seeing her cry, Mikey (Jon Bernthal) sits down and offers a sympathetic ear. They talk over their struggles with the world, with Mikey explaining all the insufficient resources for the restaurant. He talks about Carmy, expressing jealousy that he could never achieve what his brother has made, yet pride in him for going so far. Tina expresses her own jealousy for the younger people that applied for her jobs, but also admits feeling admiration as they had more freedom. He offers her a line cook job at the restaurant, providing her with a Beef T-shirt, which she reveals as she arrives home.

In May 2024, Hulu confirmed that the sixth episode of the season would be titled "Napkins", and was to be written by Catherine Schetina and directed by main cast member Ayo Edebiri.^[4] It was Schetina's third writing credit and Edebiri's first directing credit.^[5] Edebiri was confirmed to make her directorial debut in March 2024.^[6] Series costar Lionel Boyce described the episode as a keystone of the season, commenting, "[Tina] felt her world was ending, and there's this sliver of hope in this dark place. We've all had that feeling of being at a crossroads, you're lost, wondering what am I going to do? And then you find something unexpected."^[7]

In 2025 a BuzzFeed writer quoted Mikey's yelled line "Dude, I fucking heard you! Shut the fuck up!" followed by the reasonable-volume "See? That. It's basically that all the time," addressed to Tina, as a very succinct, fair, and funny summary of life at the Original Beef of Chicagoland.^[8]

Eater noted that much of Tina's job search relies on "trains and buses during her frantic job search," which is a reality for many of the workers employed in Chicago's hospitality industry.^[9]

The Mary Sue connected Tina and Mikey's initial meeting to Tina's resistance to Carmy and Sydney in season one: "'Napkins' gives us a look into the why behind Tina's emotions. She and Mikey shared a bond in that first meeting. They hated how the world was turning on them and they laughed together. Their anger formed a friendship, and Mikey wanted to help Tina. That's how she ended up working at the Beef: Because Mikey didn't want someone to be lost."^[10]

Colón-Zayas shared her ideas about the look of Tina's apartment with Edebiri, saying, "For me, it was important having the whole pride of being Puerto Rican. So a vejigante, the flag, Roberto Clemente. And cleanliness. It doesn't have to be OCD, but it couldn't be chaos. That was important to me. I feel like so often in stories that are not told by us, there's crosses everywhere."^[11]

Diego Garcia, who designed the Ballbreaker animations for season one, returned to make new material for this flashback episode, including new game over screens.^[12]

While filming the second season, series creator Christopher Storer approached Edebiri over an opportunity to direct an episode in the third season. She said that as they stared at the scripts, "'Napkins' was the one that we both said, and I was just like, 'I would chew off my right arm in front of you if I could direct it. Because that would be a dream.'" To prepare, she joined the Directors Guild of America and took a few courses.^[13] She said, "It was really a blast and an honor to get to helm an episode that showcases everything that Liza can do."^[14] Liza Colón-Zayas commented, "Since day one, my girl is confident. Because she's smart and she's curious and she prepares. And we've had two years of working together, so there's already a bond and respect. It was so easy. I knew she was ready, but it was like she had been doing this forever. It was very gentle, very easy."^[15] According to cinematographer Andrew Wehde, "[Ayo] wanted to move the camera a lot. She wanted to make something that felt special on her own. And you can see it. You can really see how this episode stands out. I love when Tina goes into the restaurant for the first time, and it immediately transports you back to season one, the way the zooms are flying in and the camera's flying around the place and everyone's screaming. That was so fun."^[16]

The scenes at Tina's original job were shot on location at Long Grove Confectionery Co. in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.^[17][18][19] When Tina interviews for the payroll job but is refused because she lacks a bachelor's degree, the B-roll establishing the nature of the business was shot at Sabinas Tortillas on 18th Street in Pilsen.^[20]

Film editor Joanna Naugle told an industry journal about "Napkins" that "We establish how [Tina's] so efficient, how it's important that she arrives at the exact right time, and she keeps checking the clock. When her world spirals out of control, we break our established rhythms. There's a sense of disarray, and to translate this, we were cutting so that things maybe are not falling quite on the beat. That's happening in the picture editing. Once we get to mix, we talk with Major [sound editor and re-recording mixer Steve 'Major' Giammaria] about what we're going for. And he has a million ideas about using different sound effects to reflect her state of mind and enhance what we're trying to show."^[21] One analysis of The Bear as a document of urbanism commented that the episode "intercuts her trips to various interviews with a landscape of imposing office buildings, train journeys, the colourful front of a local shop where she leaves her resume and her exchanges with potential managers. The montage's alteration between close-ups of her hands preparing lunch for her son and husband and the tableau-like frames of her speaking on the phone, seeking opportunities, sharply contrasts with her journeys to the central parts of the city...Pushed out of her place in the economic hierarchy...Tina finds herself socially and economically stranded and stripped of her identity. She roams a series of non-places with no consideration for her personal struggles, her figure overpowered by the heights of the city's office buildings that overshadow her optimism and crush her confidence in subsequent shots...In contrast to the impersonal and cold environment of the city's office buildings, The Beef operates as a place of humanity and compassion."^[22]

Songs on the soundtrack of this episode included "Get Down on It" by Kool & the Gang, "Plate" and "Nice" by Genevieve Artadi, "The Start of Things" by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, "The Morning Fog" by Kate Bush, "Let It Whip" by Dazz Band, "Sabotage (Oakie Reconstruction Mix)" by the Beastie Boys, and "Got This Happy Feeling" by Ghetto Brothers.^[23][24]

• As recounted by Screen Rant, "The driving focus of ['Napkins'] is Tina losing a job she had for 15 years. This kickstarts a period of dark uncertainty for Tina and is depicted in an extremely human way, making music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross...a masterful choice. Reznor and Ross' film scores have been known to evoke strong emotion, with 'The Start of Things' from the movie Mid90s expertly translating Tina's feelings."^[25]

• Range called "The Morning Fog" the thematically crucial song of the episode, writing that, "Kate Bush's bewitching tale of a woman drowning serves as the centerpiece of Tina's backstory, who is also struggling to stay afloat...Bush's art pop masterpiece continues to immerse us in the sheer pain and fear of reinvention, where we must be 'born again into the sweet morning fog.'"^[26]
• "Morning Fog" plays during her fruitless job hunt, "Sabotage" kicks in when she makes her way into the Beef for the first time.^[27][25]

• Tina's Crock-Pot dinners are Puerto Rican stews, namely carne guisada and pollo guisado, to be served with yellow rice.^[11] Carne guisada is a braised beef dish made with boneless chuck roast, potato, onion, tomato sauce, and sofrito, all seasoned with sazón.^[28]
• Carmy sent Mikey a photograph of a Noma dish made with trout roe and "beach herbs" (purslane tips, beach cress blossoms, chickweed).^[29][30]

Jenna Scherer of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "Not only is 'Napkins' a much-deserved showcase for the fantastic Liza Colón-Zayas, it also marks the directorial debut of Ayo Edebiri, who began her screen career as a writer before stepping in front of the camera. Unsurprisingly, she's just as adept in the director's chair as she is everywhere else: As 'Napkins' traces our heroine's progress through a bleak Chicago winter, Edebiri paints a precisely observed portrait of a middle-aged woman of color fighting tooth and nail to be seen in a world that would just as soon look straight through her."^[31]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "This year's sixth episode, 'Napkins,' not only gives Colón-Zayas her first solo spotlight, but finally fills in this emotional blank. And in the process, it gives us the single best Bear scene of Season Three."^[32] Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "As a Bear character, Tina has never really gotten enough shine. We know she's been there since Mikey and she's developed dreams of becoming a chef, but we know little else about where she goes when she's not working. Or, rather, we knew little else because 'Napkins' opens the door wide into Tina's life, apartment, marriage, and past, giving us a glimpse at how she landed at the Bear."^[33]

Fletcher Peters of The Daily Beast wrote, "The episode is a tour-de-force, a relatable look into the endless, exhausting days of finding a job. By the end of the episode, a completely deflated Tina sobs into an Italian beef sub while Richie and Michael argue over a video game in the background, signaling a transition in her life out of the blues of unemployment and into the frenetic energy of the restaurant industry. Edebiri's directorial vision shines through in this moment, in which she finds a way to explode two chaotic moments in one frame."^[13] A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "She was sent to culinary school and elevated from a person who stirs giant pots of beef slop, staying quiet even in the most high-pressured fuck-you-fuck-off meltdowns between the usual front of the kitchen staff, to Sydney's sous chef. But she's never had her main-character moment until The Bear Season 3 Episode 6, 'Napkins,' directed by Ayo Edebiri. This is one of those quiet episodes — a welcome and merciful downshift from the disjointed, Fak-heavy plot lines that have clogged up Season 3."^[34]

Josh Rosenberg of Esquire wrote, "Last episode, we talked about all the money the restaurant wasted in its first month of service—and goofed off with a new Fak brother! Turns out episode 6, 'Napkins,' has a grander vision than the everyday struggles of The Bear."^[35]

FandomWire wrote that the scene where Mikey hired Tina was the "most devastating scene of the season" because "that simple moment of kindness ends up pulling her out of the vicious spiral. It's not sad. It's real. And it resonates deeply with anyone who has tackled the current job market."^[36]

In 2024, Variety listed "Napkins" at number six on a list of top 10 episodes of The Bear, commenting, "Confidently helmed by debut director Edebiri, 'Napkins' deepens our connection to Tina in a way that makes 'The Bear,' as a whole, better."^[44] Also in 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Napkins" at 7 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point, and one of the show's "best flashback episodes."^[45] Screen Rant ranked "Napkins" the 5th-best episode out of the 28 episodes of The Bear produced through the end of season three, describing it as "by far the highlight of The Bear season 3," thanks to its depiction of "intricate character developments through a moving backstory."^[3]

In 2025, Vulture ranked "Napkins" as 31st-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, commenting that the episode "doesn't really tell us all that much that we didn't already know...and you leave the episode more angry at the injustices done to middle-aged, high school educated women than you are proud of Tina for having risen above it all."^[46] Collider placed "Napkins" at number 4 on its 2025 list of top 10 episodes of The Bear, commenting that the episode "struck gold," in part because it showed Bernthal's Mikeybear in a new light: "...it is especially meaningful to see how kind Mikey was to Tina when she was just a stranger."^[47] Esquire magazine listed "Napkins" at number 3 on its 2025 list of top 10 best episodes from the first three seasons of The Bear, which has shown "time and again that while its main characters are Carmy and Sydney, they don't have to be protagonists all the time."^[1]

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