Every new season of The Bear brings along a fresh set of celebrity guest appearances. As fans of Christopher Storer’s popular FX show might have anticipated, it also signals the introduction of a new member of the Fak family!
After the star-studded second season, Season 3 of The Bear unveiled the third sibling out of the nine Faks, causing quite a stir. When Neil (played by Matty Matheson) and Ted Fak (played by Ricky Staffieri) found themselves in a restaurant crisis, they turned to their brother Sammy for help, and to everyone’s surprise, in came John Cena, ready to assist the Faks with polishing the floors and engaging in a comedic family tradition about “haunting.”
This unexpected guest appearance not only sparked interest but also left viewers speculating about which other actors might become part of the Fak family in the upcoming seasons. Well, here’s a hint! In Season 4 of The Bear, we are introduced to the enigmatic Francine Fak, the sister entangled in a long-standing feud with Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto, portrayed by Abby Elliot. And if you thought John Cena’s cameo was extraordinary, get ready for an even more sensational reveal with Francie.
The Bear Season 4 spoilers ahead.
Francie is first mentioned in The Bear Season 2, Episode 6, when Ted and Neil explain she’s banned from Christmas dinner because of “the thing” that made Sugar “mad as hell.” Then, in Season 2, Episode 8, when Neil asks if Francie can come to The Bear’s Friends and Family dinner, Sugar snaps, “She can go fuck, my love!”
Much to Sugar’s dismay, the Fak sister comes up again in Season 4 when she sees Pete (Chris Witaske) at the gym. In response, Sugar pulls up her text history with FRANCIE “BITCHFUCK BETRAYER” FAK, sees the last two “You are fucking dead to me” messages they exchanged, and types out “I miss you,” before deleting it and writing, “Please go fuck.”
The Bear finally introduces viewers to Francie in Season 4, Episode 7, when she reunites with Sugar at Tiff’s (Gillian Jacobs) wedding. And honestly, The Bear can “Go fuck” for giving us severe emotional whiplash. Five minutes into the episode, a woman wearing a dainty headband with a flowery yellow and white dress floats into the venue, and that woman is — brace yourselves — BRIE FAKING LARSON, aka Francie Fak!
Whenever Sugar’s asked about what went down with her and Francie, she gives some version of: “That bitch knows what the fuck happened.” But crucially, we don’t! Though Episode 7 does offer additional information…
“I know what that look’s about. I don’t like it,” Francie snaps shortly after reuniting with her ex-BFF. “You can apologize whenever,” Sugar reminds her. Again, we ask: FOR WHAT?!
The two spend several scenes locked in expletive-heavy bickering matches, and when Pete intervenes, Ted says, “Pete’s in denial about those two hooking up!” Sugar’s hubby protests, saying, “You two did not hook up!” but Francie and Sugar look at each other and simultaneously say: “Well…” The plot thickens!
Aside from maybe hooking up, what else fueled the Sugar/Francie feud? Here’s the little that we’ve gleaned from one of their incoherent screaming matches:
“Are you serious?/ I am serious! I’ve always been serious! / First of all, you lost your mind. It wasn’t even your house. / You’ve changed your story so many fucking times. / I have no idea what year it is. What time is it? / The whipped cream was everywhere! / It was raining. What did you want me to do? / You were drunk as shit! And I don’t know how they started the car, OK? And by the time you got there, I couldn’t be like, Oh! Let me text you real quick. / The bus was gonna leave. / There were no cell phones then. / You brought all your chocolate.”
Make sense now?! Definitely not! And it’s not supposed to! We may never know exactly what went down with Sugar, Francie, a possible hookup, whipped cream, chocolate, alcohol, and rain — all before cell phones were a thing! But in mind of The Bear‘s creator Christopher Storer, that’s part of the fun! Did Francie make a move on Pete? Did Sugar betray her, too? Who knows! But by the end of Episode 407, the two reconcile and say “Go fuck!” to the feud. But I still have some beef…
After Season 2 talk of Francie, fans set out to cast their dream Fak sister, with names like Melanie Lynskey, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Emmy Rossum, and more thrown into the ring. And don’t come for me, but any of those actors would have been better, more believable choices than Larson, solely because they would have been less distracting!
While the initial shock of Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, and more Season 2 stars was major, it quickly wore off once they rose to the very specific dramatic or comedic challenges of their characters. When Cena came on the scene, The Bear asked viewers to suspend even greater disbelief. And despite a more nagging distraction, I let the casting slide because Cena’s comedic chops aligned well with the Faks.
This isn’t to say that Larson doesn’t rise to the occasion and deliver the passionate, comedic, intentionally immature performance Francie’s Episode 7 storyline demands. She scoffs! She swears! She goes toe-to-toe with The Bear‘s team! But there’s no mistaking that Francie Fak is Brie Larson! The Oscar-winner’s star power is simply too massive. Too distinct. And The Bear doesn’t so much as darken her hair to match her the fam, though the fact that she looks more like Sugar than the Faks is also part of the joke.
Casting for the sake of the flex or the shock value makes for an undeniably fun viewing experience, but it can take away from the story being told on-screen. Elsewhere in Season 4, Rob Reiner and Danielle Deadwyler were smartly, seamlessly incorporated into the series, reminding us that The Bear‘s highly-anticipated guest stars don’t have to inspire spit-takes to be successful.
Brie, I love ya! You’re incredibly talented. Lessons in Chemistry freaking ruled. The fact that you were in three episodes of Community and are reuniting with pals is downright delightful. And I’m so glad you get to have fun, scream your head off, and make amends with Elliott. I look forward to seeing more Francie in the future, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch a scene without thinking: “That’s Brie Larson, one of The Bear biggest guest stars!” But with five (?!) Faks left to cast I guess fans of The Bear just have to buckle up!
The Bear Season 4 is now streaming on Hulu.
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