I lost track of how many times I thought about the phrase, “Mama this pasta is killing me,” while watching The Bear Season 4.
If you know, you know, but if you’re not sure, let me explain it to you. In Episode 5, a message with the phrase mentioned above appears on Sydney’s phone screen from Tina. Tina is clearly stressed about her slow pasta-making skills. Interestingly, those six words highlighted a rather amusing yet sad reality: in Season 4, Tina’s entire identity seems to revolve around pasta.
After Colón-Zayas won an Emmy unexpectedly in 2024 and Season 3 gave us a dedicated episode on Tina’s journey to The Original Beef of Chicagoland, one would expect Season 4 to dive deeper into her character. Unfortunately, in The Bear, Tina is mostly pushed to the sidelines, with occasional check-ins on her progress towards the seemingly singular goal of cooking pasta in under three minutes.
Noticing that his pasta was always late during three visits to The Bear, as pointed out by a reviewer from The Chicago Tribune, Tina is motivated to do better. She decides to buckle down and focus on improving her speed. She tells Ebra in the Season 4 premiere, “I gotta get head in game, focus, get faster… Head down, good work. That’s my system.” It sounds like a solid plan! However, as the season unfolds over two months and Tina struggles to make quick pasta, it becomes as frustrating to witness as waiting for a pot of water to boil.
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 â 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 â 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!)
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 â and so does Carmy, and so does Syd â 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.
Canât get enough of The Bear Season 4? For more insight, analysis, GIFs, and close-ups of Carmyâs arms, check out some highlights of Decider’s coverage:
The Bear Season 4 is now streaming on Hulu.
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