‘The Bear’s Abby Elliott on Natalie’s Season 4 Struggle for Work-Life Balance

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Bear Season 4.]

The Bear‘s fourth season has arrived, and with it, more chaos for the Berzatto family, both biological and extended, but there was some sweet levity for Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) sister Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott), who introduced her baby daughter Sophie to the kitchen crew.

Still working to get the titular restaurant on track following Sophie’s arrival, Nat oversees the books and supplies at the same time she’s watching brother Carmy closely to make sure he’s still loving what he’s doing. She’s an ultimate caretaker, but as viewers see in the episodes, Nat is blissful in her family bubble alongside Sophie and husband Pete (Chris Witaske), and the restaurant delivers plenty of challenges after Jimmy (Oliver Platt) informs the team that they need to make a serious turnaround money-wise to keep things open.

Season 4 then follows Nat as she attends Tiffany’s (Gillian Jacobs) and Frank’s (Josh Hartnett) wedding, where she encounters former friend-turned-enemy Francie Fak (Brie Larson). While they quarrel, the duo seemingly makes up, leaving Natalie to carry on in her restaurant and mothering duties.

FX

Upon returning to film Season 4, Elliott tells TV Insider, “We fall back into this inherent family dynamic with each other. And so, it was great to see my friends and to feel the familiarity and to go back into playing this character that I love so deeply and now facing new challenges at the restaurant.”

“Sugar is torn between her home life and really wanting to make the restaurant work,” Elliott points out. “And it’s a race against the clock, and she is kind of torn between her very happy home life right now and how do I help Carmy? How do I fix it? How do I make it okay? We go back into our patterns at the restaurant and the dysfunction and the chaos, but now the stakes are heightened.”

And she isn’t lying. As viewers see in the finale, Carmy puts Nat, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) in quite a predicament when he reveals he plans to step away from the restaurant, as part of the agreement written up by Pete. The agreement was broken into two sides, Jimmy and Sydney, with Nat on the other, but when Sydney learns of this, she insists that Richie be added, hinting at a possible dynamic shift as Sydney, Richie, and Nat take the lead in the kitchen sans Carmy.

FX

When Carmy asks if Nat knew anything about the change, she reminds him of attorney-client privilege, meaning her husband wouldn’t break Carmy’s confidence by revealing details of the document. “I think Sugar chose Pete as her partner because he’s just the antithesis of everything that she grew up with and the chaos,” Elliot says of Nat’s husband. “She’s always wanted that stability. And she found a partner who is kind of a puppy dog and loves despite dysfunction.”

And while we don’t see Nat’s reaction to this news regarding Pete, her hug for Carmy upon learning his plan to leave says everything. Earlier in Season 4, she tells him that it’s okay if he doesn’t love the restaurant business anymore and the fact that he was capable of loving it as much as he has is the real triumph.

Related

'The Bear' Season 5: Cast, Premiere Date, More Details

By the end, Nat looks proud that Carmy is taking his life in a direction that works best for him, and while we’re eager to see where this change could lead, there’s no denying that the Berzattos are stronger than they’ve ever been.

What did you think of Nat’s journey and Season 4’s ending? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Bear, Season 4, Streaming Now, Hulu

From TV Guide Magazine

How 'Countdown' Recruited Jensen Ackles to Go Full 'Die Hard'

Countdown boss Derek Haas talks creating the character around Ackles, and the cast teases the “Avengers”-like team of the crime thriller. Read the story now on TV Insider.