Abby Elliott Seriously Leveled Up in ‘The Bear’ Season 2

I’m embarrassed to say that I did not binge The Bear Season 2 when it dropped all at once on Hulu last month. Instead, I savored the new season as if it was one of the gastronomic masterpieces Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are constantly churning out. I sampled one or two episodes a night and let the exquisite food porn, hectic editing, and fabulous performances the show’s known for digest in my system for a few days before moving on. That meant, firstly, that I had fully processed the emotional mayhem of The Bear Season 2 Episode 6″Fishes” before I dove into the cathartic triumph of The Bear Season 2 Episode 7 “Forks.” However, it also meant that I was late to almost every conversation my friends, colleagues, and nemeses were having about the hit FX on Hulu show.

For the most part, I agree with everything my peers (especially here on Decider) have been saying about The Bear Season 2. The aforementioned “Fishes” is a brutal excavation of collected family trauma, Will Poulter is the dreamy pastry chef we all desperately needed, Claire (Molly Gordon) is the most insufferable “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” I’ve encountered in years, and Liza Colón-Zayas deserves all the plaudits for her work transforming Tina from gruff line cook to sous chef supreme. However, one especially bright corner of The Bear Season 2 I’ve seen no one talk about yet is how great Abby Elliott is as Sugar, aka Natalie Berzatto.

In Season 1, Carmy’s sister Sugar felt like a stereotypical nag constantly popping up to rain on our dishy hero’s parade. In Season 2, Natalie blossoms along with the rest of The Bear’s team. Her penchant for pragmatism makes her the ideal project manager for the restaurant’s renovations while her specific brand of maternal energy brings clarity to the chaos Ritchie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) used to reign over. But more specifically, Abby Elliott brings layers of tenderness, anguish, and resilience to Natalie that you’d never know she was capable of during her run on Saturday Night Live. So I’m just asking, can Abby Elliott get her flowers, too?

And I get it. Everyone on The Bear is great. Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri are giving viewers exquisitely nuanced portraits of millennial anxiety. Ebon Moss-Bachrach consistently manages to mine the rocky exterior of a lower class loser to expose the heart of gold within. Oscar winners like Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis pop up for devastating guest turns. There is a lot of acting talent in The Bear that needs to be talked about! Ergo some of the supporting players are finding themselves lost in the shuffle.

Nevertheless, I still wish Abby Elliott was getting a little bit more love from fans and critics alike. In “Fishes,” we see a younger version of her character, who is still with the sweetly steadfast Pete (Chris Witaske) and still hoping that her mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) can clean up her act. Seeing the younger Sugar’s preoccupation with checking in on her mother illuminated how Elliott’s character has been forced to be the maternal figure in the gang’s life long before she was actually pregnant. Her obsession with order is an act of care. Her ability to harness Fak’s (Matty Matheson) erratic energy with a syrupy “sweetheart” emblematic of her role as the Mama Bear in the cast.

The Bear Season 2 told the story of how a level up occurs. It showed folks humbled by being pushed out of their comfort zones and inspired by what they found on the other side. Everyone in The Bear Season 2 underwent their own journey of transformation and breakthrough. For Sugar, aka Natalie, that was a full embrace of her Mama Bear role, physically, financially, and most importantly, as part of a larger team. Abby Elliott conveyed this journey with grace and grit. Her performance was understated, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.