What Really Went Down Between Francie Fak and Sugar Berzatto on <i>The Bear</i>?

Spoilers below.

For what feels like eons now, inquiring minds have wondered: What, exactly, is the deal with Francie Fak? Over the course of The Bear’s first three seasons, Francine “Francie” Fak was relegated to a purely off-screen existence, her long-running feud with Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto (Abby Elliott) hinted at in vague (but heated) snippets of dialogue. Something bad happened between them, but no one ever seemed capable of apologizing for it...or saying the bad thing out loud. (Alas, ’tis the Berzatto family way.)

When the fourth Fak sibling’s name was first introduced—way back in season 2, episode 6—we learned that Francie’s invitation to Christmas dinner had been revoked, thanks to the “thing” that made Sugar “mad as hell.” Later, in season 2, episode 8, the FX dramedy doubled down on Sugar’s fury. When Neil Fak (Matty Matheson) asked Sugar if his sister could attend a Friends and Family event at their new restaurant, The Bear, Sugar’s response was simple and clear: “She can go fuck, my love!”

Still, it wasn’t until season 4 dropped this week that Francie finally had a chance to defend herself. In season 4, episode 2, Sugar’s husband, Pete (Chris Witaske), mentions that he ran into the sole Fak sister at the gym—a fact that displeases Natalie greatly. She considers texting “Francine Bitchfuck Betrayer” (or so her contact reads in Nat’s phone) but ultimately decides against it when she gets a call from her younger brother, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White). Finally, the two former friends collide at the wedding of Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs) and Frank (Josh Hartnett) in episode 7.

And who should swoop into the reception but an Avenger! The Bear is now notorious for its ever-growing list of celebrity guest stars, but I doubt Brie Larson as Francie Fak was on anyone’s Bingo card ahead of season 4. She manages to pull off a mostly convincing dynamic with the Fak brothers—criticizing their girlfriends and their shoes—even if the surprise appearance of Larson herself makes it hard to re-focus on the scene at hand.

Despite their frilly pastel attire and the elegant scenery, Francie and Sugar launch almost immediately into an shouting match. Soon, the argument turns to the “thing” that tore them apart, but their overlapping dialogue makes it near-impossible to make sense of what they’re saying. There was chocolate and alcohol! Whipped cream and rain! A bus and a car! No cell phones! Pete tries to break up the fight, but Teddy (Ricky Staffieri), Francie’s brother, lets a bomb drop as he snickers: “Pete’s in denial that these two hooked up.” Pete turns the accusation around on Francie and Sugar: “You two did not hook up.” To which they both reply, simultaneously, “Well...”

The Bear creator Christopher Storer clearly doesn’t want us to know exactly what went down between Francie and Sugar. But the look on their faces makes it clear they did, in fact, hook up once—and the fallout wasn’t fun for either of them. Later in the episode, they finally reconcile, hugging as they reforge their friendship...so long as neither of them “fucks” the other over.

It’s as yet unclear if we’ll see Francie again in future episodes, or if this was one of several subplots in season 4 aimed, perhaps, at making The Bear a comedy worthy of its controversial Emmy category. Either way, Pete has nothing to worry about when it comes to his marriage. When he later checks with Sugar to ensure she’s “not, like, in love with [Francie],” Nat’s disbelieving response is genuinely hilarious. “What? With Francine? No, babe,” she affirms. And she’ll leave it at that.