The Bear has returned for a fourth season on Hulu. I’m not sure the drama about a grieving brother trying to transform his deceased brother’s sandwich shop into a Michelin-star-rated restaurant has the same ability to surprise and shock as it did in its first three seasons.

It has been fun watching the montages of a restaurant trying to pull itself together, only for even mild success to make it look like it’s falling apart. It’s been a delight to get what is obviously a love letter to the city of Chicago and ’90s alternative rock from the creator. I loved the sucker punch in the end of Season 3 where our protagonist, Carmy, confronts a former mentor/torturer in the form of David Fields played by Joel McHale, who rather adroitly explains, “Yes, I demanded you work hard, and now you’re great” — with the heavy implication to the audience that our protagonist’s mental torture was something he opted into himself.

I’m more than ready, though, to find out whether the enterprise they are building as the main plot line of the show actually achieves critical or commercial success. However great the actors are, they’ve stuffed themselves chewing on the scenery as an appetizer. I’m ready for the main course.