“Why do I make such idiotic decisions?” asks fifty-something Anne (Kerri Kenney) halfway through the second season of The Four Seasonsthe fine Netflix comedy with and by Tina Fey (30 Rock) about a group of middle-aged friends. “That’s because we’re getting old,” says her good friend Danny (Colman Domingo) comfortingly. “Every decision we make now feels like it will determine the end of our lives.”
It’s summer and Anne and Danny, together with his partner Claude (Marco Calvani) and their friends Kate (Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), are spending a weekend at the seaside in New Jersey. It is the traditional summer outing of the couples who have been meeting every season for years. The newest addition to the group is the heavily pregnant Ginny (Erika Henningsen), the young thirties with whom Anne’s ex-husband Nick (Steve Carell) was in a relationship when he suddenly died at the end of the first season.
Just like last time, the series follows the group through the four seasons. The Four Seasonsbased on the 1981 Alan Alda film of the same name, picks up the story in the spring. It’s a few months after Nick’s death and the friends are going to scatter his ashes. The outing goes anything but as planned. Loss naturally hangs over this togetherness, grief and transience recur throughout the season. Jack in particular struggles so much with the loss that this comes between him and Kate. But Danny also seems to realize that he already has one foot in the last season of his life.
Autumn dip
Despite this theme The Four Seasons never too heavy. It remains funny, heartwarming and sometimes extremely recognizable for anyone older than Ginny. The series is at its best when it focuses on relationships, whether they are long-standing friendships, marriages or new commitments.
Every scene between former college buddies Kate and Danny is a delight
Every scene between old college buddies Kate and Danny is a delight, thanks to the immensely believable chemistry between Fey and Domingo. The latter also crackles with Calvani, whose Claude is in a better place this season in the group and especially in the series. But Kate and Jack’s marriage, with their conversations and quirks, loyalty and recurring arguments, also feels real and lived. Even if they fall through a spare bed together – it’s still a comedy.
This season is not completely perfect. Especially in autumn it drops for a while and the characteristic warmth seems to be lost. Something that turns out to be intentional afterwards, when a flashback episode to 2020 colors the story. But that doesn’t take away the dip. The winter episodes, this time in Italy, are a lot stronger. And the arrival of a very nice new actor in the final scene immediately makes you long for even more seasons.
