The Four Seasons was easily the best show I've seen this year with my Netflix subscription, and to add to the sea of people begging for Season 2, I also want to see it return. All that being said, I feel like my thoughts on how it should return have differed from others I've seen, in that I feel like we should get something akin to The White Lotus, with mostly new characters and the story primarily revolving around a core character like Ginny.
If you've seen Tina Fey's The Four Seasons and watched it all the way through, you likely know why I'm singling out Erika Henningsen's character. For those who haven't finished it yet, spoilers are on the way! If you don't want to hear about the big reveal at the end of the series, then I suggest you wait and return to this once you've seen it! With that said, let's talk about that ending, and why I think it's best for The Four Seasons to use less familiar characters, should it return for another season.
I Think The Four Seasons Season 2 Should Primarily Revolve Around Ginny
While The Four Seasons is about the relationships of multiple couples, I think it's more than fair to say the Season 1 finale puts the focus squarely on Ginny. After Steve Carell's Nick dies in a car accident, Ginny arrives with the rest of the friend group to help organize his funeral. Almost immediately, she is excluded from having any meaningful presence in the ceremony, as the friends say that his ex-wife, Anne, should run the ceremony, since they were married for twenty-five years.
In the end, Anne realizes that despite her being with Nick longer, Ginny might've been better to speak at the event because she loved her boyfriend even if it was only for seven months. Anne, on the other hand, was in the midst of a rocky divorce mediation, and it complicated all her formerly happy memories with Nick from when they were married. Oh, there was also the fact that Anne learned that Ginny was pregnant with Nick's child, which is revealed in the final seconds of Season 1.
Ginny's pregnancy is the biggest cliffhanger of the first season, which makes her the perfect protagonist for Season 2 to revolve around. Additionally, the format of Season 1 lends itself to us following Ginny over the course of a year, meaning we'd be able to experience her entire pregnancy and the opening months of motherhood. Out of every character featured, she got the least amount of spotlight, but now I think it's time for her to take center stage, as we move away from the rest of the bunch.
Anne Can Have Some Solid Screen Time Too, But I Think I'm Fine With How Things Ended For Most Everyone Else
The only issue I see with Season 2 is that while I need to see what happened with Ginny and maybe how Anne continues to change in her single life, I'm pretty much fine with how the story ended for everyone else. I think Jack and Kate's relationship hit a good stopping point when he saved her from the frozen lake, and Claude and Danny's was perfect with how they found a way to appreciate each other and have a "real" marriage.
Now, I realize how wild it sounds to simply write off these characters. This was one of the best Netflix shows because it had Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, and Marco Calvani in those roles. I would love to see more of Jack and Claude's meltdowns and Danny and Kate gossiping about how much their husbands drive them up a wall. That said, all of that could happen in a two-episode stretch, maybe with that proposed Iceland trip they talked about at the end of Season 1. Give us enough to be satisfied, but they don't need to overstay their welcome.
It seems like Season 2 should revolve around the aftermath of Nick's death, and how Ginny deals with raising a child, and what obligation, if any, Anne feels to help her through that. I mean, let's not forget that she now likely owns a majority of his assets, and just learned his girlfriend, whom he loved a lot, is with child. Would Anne want to split some of that money with Ginny? It feels like a sticky situation that could become as nuanced as some of the topics The Four Seasons tackled in the first set of episodes.
A Flashback Episode With Nick And Ginny By Themselves Would Be Great Too
The Four Seasons really went for the jugular, and dare I say pulled a similar twist to another critically acclaimed streaming series. Look, I had to say something about it at one point, though maybe that's for another story completely. Nevertheless, that show got along without Steve Carell in the mix, and I think it presents an opportunity for the series to move on, and even bring him back via flashback.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to see an episode focused on when Ginny and Nick went to Burning Man together, and why those goggles ended up being so special to him. Anne hinted that she knew from the pictures that Nick was truly happy when he was with Ginny, even if they didn't spend nearly as much time together as a couple. Wouldn't it be nice to see just how true that was to add to the tragedy of how sad it is that he's gone?
Other readers might have different opinions on how the series should move forward, but I think we can all agree that it shouldn't just end with the pregnancy reveal. That's not the kind of ending you give a series that has no hopes of more episodes, but stranger things have happened. In fact, Stranger Things' final season is releasing this year, so wouldn't it be great for Netflix to have another show with a stellar cast ready to return?
The Four Seasons is streaming right now on Netflix. There's always new and exciting stuff on the way to the streamer, so be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for updates on what's on the horizon and what we should be looking out for.
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