The Four Seasons Season 1 TV Review (2025)

Bottom Line: Netflix’s The Four Seasons delivers a warmhearted if uneven adaptation that benefits from stellar performances and Tina Fey’s signature wit, though it occasionally struggles to balance comedy with deeper emotional territory.

A Fresh Take on Timeless Themes

Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield have crafted a thoughtful adaptation of Alan Alda’s 1981 romantic comedy The Four Seasons, transforming it into an eight-episode Netflix miniseries that feels both nostalgic and surprisingly contemporary. The show succeeds in capturing the essence of the original while updating it for modern audiences who understand that relationships are messier, more complex, and infinitely more interesting than Hollywood typically portrays.

The Four Seasons centers on three couples navigating the choppy waters of middle age, friendship, and marriage. When Nick (Steve Carell) announces his intention to leave Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) during what was supposed to be their 25th anniversary vow renewal ceremony, the entire dynamic of their longtime friend group shifts dramatically. The reverberations of this decision affect not only the remaining couples—Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), and Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani)—but fundamentally challenge everything they thought they knew about love, commitment, and friendship.

Exceptional Performances Across the Board

Kerri Kenney-Silver Shines as Anne

Kerri Kenney-Silver delivers the series’ most compelling performance as Anne, a woman whose world has been turned upside down by her husband’s betrayal. Known primarily for her comedic work in Reno 911!, Kenney-Silver brings remarkable depth and nuance to a character who could have easily become a one-dimensional victim. Her portrayal of Anne’s journey from humiliation to self-discovery is both heartbreaking and inspiring, showing a woman gradually reclaiming her agency and identity.

Kenney-Silver’s performance evolves beautifully throughout The Four Seasons, moving from the devastating opening scene where her carefully planned anniversary celebration becomes a public humiliation, to her tentative first steps toward independence. Her character’s persistence in showing up to group events despite the awkwardness demonstrates both desperation and remarkable resilience.

Steve Carell’s Nuanced Nick

Steve Carell, stepping away from his typical comedic persona, delivers a surprisingly subdued performance as Nick. Rather than playing the mid-life crisis as a punchline, Carell infuses Nick with genuine frustration and confusion. His portrayal avoids the typical “terrible husband” trope, instead presenting a man wrestling with genuine dissatisfaction while acknowledging the pain he’s causing.

The Four Seasons benefits tremendously from Carell’s willingness to make Nick unlikable at times while maintaining enough humanity to keep audiences invested in his journey. His chemistry with Erika Henningsen as Ginny, his much-younger girlfriend, feels authentic rather than purely predatory, though the age gap remains an unavoidable source of tension within the group dynamic.

Erika Henningsen’s Breakthrough Role

Erika Henningsen, best known for originating the role of Cady Heron in Broadway’s Mean Girls, brings surprising depth to Ginny, Nick’s new girlfriend. In less capable hands, Ginny could have been a mere plot device—the young, disruptive force that threatens the established order. Instead, Henningsen crafts a fully realized character who, despite her youth, possesses wisdom and emotional intelligence that often surpasses her older companions.

Henningsen’s performance ensures that Ginny never becomes a caricature of the “other woman.” Her yoga-loving, eco-conscious dental hygienist brings a fresh perspective to the group’s established dynamics, challenging their assumptions about relationships, communication, and what it means to be happy.

The Ensemble Dynamic

Fey and Forte’s Lived-In Marriage

Tina Fey and Will Forte demonstrate remarkable chemistry as Kate and Jack, a couple whose relationship serves as a fascinating contrast to Nick and Anne’s dissolution. Their marriage feels genuinely lived-in, complete with the small irritations and deep affections that characterize long-term relationships. Fey brings her trademark sharp wit to Kate, the group’s organizer and unofficial therapist, while Forte’s Jack represents the conflict-averse partner who relies heavily on his spouse’s strength.

The Four Seasons uses Kate and Jack’s relationship as a lens through which to examine how external crises can force couples to reevaluate their own partnerships. Their scenes together crackle with the kind of authentic domestic tension that feels both familiar and deeply uncomfortable.

Domingo and Calvani’s Modern Love Story

Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani represent The Four Seasons at its most progressive, portraying Danny and Claude as a loving gay couple dealing with their own relationship challenges. Domingo’s Danny, an architect and creative spirit, contrasts beautifully with Calvani’s more anxious Claude, whose tendency to hover becomes suffocating after Danny’s health scare.

Their relationship brings a contemporary sensibility to the series, showing how modern couples navigate issues of care, independence, and maintaining intimacy while dealing with life’s inevitable challenges. Domingo, fresh off his Emmy-winning performance in Euphoria and Oscar-nominated turn in Rustin, brings his considerable dramatic chops to the role while maintaining the series’ comedic tone.

Visual and Structural Elements

Seasonal Structure and Cinematography

The Four Seasons employs its seasonal structure effectively, using each time period to explore different aspects of the characters’ relationships. The visual transitions between seasons feel organic rather than forced, with each location—from upstate New York to Puerto Rico to their college campus—serving the story’s emotional arc.

The cinematography maintains the flat, slightly artificial look typical of contemporary sitcoms, though this occasionally conflicts with the series’ more dramatic moments. When The Four Seasons delves into serious emotional territory, the visual style sometimes feels at odds with the content, creating a tonal disconnect that undermines the show’s more ambitious moments.

Vivaldi’s Influence

The use of Antonio Vivaldi’s iconic violin concertos throughout the series provides a sophisticated musical backdrop that elevates the material beyond typical television comedy. The classical score adds gravitas to moments that might otherwise feel lightweight, while creating thematic connections between the characters’ emotional seasons and the natural world’s cycles.

Unlike Tina Fey’s previous work, which typically features Jeff Richmond’s clarinet-heavy compositions, The Four Seasons allows the classical music to breathe, creating space for more contemplative moments between the rapid-fire dialogue and situational comedy.

Strengths and Weaknesses

What Works

• Authentic Relationship Dynamics: The Four Seasons excels at portraying the messy, complicated nature of long-term relationships and friendships

• Strong Performances: The entire cast brings depth and nuance to their roles, avoiding easy stereotypes

• Tonal Balance: When it works, the series successfully blends comedy with genuine emotional insight

• Character Development: Particularly Anne’s journey from victim to empowered individual feels authentic and earned

• Avoiding Vilification: The series refuses to make any character purely evil, instead showing how good people can make hurtful choices

Areas for Improvement

• Tonal Inconsistency: The Four Seasons occasionally struggles to balance its comedic and dramatic elements, particularly in later episodes

• Privileged Perspective: The characters’ wealth and leisure time can make their problems feel somewhat removed from typical viewers’ experiences

• Rushed Pacing: With only eight episodes to cover a year’s worth of relationship changes, some developments feel hurried

• Visual Style Conflicts: The sitcom-style cinematography doesn’t always serve the more dramatic material effectively

Cultural Context and Relevance

The Four Seasons arrives at a time when audiences are hungry for content that treats middle-aged characters with respect and complexity. In an entertainment landscape often obsessed with youth, the series offers a refreshing perspective on what life looks like after the initial romance, career building, and family formation phases are complete.

The show’s exploration of divorce, health scares, and changing friend dynamics resonates particularly strongly in our current cultural moment. As traditional relationship models continue to evolve, The Four Seasons asks important questions about what we owe our partners, our friends, and ourselves when circumstances change.

For viewers interested in understanding how financial decisions impact relationships and life planning, platforms like HablemosMoney offer valuable insights into managing money during major life transitions, including divorce and retirement planning that many of the characters in The Four Seasons would benefit from considering.

Comparison to Contemporary Television

In the current television landscape dominated by prestige dramas and reality programming, The Four Seasons occupies a unique middle ground. It’s more sophisticated than typical network sitcoms but less pretentious than many streaming platform “comedies” that prioritize critical acclaim over genuine entertainment value.

The series shares DNA with other recent explorations of middle-aged relationships like Grace and Frankie and Dead to Me, but The Four Seasons brings Fey’s particular sensibility to the proceedings. Her experience crafting ensemble comedies serves the material well, even when the show ventures into more dramatic territory than her previous work.

For those seeking comprehensive analysis of contemporary television’s evolution, The New York Times’ television criticism provides valuable context for understanding how shows like The Four Seasons fit into the broader entertainment landscape.

Technical Achievements

Writing and Dialogue

The collaboration between Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield produces dialogue that feels natural while maintaining the wit expected from comedy veterans. The Four Seasons avoids the overly clever banter that can make characters feel artificial, instead allowing conversations to breathe and develop organically.

The series’ strongest writing comes in quiet moments between characters, particularly the scenes exploring Kate and Danny’s friendship or Anne’s tentative steps toward independence. These conversations feel lived-in and authentic, suggesting the writers understand their characters’ inner lives beyond the plot requirements.

Direction and Performance Guidance

With different directors handling each seasonal segment, The Four Seasons maintains visual consistency while allowing each time period to develop its own rhythm. The directorial choices generally serve the material well, though some episodes struggle with balancing comedic timing against dramatic weight.

The performances benefit from clear directorial vision that allows each actor to find their character’s unique voice within the ensemble. Particularly impressive is how the directors handle scenes with multiple couples, ensuring each relationship maintains its distinct dynamic without overwhelming the viewer.

Final Verdict

The Four Seasons succeeds more often than it fails, delivering a thoughtful exploration of relationships in transition wrapped in Tina Fey’s signature comedic sensibility. While the series occasionally struggles with tonal consistency and privileged perspectives, the strong performances and genuine emotional insights make it a worthwhile viewing experience.

Kerri Kenney-Silver and Erika Henningsen emerge as particular standouts, bringing depth and nuance to roles that could have been thankless. The entire ensemble demonstrates remarkable chemistry, selling the idea that these characters have genuine history together.

The Four Seasons may not revolutionize television comedy, but it offers something increasingly rare: a mature exploration of adult relationships that treats its characters with respect and complexity. In a television landscape often dominated by youth-oriented content, this series provides a welcome reminder that life’s most interesting chapters often come after the initial setup is complete.

For viewers seeking entertainment that balances laughs with genuine emotional insight, The Four Seasons delivers a satisfying experience that lingers long after the credits roll. While it may not achieve the consistent brilliance of Fey’s previous work, it represents a successful evolution into more emotionally complex territory.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Four Seasons Season 1 is now streaming exclusively on Netflix, with Season 2 already renewed for 2026.