The Four Seasons: Season 2 begins fresh, says Tina Fey

The Four Seasons dropped on Netflix like a breeze. It was light and funny. But also pretty layered. The show is about a close group of friends who have been together for a long time. They reunite each season at a lakeside house they’ve been visiting for years. The show gives you cozy vibes, and there's also quite a bit of quick-witted banter to keep you entertained.

But it's not the comedy that makes The Four Seasons a must watch. It's what lies beneath the jokes and silly debates of those friends. It gives a raw picture of the emotional messiness of aging and change. One of the most important themes of the show is how long term relationships undergo wear and tear that's not really gentle on us.

Steve Carell’s character is arguably the emotional anchor of the group in The Four Seasons. He dies by the end of Season 1. And just like that, the holiday season faces a cold reality, and all of his friends are shocked and struck by grief and denial. His death brings an awkwardness of moving on and gives the show an unexpected emotional heft. And that's where the show really shines. It balances comedy with grief and heartbreak.

Now, The Four Seasons has already started work on season 2. Tina Fey shared her excitement in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

The Four Seasons: Tina Fey on what's ahead

Old friends, beautiful scenery, and a lakehouse that has seen years of history. But it doesn’t take long for things to get awkward in season 1 of The Four Seasons. The group’s supposedly relaxing reunion becomes super uncomfortable when Nick (Steve Carell) tells them that he’s thinking about divorcing his wife, Anne. Nick and Anne are friends with each of them in that group. And now nobody knows where to sit emotionally.

Nick is craving spontaneity and a break from Anne’s obsession with a mindless mobile game. He insists he just wants to feel alive again. Anne, meanwhile, is planning a grand vow renewal ceremony. Eventually, they end up getting divorced.

Nick gets younger new girlfriend. But the divorced couple’s daughter isn't happy about it. She stages a pretty savage play, making her feelings known. And while all that's happening with Nick and Anne, Kate (Tina Fey) and her husband Jake seem like the “normal” couple until cracks start showing there, too. By the end of the season, they’re in couples therapy. They are figuring out their own mid-life identity crisis.

The show ends with a loss. Steve Carell’s character dies, and the whole group is left grieving someone they thought would always be around. That's when the fun ends, and it becomes about mortality and change.

Tina Fey recently opened up about what’s ahead. She shared that The Four Seasons has been renewed for Season 2 and the writers’ room is already buzzing.

"It’s been really nice, we have the same exact writing staff and it’s already been really interesting for us to come together and share experiences, not just talk about the previous season but also our own lives. The writers have been very generous — a lot of what you saw in season 1, a lot is obviously from the movie but a lot also came from all of our lives. We are kind of starting from scratch."

Co-creator of The Four Seasons, Tracey Wigfield, added that starting fresh is also freeing:

“In some ways it is hard that you’re starting from scratch and don’t have the movie to guide you, but in a lot of ways the second season of anything is so much easier because you’ve made so many choices already. We know who these characters are. We set up fun dynamics in the finale. Ginny is pregnant, and this friend group is kind of moving on in the wake of their friend’s death. There is going to be really interesting stuff to play and already we’re starting to talk about it and it’s really exciting.”

Lang Fisher, another co-creator, explained the heart of the show's season 1 beautifully:

"We wanted this show to really reflect the time in the lives of these people. And when you’re in your 50s, it’s not like a crazy thing to imagine losing a friend. We wanted this show to have big human stakes, and so someone dying and the group having to come together to deal with that felt right.”

The Four Seasons is deeply rooted in life as it really is. Messy, funny and sometimes tragic but always evolving. And now, with a fresh start ahead, Season 2 promises to be even more raw and relatable.

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