‘Four Seasons’ ending explained: Does everybody stay friends?
When Netflix dropped Steve Carell and Tina Fey starrer Four Seasons this month, it knew that the show is so much more than just comedy. What this means is that the show is a carefully crafted blend of grief, vulnerability and quiet catharsis.
Over the eight episodes, we watch three long-term couples navigate the complexities of ageing friendships, unexpected loss, and the harsh reality of closest bonds shifting with time. But as the show progresses, one question remains constant from beginning to end: “Does everyone stay friends?” Well, instead of answering the question in a clean-cut way, they show that they have done something more satisfying. It earns its emotional mess!
The show takes an exceptionally dramatic turn when Steve Carell’s character Nick dies in a sudden car crash. One of the highlights of the show was Nick’s relationship with a much younger woman named Ginny (Erika Henningsen), for whom he leaves his ex-wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver). The news of Nick’s death shakes the group not only because of what he meant to them, but also because it forces each character to reckon with their mortality, priorities, and unresolved resentments.
Anne’s initial grief comes out as sharp and defensive. Poor lady is left to coordinate funeral logistics while still processing the pain of decades. And during all of this, her dynamic with Ginny is shown, which obviously is tenser than usual and is a classic symbolic clash between the past and the present. So much so that she pointedly excludes Ginny from the service. However, throughout the remaining show, she becomes successful in observing that Ginny is not a rival but just another person grieving the loss of Nick. Moreover, Ginny’s revelation of her being pregnant with Nick’s child ultimately adds a complicated tenderness to their final moment.
Kate and Jack find their spark again
Another couple in the show, Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), finally confront the elephant in the room which is their stagnant marriage amid the chaos. After years of just going with the flow, the tension finally starts to flow through small arguments and eye rolls. But when Kate faces a medical emergency, it jolts the two back into emotional honesty.
Danny and Claude stop pretending
Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) are the couple in the show which seems to have it all together. However, by the end, the cracks in their so-called “healthy” relationship are clearly visible. Yet another health scare in the show is of Danny, which, when paired up with the career ambitions of Claude, leads to miscommunication and near collapse.
But, towards the end, they two choose vulnerability over pride and make a space for each other in a way that feels grown-up and tender.
Do they stay friends?
The final scene of the show says a lot without saying much. It is the first trip taken by the group after Nick’s death, and guess what? It is to the same cabin, the same lake, but this time, a chair is left empty. There is laughter, clinking glasses, and a baby shower toast for Ginny. It is not the same group as before, but it is still a group.
So the answer is yes, they stay friends, but not in the way they used to be. The show, from the start, never promised that time won’t shift their roles or grief won’t change them. But what Four Seasons makes clear in the end is that the real meaning of friendship is when people choose to show up for one another, especially when it is hard and even when it hurts. It is what friendship is and has been.