Nick’s death doesn’t just linger in The Four Seasons Season 2—it rearranges every relationship, from a Catskills hike with ashes to tense conversations about money, parenting, and the uneasy distance forming between friends. The show stays sharply observationa
It starts with spring, with everyone showing up in the Catskills for a hiking trip meant to scatter Nick’s ashes—and then the mood collapses into something heavier than weather.
Nick (Steve Carell) is gone, but the group is still living inside what his life changed. Season 2 begins with the crew gathered in the mountains as Jack (Will Forte). who is taking Nick’s death the hardest. trudges through grief. Ginny (Erika Henningsen). heavily pregnant but spry. is the only one who seems to be enjoying the trek up the mountain. while Kate (Tina Fey) pushes herself to put on a brave face for Jack. She has “begrudgingly agreed to ‘train’ for a marathon” that Jack has signed them up for.
The problem is that training for something future-shaped doesn’t stop the present from splitting people apart. As Kate and Jack move farther away from each other. Claude (Marco Calvani) and Danny (Colman Domingo) briefly appear to be on the same page—until a conversation about having children sends their relationship into a tailspin.
Grief also moves through the group in quieter, meaner ways. Ginny and Anne’s dynamic gets increasingly awkward, especially when finances and settling Nick’s estate come to the foreground. Over the weekend, the show makes a plain emotional equation: grief festers, and eventually it turns into rage.
By the time the story slides into summer. the vacation rhythm is still there—yet the people beneath it have changed. The friends vacation on the Jersey Shore with a very tiny guest in tow. In Episode 4, “On the Boardwalk,” Anne explores what life looks like as a woman untethered. Kate. meanwhile. finds a dream she didn’t realize she had—an idea that could bring her solace as she and Jack drift further away from each other. Paired with Episode 3. “Down the Shore. ” the trip functions like a reminder the show keeps returning to: self-governance is often the key to happiness.
The series doesn’t stop at marital collapse or friendship fallout, either. It examines long-term marriages and relationships under a realistic microscope, especially as choices about parenthood start colliding with everyday limits. Claude and Danny weigh the pros and cons of parenthood while Ginny struggles to cope with single motherhood. Danny. in particular. seems keen on raising a child. but he lacks real-world experience and a true understanding of what it entails. The cries of Ginny’s baby become a wake-up call the couple can’t ignore.
Through it all, acting stays solid, and the winter and summer locations give the season a wider emotional stage. But outside of the summer and winter episodes, Season 2 doesn’t have the whimsy of its predecessor. The humor—and even the reappearance of Anne’s guitar-playing ex-beau Terry (Toby Huss)—feels muted. lacking the punch of previous jokes. The show’s seriousness isn’t subtle. Death is treated as hard. painful. and dark. and everyone who knew and loved Nick is trying to press forward in their own way.
That tonal shift is clearest in Kate and Jack’s partnership. In Season 1, their issues seemed quieter, especially when measured against the stark demise of Nick and Anne’s union. In Season 2, Kate is exhausted by the dark cloud hanging over their home and marriage. Jack wants to sit inside the pain of losing his best friend. while Kate is weary from the weight of his emotions and desperate to find some way back to levity.
Season 1 worked partly because it was willing to pull the rug from under the daily lives of a group of fifty-somethings. Season 2 has less wit and seemingly lower stakes. and it never quite reaches the breezy. banter-filled charm that defined the earlier season. Still. with several new locations—including the Italian Alps in all of their winter glory—and a group of talented actors whose chemistry leaps off the screen. the show remains a world worth checking out.
Netflix says “The Four Seasons” Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
The Four Seasons Season 2 Netflix Tina Fey Steve Carell Will Forte Colman Domingo Erika Henningsen grief mid-life crises parenting relationships