Season 2 of Netflix's '"The Four Seasons" Proves that Some Things Do Get Better with Age

The second season of The Four Seasons modernizes Alan Alda’s 1981 film and delivers eight episodes with a more entertaining tone. The protagonists remain in their fifties and face unhappy marriages, poor communication, empty nests, and unfulfilling work and life. The sadness becomes more specific, centered on mourning a friend who died after the first season, ongoing trauma from COVID, and difficult choices about how to spend remaining years. Friendship becomes a key source of meaning, with arcs that test and reaffirm connections among long-time friends. Character development improves, including Claude receiving more justice and confidence, especially through scenes set in Italy.

"In the 2025 episodes, "The Four Seasons" gave us a pretty damning portrayal of life in your fifties-the cast of long-time friends, consisting of three couples who go on regular vacations together, all seemed stuck. Unhappy marriages, poor communication, empty nests, and unfulfilling work/life were everywhere."

"This season is still sad, but the show has given its protagonists specific things to be sad about, rather than just a broad moroseness of middle age. Now, they're mourning the friend, Steve Carell 's Nick, who died at the end of season one. They're still traumatized by COVID and what living through the pandemic really looked like. And they're making hard decisions about how they want to spend their remaining years, realizing that life and energy are time-bound."

"Part of what they come to appreciate is the role of friendship in their lives. Fey's Kate and Colman Domingo 's Dannt get a particularly sweet arc on this front, testing and reaffirming their connection. It turns out old friends are really like no other. And their chemistry-as friends, as actors, and as comedians-gives the whole thing lots of weight and laughs (see Fey's physical comedy sequence in the penultimate episode with Domingo playing the straight man)."

"Domingo's partner, Claude (Marco Calvani), finally gets some justice this season, freed from his ditzy characterization in season one. We get to some in his native Italy, oozing confidence and strength in a way immigrant Claude, speaking in a foreign language, just isn't able to. He's clearly right in many of his arguments with Danny. And what he brings to their relationship has never been clearer."

Read at Roger Ebert