The Four Seasons Season 2 review: Netflix’s comfort dramedy returns with the same holiday format, the same gifted ensemble and a much heavier emotional suitcase. Season 1 was about a friend group being shaken by a marriage collapse. Season 2 is about what happens after the shock has already landed and everyone still has to show up for the next trip.
The result is a softer but sharper season. It is less breezy than the first one, sometimes less funny too, but it understands its characters better. If you liked The Four Seasons for its adult friendship chaos, awkward couple fights and vacation-with-baggage mood, Season 2 is worth streaming on Netflix.
After reading the review, you can also read our spoiler-filled The Four Seasons Season 2 ending explained for Anne’s Italy decision, the David Tennant cameo and the Season 3 setup.
The Four Seasons Season 2 review: Our take
Verdict: A thoughtful, grown-up follow-up that trades some of Season 1’s lightness for grief, change and better character work.
BingeBaaz score: 3.5 out of 5
Season 2 begins after the big Season 1 turn: Nick is gone, and Ginny is carrying his child. That could have pushed the show into full melodrama, but creators Tina Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield keep the tone mostly human. The friends are sad, irritated, selfish, caring and ridiculous, often in the same scene.
This is where the new season works best. It does not pretend grief makes people noble overnight. Jack struggles with the loss, Kate tries to manage him while hiding her own exhaustion, Anne has to rebuild a life that was already broken before Nick’s death, and Ginny has to move from being the awkward outsider to someone the group can no longer ignore.
What works in Season 2
The biggest improvement is balance. Steve Carell’s Nick was important to Season 1, but his absence gives the rest of the ensemble more room. Tina Fey and Will Forte remain very watchable as Kate and Jack, especially when their marriage starts showing small cracks beneath the jokes. Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani continue to bring charm and friction as Danny and Claude, while Kerri Kenney-Silver gets some of the season’s most quietly rewarding material as Anne.
Erika Henningsen’s Ginny also benefits from the new setup. She is no longer just the younger girlfriend who disrupted the old group. Season 2 gives her a more complicated position: pregnant, grieving in her own way and still trying to figure out whether these people are family, obligation or both.
The vacation structure still helps the show. The season moves through upstate New York, the Jersey Shore, the lake house and later Italy, giving each pair of episodes a fresh emotional temperature. The locations are not just pretty backdrops. They push the group into different versions of themselves: performative happiness, old resentment, holiday tension and the fear that their long-running tradition may not survive in the same form.
Where the season feels weaker
The trade-off is that Season 2 is not always as funny as the show wants to be. The cast can sell small awkward beats beautifully, but some comic setups feel muted because the season’s grief is always nearby. That is not automatically a problem, but viewers expecting a lighter Tina Fey-led hangout comedy may find this season more subdued than expected.
The pacing also wobbles in the middle. A few conversations circle familiar points about aging, marriage and parenthood before the story finds a stronger emotional push again. The episodes are short enough that this never becomes a major drag, but the season does occasionally feel like it is pausing for therapy instead of building momentum.
Performances and writing
The writing is at its best when it lets the characters be slightly unlikable without punishing them for it. These are adults who know each other too well, which means every joke can become a dig and every vacation can become a referendum on someone’s marriage. That lived-in irritation is the show’s secret weapon.
Fey’s performance works because Kate is not written as the all-knowing comic center. She can be sharp, avoidant and emotionally clumsy. Forte gives Jack a bruised softness that keeps the character from becoming only the nice husband. Domingo brings bite to Danny without losing warmth, and Calvani gives Claude a polished surface that cracks at the right moments.
The season also understands that friendship in middle age is not just brunch and shared history. It is logistics, old grudges, money talk, partners, children, health, grief and the uncomfortable question of whether a group stays together because it wants to or because it does not know how to stop.
Is The Four Seasons Season 2 worth watching?
Yes, especially if you enjoy character-first dramedies rather than plot-heavy shows. Season 2 is not a laugh-out-loud comedy every few minutes, and it is not trying to be a glossy escapist travel series either. It is a grown-up show about people who still love each other but are getting tired, scared and more honest.
If you have not watched Season 1, start there first. Season 2 depends heavily on the Nick, Anne and Ginny fallout, and jumping straight into the new episodes will make the emotional tension feel thinner than it should. For a wider weekly streaming list, you can also check our OTT releases this week guide.
Final verdict
The Four Seasons Season 2 is sadder, more reflective and a little less breezy than Season 1, but it is also more emotionally confident. The comedy may not always sparkle, yet the ensemble chemistry, adult relationship writing and stronger use of Ginny and Anne make this a satisfying Netflix return.
Bottom line: Stream it if you want a thoughtful adult dramedy about friendship, grief and the messy business of growing older together.
The Four Seasons Season 2 FAQ
Where can you watch The Four Seasons Season 2?
The Four Seasons Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.
How many episodes are in The Four Seasons Season 2?
Season 2 has eight episodes.
Do you need to watch Season 1 before Season 2?
Yes. Season 2 directly continues the fallout from Season 1, especially Nick’s death and Ginny’s pregnancy.
Is The Four Seasons Season 2 better than Season 1?
It depends on what you liked in Season 1. Season 2 is less light and a bit less funny, but it gives the ensemble stronger emotional material.