📺 This cozy, conflicted ensemble piece won’t be for everyone — and maybe that’s the point. Netflix’s eight-part dramedy, The Four Seasons, arrives with a stacked cast including Tina Fey — also the show’s creator —, Steve Carell, and Colman Domingo. The series explores long-term friendship, aging, and how easily social equilibrium unravels when someone breaks the group’s unspoken rules, sparking surprisingly divided reactions online.

The show follows three affluent, long-time couples who take seasonal vacations together — a tradition spanning decades. But things unravel when Nick (Carell) arrives on their spring trip freshly divorced and unexpectedly accompanied by his 25-year-old new girlfriend, Ginny (Erika Henningsen). Her arrival not only disturbs the group’s delicate ecosystem, but forces each couple to reexamine their own illusions about happiness, relationships, and identity.

Reception has been mixed. Some viewers found the pacing rushed, the friendships unconvincing, and the dialogue stiff. Others praised its realism, dry humor, and rare focus on characters in their 50s and 60s, navigating life without resorting to murder or mayhem stories (cough, The Expendables, Red, Taken, The Foreigner, cough).

Don’t expect a laugh-out-loud comedy or a tightly plotted drama. The Four Seasons is more of a “quiet show,” in the realm of comfort TV, delivering occasional emotional gut punches amid its leisurely pace. The performances are solid, but even fans agree it’s the kind of series you might enjoy while folding laundry rather than one that lingers in your mind for months.

The bottom line: The Four Seasons doesn’t aim for prestige TV status — and that is both its strength and its shortcoming. For viewers in the right mood, it offers a thoughtful, grown-up slice-of-life that thoughtfully explores how relationships evolve over time. For others, it may feel like an overhyped vanity project with minimal payoff. Regardless, it stands as one of the few recent shows giving older characters emotional complexity beyond tired clichés — which alone might make it worth your time.

WHERE TO WATCH- All eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix. You can watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime: 2:04).

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