The Four Seasons Season 2 Improves After Steve Carell's Season 1 Death
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · May 28
The Four Seasons Season 2 Improves After Steve Carell's Season 1 Death
11 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · May 28
Nine months after Nick's death, Season 2 is reviewed as fresher, faster and brighter than Netflix's shakier 2025 debut.
Steve Carell's absence lifts the show's tone, shifting the drama away from his character's bitter breakup and giving the ensemble more room for sharper, less fatigued conflict.
Anne and Ginny drive much of the season through fights over Nick's estate and her impending baby, while both characters gain more depth than their ex-wife and younger-girlfriend archetypes suggested.
The new season also leans into midlife grief, parenthood and reinvention for Kate, Jack, Danny and Anne, broadening the series beyond vacation squabbles into a more nuanced portrait of adulthood.
Why is Tina Fey's acclaimed midlife drama also being called 'frustratingly mediocre' by some critics?
With its future uncertain, will the group’s Italian Alps getaway be their final vacation together?
Can a couple truly 'grow apart on purpose' to save their marriage, or is it a fantasy?