The world may be constantly shifting, but here's one concept that always seems to stay the same: marriage is hard work. It's so enduring that The Four Seasons, first made into a movie by M*A*S*H icon Alan Alda in 1981, has been retrofitted for a 2025 audience in a way that retains so many familiar plot beats, yet finds room to bring a decidedly modern spin to it all. I imagine those familiar with the original movie will scoff somewhat at the updated take, but with such a winning cast, it's hard not to have some fun.

Much like the original film, Netflix's The Four Seasons — created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracy Wigfield — centers on three couples who are all friends. There's hypercritical Kate (Fey) and her soft-willed husband Jack (Will Forte), and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and Nick (Steve Carell), a man in the throes of a midlife crisis. Rounding out the group are Danny (Colman Domingo) and his theatrically sensitive husband Claude (Marco Calvani). Every season, they go on a trip of some kind in the hopes of getting away from the pressures of reality and catching up with loved ones.

Of course, as HBO's The White Lotus will point out, vacations sometimes only make tensions flare hotter, and that's especially the case right from the get-go when, during a spring trip to a lakehouse, Nick tells Jack and Danny he's planning on leaving Anne. That this news comes during Nick and Anne's 25th anniversary is quite the blow, and it effectively sets the stage for the tricky tonal balance The Four Seasons has to pull off.

The Four Seasons Tries To Put Its Own Spin On Humorous Martial Strife

It Doesn't Always Work, But Still Has Its Own Charm

With eight episodes in total, each season gets two installments apiece, with a beautiful title card highlighting the age of time. The individual trips the characters go on all have a distinct feel, and not just because of the changing seasons. Nick's decision to separate from Anne means the group has been irrevocably altered, something that is only reinforced when he starts dating the much-younger Ginny (Erika Henningsen). With the remaining two couples torn between Nick and Anne, they soon find themselves confronting the flaws in their own marriages.

Overall, though, the show manages to be light on its feet even when making viewers groan, and that's largely due to the strength of its cast.

The Four Seasons certainly uses Alda's movie as a strong blueprint for how its plot progresses, and Alda himself has a sweet cameo in episode 2. However, there's at least one major twist that sends the story in a different direction by the end, for better and worse, and Fey, Fisher, and Wigfield attempt to switch things up further by tackling what relationships look like today. You have the addition of a gay couple, who also happen to have an open marriage, and then there's the May-December dynamic of Nick and Ginny's relationship, which leads to plenty of jokes about their generational gap.

Not all these jokes work; instead, they play like a tired retread of stories we've seen a thousand times already. Beyond that, The Four Seasons does at times struggle under the weight of watching various marital spats while trying to elicit laughs. This is especially the case during the winter portion when the aforementioned twist comes into play; the immediate pivot to a joke does not quite work. Overall, though, the show manages to be light on its feet even when making us groan, and that's largely due to the strength of its cast.

It All Hinges On The Characters

The Four Seasons Wouldn't Work Without Them

With heavy-hitters like Carell, Fey, and Domingo on board, there was little chance of The Four Seasons entirely squandering its potential. The whole cast has an easy chemistry that sells the idea that they're all friends, particularly in the case of Fey and Domingo, who, as the two friends most prone to gossip, have a unique dynamic that's fun to watch unfold. As the unsympathetic Nick, Carell arguably has the toughest job, but he finds vulnerability and earnestness in the character, to the point where we still want to root for Nick even when it feels like he's only chasing his lost youth.

Everyone in The Four Seasons gets the chance to shine, though special credit should also go to Henningsen, who makes sure Ginny is never a caricature. That is, perhaps, the show's greatest strength: no one is ever vilified. All of these characters have their issues, and many are frequently in the wrong, but they are still given grace.

It sends a subtle yet powerful reminder that nobody is perfect, but their worst selves don't have to define them. Also, you can love someone and still want to throttle them from time to time. Though hardly revolutionary, The Four Seasons is an entertaining watch enlivened by its ace cast. Even when the characters are miserable and bickering, I still wanted to keep watching to see if they would all work it out.