The comedy of ageing: 'Four Seasons' unpacks the bittersweet truths of midlife crisis and friendships

If you’re in your mid-40s or 50s, watching "Four Seasons" on Netflix might hit a little too close to home.

But that’s the magic of this limited series. It dares to laugh in the face of midlife meltdowns, relationship fractures, and ageing bodies that can’t quite handle a “let’s spice things up in the bedroom” moment without someone’s back giving out.

At first glance, "Four Seasons" feels like a cosy getaway with friends you’ve known forever. Think wine, lakeside houses, and old inside jokes. But don’t get too comfortable, the show laces the laughs with emotional gut punches.

Starring a surprisingly rugged and silver-foxy Steve Carell as Nick, the series opens with him doing what every friend shouldn’t do on vacation: dropping the “I’m divorcing, Anne” bomb over spring cocktails.

Carell’s Nick is equal parts unbothered and unfiltered. He’s doing the midlife crisis in style, complete with smug grins and a questionable new girlfriend.

But this isn’t just some guy’s messy breakup. The fallout rocks their entire friend group, six people, three couples, all with their own quirks and secret dissatisfaction.

Tina Fey as Kate is comedy gold. She plays the neurotic, Type-A friend who thrives on schedules and passive-aggressive chaos. Her one-liners alone deserve their own spin-off.

Will Forte brings the goofy husband energy as Jack, Colman Domingo adds his usual elegance and emotional weight as Danny, and Kerri Kenney-Silver delivers a quietly unravelling Anne.

Marco Calvani’s Claude brings a cool, slightly European awkwardness to the mix, while Erika Henningsen as Ginny (aka “the new young girlfriend”) is exactly the kind of person you side-eye when she shows up in bike shorts to a dinner party.

And just when you think the awkwardness can’t get worse, Alan Alda pops in with a cameo that reminds us how bittersweet the passage of time is.

Yes, this show is hilarious, but it’s also confronting. Like, “Oh wow, we’re all going to die eventually and also should I text my therapist?”, levels of confronting.

What "Four Seasons" nails is the unsettling moment when life shifts from parties and plans to parenting, bodies that creak, and marriages that feel … tired. It makes you question everything.

Is staying together the brave thing? Or is leaving the relationship and shaking the friend group to its core the more honest path?

The writing never gets preachy, and that’s what works. It lets the characters be flawed, annoying, relatable, and real. You’ll roll your eyes at Nick, then find yourself defending him.

You’ll cringe at the friend group trying to keep traditions alive post-divorce because let’s be real, there’s always one person who insists on "the way things used to be.”

Is "Four Seasons" life-changing? Not necessarily. But it is life-reflecting. Cosy yet cutting, hilarious yet heartfelt.

It’s a well-acted, sharply observed reminder that friendships evolve, marriages shift, and no one gets out of middle age without a few emotional bruises and probably some lower back pain.

**** a standout series with exceptional qualities.