Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Netflix’s ‘The Four Seasons’ brings back the core group as they spend four more vacations with each other. The dynamics have shifted since Nick’s shocking death in Season 1, but it has also opened the door for unexpected friendships. Over the course of eight episodes, the friends, joined by Nick’s pregnant girlfriend, Ginny, embark on a journey that tests them in unique ways and leads them to the turning points they’d never expected they’d hit. The ending marks the end of some things and new beginnings for others. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Four Seasons Season 2 Plot Synopsis
A few months after Nick’s death, the group assembles to scatter his ashes from the top of a hill that was his favorite place. A heavily pregnant Ginny joins them, and the tension between the group’s members starts to come out quickly. To begin with, Anne and Ginny are yet to clear up their differences, especially since Anne is still processing the fact that she is pregnant with her dead ex’s baby. It also turns out that Nick never really signed the divorce papers, so he and Anne were still married when he died. Meanwhile, Jack is trying to deal with his grief by doing things that would honor Nick’s memory. Kate is trying to be a supportive wife, but at the same time, she feels they may be drifting apart.
Meanwhile, Claude and Danny clash over whose idea it was not to have children when they still had a chance. Danny reveals that he is thinking about it now, and Claude decides to give it a thought too. However, deciding to do something is very different from actually doing it, which leads to more tension between them. They are forced to reconsider the idea of becoming parents when Ginny’s son, Eugene, aka Gino, is born, and they both realize just how much work a child is. However, their relationship turns out to be just as demanding of their attention and work. The same goes for Kate and Jack. Anne, on the other hand, embarks on the quest to find a purpose in her life.
Do Danny and Claude Move Back to the US?
The second season comes with rough tidings for Danny and Claude as they make some very important decisions, or at least, they try to. First, they think about having a baby, but then Claude reveals he doesn’t want kids, and eventually Danny agrees that they may not be in the best place to do that either. Then they decide to move to Italy, where Claude feels at home, but Danny feels out of place. He tries to show that he loves his new life, but then, he confesses to Kate that he wishes he had never moved here. And then, his mom has a health emergency, and he quickly leaves for the US, though he promises he will be back soon. Danny did mean to keep that promise, but then, he discovers that his mom’s condition is worse than he imagined.
She needs a constant caretaker now, and Danny must figure out who it will be before he leaves for Italy. Seeing that things are serious, Claude offers to join them, but Danny repeatedly tells him not to come. But then, on his mother’s advice, Claude decides to go anyway, and Danny is glad he showed up. By this point, Danny had considered moving his mother into his aunt’s care, but then, he discovered that his aunt wasn’t doing very well either. Old age is catching up with her, and even though she offers, Danny knows she will not be able to provide the care she needs. Refusing to move his mother into a nursing home, Danny decides that he should be the one who takes care of her.
When he mentions this, Claude worries that this means Danny will use his mother as an excuse to move back to the States. Danny had already complained about not feeling like he fit in before considering that Claude had done the same thing for him. But then, Danny never mentions moving back. He asks Claude if it would be all right for his mother to move in with them. Claude is ecstatic at the idea, but Danny’s mother doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want Danny to stay for her, but she cannot move to Italy either. She asks her son to move her into a nursing home that is close to her sister’s. Her friend also lives there, so she won’t be alone. However, Danny doesn’t want to leave her to the care of strangers, and he begs his mom to reconsider.
He explains that he wants to do this for Claude, who had never asked him for anything but to move to Italy. Claude overhears this conversation and is moved by how much Danny wants to adjust his life to make Claude happy. He had the perfect excuse to pull both of them back to the US, but despite his struggles, he wanted to stay in Italy just for Claude. Unable to bear the conversation any longer, Claude interjects and tells Danny and his mom that they will be moving back to the US, and she will be living under their care. This is the right thing to do, and as much as Claude enjoyed living in Italy, he loves Danny more.
Does Anne Move to Italy?
While Claude and Danny begin their move back to the US, Anne decides it’s time to stay. She came to Italy to spend Christmas with Claude’s family, and while she kept a happy exterior for her friends, she was internally struggling to figure out who she was. When she was with Nick, her roles were clearly defined. Then they got divorced, and she became adrift. Then, Nick died, and Ginny revealed she was pregnant. Eventually, Ginny and her baby moved in with Anne, and caring for the baby gave her the sense of purpose she’d been looking for.
However, the time came when even Anne knew that Ginny and the baby needed to move out for their own sake. But this also meant that she would be purposeless yet again. In Italy, inspired by the tale of La Befana, she decides to finally call Mark Brett, only to discover that he has moved on. Still, she and Mark spark an unexpected conversation, and he asks her to send pictures of her new life in Italy after she lies to him that she has moved there and is dating a man named Gianpiero. As their conversation continues, she keeps sending pictures that show her having more and more fun, until eventually, she unintentionally sends a photo with her private parts.
Mark takes this as a sign to stop their chats. He admits he let their flirty chats get out of hand, but he has a girlfriend now and doesn’t think it would be right for him to continue texting Anne. His reaction is justified, but it also brings Anne back to reality. She tells herself that these photos were all staged to make Mark look like she was having the time of her life. But later, when she gets a call from Ginny, her perspective changes. Ginny saw her pictures, including the last one, and it showed that Anne was having the time of her life. She encourages Anne to look at herself the same way, to break out of the self-perception she has. Anne gives it some thought and decides it is time to change things up.
Who is Gianpiero?
The photos remind her of a version of herself that once existed but was lost when she focused on other roles in her life. She wants to go back to that version, which she calls Anne Classic, and so, it is time for her to live the life she had tried to impress Mark with. Since Claude and Danny are moving out of their house, they need a house sitter, which gives Anne a place to live. Her friends applaud her decision and bid her goodbye as they return to their own lives. After they leave, she is approached by a man who tells her that her packages were delivered to his house because she gave the wrong address.
He also confesses that he opened a package and tried on the pants, which weirdly fit him. Anne apologizes, revealing that she is new to the neighborhood and likely got confused while giving the address. The man introduces himself as Gianpiero, which takes her by surprise. She used this name to tell Mark she had a boyfriend in Italy, and now, a man with the same name is right in front of her. Could it be that the life she imagined for herself is already taking shape? Could it be that in lying to Mark, she had laid down a roadmap for her future, and it’s turning into a reality right in front of her eyes? In any case, it is quite a great start for Anne Classic’s new adventures.
Do Kate and Jack Patch Up?
While the other couples have had their issues, Kate and Jack have managed to weather every storm that came their way. However, things shift after Nick’s death. Jack is unable to hold his grief inside, and so, he busies himself with stuff, most of which is in Nick’s memory, like running a marathon. There are times when he wishes to talk about it, but Kate gives him so much space for his feelings that he ends up feeling lonely. What makes matters worse is that Kate makes no effort to share what she is going through. She has the tendency to bottle everything inside and push through whatever storm she is in. But then, she pushes the same approach on others as well, not realizing that they might need to be handled differently than she does.
These different approaches lead Kate and Jack to walk separate paths, creating unexpected distance between them. In an effort to cheer him up, Kate encourages him to participate in the marathon in Italy. Earlier, he missed the one he was preparing for because he hurt his ankle on Thanksgiving. To show him that his efforts haven’t been completely in vain, she tells him to run the marathon the next day. He starts with a lot of motivation, but as each kilometer passes, his strength wanes. It is more mental and emotional defeat than physical, and Kate refuses to let him give up so easily. She runs the last three miles with him, and against all odds, they finish the race.
As they sit together, discussing the feat they have achieved, they also start talking about the problems between them. Kate says she has a lot of dark thoughts, but she keeps them to herself because if she starts to fall apart, then who will pick up Jack when he falls? He assures her that he can play the same role for her, and finally, Kate relents. In one long rant, she reveals how she thinks about death and the fragility of life since Nick’s death. How she wishes sometimes that she would die so the struggle would end. Moreover, she worries that their marriage will grow stale, and as they grow old, they might drift apart.
He is glad she shared these thoughts with him and confesses that he has worried about drifting away, too. He assures Kate that they will work things out, but the key is to stay in touch. He asks her to share her thoughts, dark or not, rather than keep that side of herself hidden from the person she has shared her whole life with. She agrees to do it, marking a personal breakthrough for her and proving that communication really can turn things around. Once again, Kate and Jack have weathered a stormy time in their marriage and are stronger for it.
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