I'll Be Your Girl For All Seasons
"The Four Seasons" will make you want to say "I Do"
I don’t know much about marriage. Not just because I’ve never experienced it, but because it feels like everyone’s is so different that it’s hard to be like “that is exactly what it’s supposed to look like”.
I’ve only been part of the engaged crew for about 7 months, and it feels like since then, I’ve been seeing so many films about marriage. I’ve likely always been surrounded by it, but maybe it’s that sort of phenomenon where you only start to notice it more when you can highly relate.
I paid attention to the responses to my engagement, and while overwhelmingly kind and happy for me, there were a few that felt icky. Those less-than-stellar responses made me think about how my generation (Millennials) and the ones after it talk about marriage as a commitment.
It’s either a total and complete rejection—marriage is a trap and not needed—or some reinvention where the idea is still there, but it has been turned on its head and must involve at least 4 to 22 people, 3 cats, and a shared cottage to be valid.
And then there is the queer factor. People love to say the queer community is all love and acceptance, and yeah most times it is. but let’s not act like there isn’t a huge amount of gays who’ve made being anti-everything their entire fucking identity.
There is a chance that if you tell a queer person you dream of getting married, having a couple of sweet little kids, and retiring somewhere in Europe to sip Prosecco and kiss on each other until you die, all of a sudden you’re part of the problem—you love cops, are anti kink, all for the patriarchy, and think cis white men are perfect. Like please slow the fuck down Savannah.
And don’t let you want to be MONOGAMOUS!? Turn that queer card in right away the authorities will be at your door at noon.
Like, god forbid a girl want a little love, connection, and stability to go along with her antiestablishmentarianism.
All this to say that I watched The Four Seasons on Netflix in one sitting, and it is—so far—easily one of the best things I’ve seen all year. It’s an adaptation of the 1981 film The Four Seasons, written, directed by, and starring Alan “literal voice of a generation” Alda. Comedic heavy hitters like Carol Burnett, and problematic legendary dancing queen Rita Moreno also round out the cast perfectly.
The 2025 miniseries stars Tina Fey (who wrote a few episodes), Steve Carell, Will Forte (I fucking love him), and Colman Domingo, who is the entire reason I pressed play in the first place.
It’s about three couples in their early-to-mid 50s who’ve been best friends for, like, three decades minimum (The DREAMMMM). They vacation together four times a year—one getaway per season…but then some shit changes. One of the husbands decides he’s been silently miserable for most of his marriage and just... leaves his wife.
Naturally, it fucks up the group dynamic—not only because the split is wild but because this man has decided to bring his new girlfriend (easily two decades younger than the entire group and only about 10 years older than his college-age daughter) into the mix and is demanding acceptance of her.
They have to navigate him bringing in someone new, while hanging out—and vacationing with—his ex-wife who they are still incredibly close to. The plot is messy, things get very weird, but what really got me is how the change forces all the couples to look at their own marriages and friendship—their effort, how they communicate (or don’t), and their accountability or lack thereof.
It’s a look at how quietly people can stop seeing the person right in front of them as the years go by. It’s witty, quick, funny, and honest in the way only deeply seasoned love stories can be.
Colman Domingo plays Danny, he and his husband, Claude (played by Marco Calvani), are somewhat unraveling, trying to figure out what it means to feel to be in a long-term partnership where changes can make you feel unseen. There is a light frustration between them, where the love is present, but the connection is currently lost.
Then there is Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte). They complain about everything but not about each other…to each other. There is resentment, passive digs, and jokes that have a heavy scoop of what they really feel in them. Their relationship is tender and funny but also kind of brutal.
And then we’ve got Nick (Steve Carell) and his wife Jerusha Anne, played by comedic genius Kerri Kenney-Silver. One half of the couple thinks that things are great and they are just aging together, while the other feels bored and stuck.
Beyond the couple drama, what really hits is how all of them are forced to get deeply honest, for maybe the first time in years. Not just about their marriages, but about what they’ve never said out loud to each other in their friendships.
There’s this unraveling of politeness across all their dynamic (love and friendship) that opens up space for real, firm, loud, non-judgemental truth between them all and it’s so fucking gooooood.
I watched The Four Seasons film after watching the series….but apparently (uh apparently) I had already watched it in 2021:
I have zero memory of this but I watched 205 movies in 2021 so I can see how this one slipped through my mind cracks.
Watching both things I was confronted (more like reminded) with the fact that all relationships (marriage, parental, friendships, etc) all require some level of work. I already knew that, but watching Colman Domingo deliver monologues about it just makes it hit a little harder you know?
The series was also a reminder that pop culture isn’t just entertainment—it’s instruction, inspiration, and sometimes can be a tool in your therapy if you rewatch it enough times.
I will forever stand on my fucking soapbox screaming about how the stories we watch can shape the stories that we live. That doesn’t mean that life is a movie, it just means that you can likely look at yours and scroll through Letterboxd if you need some sort of guidance. When you can do that, to me, it’s a sign of storytelling done expertly well.
To watch something that sneaks past the defenses your mind has put up and says, “hey bitch…this monologue is trying to tell your something so turn on the subtitles and watch it again” is an incredible experience that I wish on everyone.
The Four Seasons got renewed for a season 2, they won’t have much from the original script to pull from since they used most of season 1 to do that. BUT that just makes me excited to see what new vibes these couples will have, what new elements of their stories we can watch and discover, and most important to me as you know—what parts I’m gonna connect with the most.
Extras:
I put the finishing touches to this while on a plane and met a couple who had been married for 47 years and weren’t sitting next to each other. They were fucking cute.
They had a place in Palm Springs and I was literally searching for the Palm Springs trailer when they said that.
Someone offered to let them sit next to each other and they said it was okay and that she really likes him but it’s ok to not sit next to him for a few hours.
The title is a reference to this song from Grease 2—which is the superior Grease.
My Letterboxd is your new favorite place, but here are some of my favorite movies about relationships:
What I Watched
1000 pound Best Friends
Okay, I was nervous about this at first, but it feels like they are in control of how they are being portrayed and also their friendship is SO CUTE!
The Ugly Stepsister
I’m only like 15% done with this but I’ve been waiting for it since Sundance
Heart Eyes was cute and Y’ALL ARE SNOBS
Borderline was INSANE and also really good and chaotic
What I Re-Watched
Little Women Atlanta
Parks and Recreation
What I Listened To
Amy Poehler has a podcast called Good Hang, and it’s so good! I like WATCHING it and listening to it
The Michelle Obama episode was fantastic, she’s really out here finally able to be herself, say what she wants, and move how she pleases and I fucking love that for her. She says some wild shit several times and it’s great lol
What I Read
I’m getting into audiobooks and I’m “reading” two at the moment!
I am a Hunger Games FANATIC and the new book Sunrise on the Reaping is so good and goes deeper into Haymitch’s story and his win of The Hunger Games during the second Quarter Quell where there were DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF FUCKING TRIBUTES.
A fan made this video years ago and we’ve all been living off it but the real movie comes out in 2026 WITH A CAST THIS IS SO STACKED I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE IT
I’ve also been reading Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn. It’s a dyke book that is kinda boring me but eye gots tew see it thru.
I finished Pageboy by Elliot Page a bit ago and it was fantastic.
A Photo I Took
I have a Canon T50 Film Camera that I really love & these are some of the images that have come from it <3
From the HiShelli Archives:
Latisha Wigs & Black Femme Friendships
Just a quick little storytime about how a good wig led me to Black Femme Friendship. Hope you read, share, and comment—thx for reading <3
Etc.
ROTTEN TOMATOES HAS A NEW GRANT IN COLLAB WITH TIFF AND THE CHICAGO CRITICS ASSOCIATION! GO APPLY NOW!!
I’ve got a few pieces on my travels coming out this month, so be on the lookout for those!
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‘kaythxbi!
