The Four Seasons still needs to fix a major pacing problem

The Four Seasons has been renewed for a third season after Season 2's recent release. Starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo and others, the series mixes broad comedy with emotionally resonant storylines about grief, the end of a marriage and the loss of a close friend.

Season 2 has struggled with uneven pacing: major developments often happen off-screen while other plots drag on. That is most clear in Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and Ginny's (Erika Henningsen) arc — they begin the season in a legal fight over Nick's (Carell) will because his divorce from Anne was never finalized, yet by their next onscreen appearance they are loving roommates, a change that unfolds between episodes.

Meanwhile, Kate (Fey) and Jack's (Will Forte) recurring arguments and Anne's attempts to move on feel repetitive when those issues go unaddressed for several episodes. The show's format makes the problem harder to solve: each season covers a year and jumps several months between vacations, so off-camera shifts are almost built into the structure.

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