How The Four Seasons Season 2 Honors Steve Carell's Character After Season 1's Shocking Death

The Four Seasons season 2 retains the majority of its star-studded ensemble cast, including Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani and Erika Henningsen, while also adding Rescue Me alum Steven Pasquale in a recurring role. Having premiered on May 28, the new season has garnered even higher acclaim than its debut outing, currently having an 89% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ahead of the show's return, ScreenRant's Ash Crossan interviewed Tina Fey, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, Erika Henningsen, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield to discuss The Four Seasons season 2. When asked about Carrell's character's surprising season 1 death and how it's continued to impact the characters in season 2, Kenney-Silver and Henningsen joked that everyone's "fine" and that "it's not even mentioned this season."

Kenney-Silver went on to acknowledge that Anne is still "reeling from the double whammy" of Nick initially wanting to divorce her before also announcing his heart problems, all while she's dating someone else. Coming into season 2, specifically, the five-time Emmy nominee finds herself in a place of empty-nest fears, wondering if "my daughter [is] leaving me off in the world" and if "my friends [are] going to leave me."

As for Claude, Calvani acknowledged that the death of someone close leads to one "asking ourselves bigger questions," namely "the meaning behind all of this" and wondering "what's the legacy we leave behind" after death. With Ginny also being pregnant with Nick's baby, the star teased that "Claude [is] starting to ask those questions for himself" in season 2:

Marco Calvani: "What is our next chapter? Am I here to become a father and to leave someone behind?" But also, "Who am I really? Why did I decide to come to this country, and what did I leave behind? Did I leave something of myself back in Italy?" The death of Nick really inspired Claude to find out who he really is.

Henningsen further pointed out that there's a "quadruple whammy" for Anne and Ginny coming into The Four Seasons season 2, as the latter is invited by Forte's Jack to become part of the friend group, quoting Fey's Kate from an episode in which she says, "There's no Beyoncé song for when your ex-husband's new pregnant girlfriend goes on a hiking trip with you." Henningsen further shared that the show pulls from "the weird things that happen in real life," particularly given "there's so much comedy that ensues from that":

Erika Henningsen: "This is weird. This is an awkward situation, as the things that occur in life as we get older tend to be." There's so much history, and there are so many things that you did not anticipate happening, and I think that's where it picks up.

Kerri Kenney-Silver: And there's humor that comes out of grief. There just is. I think that's what's so beautiful about this writing. There's so much humor this season. There are so many great, big comedy moments. So, we don't just leave you in the death. But there are moments in the memory. There are funny moments, as you see in the first episode, in just trying to send someone off properly. I think they did a beautiful job of really hitting those moments hard, and actually bringing the comedy even bigger this time with some great physical comedy too.

Wigfield expressed finding it "nice to see this group together again" coming into The Four Seasons season 2, praising the cast as having "such great chemistry" with one another. She further acknowledged that Nick's death was "a bummer" to tackle, but teased that it "really gave us an opportunity to get deeper into these characters and see new dynamics forming."

The Emmy winner pointed to Ginny and Anne's "weird relationship" as one new dynamic that wouldn't have happened without Nick's death, while also teasing that "Claude and Jack have a thing at the end of season 2."

One Season 2 Location Proved Trickier Than Others To Pull Off

ScreenRant: I cannot believe that you are making your directorial debut in this show.

Tina Fey: It feels like I should have done that already.

ScreenRant: What was it that made you want to get behind the camera?

Tina Fey: I felt ready. I always felt like if I did it, I always wanted to make sure that it would be an additive thing. It wasn't just a writer making sure that no one changed their lines. I really do respect people who think visually. I think this show is a tone that my brain understands. It's not an action movie or a horror movie — although I did have some action that I had to shoot — so it just seemed like the right time. Also, I just knew that everyone involved is so supportive and nice, and that no one would ever scream at me.

Will Forte: I was just as surprised as you are. And what an honor to get to be in the first thing that she ever directed. She was amazing.

ScreenRant: How do you describe being directed by Tina?

Will Forte: It was, like the show, just comfy and cozy. It just felt very natural. It's not like you're getting notes; you're just getting ideas from your friend on trying something else.

Tina Fey: That episode is mostly what you call a bottle episode, too. We were mostly in that room altogether all the time, anyway, so it was kind of easy.

ScreenRant: I love that you use the word cozy, because it is a comforting show. Even though they go through some things, it's still funny. What are they up to this time around? Nick's death has obviously impacted everybody, but where are we going this time around?

Tina Fey: First, we're going upstate to try to spread Nick's ashes. We have some trouble with that, but it ends up okay. Then we go take an actual vacation on the Jersey Shore, where Jack makes a beach friend. Which is great for Kate because she can actually read her book! Some grown men have trouble making new friends. Then we have Thanksgiving, and then we get to go to Italy. Emotionally, where do we go? So many places.

Will Forte: It's so fun. I'm the luckiest person in the world because when you asked her that, she's going off and, in my head, it's just all these great memories. Every single thing she said led to these pops of different, incredible experiences with a bunch of people you like.

ScreenRant: What was the most fun thing you got to do outside of the work schedule?

Tina Fey: Oh, my gosh. I remember I went with Colman and Raul [Domingo] and a bunch of the hair and makeup ladies to an amazing dinner at a French restaurant in Asbury Park while everybody else was still shooting on the beach. And we had a great dinner when our friend Steve [Carell] came to visit in Beacon, New York. And then we were just shooting in Italy in a beautiful Christmas market at Christmastime, so I was doing all my Christmas shopping over there.

Will Forte: My family got to come, so I had my three-year-old and five-year-old, and my wife was there. Right after we wrapped, we went up and visited her family in Germany, then came back through Venice. I had never been to Venice before. And the whole time in Trento was so fun. It's just like a little field trip. It's almost like you're not working.

Tina Fey: Then there was the Spring season, where we got to live inside a Resorts World Casino. That was harder. We were shooting way upstate, and the only hotel big enough to house our crew was a casino. It was a food desert with gambling. [Laughs] No, they were very nice to us there.

Will Forte: We traveled to go stay at this hotel that still was a 45-minute drive to set, so it was a lot of early mornings. But it still was really fun, just hanging around. All those episodes were pretty much all of us together, and it's always fun to just be doing these big group episodes.

ScreenRant: The last time we talked, Will, Coyote Vs. Acme had just gotten saved by Ketchup, and now we're about to get it. I think I'm seeing it in a week, and I'm so excited.

Will Forte: Look, this is a dream come true. I just felt it was never going to happen. I just put it out of my mind because it was too painful to think about. I love the trailer, but the movie is 10 times better. It's such a fun movie. Dave Green did an amazing job, and I cannot wait. It has been freaking years and years, but now it's right around the corner. I can't wait for him to see it. We're so proud of it.

ScreenRant: Jack is always wanting to do random activities that no one else in the group really wants to do. What is the number one activity on a vacation that you are like, "I am not doing that"?

Tina Fey: I had never been skiing before we had to fake ski in season 1, and I was like, "F--k skiing." It was freezing cold, and as soon as they put the gear on me, it hurt my legs. It's cold, it hurts, but also, at least it's super dangerous! Thumbs down.

Will Forte: I'm trying to be open, and I'm trying to be like, "Yes, I want to sleep in," but now I have kids, so that's not going to happen anyway. So, if I do ever go on an adult vacation, I want to sleep in. But then, if there's a good reason to wake up, it's usually a 50% chance that it's going to be an amazing experience.

Tina Fey: You want to go on a 5 AM whale watching boat.

Will Forte: Yeah! It sucks getting up, and then it's kind of cool when you see the whale. But they have good videos of that stuff too.

The Four Seasons Season 2 Gave The Cast Many New Experiences During Production

ScreenRant: Where are we going this year?

Erika Henningsen: We go to many exotic places, such as the Jersey Shore. But I think what you're going for is Italy.

Marco Calvani: We got the giant, beautiful tree, and not just the production time in Italy, but also the season for the audience in the north of Italy. I think it was very smart of the writers. They're so smart about everything they write and do. But the fact that they let us go to Italy, not Sicily, not in the summertime, but in the mountains, during the winter? I think some of you also asked me, "Wait, is there snow? Is it winter in Italy?" People are not really familiar with it; they think Italy is part of the Caribbean, but actually, it's not. Honestly, I had never been in that part of Italy either, so it was special to be there with you.

Kerri Kenney-Silver: And it was actually Christmastime, so all the Christmas markets you see are real. It was just such a beautiful way to end. It was magical in the moment, but I also loved watching the episodes. They don't hit it over the head, like, "We're in Italy. This is so Italian. Look at this Italian thing." It's like that expression. "Everywhere you go, there you are." We still have our same problems, and we're still having our same insecurities. Things are still happening. We just happen to be in Italy, and it's gorgeous.

Marco Calvani: It was very beautiful to see how they avoided doing any stereotypes of Italians. There's none of that.

Kerri Kenney-Silver: It's so true, in the same way that they don't stereotype a gay couple. They're just another couple in this group, having the same arguments we're having. It's not, "Oh, here come the gay guys. What's this gay situation going to be about?"

ScreenRant: These characters are vacationing together, but you are also vacationing together, in a way. What was the best thing that you got to do?

Erika Henningsen: We've ended both seasons in the location that we had to go to.

Kerri Kenney-Silver: Puerto Rico season 1 at Christmastime. This time was Italy season 2 at Christmastime.

Marco Calvani: We love a good meal, so we love to find a good spot. We love to eat and have a good drink.

Kerri Kenney-Silver: We travel very well together as a group, as real-life people. The whole group travels very well together. We have the same intolerances, and we all like to be in bed by about 9pm. We love an early dinner. So, that says a lot. Sometimes, you're traveling, and there's that one person who's always late or spiraling things out of control for one reason or another. We got very lucky.

Erika Henningsen: My husband, when he met everyone, was like, "This is your ideal travel group because they want to have two glasses of wine and go to bed." I said, "Exactly." This is what I've been asking my friends to do for years!

Wigfield Was Nervous But Excited About Making Her Directorial Debut

ScreenRant: What excites you most that fans should know about this season?

Lang Fisher: I think that we're going to some very fun places. We go to the Jersey Shore, where Tina and Tracy kind of grew up, and we go to Italy, which is very exciting. But in terms of the group, I feel like it's a season bursting with fun. There are so many hijinks, there's romance, and I'm excited for people to watch.

ScreenRant: Is there anything from this season that is straight out of a vacation you've actually taken?

Tracy Wigfield: Yeah, like a million things. In our premiere, there's a thing where Jack keeps wearing a GoPro on his head to record the vacation, and that was taken from when I first started dating my husband. We went to Hawaii together, and he kept wearing a GoPro to go down the water slide. It was like icking me out so bad that I was like, "I have to end things with him. He's such a dork." But at the end of the trip, he showed me a video he made. He had put it out outside the hotel room of all the sunsets of our trip together and put it to like this beautiful song, and I was like, "I'm gonna marry him." That's in the premiere, but there are a million things, even if they're just little observations, because in making the show and also just being friends in real life, we've also been on vacation together dozens of times. Between us and the writers, there's a lot to draw from.

ScreenRant: What's an activity on a vacation that you would immediately pass on?

Tracy Wigfield: One time on vacation, I think we were stand-up paddleboarding. Lang and I were in Hawaii on vacation together, and I don't know who convinced who, but we were like, "Let's go stand-up paddleboarding." It was paddle board yoga, and these mean teens were making fun of our bodies while we were doing it in the ocean.

Lang Fisher: Yeah, we were like out there and there were like a lot of really fit people, and then there was a group of teens heckling.

Tracy Wigfield: We kept falling over, and the teens were laughing, being like, "Look at those middle-aged women falling off their paddleboards." I wouldn't do it again. I'm so scared of teenagers.

ScreenRant: Can you talk about some of the directing this season?

Tracy Wigfield: Lang directed episodes last year, and this year she directed our last two episodes. This season, Tina directed for the first time, and I directed for the first time as well. Colman directed an episode last year, and this year he directs our premiere, which is really cool. It was exciting to get to direct for the first time, especially while Tina is doing it for the first time, so there was something that was nice about we could all ask for advice. Certainly, I would ask Lang for advice all the time, but also Tina was learning things in real time and passing them on in a way that was a really special opportunity.

ScreenRant: What did you learn about yourself through that experience?

Tracy Wigfield: I knew how to do it, but I was nervous to do it. There are so many parts of it that you know how to do, just because we've been running shows for 15 years, but I think when you get to a certain level in your career, you don't try new things that often, because why would you? It's just an opportunity to be bad at something, right? It was kind of cool to try something and be like, "Oh, I don't know the answer to that." And what was really inspiring is to see Tina, who doesn't have to do this. She's doing great. Just to see her be like, "I'm gonna try at something," and see her learning and stretching herself like that was cool and inspiring to me as well.

ScreenRant: You mentioned some of the dynamics that are a little different this year. People are affected by Nick's death, but which dynamic were you the most interested in exploring this season, or most excited for people to see?

Lang Fisher: It's hard to say what one I was the most excited for, but I did really enjoy Anne's journey this year. She's just been through the wringer. And also, we have a storyline with Kate too. When you're a working mom, and you have kids, you're taking care of everyone, and you kind of forget who you are a little bit. There was a young version of me who was fearless and cool, and did exciting things. Who am I now? Both she and Kate have these little moments in that world that I feel like I can really relate to, and I think a lot of women will relate to them.

Tracy Wigfield: We got so many reactions last year of people really loving Kate and Danny's friendship and really responding to it, and feeling like they saw themselves in their relationship and in the two of them. This season, we get to dig a little deeper into them. I think Lang's talking about the same moment, where there's a really sweet, almost friendship-romantic scene for the two of them, where they get to talk about what they mean to each other. It's one of my favorite moments in the season.