The Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons dropped a major shock on viewers in its first season. What started as a funny, warm show about three longtime couples turned very serious in the final episodes. Steve Carell’s character, Nick, dies suddenly. The show’s creators chose to kill off a main character, changing everything for season two.
How Nick Meets His End During a Winter Ski Trip
Nick’s death takes place at the end of episode seven. The friend group is on a winter ski vacation to celebrate New Year’s Eve. But things are different now. Nick has divorced his wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and is dating a much younger woman named Ginny (Erika Henningsen).
Nick and Ginny do not stay with the main group this time. They spend the holiday with Ginny’s younger friends at a separate location. Nick struggles to fit in. He feels out of place and does not connect with the younger crowd. He gets into a fight with Ginny and leaves to go to a grocery store. He wants to buy vegan and gluten-free snacks for her friends to make things right.
That trip to the store is his last. Nick dies in a car accident on the way back. The show does not show the crash. Viewers learn about it when Ginny calls Kate (Tina Fey) with the terrible news.
The Aftermath – Funeral, Grief, and a Big Surprise
The final episode, titled “Fun,” shows the group coming back together to plan Nick’s memorial service. But nothing goes smoothly. Kate tries to save money on the arrangements and ends up with a cheap, sad ceremony in a small room. Nick’s ashes come in an urn shaped like a red shoe.
Anne gets up to give a eulogy. But she stops halfway through. She realizes that even after 25 years of marriage, she did not truly know Nick anymore, especially in his final months. She hands the microphone to Claude (Marco Calvani), who shares a strange dream about Nick turning into a butterfly.
Ginny feels pushed aside by the group. She wants to speak at the service, but Anne refuses to let her. Ginny storms out of the house after confronting everyone. The group searches for her, and Anne eventually finds her. They share an emotional talk and finally understand each other’s pain.
“He was like, ‘Why does this keep happening to me?’” – Tina Fey recalling Steve Carell’s reaction to his character’s death.
Then comes the biggest twist. Ginny reveals she is pregnant with Nick’s child. This news sets up everything for season two.
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Why the Show’s Creators Decided to Kill Off Nick
The original 1981 movie of the same name did not kill Nick. So this was a big change. Tina Fey and the other creators wanted the show to feel real. They thought about what sad, normal things happen to people as they get older.
Fey explained that losing someone is something that starts to happen more in mid-life. They picked Nick because his character lived by the idea of “I only live once, life is short.” In a sad way, he was right. The writers did not see his death as punishment for leaving his wife. They wanted to show that he found some happiness with Ginny, and then explore how the group deals with a sudden loss.
Steve Carell knew about his character’s fate before he agreed to join the show. The creators pitched the whole season to him first. Carell joked that he keeps dying in TV shows. His character in The Morning Show also died. When the show got renewed for season two, Carell texted the group chat: “I’m dead.”
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