The Four Seasons season 2 pulls off a surprise cameo we didn't see coming

After quickly becoming a beloved Netflix original comedy series, The Four Seasons season 2 has arrived to reunite fans with the most dysfunctional and relatable friend group on the small screen. In the second season, the group once again comes together four times a year, once in each of the four seasons, for some kind of trip or gathering—and they don't always end well.

The Four Seasons season 2 begins with the group taking a trip to a mountain in Upstate New York to spread Nick's (Steve Carell) ashes. Despite their best efforts to honor their friend, the fractures that have been caused by grief and changes in their lives prevent the trip from being the delightful celebration they hoped. But between a beach trip and an Italy holiday, there's plenty more chances.

However, The Four Seasons season 2 manages to deliver quite the surprise for fans that no one could have expected. During the fall episodes, the gang comes together to celebrate Thanksgiving, and while it's a disaster for all intents and purposes, the episodes feature a surprise cameo we didn't think would happen but love nonetheless. Here's your spoiler warning before the reveal!

The Four Seasons season 2 brings back Steve Carell as Nick

In The Four Seasons season 2 episode 5, titled "Big Thanksgiving," the group celebrates Thanksgiving together, and the holiday quickly turns into a disaster. Despite trying to hold it together, Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack's (Will Forte) marriage is experiencing growing pains, Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) are moving to Italy, and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) feels draw to separating her life from Ginny (Erika Henningsen) and the baby.

As the episode ends with just Anne left alone in her house, Nick appears running up the stairs and calling Anne's name. For a moment, before episode 6 begins, we're left in utter shock. What do you mean Nick is there? Is he still alive? Is that his ghost? What's happening?! Seeing as Carell was confirmed to not be in the season 2 cast, his appearance was altogether unanticipated.

Well, Nick's neither alive nor a ghost. The Four Seasons season 2 episode 6, titled "Little Thanksgiving," is a flashback to the gang's Thanksgiving gathering in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. The flashback begins at the end of episode 5 with Nick's appearance, which is just enough to unsettle the audience and keep us watching to see what's going on.

The series seriously pulled off an epic surprise cameo because our expectations for Carell to return as Nick were lower than Nick's ashes when they fell to the ground in the wind. Carell and the series' cast and crew gave no indications that he would appear in season 2, but clearly, fans wanted to see Carell back enough that they found a way to make it happen and make sense.

Flashing back to a Covid Thanksgiving wasn't just a way to bring Carell back as Nick. The episode filled in some gaps and shared important details about the characters' journeys in season 2. We find out that Anne knew Nick cheated on her before Ginny and decided to stay. We see the disagreement Danny and Claude have about having kids, and we again witness the dynamic between Kate and Jack.

While a flashback worked in this instance to bring Carell back as Nick in season 2, we shouldn't ask for lightning to strike twice if The Four Seasons season 3 were to happen. There's definitely a way to keep Nick alive and possibly even see Carell onscreen again in the future, but the series proved with season 2 that it's just as funny and heartfelt in his unfortunate absence.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow