How do we say goodbye to a show that gave us comfort, good laughs and cries over the last four years?
Review by Aisha Alli-Balogun
Thankfully, we have eight episodes of drama, friendship, therapy and of course, sex. Are you team Otis and Ruby or team Otis and Maeve? Post some comments, and let’s debate who is your perfect match!
Following the cliffhanger of season 3 which aired in 2021, we dive straight into season 4’s story, where some old faces have gone, and new ones have arrived.
This involves us saying goodbye to some beloved cast members including Simone Ashley (Olivia Hanan), Mikael Persbrandt (Jakob Nyman), Tanya Reynolds (Lily Iglehart) and Chaneil Kular (Anwar Bakshi).
However, we got to give a warm welcome to new cast members including Jodie Turner-Smith (‘God’), Dan Levy (Mr Molloy), Hannah Gadsby (Celia), Felix Mufti (Roman), Thaddea Graham (‘O’), Alexandra James (Aisha Green) and Anthony Lexa (Abbi Montgomery).
We first arrive at the new Cavendish College and that means new opportunities in love and sex, figuring out the future and some new developments for our classmates.
The college is a polar opposite vibe of Moordale High, with free yoga, a slide, and the anti-gossiping policy meaning everyone is always positive.
This is where we meet the parallel of Moordale’s The Untouchables (Ruby, Olivia and Anwar) in Aisha, Roman and Abbi.
They, alongside Otis’ therapy rival O, and Viv’s love interest Beau, are the show’s new arrivals who bring their own stories and amazing performances into the mix.
We also dive into Maeve’s life in America, where she is working under the guidance of Professor Molloy, played by Dan Levy.
Everyone has their own journey that explores a range of issues such as sex, gender and relationships with families, friends and partners and they have us invested.
Our remaining characters’ lives are all moving in different places: Maeve and Otis’ relationship is sailing and they’re still figuring out long distance.
Eric is living his life and figuring out who he wants to be, Jean is struggling with balancing baby Joy and her career.
Aimee is experimenting with a range of sex toys while Adam is slowly but surely getting over his break up by stalking his ex’s Instagram.
Everyone remains true to their characters through breathtaking performances and we feel connected as ever with their charming yet slightly awkward characters.
There is one character that caught my eye in terms of development and showing personal growth and that person is Adam (Connor Swindell).
Swindells’s performance of this character from season one was always one to watch but this season, we really got to see him come to terms with his sexuality and improve his relationship with his father.
He even got to fall in love with horses and make something for himself, by the end of the season, he had truly closed one chapter of his life but opened another one and it was inspiring watching him grow as a person.
Alongside this, Eric’s journey of questioning his faith was very inspirational, and Aimee coming to terms with her assault was empowering.
I could always connect with Aimee and the way she processed her feelings and felt comfortable within herself again was exceptional.
Jackson’s search for his father and having health scare was a great addition as he showed more depth to his character.
We could connect more to his character as he was presented in a more authentic way, as shown in his speech.
Another example is how Cal struggled with themselves and feeling the pressure of ‘fitting in’, with everyone came together to find Cal in the final episode.
Cal and Eric connecting was a great scene that brought tears to my eyes as we all need a support system and never truly know what people are going through so we should always check on each other!
As much as I enjoyed some moments of the show, not everything was perfect like the ending for example.
It wasn’t tied up perfectly but I personally felt like it could’ve been done differently as it felt unfinished and not everyone really interacted.
Adam only interacted with Eric for a few moments which was sad to see for those who shipped them together after their previous relationship in earlier seasons.
Some of the more sensitive topics were equally as brushed over, such as Jean and Joanna’s story of the childhood abuse and Viv and her controlling relationship with Beau.
I was invested in that storyline as many people suffer through a situation like that and it would help people feel less alone.
In regard to Otis and Eric’s friendship, it would’ve been nice to see Otis with actual character development and putting his friendship with Eric first for once instead of following Maeve around like a lovesick puppy.
I would’ve liked to see more of their friendship but instead, their friendship was just stuck in the same cycle unlike Jackson and Viv’s friendship remained pure and true.
Overall, I’d give this season a 3.5/5 rating as some of the plots were great, the pacing was a bit all over the place, and the character arcs were up and down.
Thank you Moordale High and Goodbye!
Beautifully written and really does the show it’s justice