What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral (Series Finale)

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 10 “New Jersey” (B-)

This show has definitely been entertaining, and I’d like to emphasize that I have greatly enjoyed watching it even if it’s not the highest quality storytelling. The number of people on this show who got over past relationships with considerable ease after earlier expressing bitter hatred for their exes and then attended their weddings with smiles on their face is absolutely incredible, and this episode was full of that. I’m not entirely clear why Andrew and Tony traveled across the pond to attend Duffy and Gemma’s wedding, which was an unusual affair that felt a lot more like him than her, and them being there wasn’t quite as shocking as Tabby making it possible for some of Duffy’s students to be there. Maya’s poster scene taken right out of “Love Actually” didn’t have the desired effect on Ainsley, but Bryce saving all her letters did, resulting in a complete shift in her thinking, forgiving both Maya and Kash for their betrayal. Tricking Kash into thinking that Maya was marrying Duffy so that he’d rush over on a flight to declare his love for her was a fun if relatively unbelievable move, and Duffy begging him to sit down so that he wouldn’t ruin any more weddings was amusing. At least everyone ended up together, which was nice, and even Craig got happiness with his expanded family as he was painted as even dumber than Zara, hardly the show’s most memorable character. I’d be happy to revisit these characters in the future, though I think given the critical reception for this miniseries, it’s unlikely that anyone would be up for continuing these stories.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Nathalie Emmanuel as Maya

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral (Penultimate Episode)

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 9 “Four Friends and a Secret” (B)

This second-to-last hour was full of over-the-top theatrics, mostly related to Craig and Andrew’s storylines. After freaking out about how her party wasn’t going as she wanted in the previous episode, Zara actually stepped up to help Craig in a very selfless way, making her case to Julia and enabling Craig to come to his daughter’s soccer game and develop a relationship with her. Andrew getting up the courage to change his vote – and his political future as a result – was a long time coming, and it took a while to get there, with a familiar proposal scene that felt like it was right out of “Love Actually” as a moderately endearing stepping stone on the way. I called the Gemma-Duffy romance a while ago, and I guess Duffy will have to settle for being the eternal punching bag, forced to accept that Gemma wasn’t actually running back to proclaim her affection for him but instead rushing to tell him the major gossip about Maya and Kash, who were inevitably going to get caught by pretty much everyone before Maya had the chance to break the news to Ainsley. It was quite a leap for Kash to just decide that he was going to move to New York to be with Maya, prompting a predictable message of support from his father, and somehow he’s going to be able to fly back and forth all the time without a job when he was so concerned recently about making enough money to support his family. After making it all seem lighthearted, and Ainsley getting to a good place with Bryce, the news about Maya and Kash couldn’t have come out in a worse way. I don’t know how the final episode is going to make everything okay, but I have a feeling that sappiness and universal love will prevail.

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 8 “Game Night” (B-)

This show is getting sappier, and it’s also including some pretty absurd developments. Ainsley isn’t terribly perceptive, but it’s still a stretch to think to believe that she would somehow perceive that Maya had a crush on Marcus, her colleague who she so clearly hates and who hates her back just as much. The game night was a silly excuse to bring everyone together, with Marcus, Andrew, and Bryce all showing up because they were invited by someone because of their feelings about another that had yet to be properly expressed. It seemed like Tony was just being a jerk to Andrew, and the revelation that he doesn’t have his papers and his potential boyfriend is sponsoring a bill that might get him kicked out of the country helps to explain some of his hesitation in that department. I like that Bryce shut the door when Ainsley came to deliver a big speech largely comprised of insults, and something tells me he won’t give up. Kash and Maya have gotten very close recently, and knowing that she had to show up at the wedding is a good sign for their relationship and a bad sign for the future fury that Ainsley will evidently express if her reaction to her even going to his show was any indication. It’s a wonder Kash held onto his job this long, and hopefully his father can accept his new choices in life. Marrying Maya down the road will certainly help. Zara’s Nosecrets board game was indeed a flop, but it’s nice that she and Craig will soon be welcoming a baby into the world – a plot twist not spoiled by this show’s title!

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 7 “The Sound of Music” (B)

This show really is set on coupling off all of its characters in some way or another, and some of those romances are proceeding along at a quicker rate than others. It took Ainsley way too long to realize that Bryce was into her, and for her to even consider the notion of being with the dim-witted Garrett instead is crazy. I would have thought that Tony 2, whose screentime and relevance got bumped up in a major way during this hour, would have said something preemptively to Maya about the way Kash was looking at her since he knows how much the eventual revelation of their relationship will hurt Ainsley. Maya tried her best to avoid spending time with Kash after Marcus brought the theater to Andrew’s attention in an infantile way, and there’s so little hope of anything not happening at this point. Andrew is becoming a slightly more humane and likeable character after realizing just how detestable he was, and a romance with Tony 2 would certainly lead to many colliding worlds. Duffy was very angry at everyone around him, and, as I’ve been predicting for a while, he’ll soon begin a romance with Gemma after she reported him to the administration and forced him to be supervised by his vengeful ex Tabby, who’s having a great time with her assignment. Now that they’re married, Craig and Zara aren’t nearly as interesting, and I hope that won’t be the case with all of the characters on this show.

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 6 “Lights, Camera, Wedding” (B)

It’s absolutely true that this show is unrealistic in its presentation of how romance and love work, but it’s heartwarming to believe that, at least in this imagined universe, everyone is able to find happiness in some respect even if it comes after a good number of setbacks. Duffy was headed straight for heartbreak by mistakenly assuming that the letter Maya stupidly wrote and then left in his jacket was for him rather than someone else, and his future partner Gemma was just blunt enough in her response that it couldn’t possibly be him. Maya was far too casual with Duffy after their breakup considering how much he had admitted he cared for her, and begging him not to tell anyone about Kash was hardly the best move after he confronted her with that truth. Fatima made the hard choice for Kash by confessing that Bash was the one she wanted to be with, which leaves the door open for Kash to go to Maya and only Ainsley’s immutable fury as the remaining obstacle for the two of them. I think that Ainsley is going to end up with Dermot Mulroney’s Bryce in the end, but for now it looks like she’s going to try to do whatever makes her happy in the moment, which in this case was a chance to get with the dimwitted Garrett. Craig’s wedding to Zara was obscenely over-the-top, and it was hilarious to see the Hotels.com logo at the end of the impossibly long train of her wedding dress.

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 5 “Love, Chalet” (B)

I like the pace that this show moves at, especially when it’s framed opposite a reality show that’s drawing in countless viewers – namely all of our characters – on a weekly basis. Having the hand-written “a few days later” and other markers transition between days is also clever, and this show continues to grow on me five hours in. Maya agreeing to give a relationship with Duffy a shot was a surprise, and it’s now being framed as Duffy constantly being told how much better than him Maya is, something he too is starting to feel when she completely ignored him and left him behind to take Kash to the hospital. It was clever, and subtle at first, that a potential relationship between Gemma and Duffy was being set up, because they’re both lonely people who aren’t noticed by anyone else, and Duffy thought to invite Gemma out for a much-needed night on the town so that she could forget about being without her son and late husband. It would work out so well if Gemma and Duffy made out or slept together at the same time as Maya and Kash did, but that will still leave one very angry person, Ainsley, who was furious to find out that Craig invited Kash over when she said she couldn’t make it. It’s also possible that Dermot Mulroney’s shoe-burning divorcé will become a love interest for her. Craig going on the reality show to propose was a sweet romantic gesture, and it shocked even him to see that it ended up working when Zara showed up at the end of the episode to scratch her head in a way that even he didn’t misinterpret.

What I’m Watching: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 4 “The Winner Takes It All” (B)

This wasn’t a great episode for romance, with one surprising caveat at the very end of the episode. Quentin’s death showed another side of Gemma’s loneliness, as his parents weren’t interested in her having any real role in his funeral and thought they knew what was best for her son. Refusing to do as she was told and instead putting jerseys under each seat before having alcohol passed out to everyone in the crowd was a resounding demonstration of both her party-planning abilities and her independence, confident that there are at least some things she knows how to do very well. Duffy accidentally basically saying “I love you” to Tabby seemed like it wouldn’t end well, but apparently his sense of Maya’s discomfort with being at a funeral was enough to compel him to finally confess his love for her. Her kissing him back was a surprise, and it may have to do more with her own unresolved grief and sitting next to Kash at the funeral, which also inspired him to go to the imam to continue his arranged marriage dating at a slower pace. Fatima does seem great, and Kash’s storyline is tangential enough to the rest that he might be able to find happiness with her and for some unknown reason invite some of the rest of the crew to one of the requisite four weddings. After being turned away by her hilariously hostile friends, Craig thought he won back Zara, but it turns out she’s trying a completely different avenue to find love. I’m curious to learn why Marcus covered for Maya by telling Andrew where she was instead of throwing her under the bus again when he set her up earlier, and I wonder if he’ll be yet another person to fall for the visiting American.

Take Three: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 3 “We Broke” (B)

I may not remember much about the 1994 movie that spawned this series, but I was able to immediately recognize actress Andie MacDowell, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the film, as Ainsley’s mom, who had to spell out the fact that she was cutting her daughter off unless she opted to move home. Her complete inability to realize the lavishness of her spending did put her in this position, and it’s a relief that she finally worked up the courage to fire the entirely useless Tony #1 after taking inventory and learning that Tony #2 did every single thing the two of them were supposed to do. I predicted that Maya would show up at Gemma’s after Ainsley kept bailing on plans with her without any notice, but it was her husband Quentin who really stepped up to be there for his wife and then made sure Ainsley stepped in line to act like the friend she needed. This show needed a funeral, but Quentin dying is going to crush the already-sensitive Gemma, whose father’s self-made wealth has made her a lifelong target of the heiresses who look down on her. Maya sure is bold, demanding a job from one politician, played by Alex Jennings from “The Crown,” only to storm out of the interview and then get another one that she decided to quit since it was becoming clear that she was hired for the wrong reasons. Accepting a half-salary job is the least of her worries now since her mortal enemy isn’t going to make life easy for her. Kash keeping his job so that he can make the money he needs to support his father feels like a palatable development, even if it’s not what he wants. Duffy may have taken the news that his new girlfriend hated his novel poorly, but they seem to have made up pretty well. His friends were sweet to devote their game time to reading his book, but Craig drew the focus away pretty quickly to a part of his life that will likely take over with Zara gone for good.

Round Two: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Season 1, Episode 2 “Hounslow” (B)

In its second outing, this show continues to be entertaining and watchable, even if it might not be the most highbrow relationship drama. After the wedding that wasn’t, Ainsley was evidently having a lot of trouble getting over Kash, and not returning any of her texts or calls hardly helped her to move forward. Donating pretty much everything of his in their apartment enabled her to get some revenge, though she couldn’t know what a mistake it was to send Maya over to Kash’s since she won over his entire family. At least Maya was smart enough to realize that talking to him after he showed up at Ainsley’s door to try to explain himself would have been a mistake. She did dress up a bit too much to go meet Ted after he texted her about being in London, and she wasn’t at all prepared for his wife to show up. Shelley Conn, who I’ve seen previously on “Liar” and “Terra Nova,” made quite an impression in just that scene as Liz, who wasn’t about to let Maya even think about continuing any sort of relationship with her husband, which will finally enable Maya to make the decision to stay in London. It’s not going to make things any easier for her male friends, with Duffy finally trying to take the hint and respond to advances from a colleague, and Craig having to prioritize his girlfriend over her. I’m glad that we met Julia, who’s played by Ashely Madekwe from “Secret Diary of a Call Girl,” and she may now be open to Craig having some interaction with her daughter, if Zara is okay with it. The other person who’s going to have to adjust to Maya being around more is Gemma, who’s still not fond of the number one competition for Ainsley’s attention.

Pilot Review: Four Weddings and a Funeral

I'm trying something new with my pilot reviews, so from now on, check out video takes on each new series, which I'll embed below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.