Coupling - Seasons 3 & 4

Coupling - Seasons 3 & 4 (2002-2004)

Alright, so this isn't the more cogent review I was talking about when I reviewed the first two seasons, and frankly it's because I just don't have the time! The final two seasons of this sex/relationship based comedy series is weaker than the first two overall because of the departure of the Jeff Murdoch character in the final season (he goes to Lesbos believing it to be full of lesbians). The third season is fairly strong and carries on perfectly from where season 2 left off, building on all of the already established relationships. Again, Jeff's antics are the absolute highlight of the season, in terms of both writing and performance. Season 4 replaces Jeff with Oliver, who is amusing but never gut bustingly funny. That, coupled (no pun intended) with the maturing of some of the characters and their relationships takes some of the bite out of the show. These two factors together make the final season decidedly sub-par, and it's probably for the best that it was the last. In fairness however, these seasons did seem to break out of the formulaic storylines that I complained about by establishing more continuity and attempting some stylistic digressions like extended fantasy sequences.

Not quite as good as what came before, but all the seasons taken together make for a very funny, very entertaining comedy series that ends quite nicely (despite not being a true end to all the storylines, they end at a place from which one can extrapolate some finality with little effort).