When the final episode played for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a mixture of melancholy and euphoria overwhelmed me. Joy came from my excitement of the show’s camp-adjacent slant, straying further away from the realism which grounded the show, but ultimately hampered its growth. Yet there was a tinge of sorrow in its ambiguous ending, drawing a life of high school to a close after four seasons. The fourth season is perhaps Federle’s greatest achievement yet; as the creator of the show, he suffered from a serious bout of main character vacancy after Olivia Rodrigo’s astronomical success in the music industry. As such, it was difficult to not worry about what the series would look like beyond the confines of the first season. Yet, despite the struggles of the previous two seasons in adjusting to the changes of a difference in cast, the fourth season felt like the first time the show really understands the strengths of each character. This thus results in a wondrous and almost catatonic glory that comes from witnessing the happiness of everyone in East High. 

To those unfamiliar with the concept of the show, it is difficult to exactly describe the premise of the fourth season without prior knowledge of the series’s conception. Filmed in a mockumentary style akin to The Office and Abbott Elementary, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series centres its narrative around an eclectic ragtag team of musical theatre nuts as they collectively put on musicals of increasingly ornate sets, led by their drama teacher who may or may not have been a featured extra in the original High School Musical. This fourth season, in particular, leans heavily into both the metafiction of the premise while embedding a comical amount of cameos (familiar to those who are fans of Kenny Ortega’s trilogy), intertwining the production of an in-universe reboot of High School Musical 4 with the high school’s musical production of High School Musical 3. 

If you’re still extremely confused as to what this show is about, fear not! The premise doesn’t really take centre-stage, especially not this season. Rather, the show’s final outing primarily focuses on relationships built and amicably disassembled. Pivoting from a focus on Nini (Olivia Rodrigo), this season primarily revolves around Joshua Bassett’s Ricky and Sofia Wylie’s Gina and their relationship, which revolves around the typical diatribes that spawn from high school romance. Given the mixed nature of the cast, both in diversity of sexual orientation and race, romance results in interesting modulations of relationships, moving fluidly with the currents of a collective cultural and social understanding of gendered relationships. Though this may seem like a small step for many, its implications are massive, acknowledging that being pansexual, or being gay, is no less than being straight, a far cry from the representations found in the High School Musical films that inspired the series. 

There’s a brooding sense of finality that accompanies this chapter of the series, which is accompanied by the constant looming threat of separation that accompanies many of the characters on the show. In particular, Dara Renée’s Courtney grapples with the conflict of choosing between a college that continues her mother’s legacy as an alumni and one that lets her carve out her own path. This impending feeling of ending impacts many of the central characters to the show, in part due to their fleeting relationship with youth. This even extends to the production of the series itself. The growth in the actors is mirrored in these characters, as they reach the end of senior year in conjunction with the end of the series. It’s also fairly clear that Federle is projecting his own fears of this show ending into the narrative arcs of many of the characters in the show, where it seems as though one chapter has ended and another begins. 

This season is far from depressing, however. It has so many fun songs and cameos from previous seasons that even the few emotional moments don’t leave you hung up on the kitschy nature of the show. It’s also just satisfying that after four seasons, this show finally feels like it has found its voice: one free from the shackles of reality that truly sings its heart out. As one of many people who found this show an entertaining delight to watch, I couldn’t be more thrilled with its conclusion.

8.5/10