A.P. Bio Season 4 Review: Misadventures in Love and Everywhere Else
After three seasons, fans of this streaming series have come to know what to expect going into A.P. Bio Season 4—in the sense that no possible storyline is too strange or uncomfortable for the writers to find a way to make it funny.
A primary example comes in the very first episode of season 4, where a tornado-related lockdown is only the background for a series of increasingly awkward skits centered on fanfiction the students are writing with the staff as the main characters.
If you’re cringing just reading that sentence, know that what follows is even better and even worse than you could imagine. If nothing else, the spirit with which the cast goes into these narratives full throttle is to be admired and possibly feared.
This kind of humor, rife with wackiness and second-hand embarrassment, has become a trademark of the series and the laughs are nearly always on point, even when viewers are wincing at the same time. There’s a skill in making people come so close to caricature and still be likeable.
That said, there’s something that feels different about this season in terms of emotional tone. There have been heartfelt and poignant moments on A.P. Bio before, but they’ve gone hand in hand with the humor, with almost no entirely serious moments.
In season 4, there are entire scenes not at all played for laughs. A couple even come with a gut-punch of shock value.
Take the first episode again. After Jack and girlfriend Lynette spend their non-fanfic screentime bickering, they seem to make up. But that’s only the story in Jack’s fiction. In reality, they’ve broken up, and Lynette leaves, not to be seen for the rest of the season.
Then there’s the return of Jack’s father. There are cliches throughout, including a new girlfriend and her young kid. Yet the story works hard to offer him genuine sympathy and make his son’s ire look unreasonable, culminating in the man who once abandoned his wife and son being left at the altar.
That night, Jack goes to a bar with has dad under the pretense of gloating. He comes as close to seriousness as we get—and only then does the elder Griffin sneak out the back door. Jack’s act of being glad he was right isn’t remotely believable.
There are heartwarming moments too, especially in the final episode, where Jack and his students bond and Jack helps deliver Stef’s baby. Here, we get plenty of humor along the way, especially when Jack emerges covered in blood. Yet these characters have grown—and grown on us.
The sacrifice is that the balance is a little off from past seasons, but rest assured this is still 100% a sitcom. The themes and tropes that pop up, from an accidentally formed cult to a teen romcom plotline (which is actually engaging!) work over and over again.
The one consistent complaint I have about A.P. Bio isn’t even a complaint, exactly. I understand why it happens, and yet it just feels so wrong that only the established actors playing staff get key credits when thee students bring such a huge portion of the comedy.
Cases in point: an extremely aesthetic 80s cop drama as student film starring Heather and featuring many other students. A fake cult urged by Jack as protest against uniforms that gets a bit too real. The aforementioned fanfic and romcom adventures.
Of course, Durbin, Helen, Stef, Mary, and Michelle all do deliver an assortment of winning scenes. The sheer size of this cast has always been daunting, and yet there isn’t a weak link in the bunch. Everyone gets their time to shine. Though some could get more screentime, nobody feels left behind
The last episode of the season also offers a roundabout explanation of why covid basically isn’t a thing at Whitlock—all 42 episodes of the series have taken place over a few months. As far as this school is concerned, a global plague is still years away.
With that in mind, A.P. Bio gives us not only hilarity and some true tender moments, but a genuine break from the world we’re still living in. At this rate, the show could go on for many seasons and we could be in a covid-free bubble for all of them. It’d sure be nice to see.
What did you think of this episode of A.P. Bio? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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A.P. Bio is available to stream through Peacock.
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Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.