High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4 Episodes 1-6 Reviews - A Bittersweet Farewell with Moments of Brilliance

This review of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4, episodes one through six, was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Everyone at Austin B Media would like to acknowledge that television shows such as this would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of the writers and actors currently on strike.

The following is a spoiler-free review of the first six episodes of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4. The final season premieres on August 9th on Disney+.

If you've been following me for any of the years High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has been airing on Disney+, you should know how much I adore this show. Over the past three years, I've written about a dozen articles, not including the commentaries I did for season 3, which I loved more than season two and the first season.

So, as you can imagine, I've been beyond excited for a fourth season, especially when it was announced that the season would bring back High School Musical stars Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed, and Kaycee Stroh as they film High School Musical 4 at East High while the series cast is in the middle of putting on a musical production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

However, my expectations were tempered upon learning that not only would this be the final season (I expected there to be at least one more season) and that all eight episodes would stream all at once versus the weekly model the previous three seasons followed. I'll leave the symposium on the binge model to someone else. What I will say, though, is that it feels as though the fans' journey of the final episodes is at risk of being shortchanged emotionally for the sake of making sure the series doesn't impact other Disney+ Originals like Ahsoka, which premieres on August 23rd or Loki season two, which premieres on October 6th, nine days after when HSMTMTS season 4 would've ended if it was released if Disney+ stuck with the weekly model.

Now that you've got the background, time to answer the central question: Are the six episodes the nostalgic send-off that's been so heavily advertised? That's a tricky question to answer without a ton of caveats. The biggest of these caveats is a pretty big one - there are two remaining episodes for me to watch to say I've watched the entire series, so it's hard to tell whether it pulls off this send-off.

However, I do have a general impression of where the season lands for me among the other three seasons and how it's gone so far. As of writing this, less than a week before season 4's premiere, my official ranking is as follows: season three, season one, season two, and season four. As much as I love the show, Season 4 is sloppy in virtually every aspect, whether you're talking about the extraordinary way High School Musical 4 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year tie into the larger narrative, the narrative itself, the near non-existent character arcs, the lackluster performances that feel Disney Channel-esque (in a bad way), the nonsensical direction of each episode, the spotty musical choices, confusing editing, and coalesces into a mess of a final season.

Episode 1 "High School Musical 4"

"High School Musical 4", written by series creator Tim Federle, is likely the weakest of season 4. The season opener episodes have never been the strongest part of the series, but something feels off here. For whatever reason, Federle has decided to run with the tone most similar to season one, where there was this weird play between what happened in the High School Musical films and how that translates into how our East High Leopards react to the news that they're going to be featured background extras in High School Musical 4: The Reunion. This creative decision feels extraordinarily odd, given how season three ended.

This critique also extends to the performances of the main cast. Instead of trying to have fun with their roles, it feels like they've been directed to revert to their season one personality, which doesn't make much sense when considering this the final season. The placement of returning cast members Bleu, Coleman, Grabeel, Johnson, Reed, and Stroh is even more confusing. It should be a big deal that franchise stars are returning, but their performances feel thin and like an afterthought.

What isn't an afterthought, though, are the musical numbers. The opening number is a dazzling display of how well the series can emulate the style of the original films without feeling like a copycat, and there's an excellent duet here that I will listen to on repeat once the soundtrack releases on August 10th.

At best, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season four opener is a shrug. At worst, it's an absolute trainwreck.

★★

Episode 2 "HSM vs. HSM"

Now that the season opener is over, let's talk about its follow-up, "HSM vs. HSM," aka the annual audition episode.

As one can imagine, the story of this episode is straightforward, and writer Ilana Wolpert, who wrote S2E6 "Yes, And," was a story editor for all of season 3 (which included a main writing credit on the second episode of that season, Into the Unknown) does well to keep it that way.

By keeping it simple, the audience can focus on the episode's core narrative, auditioning for the musical while also trying to fit in High School Musical 4 rehearsals. It's also probably the best way the dual productions are handled in the six episodes I've seen—props to Wolpert in all respects. "HSM vs. HSM" is a much better episode due to her writing.

Another franchise favorite returns as well, with Kimberly McCullough directing her 11th episode of the series thus far. McCullough does her best work here, with one musical sequence taking my breath away. On top of that, I would also like to congratulate McCullough on keeping the tone in check when transitioning between productions without the shift feeling unnatural or jarring. It all feels natural while also feeling like another episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

As for the performances, they can be a bit hit or miss with me. Some particularly painful bits are with the new cast, specifically Kylie Cantrall and Caitlin Reilly. I'm unfamiliar with Cantrall, but she could do much more with her performance here. For someone who seems to be modeled after herself, she feels utterly uncomfortable in front of the camera and tries to exaggerate every bit of her performance. On the solar opposite side of things, I am pretty familiar with Reilly, and I don't feel like she's put to good use in this episode. I get what the show is going for with an obvious parody of an indie director, but Reilly isn't being used to her full potential here.

Speaking of potential, there's plenty of that wasted here. The audition episode of each season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has had some absolute bangers, such as "Belle" from season two and "For the First Time in Forever/Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Mashup" from season three. The two songs featured in this episode are great, but I can't help but feel that they don't hold up when you compare them to similar songs from previous seasons.

At the end of the day, though, "HSM vs. HSM" is a marked improvement for Wolpert, McCullough, and the season as a whole.

★★★★

Episode 3 "A Star is Reborn"

With the first arc of the season ending and another beginning, "A Star is Reborn" focuses on the first table read of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and the first day of shooting High School Musical 4.

Written by Ann Acacia Kim, who's written "Thanksgiving" from season one and "Typecasting" from season two, with story editing credits for all episodes of seasons one and two, she does a great job at writing the dilemmas and these emotional beats that come up here that I wish we got another episode written by her this season. A prime example of this moment is in a table read session, where things happening in the background very much happen in the foreground. If it sounds like an AI wrote that, it's because it's excruciatingly hard not to be able to tell you what the moment in question is and why it's so beautifully written because I don't want to spoil anything for you.

McCullough returns to direct this episode (I'm assuming she shot "HSM vs. HSM" and "A Star is Reborn" back to back) and, to quote Carlos, "no notes." She's always done a great job directing episodes of this series, and this episode only serves to reinforce how great of a director she is. There's one musical sequence that is pure magic, and that's a massive credit to her and the camera crew for pulling it off.

Since we're already talking about music, the song that is featured in this episode is probably the best table-read song I've seen and listened to from the show. It's a beautiful song that fans will love, and I'll leave it at that for fear of spoiling the moment for you all.

Finally, I love the performances from Kate Reinders and Sofia Wylie here. Both make subtle choices here that become a wonderful part of the subtext behind the two's story in the show so far, and I hope they get their flowers for what they both do here.

All in all, "A Star is Reborn" indeed. Wylie makes her case for a career after the series finishes, but I'd be remiss if I didn't choose the cheap answer and say that the technical crew is the star.

★★★★★

Episode 4 "Trick or Treat"

Midway into the season, how are our East High Leopards doing in their final season? Well, so far, it's been nothing but an upward trajectory, and that doesn't change with the midseason episode "Trick or Treat," which is the themed episode of the season, focusing much of its 33-minute runtime on a Halloween party Gina throws at her house.

Franchise newcomer Elisabeth Kiernan Averick does a fantastic job here. Even more so, when you consider the only other projects she's written for are 13 episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Simpsons Shorts The Good, the Bart, and the Loki, When Billie Met Lisa, and three episodes of The Simpsons. It seems like she has no issue integrating her writing style into High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, feeling much like other themed episodes of the show. However, what's unique about her writing is how she nails the character beats here, especially when it comes to the more tender moments that have been previously overwritten in the series past. Bravo.

I'd also like to commend returning director Ann Marie Pace. The previous episode she directed, "The Real Campers of Shallow Lake," was an excellent take on infusing the series with a reality TV series feel ala The Real Housewives. So, to see Pace seamlessly switch into the themed episode of the season was great to experience. What else can I say? She is a natural fit, and I can't wait to see what she directs after this.

Speaking of natural fits, the songs in this episode are guaranteed to be fan favorites. There are two songs here, and I return to them every few days. One is a unique themed song with some outstanding segments where the entire cast gets to show off their dancing skills, as well as several musical breakdowns interweaved that I enjoyed. The other is a duet I'll be surprised if it doesn't become the one everyone gravitates to on repeat listens.

The performances don't miss either. Particular shout-outs have to go to Julia Lester and Frankie Rodriguez. Both of them get a ton of work to do here, and they give their best performances in this episode. Each moment with them is guarded and vulnerable, with a few moments guaranteed to get viewers in their feelings. I know it's too early to predict next year's Emmys, but I don't know what we're doing if these two don't get in somewhere.

"Trick or Treat" is another stellar episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and my favorite of the eight episodes of the final season I've seen so far.

★★★★★

Episode 5 "Admissions"

"Admissions" is an intriguing episode. As the name suggests, it serves a double meaning. To avoid spoilers, though, let's call this the episode where everyone figures a bunch of stuff out that they've been wrestling with all season.

Writing the episode is Nneka Gerstle, who wrote "Most Likely To" in season two and was executive story editor during season three. She has an innate understanding of who these characters are and their weaknesses and keys in on that to deliver some emotional gut punches, unlike any other episode in the series (to my knowledge).

Pace returns to direct her final episode of the series, showcasing her immense talents as a director. What stood out to me the most was how she kept what could've been a hectic story emotionally grounded. Some of that could be due to Gerstle's writing, but I could also see Pace using her experiences as a director to guide this episode to where it needed to be, especially in the scenes with Quinn where she showcases her directing style.

Speaking of Quinn, she gets a great showcase here that turned me around on how her character was portrayed in the season. Reilly does a great job at playing at the insecurities directors can sometimes have with their projects, and it left me sad that we won't see her character in any subsequent seasons. Similarly, Dara Reneé gets a showcase of her own here that we've rarely seen with her character outside of a brief moment in season three.

Continuing with the showcase theme, it's also an excellent episode for music. There's a lot of emotion put into these couple of songs, and while I would've loved to hear more, the ones we got here will be ones that fans will love. There's one that's not listed in the credits, so look out for that one. You'll know when it hits.

"Admissions" is a superb fifth episode of this final season. While I tend not to enjoy these types of episodes, Gerstle, Pace, Reily, and Reneé make it enjoyable with the intense emotional honesty on display here. It doesn't hurt that it's almost an hour, either.

★★★★★

Episode 6 "Trust the Process"

The final episode I’ve seen, “Trust the Process,” is interesting. Again directed by McCullough, this episode is what I like to call a fallout episode, and I’ll be frank, this is one of the worst episodes besides the season opener.

Chandler Turk, who wrote “Color War” in season three, writes this one, and this is a definite downgrade from that episode. While he’s doing the same drama infused with bittersweetness here, it feels downright hokey in this episode. I can’t exactly get into the details, but it felt like a Hallmark movie version of the show. Everything feels sappy and overwrought with nostalgia and feels extremely overcooked.

The performances feel similarly hollow in an episode that feels engineered to play to the strengths of these performers. It’s as if they took everything they learned from being on the show and threw it out the window for a quick hit of nostalgia.

Likewise, the music in this episode, while great for those who have been with the series since the beginning, feels like they went for the cheap shots. That said, the songs aren’t all bad, with one duet being an absolute showcase piece that fans will enjoy and listen to obsessively after the season ends.

McCullough, in her penultimate episode directing the series (she directs the episode after this one), gives off the opposite vibe. Her version of nostalgia, from a chiefly technical perspective, is pitch-perfect. It emulates all that’s come before without feeling as though it’s being forced onto the viewer. I can’t rightly explain how her nostalgia feels more authentic than Turk’s writing other than it feels honest. I know that’s an overused word in the industry, but I love it.

I don’t know if “Trust the Process” was filmed early on in the season or what, but if you’re expecting much more than a nostalgia trip, you’re going to be in for a bad time.

★★

All episodes of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4 will be available to stream with a Disney+ subscription on August 9th, 2023.

Thanks to Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, and Brian Skuttle for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!

Until next time!