https://blacknerdproblems.com/shoresy-4-part-2-review/

If you were to tell me that a spin off focused on a bit character of a Canadian sitcom about a town of less than 5,000 people that we never saw the face of was going to be one of my favorite shows of the 2020s, well there is a part of me that probably would have believed you the moment you mentioned it was primarily about a hockey team. But there would be a bit of incredulity behind my eyes.

After being introduced to Letterkenny back in 2019, once I got past Fartbook, I was entranced by an utterly hypnotic depiction of Canadian small-town life: the Hicks, the Jocks, the Skids, the Natives, the Memonites, and the occasional out-of-towner. The was a cleverness in the writing, a delightful droll in the delivery, and all around, it was good at endearing you to the quirky members of the town. I also very distinctively remember the brilliant cold open of the season 1 recap that opened season 2.

It was in this two-minute stretch that I became convinced of the creative genius of Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney. Over the next several years, Letterkenny season drops on Hulu became appointment television. It led to much lamenting when the series ended in 2023 and much rejoicing when the spin off was announced. Omar dropped a review on the first season back in 2022, and honestly, we’ve done the world a disservice by not talking about the Sudbury Bulldogs even more. So, we’re gonna fix that now…admittedly, a couple weeks after season 4 aired stateside on Hulu, but sometimes it takes a second to reflect upon greatness properly.

Part 1 of Shoresy, which is chronicled between Season 1 through Season 3, details a fairly familiar sport arc drama. A team on a losing streak determined to never lose again, eventually losing at a critical moment before resolving to not let the momentum go to waste and to press forward despite the physical and mental tribulations ahead. When the season 3 end credits rolled “End of Shoresy… Part 1”, I fist pumped into the air, knowing that I’d get to spend more time with this lovable hockey team and knowing that the series was going to be fundamentally different.

A major arc in the third season was the titular character Shorsey coming to terms with the fact that after a lifetime of making hockey his life, his body could not handle the physical taxation that came from the sport. The final game of the tournament, of the season (both in and out of universe), would be his last game as a player on the ice. And this is a man whose entire identity is centered around hockey. His love for the game, for his team, has sustained him and given him a purpose, and it is also actively killing him.

This is not the first piece of sports media to delve into such a character (Hajime No Ippo, another Omar approved piece of sports fiction, also famously delved into such) having to reckon with life after a professional career is finished, but there is such a specific intimacy we get to see witnessing Shoresy go through. This is a man who we met through trashtalking teammates through bathroom stalls to seeing a very complete and complex life adrift. Trying to find opportunities in media, trying to maintain his relationships with his teammates, trying to pursue love in more seriously, and trying to find this new version of himself. In classic Letterkenny/Shoresy/Jared Keeso fashion, a recurring sentiment is the call of “You’re good at coaching Shorsey” to the response of “I don’t think I can go coach. I’d just want to jump onto the rink and do it myself.”

Season 4 of Shoresy invites us to follow in a bittersweet revelry. The Sudbury Bulldogs are celebrating their win and coming to terms with the fact that the heart of their team is no longer going to be there in the same capacity. And it’s brilliant between Jared Keeso, Tasya Teles, Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby, Terry Ryan, Ryan McDonell, Andrew Antsanen, Camille Sullivan, and the rest of the cast bring their best comedic and dramatic chops to tell an off-season story that is just as compelling as the tournament arcs of yesteryear.

This is a season about what it means to mentor, about what it means to go where you are needed, about the work required to love something, love someone one, and how that work/love changes you. Jared Keeso’s writing is as a quick-witted as ever, and Dan Skene and Sean Skene behind the camera direct each episode with as deft hands as you’d see during a hockey math, combining brilliant cinematography with an absolutely pitch perfect music accompaniment. It is inspiring and heartwarming in all the right ways, with just the right amount of crass and abrasiveness.

It is fantastic, tight television. A vision of serialized storytelling that you should be watching if you have any inclination towards hockey or just good media. You can watch the entire season over the weekend if you haven’t already. I would implore you to do so, because I desperately need more Shoresy in my life, and you probably do too.

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The post Weeks Later, I Am Still Thinking About the Start of ‘Shoresy’, Part 2 appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.