I came to From a little later than most people, but that wasn’t my fault. It was MGM+‘s. When the series premiered, it wasn’t available with audio description, and that’s the kind of show where audio description isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. Between the relentless violence, the constantly shifting mysteries, and the sheer number of visual clues, I can’t imagine trying to follow what’s happening without it. Once MGM+ finally added audio description, I binged the first three seasons, reviewed season three, and this time I was able to experience season four the same way everyone else did, week after week. Better late than never.
One thing From has always done exceptionally well is ask questions. I’m still not convinced it’s equally good at answering them. The early seasons establish one simple truth: whatever rules you think apply don’t. Every time the characters think they’ve figured out how this place works, the series changes the rules again. The people trapped in the town are constantly trying to understand where they are, why they’re there, and whether escaping is even possible, all while surviving horrors that seem to evolve alongside them.
Season four begins in the shadow of one of the show’s biggest deaths from the season three finale, but it wastes little time introducing its newest threat. The terrifying Man in the Yellow Suit, played by Douglas E. Hughes, quickly transforms himself into a teenage girl named Sophia. She enters town after essentially kidnapping an unsuspecting man and forcing him to drive her there, creating the illusion that she’s just another frightened newcomer. She absolutely isn’t.
Sophia is a brilliant disguise. She presents herself as the grieving daughter of a pastor who supposedly just watched her father die. She seems vulnerable, scared, and completely harmless. The audience knows from the very beginning exactly who she really is, which creates a strange kind of frustration throughout the season.
Everyone keeps talking about the Man in the Yellow Suit. Victor, played by Scott McCord, is absolutely terrified of him because he remembers the last cycle when he appeared. They all acknowledge how dangerous he is. Yet somehow almost nobody seriously considers that maybe the conveniently timed new arrival might actually be him. It almost feels too obvious, and because of that, nobody seems willing to entertain the possibility.
Ironically, I think the season might have worked better if Sophia had arrived alongside several other newcomers, similar to when the bus showed up in season two. Blending her into a larger group would have made it much harder for both the audience and the characters to single her out. Instead, she effectively arrives alone after her unfortunate chauffeur has served his purpose, making her stand out from the very beginning.
Elsewhere, everyone continues following their own increasingly bizarre paths. Jade, played by David Alpay, and Tabitha, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno, are still trying to process what they learned last season: that they are reincarnations who have been drawn back to this place over and over because they have continually failed to save the children. Jade’s journey takes an especially strange turn after he discovers a batch of mushrooms that send him on a hallucinatory quest, seemingly answering some of his deepest questions. Naturally, From reminds everyone that knowledge comes with consequences. A gruesome discovery reinforces that lesson in spectacularly horrifying fashion, warning everyone that every answer demands a price. Unsurprisingly, they keep searching anyway.
Julie, played by Hannah Cheramy, becomes convinced she has the ability to story walk, one of the season’s more intriguing ideas. For a while it seems like the show is preparing to explore what that really means. Instead, Julie gradually loses faith in her own ability and simply stops. Whether that’s temporary or simply another dangling thread remains to be seen.
Fatima, played by Pegah Ghafoori, is still dealing with the aftermath of giving birth to something that definitely wasn’t human. Whatever she created has left some kind of connection behind, and she’s becoming increasingly consumed by it. Ellis watches helplessly as Fatima devotes herself to constructing something inside their room that everyone else views as madness. From Fatima’s perspective, though, her actions make perfect sense. That’s one of the show’s greatest strengths. It frequently asks whether insanity is really insanity when the impossible keeps proving itself to be real.
Boyd, once again brilliantly played by Harold Perrineau, remains the heart of the series. He’s still leading the town while quietly hiding what appears to be Parkinson’s disease. Kristi, played by Chloe Van Landschoot, clearly notices his worsening tremors even if Boyd refuses to acknowledge them. He’s also spending more time preparing Kenny, played by Ricky He, to eventually take over if something happens to him.
Boyd continues to wrestle with hallucinations that blur the line between supernatural forces and his own deteriorating health. Most often he sees his late wife, Abby, but Father Khatri, played by Shaun Majumder, continues his remarkable streak of remaining one of the show’s most important supporting characters despite having died back in season one. Not a bad gig if you can get it, staying on a television show as nothing more than a hallucination. At one point Boyd is nearly dragged into the ground itself, another reminder that nowhere in this town is ever truly safe.
Sophia eventually ends up living with Sarah, played by Avery Konrad, which nicely continues Sarah’s redemption arc. Sophia still seems capable of manipulating the voices Sarah hears, but Sarah isn’t nearly as easy to break this time around. She’s determined to make up for what she did in earlier seasons and prove that she deserves her place among the group.
Donna, played by Elizabeth Saunders, remains the steady backbone of Colony House. She continues holding everything together with the same wisdom and toughness that have made her one of my favorite characters since the beginning. The season throws her into a difficult situation, but she still feels absolutely essential as the show heads toward season five.
Ethan, played by Simon Webster, has his own supernatural experiences this year. He’s visited by a ghost who reminds him of a fantasy story he once read about the Lake of Tears, a place capable of healing the sick. The ghost encourages Ethan to find it, sending him off on another quest. He doesn’t find it this season, which leaves me wondering whether the Lake of Tears is still out there waiting for him in season five, much like Julie could probably still story walk if she ever decided to believe in herself again.
Elgin, played by Nathan D. Simmons, recovers surprisingly well from everything that happened last season and quietly works his way back into the community as those involved choose not to reveal exactly what happened. Acosta, played by Samantha Brown, struggles with Boyd’s treatment of Elgin and falls into a deep depression, convinced that the only way out is with a bullet. Boyd manages to find a purpose for her, which conveniently keeps her relevant while also keeping her off screen for much of the season.
The same can almost be said for Bakta, played by Angela Moore. If she isn’t cooking or helping in the kitchen, she practically disappears for episodes at a time.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of increased screen time is Henry, played by Robert Joy. He’s still trying to come to terms with simply being trapped in this place when Victor finally tells him the heartbreaking truth about why the Man in the Yellow Suit terrifies him so much. Henry insists on hearing the full story, and once he does, we’re treated to what may genuinely be the saddest rendition of Leaving on a Jet Plane I’ve ever heard.
Unfortunately for Henry, that isn’t the end of his suffering. Sophia decides to make him one of her personal projects, spending much of the second half of the season psychologically tormenting him. It goes on long enough that I wasn’t entirely sure where the storyline was heading. The show eventually offers some resolution, but it also feels like unfinished business that could easily carry into season five.
Some of the biggest moments of the season revolve around another expedition to the cabins where the crops were discovered. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan. The trip results in at least one death that I honestly don’t think anyone could have identified beforehand. The audio description didn’t even bother giving the character a name until after he was dead.
Ironically, that leads to Patty, a background character who suddenly receives both a name and a purpose. Once that happens, Patty seems to appear in nearly every scene for the rest of the season. She arguably accomplishes more than several characters who have technically been regulars for years.
That pattern continues later when Sophia conveniently finds another background resident named Clara. Much like Patty, and even Roger before her, Clara is suddenly elevated into an important supporting character because the story needs her to exist. She wasn’t someone who contributed anything meaningful during the previous three seasons, but all of a sudden she’s central to Sophia’s plans and even gets what feels like her own showcase episode before continuing as a recurring presence.
It has always made me wonder, as someone watching with audio description, just how many unnamed residents actually populate the town. I know the major cast. I know the recurring characters. But I have no idea how many extras are wandering around in the background waiting to suddenly receive a name whenever the writers need another plot device. Even after all the deaths this series has already delivered, they apparently still have people in reserve.
Fortunately, From continues to be incredibly inventive when it comes to killing them. The gore this season is once again memorable, although I still don’t think anything tops the unforgettable death from an earlier season when a character was teleported halfway into the side of the swimming pool, with half of his body buried inside the concrete while the rest stuck out above ground. That remains the show’s most iconic death for me.
Everything builds toward a finale centered on a massive gamble by the group. Whether it succeeds depends on your definition of success because things definitely don’t go according to plan. The season essentially ends in the middle of complete chaos, with several major ideas still unresolved and enough loose ends to ensure season five should hit the ground running.
I enjoyed most of what season four had to offer, but I did become increasingly frustrated with Sophia’s storyline. She was simply too obvious. She behaved differently from everyone else, always seemed slightly out of place, and nobody seriously questioned her. I kept waiting for someone to put the pieces together and realize she wasn’t who she claimed to be. When the truth finally begins coming out, it’s largely by accident instead of because someone was actually paying attention.
Ironically, Acosta even points out at one stage that it’s entirely possible someone living among them hasn’t been who they claimed to be all along. You’d think someone looking at the situation from the outside like she was might have noticed that Sophia fit that description perfectly.
Beyond that, most of my complaints come down to pacing. Henry’s storyline drags on longer than it probably needed to. Julie abandons what could have been one of the season’s most interesting storylines. Several characters who used to be major players barely appear for half the season. Then, late in the year, Sophia conveniently recruits Clara into a secret pact that apparently happened entirely off screen, asking the audience to simply accept that it had been there all along.
Looking ahead to the final season, I definitely have characters I’d love to see make it home. At the same time, From doesn’t strike me as the kind of show that’s guaranteed a happy ending. I could absolutely see the series ending on a bleak note, with everyone dying except Ethan, leaving him to repeat the same lonely cycle Victor endured. In fact, Victor himself suggests that possibility this season, wondering if everyone could die and leave Ethan completely alone, just as he once was.
Landing a series finale is incredibly difficult. You have to answer years of questions, deliver satisfying emotional payoffs, and figure out exactly who deserves to survive. One of the mistakes The Walking Dead eventually made was that it became better at accumulating characters than cycling through them. In its early years, people died regularly. By the later seasons, many of its longest-running cast members had actually joined relatively late in the show’s run.
From hasn’t added nearly as many major characters over the years, but it should probably remember that lesson. It would feel strange if everyone still alive at the end of season four simply walked out together and went home. Somewhere between that happy ending and Ethan being the only survivor is probably the sweet spot. Some people should make it. Some shouldn’t. And if I had to guess, the show is already telegraphing who some of those unfortunate victims might be. Boyd’s illness feels ominous, while newer additions like Patty or Clara feel almost designed to become casualties.
I’m also more than ready for Sophia’s story to end. Not necessarily the Man in the Yellow Suit himself. He feels like he should remain a dominant force throughout the final season. I’m simply ready to stop watching Sophia wander around fooling everyone. Every episode that passes without someone seriously questioning her makes the rest of the cast seem just a little less perceptive than they should be. These people spend every waking moment trying to solve impossible mysteries, and somehow none of them seriously ask whether the last person to arrive in town might also be the Man in the Yellow Suit.
As far as the audio description goes, I’m learning more and more to appreciate the human effect as more studios lean on AI. Hilariously, every single season of From has had a completely different team behind it.The first three seasons was like an A-list of narrators, with Roy Samuelson and Tristan Snyder, and I think Joel Snyder actually did Season 2, a voice I feel like I never hear in this space, except to offer teachings. The Season 4 team isn’t any better or worse. The show has quite a lot of things that are in the fantasy and horror realm, and require ample description. If I got critical, I would say the sequence with the dolls lacked size relativity, in that I wasn’t sure how big they actually were.
From remains one of my favorite television series of all time. When it ends, I’ll genuinely miss it. I don’t think season four quite reached the incredible heights of season three, but I also think season five has every opportunity to stick the landing if the writers can successfully pay off everything they’ve been building.
My biggest concern remains the same as it has been for a while. From is outstanding at asking questions. As it heads into its final season, though, it has to start proving it’s just as good at answering them. That’s a very different challenge, and I’m not entirely convinced the series is ready for it.I certainly hope it is. And if you still haven’t started watching From, what on earth are you doing with your life?
Fresh: 8.7/10
