‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Final Season’ Delivers The Charm
HSMTMTS delivers in its final season.
This review covers episodes 1–6 of the final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and is spoiler free.
The final season takes the show’s patented meta-storytelling to a whole new level. After an epic summer at Camp Shallow Lake, the Wildcats return to East High where they prepare a stage production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. But plans are disrupted when Principal Gutierrez announces that Disney has decided to make the long-awaited High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie on location at their beloved high school. This then creates tension between the stage production and the film, and our favorite Wildcats have to make some choices.
It’s fascinating to see Disney’s or better Tim Federle’s hypothetical take on High School Musical 4: The Reunion. Fans of the original films will likely get a kick out of it. Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed, and Kaycee Stroh all reprise their High School Musical roles for the film, and they play themselves in the actual series.
An intriguing plot is set into motion after episode one. The overarching storyline through the first six episodes of season four is quite interesting and dynamic. Even the smaller storylines and story beats shine through. The series really hit its stride in this final season.
The entire cast has such great chemistry. Joshua Bassett and Sofia Wylie have terrific chemistry as Ricky and Gina. They are so entertaining to watch. Their relationship in the show feels earned, and I now understand why there was an entire subsection of the High School Musical fandom rooting for these characters to be a couple.
The rest of the main cast has really evolved over the last few seasons. Julia Lester (Ashlyn), Frankie Rodriguez (Carlos), Dara Reneé (Kourtney), and Kate Reinders (Miss Jenn) all have their own storylines but they still mix well as a larger ensemble.
New addition Caitlin Reilly as Quinn, the indie director behind High School Musical 4: The Reunion, was a real standout for me. I absolutely loved that character’s characterization and the humor that the character brought to the table. Jet (Adrian Lyles) and Maddox (Saylor Bell Curda) from season three return and they are fantastic. Jet’s humor is off the charts. Alyson Reed (Ms. Darbus/Herself) and Bart Johnson (Coach Bolton/Himself) are heartwarming scene-stealers. There is something extremely comforting about seeing those two back at East High.
The writing this season has been well-constructed, charming, meta, and hilarious. This season gave me a lot of first-season vibes, and I mean that as a compliment. Obviously, we will have to see if the final two episodes live up to the hype but so far this season has delivered the feels.
The music this season has also been extremely catchy. The mixture of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and original tracks really pays off. There are a few more songs I hope to see this crew do before this series ends but so far I have no complaints regarding the music this season.
Obviously with the concurrent productions of High School Musical 3: Senior Year stage production and High School Musical 4: The Reunion there is a lot of nostalgia. It’s a lot of good nostalgia from both the franchise of films and past seasons of this show. If you aren’t a nostalgic person, I wouldn’t worry as the show remains focused on its core HSMTMTS characters and doesn’t drift from them.
After watching the first six episodes of the final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, I realized that I’m going to miss this show. I’m going to miss the undeniable cast chemistry, the inside baseball Disney humor, and just the overall cozy and comforting vibes I got while watching this show.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Final Season is charming and delightful. The cast, the music, and the storylines all blend extremely well, making this a worthy final season for our favorite Wildcats from the past and present.
High School: The Musical: The Series returns for a fourth and final season on Disney+ on August 9.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
