Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4
The Big Picture
- The final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series showcases the growth of the characters from kids to mature young adults.
- The fourth season tackles more mature themes and explores the characters' sexuality and relationships.
- The humor of the show evolves over the seasons, with unexpected moments like bleeped-out F-bombs adding to the show's flexibility and departure from the typical Disney Channel mold.
The final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has arrived, bringing the journey of the second generation of Wildcats to a close with emotional farewells, explosive music, and fantastic acting. But this conclusion took a lot of effort from every character, as the young students of East High had to live through important moments of their lives throughout the four seasons to grow into mature young adults. The best thing the Disney+ musical comedy did for its characters was growing up alongside them, and the contrast between the first and final seasons of the project make it extremely noticeable.
The Seniors Graduate in 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' Season 4
Some of the Wildcats are in their senior year of high school in the fourth and final season, placing extra weight on their shoulders as they focus on finding college prospects. The looming uncertainty of their future is nervewracking enough, but they also are trying to balance their college hunt with their stage production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. And with them getting to the point in their lives when they have to start making big decisions, the new journey they are about to embark on is reflected in their personalities. They are no longer the kids from the first season.
When High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premiered in 2019, the characters cared about more superficial things due to their young age. Ricky (Joshua Bassett) and E.J. (Matt Cornett) fought over Nini's (Olivia Rodrigo) affection without thinking about the potential friendship they could develop, for instance. While the reasons behind their disagreement were understandable, the entire situation seemed childish compared to where the characters ended up. By Season 4, Nini has moved to California to pursue her music career, E.J. is in college, and Ricky is in a completely different (and much happier) relationship.
Making the main cast transition from children to young adults was the best creative decision the writers behind the series could've made. But the smartest aspect of it was how the show itself was willing to change in order to better illustrate the growth the Wildcats have gone through. As their own world continued to open up, the show allowed their perspectives to expand by talking about increasingly sensitive subjects, making their emotions more complex and allowing their characters to outgrow the classrooms they debuted in.
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Do the Wildcats Actually Get Wild in 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'?
Since High School Musical: The Musical: The Series takes place in a high school, love stories between students is inevitable. The main plot of the first season revolves around the love triangle between Nini, Ricky, and E.J., but it is all fairly innocent compared to other stories with teenagers as protagonists. Light, innocent kissing is shown onscreen, with make out sessions suggested as the most intimate moment a couple from East High could share. But when the students get to their senior year, not only are there conversations that hint at something more going on — the characters explicitly talk about it.
The fourth and final season of the series was the last chance for the studio to try and explore a side of these characters closer to what a young adult would actually look like, and during one episode of the latest installment, Ricky's dad (Alex Quijano) directly asks his son to use protection in case he is having sex with Gina (Sofia Wylie). The conversation is something that couldn't have taken place in the first season, and certainly wouldn't have been a part of the original movie trilogy either. But given their age and the passionate nature of their relationship, it does seem like an organic conversation to be held between the characters.
Besides the topic of Ricky's uncomfortable conversations with his father, the sexual diversity initially shown in the spinoff also matured as the seasons went on. During the last episodes of the series, the way Carlos (Frankie Rodriguez), Ashlyn (Julia Lester), and Big Red (Larry Saperstein) talk about their partners and the way they explore their sexuality is far beyond anything that could've been imagined from this spinoff when it first premiered. Ashlyn and Big Red, for example, amicably break up because they both want to explore their sexuality on their own, and they are able to discuss what they are feeling while trying not to hurt one another.
Was That an F-Bomb on 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'?!
Moving away from the serious ways in which the Wildcats were allowed to grow up, the humor of the spinoff also changed over the course of four seasons. During their debut, the characters made a lot of puns, and some physical comedy could be found here and there. But when Ricky stares at the camera like he is in an episode of The Office during the final episodes, he manages to come up with something even more surprising. During the last season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Ricky drops not one, but two complete F-bombs in the middle of a conversation.
Since this is still a program aimed at younger audiences, Ricky's dialogue is bleeped out, but it's clear what he is supposed to be saying. And adding to the brilliance of the show being flexible enough to do something like that, both instances happen in the most unexpected moments imaginable, almost giving audiences a whiplash sensation each time. While the moments themselves are funny, they are just a testament to how this series wasn't something made to resemble the golden era of the Disney Channel, but a show that actually tried to go beyond that legacy.
More importantly, swearing, having sex, and talking about the complex feelings of young people who are just figuring out who they are are things that would've never happened in High School Musical when it premiered in 2006. The new Wildcats have deeper emotions and bigger hearts than those of their predecessors, in a show that wasn't afraid to grow up alongside its main characters. Not placing their characters inside a box and refusing to stunt their growth was the most brilliant thing High School Musical: The Musical: The Series ever did, and it should always be remembered for it.
Seasons 1-4 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are available to stream on Disney+.
