REVIEW: ‘Shoresy Season 4’ Proves It Can Succeed Off The Ice

What do you do when you’ve given all you can to a sport that has consumed your entire life but have reached the point where you can’t do it anymore? The blood, sweat, and tears brought satisfaction, but now you must find a new path. That’s the challenge that Shoresy (Jared Keeso) faces in Shoresy Season 4 as he tries to find out what direction his life is headed now that he can’t play hockey anymore.

Shoresy Season 3 ended with the Sudbury Bulldogs winning the Cup, so it is fitting that Shoresy Season 4 starts with the team celebrating their epic season. There is an ongoing bit where Nat (Tasya Teles) is updated on the wild celebrations the boys are up to that keeps popping up, showing them drinking with the cup in every square inch of Sudbury. It’s a lighthearted sequence that brings humor to the season and highlights how much the team lives off its past success.

This so-called “Summer in Sudvegas” leaves everyone affiliated with the Sudbury Bulldogs looking for something to do, but no one struggles more than Shoresy himself. At the end of Shoresy Season 3, he learns that he can’t play hockey anymore, so he has to find a new purpose. The first thing he throws himself at is a short-form show with BroDude.

Shoresy does not want to talk about hockey for a living. His sound bites are hilarious, but it isn’t his passion. Seeing him discover that chirping about hockey on the internet isn’t for him helps highlight how serious of an identity crisis he is going through. He comments that he was just a lower-level player, so why should anyone care about what he has to say?

Shoresy’s struggle to figure out a life without hockey is relatable.

That revelation speaks volumes about his character. The massive ego he displayed on the ice is not the real Shoresy. There is a depth to him that has only been partially explored, and Shoresy Season 4 dives headfirst into uncovering it.

With BroDude not working out, Shoresy returns to Sudbury to join his teammates. There are plenty of hijinks, including, but not limited to, coaching a group of young hockey players, sleeping with the moms of those players, holding a kangaroo court about sleeping with said moms, and a thing called “Weird Sudbury.” These moments make Shoresy Season 4 so funny and enjoyable, giving the side characters a chance to shine with witty dialogue and absurd premises.

These detours also allow Shoresy to try new things. He does not see himself as a coach, and he certainly isn’t meant for TV. But what he wants, deep down, is to build on his relationship with journalist Laura Mohr (Camille Sullivan). Their relationship has been odd, but in Shoresy Season 4, she asks Shoresy to go out and have fun; that way, he can decide if being with her is what he really wants.

While the comedic bits are great, this show is special because of the relationship between Shoresy and Mohr. Their chemistry is immaculate, and Shoresy’s frequent quips about what he would do for her are always entertaining. This relationship has been relatively surface-level for much of the series, but Shoresy Season 4 is where we find out just how serious he is about her.

The relationship between Shoresy and Mohr is Shoresy Season 4’s greatest strength.

As Shoresy Season 4 progresses, it is evident that Shoresy’s real purpose in life is Mohr. He is so serious about their relationship that he literally runs a marathon because she told him to, although she doesn’t remember. That determination drives him, and he holds himself to a higher standard. It epitomizes character growth and seeps into other aspects of his life.

At the end of the season, the Bulldogs are faced with a choice. They can either go to a dance with the youth players they have been mentoring or go to Weird Sudbury. Shoresy’s speech to his former teammates about accountability shows his willingness to take on a more mature role. That role has been developing throughout the entire season, and it pays off in the end.

All of this development for Shoresy keeps leading back to one point. He does not see himself as a coach, but everyone around him does. Part of the maturing process in Shoresy Season 4 is Shoresy realizing his playing days are finally over, the celebrations are done, and it is time to move forward. He can do a lot of good for the younger players, and he finally accepts that role in a way that makes sense, given the course of his story across the season.

Shoresy Season 4 is all about Shoresy finding his role off the ice, and it proves that the series is so much more than just fun hockey action. There are plenty of laughs to be had, but the real treat is watching Shoresy grow into the person he has always been capable of from the very start.

Shoresy Season 4 is streaming now on Hulu.