The final season of Infinity Train is sure to be divisive. Not because it’s bad, mind you, but because it is very much not a conclusion. The creator of the show, Owen Dennis, has been open about the fact that there were rough ideas for several further seasons, and it shows in the construction of Book Four. It’s a continuation and expansion of what came before, but much like the name of the show, the possibilities still seem endless when it comes to a close. And the fact that we know that this is it, despite the narrative, might leave some a bit sour.
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Infinity Train, if you are not familiar, is basically about a surreal, seemingly infinite train that people board to sort out their problems, at which point they are assigned a number, and they can’t leave until they do sort them out and get said number to zero. Book Four follows the journey of a pair of passengers, Min-Gi and Ryan, who grew up together with a dream of performing in a band. The two have a falling out, but Ryan shows back up in Min-Gi’s life and the two of them end up aboard the mysterious train with a twist on previous seasons: they seemingly have the exact same number, and it goes up and down for them both. Joining the two is Kez, a flying, talking concierge bell that is constantly getting into and out of trouble.
It’s a strong season that deals with being honest about your feelings — which is kind of Infinity Train‘s whole thing — and apologizing when you’ve done something wrong, but also realizing when you haven’t. Kez is a particular highlight as she, perhaps more than other denizens that have been part of the main cast save for MT, has her own flawed journey of discovery that parallels that of the passengers. If there is a moral here, which you could arguably say each season has, it is that taking responsibility for your actions is necessary for growth regardless of whether those actions were good or bad.
By comparison, Book Four is less compelling than its immediate predecessor, and far more of a lighter experience. There’s plenty of dangerous situations, but nothing on par with the obviously deadly ramifications of Book Three. Nobody’s out here threatening to “wheel” anyone else, but the emotional ramifications of certain decisions still hit just as hard.
Infinity Train, at its best, is about the potential within us all to be better regardless of our individual circumstances. Book Four takes this premise and makes it into something about the potential within a specific relationship dynamic. Every season has been largely about how the main cast understands and relates to their past, so bringing two passengers aboard at the same time that already have a history together only further complicates this — in a good way.
The final season isn’t going to answer all of fans’ burning questions, but it does provide some. It never quite reaches the heights of previous seasons, but it does delve deeper into the relationships between the main characters in a way that others have not. It’s a shame that this will be a farewell to Infinity Train as Book Four is where the creative team behind it seems to have really hit their stride while also being able to take big swings. Not all of them land, but when they do, well, there’s nothing quite like it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Infinity Train: Book Four is set to release all at once on HBO Max tomorrow, April 15th. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the series right here.
