The fourth and final season of Hostel Daze follows the story of the beloved gang who find themselves in the final year of engineering, in what is a classic phase of transition in life where the big bad world awaits them. Will they form memories, one last time? The story here is high on nostalgia and relatability, with a conscious effort made to make a tonal shift in the series one final time! And this was the logical conclusion as it also dealt with the characters of the show coming of age, or rather to terms with life hitting them. I do remember my final year and almost clueless on what life had in store for me, and the series does touch upon this aspect as well in a wonderfully penned story. The screenplay standing at 6 episodes ranging from 30 odd minutes to 50 minutes does make for an extremely nostalgic ride that made me laugh, and at times shed a tear or two along the way!

The drama does begin with the reintroduction of the principal characters and the dynamics which they shared from the last season. And I did feel that this was an indifferent kind of a start simply because the focus was on the love angle from the third season. I was like, there we go again, another show is headed the College Romance way. But slowly but surely, my sentiments around the show began to change. With every passing minute, the tonal shift in the content was clear, with the nostalgia kicking in. The transition from the third year of Engineering to the fourth year is often tricky given that you have been carefree, not too worried about your future, when suddenly, you have to make a decision about life – whether to opt for further studies or take up a job. It was a challenging period for me as well, and these aspects are beautifully highlighted on the show!

The proceedings are entertaining but there is a sense of maturity with respect to the characters who slowly come of age by shouldering some responsibility. Right from making resumes to appearing for campus placements(amidst fights on the side wherein you have to stand up for yourself and your gang), the series does take you on a memorable nostalgic ride which did transport me to the good ol’ days. But during this period, the levels of anxiety often fluctuate at times with respect to the confidence of cracking an interview, or the package being offered or peer pressure. And each of these anxieties is addressed wonderfully well with the emotions just hitting home and how! Quite honestly, this is where the drama did peak for me while allowing me space to shed a tear or two. The bonding of the gang during this group was infectious and quite emotional!

While I did feel that the drama has already attained its peak, there was still an episode left, and that made me slightly anxious on whether the peak could be achieved again. But the final episode was just so emotional with the members of the gang separating one by one, thus marking the end of era. This is generally what happens, each one heads on their own paths, only to coincide in life at some point. But it is the friendship that remains for a lifetime with a bundle of memories. And the shots did make me cry while I was reminiscing my final days in college, the days that I had fun, had fights, made memories, and that is all that remains! I wasn’t fully convinced of the meta-reference at the end which kind of took me out of the nostalgic moment. But taking nothing away from the journey, the screenplay is extremely well written and makes for such a nostalgic ride down memory lane!

Idea Pitch(What Lies Next For The Characters) :

Every now and then, I love doing this additional section in my reviews. This cannot be the end of the journey for all the characters. And so if anyone from TVF is reading this, then this is a pitch for a new idea. What if, atleast one of the characters of the show find themselves in the ‘Cubicles’ Universe, given that a few of them do land up with corporate jobs(like Jhaantoo and Jaat). That would be a fun mix of the universes! What do you say TVF??