Watched all of season 4 this past week. Pretty good, especially after how awful season 3 was. Was dreading the return of Santino but then was pleasantly surprised that Greg was back with a different/better actor. Santino was the absolute worst.
I didn't think this opinion was possible. Fontana's Greg is the best character on the show (it's debatable between him and Rebecca, but he edges it out for me).
He is definitely the most authentic and grounded. He owns his flaws so fully that he's ridiculously likeable and funny, even while believably hating himself. The performance is masterful and I have no idea how he did it.
And on top of that, he has the highest concentration of amazing songs on the show too. They're all incredible.
-Settle for Me
-I Could if I Wanted To
-Hey West Covina
-Drinking Song
-We Tapped That Ass
-Shit Show
The WORST song he did was UTI, and that one is still better than anything Valencia, Josh, Nathaniel, or Paula ever did solo.
That Greg upstaged nearly everyone on that show.
New Greg was... okay. He did a serviceable Fontana impression. His songs were lackluster. His performance (along with the songs) robbed the character of his vulnerability, which made him boring and kind of hollow. His "Hey West Covina," while a cool throwback at first, just made me mad in hindsight at how it wiped away everything from the first rendition like magic.
Greg's redemption was completely unearned.
