7.2/1027 votes#1 - The New Gate
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1999
Susan and co-workers Vicki and Luis find their work life disrupted by their new boss, Ian Maxtone-Graham, who buys The Gate and transforms it into an upscale men's magazine. He brings with him his fiercely loyal executive assistant, Miranda Charles, and hires star sportswriter Nate Neborsky, who immediately annoys Susan with his belittling attitude. However, she is amply distracted by the arrival of charming and highly prized celebrity photographer Oliver Brown. Ian fawns over Oliver to convince him to work free-lance for the magazine. Investigative reporter Maddy quits after Ian insults her talent, and ends her relationship with Luis because his love has made her complacent. When Ian offers Maddy the job of managing editor--which she later rejects--Susan thinks that quitting is the way to get his respect. To protest being assigned to write a salacious article, she quits. Although Nana enjoys Susan's full attention for two weeks, she encourages Susan to find another job rather than wai
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Mark Driscoll
- 7.3/1022 votes
#2 - Luis Gets His Groove Back
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 12/27/1999
Susan and Nate vie to be the one responsible for helping Luis to overcome his melancholy following Maddy's departure.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/1022 votes
#3 - The Pushkin Letters
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1999
To impress Ian, Susan claims to speak Russian. However, when he asks her to be an interpreter for a dinner-party guest, she's at a loss for words.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: David Babcock
- 6.7/1022 votes
#4 - The Billboard
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 9/27/1999
When Oliver suggests taking pictures of the staff to put in their columns, Susan objects because she never looks good in photographs. But Oliver puts Susan at ease and gets a beautiful portrait of her. Ian likes it so much that he makes a huge billboard out of it. Susan is initially mortified, but she soon enjoys the adulation. However, Vicki rejects Susan's new self-centered attitude. While trying to force Vicki to look at the billboard, Susan crashes her car, causing Vicki to need bandages on her face. Meanwhile, Nate tries to secure an interview with baseball great Reggie Jackson. After seeing Susan on the billboard, Reggie demands a date with her in return for the interview. Nate tricks Susan into meeting him and Reggie for dinner. Susan learns the truth and is outraged. When Vicki interrupts the meal, she and Susan bicker so much that Nate does not get any good quotes from Reggie for the magazine article. Later, Susan writes a column about how men cannot view women as both sexy an
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Mark Driscoll
- 6.6/1024 votes
#5 - Vicki Moves In
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1999
Susan isn't sure if she should put out a welcome mat when Vicki wants to move into the newly renovated apartment upstairs.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1025 votes
#6 - Halloween
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/18/1999
At Halloween time, rumors abound when Oliver invites Susan to pick pumpkins with him up the coast. Susan is excited about the romantic outing, but she soon becomes uncomfortable with the realization that Oliver has had dozens of short-term lovers all over the world. Susan resolves to thwart any relationship that might develop with Oliver. After he suggests that they carve pumpkins together at Susan's apartment, Susan invites Vicki to make the evening less like a date. But Susan cannot resist Oliver's sex appeal. She sends him away--and he stays all night with Vicki. Susan is furious until she learns that he only slept on Vicki's couch after becoming drunk. Later, Susan admits to Oliver that, despite her attraction to him, she does not want to be another of his flings.
Director: N/A
Writer: Rob Lotterstein
- 7.1/1026 votes
#7 - Cheerleaders
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/1/1999
An assignment to do an article on a cheerleaders' competition doesn't make Susan jump for joy, but her attitude changes when she's asked to audition.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: David Flebotte
- 7.1/1022 votes
#8 - The Wish List
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 12/6/1999
After realizing that she's not achieved any of the goals that she set in the sixth grade, Susan tries to fulfill one: to kiss former teen idol Leif Garrett.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: Rob Lotterstein
- 5.9/1024 votes
#9 - First Date
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/1999
Oliver freaks out when Susan calls him her ""boyfriend""; Ian thwarts Vicki's plot to party on company time.
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: David Babcock
- 6.6/1024 votes
#10 - The Gay Parade
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/13/1999
When Ian rejects Susan's column the night before the magazine is to be printed, Susan is unable to think of another topic. To help inspire herself, she writes a long parody of Nate's negative attitude towards gay people and circulates it among the office staff. Unfortunately, Ian gets a copy of the offensive article and, bored by the mundane replacement that Susan stayed up all night to write, prints the parody as Susan's opinion. Soon, gay people picket the magazine's offices, and powerful gay-owned businesses refuse to advertise in The Gate. Susan is vilified. When a gay activist smashes a pie in Susan's face, she develops an allergic rash and must withdraw from a trip with Oliver, who plans to travel to a Caribbean island to photograph models. Since Susan also cancelled a date with Oliver due to the article deadline, he thinks that she is jittery about her relationship with him. Angry, he takes Luis with him instead. Later, Ian orders Susan to reconcile with the gay community before
Director: Alan Rafkin
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1023 votes
#11 - The Birthday Party
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 12/20/1999
A frumpy coworker guilt trips Susan into attending her birthday party---on the night Susan has romantic plans with Oliver.
Director: Roger Christiansen
Writer: Joel H. Cohen
- 6.8/1022 votes
#12 - Susan's Ex
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 12/27/1999
Susan's ex thwarts her plan to join the ""mile high club"" with Oliver; Vicki cons the gang into painting her apartment.
Director: Craig Zisk
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1023 votes
#13 - Dinner Party
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/3/2000
Inspired by her romantic bliss with Oliver, Susan hosts a dinner party to play matchmaker for her single co-workers.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1024 votes
#14 - Stock Tip
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 1/3/2000
Susan is depressed because Oliver always pays for their dates, and she is in debt. When she offers to take him on a ski vacation that she cannot really afford, she desperately tries Internet stock trading, hoping to earn money quickly. After overhearing Ian talking about a supposedly promising stock, she buys some shares that soon gain value, prompting her to buy more. Unfortunately, the stock then plummets in value, and Ian informs Susan that he was talking to his insane cousin whom he doesn't take seriously. Susan loses a lot of money. Now desperate, she takes a second job as a dance partner for lonely, middle-aged men. When Ian finds out, he feels guilty. He sneaks into the dance studio and secretly bribes men to give Susan big tips. Susan is grateful, but she rebuffs the gesture. Finally, Oliver arrives and dances with her. She admits that she doesn't want to be dependent on him and that she cannot pay for the Tahoe trip. Oliver is happy--he confesses that he can't ski anyway; he j
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1022 votes
#15 - I Love You
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 6/6/2000
While Susan believes that she and Oliver love each other, she obsesses over his apparent inability or lack of desire to say the three magic words -- ""I love you"" -- despite his grand attempts to express his feelings in other ways. Elsewhere, Ian is deflated when the first bottles of wine from his vineyard yield nothing more than a thick intoxicating syrup. And no one knows this more than Miranda and Luis, whose unlikely flirtation is further complicated when they sample Ian's vintage.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/1022 votes
#16 - The Break Up
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 6/13/2000
Susan worries that she might be pregnant, but her fear eases when boyfriend Oliver suggests that they move in together -- and then unloads a bombshell that has Susan still reeling the day after. At the same time, Ian exults when he learns that his money-grubbing ex-wife plans to re-marry and spare him of his financial commitment.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/1022 votes
#17 - Girls Night Out
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 6/20/2000
Ian and Nate have romantic designs on Susan, who is suddenly single after dumping Oliver. Meanwhile, Susan and the girls get rowdy at a male strip club.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.3/1024 votes
#18 - The Bird in the Wall
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 6/27/2000
As Susan and Oliver go through withdrawals in the wake of their aborted romance, he offers her a parting gift -- a talking cockatoo -- who soon flies the coop and gets haplessly stuck in The Gate's venting system, where he creates a squawking uproar. Meanwhile, a vengeful Vicki and Luis conspire to embarrass Ian at his lavish party by inviting his former British band mates from his 1960s stint as a lead singer of a one hit wonder pop group.
Director: Gordon Hunt
Writer: N/A
- 6.3/1025 votes
#19 - Susan and the Professor
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 12/26/2000
Oliver and Susan are still not dating. After an embarrassing incident at her college alma mater, Susan becomes enamored with her handsome former English professor, Evan, who lovingly critiques her writing. Susan's burgeoning relationship with Evan makes Oliver jealous. Although he has his own sexy date, Oliver becomes obsessed with Susan both at work and elsewhere.
Director: Roger Christiansen
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/1024 votes
#20 - The Reversal
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 12/26/2000
To sow the seeds of reconciliation with Susan, Oliver has his vasectomy reversed. Meanwhile, Ian seeks Miranda's advice about dating black women.
Director: N/A
Writer: Joel H. Cohen
- 6.2/1030 votes
#21 - The Finale (1)
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 12/26/2000
In Part 1 of the series finale, Susan feels torn between Oliver's marriage proposal and a glamorous New York job offer.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: Rob Lotterstein
- 6.4/1033 votes
#22 - The Finale (2)
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 12/26/2000
In the conclusion of the series finale, Susan may leave a man at the altar---again---when Oliver stands in the way of her career.
Director: Andrew Tsao
Writer: Rob Lotterstein
The Best Episodes of Suddenly Susan Season 4
Every episode of Suddenly Susan Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Suddenly Susan Season 4!
Suddenly Susan is an American television sitcom. Shields plays Susan Keane, a glamorous San Francisco magazine writer who begins to adjust to being single, and...
Genre:Comedy
Network:NBC
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"The New Gate" is the best rated episode of "Suddenly Susan" season 4. It scored 7.2/10 based on 27 votes. Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel and written by Mark Driscoll, it aired on 9/20/1999. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Luis Gets His Groove Back".