"Will," she says, leaning against the doorframe with a look of weary exasperation, "just have the prince fall in love with the hat. It’s concise, it’s dramatic, and most importantly, the King can be back in his chambers for his evening sack-posset in twenty minutes."

Shakespeare’s London lodgings. It is 1605. Will is frantically scrubbing a stain off his ruff while Bottom attempts to "modernize" a quill by attaching a heavy lead weight to it.

Will attempts to perform the "Hat Play" for the King. In a classic Upstart Crow blunder, Bottom accidentally wears the King’s actual ceremonial cloak as a costume, leading to a high-speed chase through the Globe Theatre that Will eventually rebrands as a "new dramatic device called 'Slap-stick.'"

While officially concluded after three seasons and a 2020 Christmas special (titled Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ), fans often refer to the final special or the stage play as a "Season 4" entry.

Back in Stratford, Anne is unimpressed by Will’s "literary immortality" and sends a letter demanding he return home because the roof is leaking and the "great barn" has been infested by particularly literate owls.