One part of the Stranger Things franchise that’s always left me slightly frustrated was how little we knew about exactly what the Upside Down was. It threw us right into a bizarre supernatural threat in the first season without detailing its origins, and for the first three chapters, the focus has been on establishing the various characters in Hawkins, Indiana, and how they respond to and develop to these horrifying creatures that want to eat them for some mysterious reason. This fourth season thankfully tries to rectify that, going into Eleven’s origins and how her relationship with Dr. Banner led to the present-day (or “present-day 1986” as it were).
The gang may be split, but it’s still never a dull moment for them. Invading soviets, eldritch abominations and an entire mall being destroyed was just a preview for them. Mille Bobby Brown puts on her usual strong performance as Eleven while she tries to settle down in California, looking forward to a visit from Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) along with the Byers brothers ((Noah Schnapp and Charlie Heaton) at the skating rink. She’s still getting accustomed to not having her powers active, wanting to use them on a nasty group of bullies but being unable to.
This is unfortunate, as Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) is back and he wants to help Eleven reactivate her abilities which she; ‘ll need because a new malevolent force is going after kids back in Hawkins. And as there’s a Dungeons & Dragons controversy swirling around the media orbits, the blame’s fallen on Dustin and Lucas’s new D&D club and the friends they’ve made in it.
The misfit club leader and frequent grade-repeater Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) has become suspect number one, and their devilish name is not helping matters, fueling rumors of satanic killings. Along with their friends Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas’s sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) Nancy Wheeler )Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), and Robin (Maya Hawke), they’re out to stop whatever this new threat is and clear Munson’s name. Without spoiling much, all I’ll say is that Eddie is definitely a character that will leave you wanting more of him after the season’s over, as he’s got a couple of memorable standout scenes. Gaten Matarazzo and Quinn have some damn funny chemistry together.
There’s still plenty of heat back in Cali though, with the mysterious Lt. Col. Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) tracking Eleven down, considering her highly dangerous. Jonathan’s new stoner friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco) has plenty of quips and jokes to hopefully add some levity to the situation, but even he can’t help but panic some as bullets are flying past them. Meanwhile, Hopper’s trapped in a Russian prison, and Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Belman) are off to help him escape before he and the other prisoners are fed to a Demogorgon, if their sleazy pilot Yuri (Nikola Duricko) doesn’t screw everything up.
Since the beginning of the show, Stranger Things has contained a number of nods to Stephen King, particularly in how nasty some of the bully characters can be. This season turns it up into overdrive, with the jock kids and their gradually more violent anger towards the Hellfire Club to the point of homicidal thoughts. Mason Dyon’s performance as Jason is hella intense, I need to check him out in more stuff now.
If this new season’s had at least one notable achievement, it’s finally giving an actual malevolent personality to all of the chaos behind the Upside Down. The Stranger Kids aren’t fighting just generic creatures, there’s an individual with a clear plan in action, specifically stating that he wants Hawkins to burn to the ground. Credit goes to Campbell-Bower for an engaging performance both inside and out of some creepy makeup. (Now as to why Vecna’s picked up a legion of fangirls online, I haven’t the foggiest. Like I know there were some out there who were thirsting for Voldemort, but seriously, what do you see in this particular freako?)
Another accomplishment would be some decent character development with our heroes as well. Mike learns to be more open and honest with his feelings towards Eleven, while El for her part finally gets to tell Dr. Brenner exactly what she thinks of him. Nancy and Robin have some cute moments together, and Hopper is less Magnum P.I. this season and more Lt. Murtagh, he’s seen some shit and he’s getting too old. Also on a minor note, the 1980s pop culture references continue, and I marked out when the camera showed Erica’s Secret of NIMH poster.
The storyline with Lucas and Max is pretty gripping, and I’ll say it’s helped that Kate Bush song pop off on the charts for good reason. The scene itself is easily one of the more memorable from this season, so I’m not shocked as to why it went viral.
Joyce is her usual determined self, while Murray significantly went up a few levels in badassery. Also, fans have been speculating for a while about Will’s feelings towards Mike, and in season 4 Will hasn’t flat out confessed his thoughts yet but it’s gradually being built up towards that conclusion. Noah Schnapp has already confirmed Will is gay, so the El-Mike-Will dynamic is very likely to be a major element of the final season. Jonathan has a sweet bonding moment with Will over this, showing that his buddy Argyle (who’s a solid comic relief addition to the cast) hasn’t gotten him so smoked out he can’t be there for his little bro.
What I really liked about this entry was how it’s gotten the plot moving. There was more of a focus on worldbuilding and it was done in a fashion where the story wasn’t dragging or stalling. Add on the usual strong and emotive performances from the cast, as they’ve got to be pretty close and invested in these characters after so long, and it’s not surprising why Stranger Things’ fourth season has been the biggest challenger to Squid Game’s Netflix viewing record yet. With what they’ve set up for the fifth concluding season, who knows how many eyes the streaming network can get?
But what were your thoughts on it? Let us know your take on it at FAN’s social media spots!