Stranger Things: Season 4

   

Created by: The Duffer Brothers

Executive Producers: The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Cindy Holland, Brian Wright, Matt Thunell, Karl Gajdusek, Iain Paterson, Curtis Gwinn

Starring: Winona Ryder (Joyce), David Harbour (Chief Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Sadie Sink (Max), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve), Maya Hawke (Robin), Brett Gelman (Murray), Priah Ferguson (Erica), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Joseph Quinn (Eddie)

and honorable mention to Logan Riley Bruner (Fred) because I loved his performance!

Okay so can we talk about how perfect this series is? 

Not "season." Series. 

I'm just blown away by everything. Writing. Acting. VFX. Scale. Differing plotlines coming together. 60+ minute episodes remaining engaging the whole way. Perfect character growth. Large cast that remains interesting. Previous seasons becoming more relevant. Taking concepts from season 1 that actually explaining them. Soundtrack. Did I mention acting? 

I agree with the popular internet opinion that Max was the breakout performance this season. I also thought Erica, Nancy, Eleven, and Steve were exceptional. And Fred, as I mentioned above; his brief shine in episode 2 really caught my attention and I was very sad to see him immediately killed off. 

I can't help that I loved Fred and Nancy's investigative duo! 

I'll dive into everything further by saying that season 3 was actually my least favorite. I didn't like Erica in that season; I thought her outspoken sass was annoying because she didn't know what she was doing and she was kind of getting in the way. Seasons 2 and 3 kind of blur together so I don't remember exactly what happened when, but I also didn't like Chief Hopper in either of those seasons because he was overbearing, jerkish, and arrogant to Eleven and Joyce. Season 3 also brought in a third character, Max's brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) who was so intolerable that I sometimes muted his scenes. 

But this season "fixed" all of that, brought on new and better characters, and continued the excellent world-building. Hopper finally redeemed himself (in my mind) by going through the very harrowing experience of a Russian prison camp. Billy martyred himself in the third season finale and I was happy that Max got the opportunity this season to process the devastation of losing her brother while also acknowledging that he had made her life miserable when he was alive. The best part was what they did with Erica: I never thought Erica's confidence and sass were inherently bad, and this season, they put it to much better use. Now that she actually knew the ropes from season 3, she was able to assert her usefulness with confidence. She became a no-nonsense go-getter who provided quick solutions and didn't deal with anyone's incompetence. I especially loved how she verbally slapped down Eddie and Jason (Mason Dye, a minor antagonist this season) when they patronized her based on her age. 

Just some shots of our heroes preparing for battle and getting things done!

One thing I wasn't such a fan of this season is how they split up the entire group. All the characters were in very different places doing very different things the entire season and even in the finale battle, they took on different battles that only aided each other based on the Mindflayer's hivemind. Still, the Duffer Brothers pulled it off very well. Each different plotline was very engaging and they all tied together effectively. 

Joyce and Murray go on a fairly ridiculous adventure to Alaska and Russia to save Hopper

I really appreciated how this season took time to go into different character's pasts and process the plethora of trauma that they're dealing with. I'm mostly referring to Max and Eleven, and in the latter's case, this also really helped explain Eleven's origins--and how she's tied into the origin of the Upside-Down in Hawkins and this season's villain, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). This served to really tied the first three seasons into series continuity. A lot of plots that had felt standalone, like Will's possession in season 1 and the demo-dogs in the first few seasons, were explained in the context of a much larger plot. That was great because so many shows seem to leave early season plots behind as writers gain firmer, series-long footing. 

Eleven forced to confront her history with One (also Bower) in some very powerful scenes

Fan-favorite scene when Max is possessed and forced to confront her trauma

Season 5 is supposed to be the last and I couldn't be more excited about it. Season 4 has very effectively tied all of the previous seasons' loose ends together and prepared everything for a concise final-season battle. All characters are accounted for and ready for battle in ways they weren't necessarily before, and the plot has been effectively explained in a way that prepares the final season to simply solve things.