Stranger Things S4, Part 1 Review: The Best Yet?

Platform: Netflix

Release Date: May 27, 2022

It was July 4, 2019 when a special group of kids from the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana last graced our screens and fought against the Mind Flayer at Starcourt Mall. For those endeared to these characters and their story, anticipation could only grow as we finally neared the season 4 debut. In the time between, we learned from the show's creators, the Duffer brothers, that the show would end with season five, further raising the stakes as this then became the penultimate season. With that, there also came a split season and jumbo-sized episodes, with the first seven episodes averaging about an hour and 15 minutes each (prior to this, only the season 2 and 3 finales broke the hour mark). The episodes were definitely long enough to explore enough of the story to feel satisfied at each conclusion, while never feeling too long, and mostly maintained a good sense of momentum throughout.

Leaning heavily into horror elements with its darker tone, layered mental anguish, and body gore, season four really stands out in the best ways. It captures the sense that the story is not afraid to mature with its characters and its audience. Most notably, the story homages “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” with its antagonist not only baring a minor resemblance to Freddy Krueger, but also striking his victims through a dream-like state. Removing the strong horror influences and the story still excentuates maturity through its treatment of trauma, bullying, guilt, and acceptance, though its only scratched the surface on that last one. But, as the show has become popular for, there is plenty of Lite-Brite, Blockbuster, and roller rinks to tickle your nostalgia bone and deliver a more warm and fuzzy experience.

This season faced the biggest storytelling challenge in that this is the first season that would have to deal with the ensemble of characters separated from each other. This show thrived on the blend of characters, their friendship, and their interactions with the strange occurrences in their town. The new status quo fractured the season into three separate storylines that spanned across California, Indiana, and Russia. The benefit of having such long episodes is that considerable time could be spent fleshing out all of the various plot threads.

As Hawkins experiences a new deadly threat from the Upside Down, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Nancy, Steve, and Robin investigate mysterious teenager deaths by an evil figure codenamed Vecna. With Max directly facing the threat of death, the group discovers that Hawkins experienced a very similar event in 1959 with the family of Victor Creel tragically being killed and his claiming that a demon did it. Add that to the show's homage to the historical ramifications of Satanic Panic and these tragedies leave Hawkins a town divided. Catching up with Eleven, who moved to California with Joyce (Winona Ryder), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), her character is given an arc that feels oddly familiar. After finding a sense of identity last season, she has returned to being an outcast and is being bullied at her new school. When Eleven is approached by Dr. Owens and offered a chance at regaining her powers, she takes it, as he expressed his concern about the growing situation in Hawkins. Lastly, the third plot thread sees Joyce reunite with Murray after she receives a clue that Hopper is still alive and stuck in a Russian camp. Lugging around $40,000, she and Murray leave for Alaska as part of Hopper's escape plan, though a betrayal leaves them to take his rescue into their own hands.

Needless to say, there is a lot going on in these initial seven episodes and each storyline carries the tone of a different genre. The most enjoyable storyline belongs to that of the Hawkins crew whose horror-mystery is consistently engaging. It does not hurt that it is the only place where Vecna and his terrorizing ways are experienced, thus being the one narrative where the greatest stakes are raised. There is a lot of focus on Max, who fills the shoes of the sympathetic victim that was long held by Eleven, but with an angst that Sadie Sink masterfully portrays. The break in seasons diluted the Max storyline simply due to the long separation from her difficult life, leaving the weight and emotional tone put on her character feeling unwarranted at first. A testament to the young actor's performance is how much she still draws you in to her broken will and forces you to sympathize with her. Adding to the quality of this plot is the Dustin/Steve bromance, which I will admit I never really swooned over as much as the masses appeared to, however, that has changed this season. The real surprise here, though, is how organically Maya Hawke's Robin blends into the narrative as though her entertaining querkiness has been a mainstay across all four seasons. This entire plot captures how important the town of Hawkins is to the series, similar to how integral Gotham is to a Batman story.

The weakest of these sub-narratives belongs to Hopper's Russian entrapment and the attempted rescue by the dynamic duo of Joyce and Murray. This roadtrip comedy included an ill-placed false climax that, while unsuspecting, was clearly used to simply extend the storyline. Every episode balanced how it shifted between storylines well enough to always find newfound momentum, but this story is where most of the season was its slowest. There is no real bearing on the main Vecna-led narrative here, thus serving as a true side mission. Murray still shines in some of the show's funniest moments and Hopper is still as likeable as ever. The audience's drive for him to be reunited with Eleven and the Hawkins crew is strong, there is just not much intrigue to be found here otherwise.

Lastly, finding itself oddly stuck in between these narratives is the sci-fi thriller of Eleven's journey back into her memories. This plot becomes a bit frustrating with the lack of explanation and the seeming inconsistencies with this version of Eleven and her previously established origins. There is a lot left unexplained about the process Eleven is undergoing and what exactly she has to achieve to regain her powers. With that, the flashbacks we see as Eleven relives a memory of what we are led to believe hides a dark secret about her development, has the character acting much different, particularly in how often she speaks. The tug-of-war between the different extremes of Eleven's character is very jarring, beginning with the retaliation against her bully in California and ending with the ambiguity of what she did/did not do to other children in the laboratory. If I did not know better, I would say the show wants us to start disliking Eleven. This narrative is intriguing on its own, presenting its own set of mysteries to be discovered, but it becomes its most integral in the part one finale.

Episode seven was an amazing piece of storytelling that finally gives some explanation to the origins of this season's threat. The obvious expectation of the characters reuniting in Hawkins to fight against Vecna looms overhead from before you even begin the first episode, but what comes as a surprise, is how the show wraps up the information that has been gathered regarding Vecna himself. The show needed some form of climax to build up to the final two episodes and it surely delivered that in tying up what appeared to be separative plot elements through the first six episodes. It conjured a newfound weight into what felt like singular character developments and minor story points, leading to this history lesson about the laboratory experiments, the Victor Creel story, the Upside Down, and Vecna himself. The first few episodes feel like driving on a bumpy road and hitting the occsional speed bump, but while blasting your favorite songs. Even with a lot of smart edits in how the stories are transitioned between and paralleled to each other, it does take the latter part of the season to truly smooth out some of the season's weak points. What is not weak, though, is the build and hype to the finale of this season and July just can not come soon enough.

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RATING: 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃. 5 / 5

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