STRANGER THINGS – SEASON 4 (2022) – Another unmissable humdinger of a season!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
It’s been three long years since the last season of Stranger Things and so much have happened since then. I meant so much have happened in our world, not in the world of Stranger Things. If you are anything like me, chances are you would have forgotten many of the details in the previous seasons which would definitely be a hindrance to enjoying this new season fully. My humble advice is to either rewatch the previous seasons all over again (which would require a considerable amount of time), or just watch any of the recap summaries of previous seasons which are easily available in YouTube. This would help refresh your memory on who’s who in the series and the background story.
Season 4 starts of a bit slow and underwhelming. I guess it was partly because it needed to establish where everybody is and what they are doing since the previous episodes. Once the main plot picks up, and we have gotten over the shock of seeing how some of its younger cast members have grown since the last seasons, we are back in for the ride that is so uniquely Stranger Things! Despite the obvious throw back and inspiration and ideas from movies from the 1980’s, Stranger Things still comes across as something that is unique and original. A large part of this credit goes to the series’ creators, the Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross Duffer). All the wonderfully colourful, funny, and unique characters caught in this amazing adventure which is a combination of science fiction and horror, feels like a potpourri of all the great movies of the 1980’s. And yet, still being unique enough to keep surprising us with its plot.
Season 4 is a treat for Stranger Things fan in more ways than one. Firstly, each episode is over an hour long making it feel almost like a feature length episode. In fact the season finale has a whooping running time of over 2 hours!! Secondly, the season is unusual in that many of its characters are not in the same location. In fact there are three groups separated and each having their own adventure dealing with the consequences of the reappearance of disturbances form the upside down world and its monsters. So what we have are three story lines running parallel. Additionally, we also have a crucial flashback sequence involving Eleven when she was still in the science laboratory practicing her mind powers. All the loveable regular characters in the series are back, and we even have some new faces who are equally quirky and memorable. This includes, Argyle the pizza delivery friend of Jonathan, Eddie, the falsely accused murderer who is a member of the nerds club that our kids are a part of, and Vecna, the new villain / monster. There was also a wonderful cameo by Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare On Elm Street series) as a survivor from an early attack by the villain.
Overall the performances were as usual excellent. Once again, it was great seeing Winona Ryder as a major character and she is well matched with David Harbour. Here she exhibits contrasting behaviour to perfection. She is funny, as well as sensitive, quirky but smart, frightened yet brave. It’s a dream role for a character actress to play. But then again, her character is not the only one that stands out. In Stranger Things, practically everybody has a juicy part of play and have their moments.
Another thing I like about Stranger Things is that they always end each season with a proper closure that ties up all the loose ends within the season. This is unlike the typical American series which would end each season with multiple cliff hangers. I understand that there will be one more final season in the series and this season’s finale ends with something unsettling in the unfortunate town of Hawkins which sets the stage for the final season. Something definitely to look forward to.
