Stranger Things: Season Four – Review
I have been enjoying Stranger Things, if for nothing else, the nostalgia. I was in the same general age range in the years depicted. For example, season four takes place in 1986, when I was eighteen.
But nostalgia is not enough to sustain a series. I will admit that I struggled with this season at the beginning.
Part of that is that there were three main plot lines moving in parallel. The cast has grown over the past seasons and instead of one team of young people against the monsters, they were spread out over a number of different adventures. There were times when I felt lost.
However, the writers did a fantastic job of bringing it all together. All of the things, no matter how far apart, were part of the same big story. In fact, this season brought together many of the themes introduced throughout the series and tied them together.
This season was a bit more gruesome than the previous seasons. As the kids begin to grow up, so does the nature of the evil they face. The death of those that Vecna kills was horrifying as their bones were all snapped before their final death.
The best part of the series is that the characters. They have a few seasons under their belt to have developed them and they have done that to great effect. We feel like we know these characters and we care about what happens to them.
This brings me to Eddie Munson. He was my favourite character, partially because my high school years were as a “metalhead.” I feel like I knew Eddie, that he could have easily been at my high school. The iconic scene with him playing Master of Puppets on the guitar in the upside world gave me goose bumps.
One of the fun parts of this season were the frequent but subtle references to Star Wars. The obvious is how Eleven’s power looks like Jedi force activity. But there were other parallels as well. My favourite was when the bad government troops attacked the bunker and it was done almost exactly like the attack on Princess Leia’s ship at the beginning of the original Star Wars movie.
My understanding is that there will be one more season of Stranger Things. That is good as the story needs a conclusion. But I don’t want this to go on forever either. This is the story of a group of kids and the actors who play them are already adults. I hope the series ends on a good note.
Stranger Things is one of those television series that have a story that is worth telling. It could have been just a fun stroll down memory lane but instead has become the story of some kids overcoming their challenges to face down evil. It’s a great story.
