Stranger Things (Season 4 Vol. 1) Review By Josh Davis : Pop Culture Leftovers

Stranger Things (Season 4 Vol. 1) Review By Josh Davis

June 5, 2022 11:34 am |

The first season of “Stranger Things” was a landmark release for Netflix. The retro 1980s look and feel, that iconic soundtrack, and the chemistry of the young cast was a zeitgeist moment that both captivated audiences and launched scores of imitators.

Seasons two and three could never possibly live up to what the first season accomplished in terms of resetting the television landscape and helping to make Netflix a household name. However, both follow-up seasons had their moments.

Outside of a now infamous misstep when a certain super-powered character visits another city in a clunky homage to the 1979 film “The Warriors,” seasons two and three furthered the plot, maintained that strong cast chemistry, and introduced several new players — all while bathing in the warm glow of 1980s nostalgia.

Season four had a lot to live up to, along with the challenges of pandemic shutdowns, and satiating audiences that had gone without “Stranger Things” since 2019.

Series creators The Duffer Brothers came back by breaking the mold of 45-minute storytelling and releasing seven new episodes that range from 64 to 100 minutes in length — essentially seven feature-length movies.

The long hiatus — and an at least six-month shutdown in filming caused by the pandemic — means some of the young cast that were 11 and 12 in the first season are now in their early 20s. At least two of them now appear about seven feet tall.

But, how is it? The short answer is, season four captures all of the magic — and horror — of the best parts of the series.

In classic sequel storytelling fashion, our heroes are now split up. The Byers family, and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), moved to California at the end of season three, after their small town of Hawkins was once again engulfed in a supernatural bloodbath — which was apparently covered up by the government as a Soviet operation.

Hopper (David Harbour) is presumed dead, but actually trapped in a Soviet prison, and the rest of the core group are split into competing social groups — that classic jocks versus nerds battle as old as time itself.

There’s a scene near the end of the first episode where the action pivots between Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Erica’s (Priah Ferguson) epic final Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and Lucas’ (Caleb McLaughlin) championship basketball game, and it’s a truly awesome and fist-pumping moment at both ends. The tension and release created by the Duffer Brothers is exquisite.

The Duffer Brothers continue to prove that they know horror, this time unleashing a new big bad in Vecna, a nightmarish subterranean being that feeds on the trauma of the young people in Hawkins, leaving them gutted, gored and disfigured. The aftermath is evocative of Japanese horror classic like “Ju-On” and “Ringu.”

Brown, especially, gets a lot to chew on in season four. At the outset, her powers are gone and she’s being severely bullied by classmates in California. She’s a strange kid who literally grew up in a lab and was raised as a science experiment, so it’s no surprise that she would struggle in an American high school — possibly the single most frightening place on earth.

As the season progresses, Eleven has to figure out the secrets of her origin and rediscover her powers. There’s a lot of shades of “X-Men” in her story, and Brown continues to be a captivating focal point of the show, perhaps turning in her best work yet in season four.

We also get an engaging side quest to the Soviet Union, as Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) journey to rescue Hopper and encounter all manner of literal and figurative Soviet roadblocks. Gelman is a standout, again turning in strong comedy work — and also becoming an unlikely action star.

And the music! The original score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein continues to be absolutely iconic, and this season Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” gets interwoven in the plot in a way that’s already given the classic song a new life.

Season four is, in a word, epic. Almost every returning cast member has something interesting to do in terms of action and character growth. Maya Hawke is a scene stealer as Robin, and Joe Keery just gets better and better as Steve, a character who went from heel to unlikely hero in season one.

Vecna is also a chillingly menacing villain, and there are moments when the audience will fear for some of their favorite characters. It’s also the first time the big bad gets a real back story in the series, and that’s one of the most interesting and engrossing parts of season four.

The Duffer Brothers continue to deliver with part one of Stranger Things season four, leaving the audience with a cliffhanger and a big reveal that’s the ultimate tease for what’s to come.

The two-episode finale of Stranger Things season four is set to release on Netflix on July 1.

PCL Rating: Tuppeware

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH

Review by Josh Davis