After the hiatus of 3 years, Netflix is back with Stranger Things Season 4, and splitting the sprawling mega season into two volumes for easy consumption of the fans. The show is bigger in scale and story this season compared to previous installments. Below is the detailed and explained plot and review of Stranger Things.
WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for the series
Rating – ★★★★
A sprawling adventure epic that’s thrilling for the most part despite being sluggish at times
Stranger Things 4 Explained
The fourth season of Stranger Things picks up six months after the events of Season 3, the battle of Starcourt and the aftermath had led the parting of the group in the previous season, so the gang is scattered across the country. The California story line involves Eleven living with the Byers family and struggling to fit into school life while facing constant bullying from her classmates. Her lose of powers make things worse for her. Jonathan has a new friend called Argyle, with whom he usually spends time smoking weed. Argyle also owns a Pizza delivery van, which is basically the pickup truck for Will and Eleven to go to school.
Meanwhile in Hawkins, the relationship between Lucas with Dustin and Mike is strained due to his focus on Basket Ball tournaments while the latter were much interested to play D&D in the Hellfire Club under the new wacky leader, Eddie, a new addition to the cast who becomes a beloved character by the end of this Volume 1. There’s also Max, who broke up with Lucas and struggling with grief and depression after Billy’s death. Finally there’s Steve and Robin working in a video store this season and Nancy now is a reporter to the town newspaper who tries to solve the murder mystery by joining the rest of the gang.
A new monster called Vecna soon starts killing the teens in Hawkins in a brutal manner, leaving the small town cops without a clue. Soon the secret military authorities get wind of it and try to find Eleven, as they suspect her to be the cause of the killings. Joyce gets a message from Hopper, who’s alive and stuck in Russia, enduring the torture of the Soviets. She teams up with Murray Bowman and through some misadventures they go to Russia and manages to free him.
Mike who travels to California to meet Eleven finds out the troubles she’s facing, though their relationship feels bumpy with conflicting mindsets. Soon Dr. Owens tracks down Eleven and attempts to help her gain her powers back in order to beat the supernatural killer, leaving the others in California embark on a road trip to escape from the U.S military and trying to contact Eleven and Owens.
The rest of the gang in Hawkins unite to find the reasons behind the murders and were able to save Max just in time in a ludicrous method as cure, before finding an entry gate into the world of upside down once again. Vol.1 ends with Eleven getting her powers back. Jonathan and others on road to Nevada to pick her up after finding her location through Dustin’s girlfriend Suzie. Hopper surviving a Demigorgen that the Soviets were able to capture to feed the prisoners as snacks, and finally meeting Joyce. As for the Hawkins gang, Steve and Nancy were still trapped in the Upside Down, while the latter, under the spell of Vecna comes across learning his origins at the same time as Eleven finds out about the truth of the foe she’s about to face, through visiting her repressed memories of Dr. Brenner’s lab. Season 4 Volume 1 at the end sets up high stakes for showdown between Eleven and Vecna.
How Exactly is Stranger Things Season 4?
Season 4 Volume 1 of Stranger Things is overstuffed and over-packed, but still manages to enthrall the fans at the end. The hour-long episodes feel drawn-out and draggy in some parts and the editing could have been better. However, the show picks up steam with episode 4, titled as Dear Billy, that showcases the powerhouse acting performance of Sadie Sink, which is worthy of an Emmy nomination this year.
Along with Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke also shines as Robin with an expanded screen-time from last season. The finale with multiple twists ties all the story arcs together except for two, and sets up the grand finale of this season Volume 2 that premieres on July 1. The villain of this season is more formidable and scary with a great origin story that ties the whole season 4 Vol.1 to the first season of Stranger Things in the grand scheme of things regarding the creation of Upside Down Dimension. The show also is more scary than ever as the kids are basically teens now in an horror movie. The new characters like Argyle and Eddie were fun and likable.
My Personal Take
If you loved the previous seasons of Stranger Things, this season will hook you from the start and scare you like never before. This season is also very long with each episode feeling like a movie of its own in style and production quality, and slow-paced in unfolding some arcs. For general audience who found Stranger Things previous seasons to be repetitive, the show takes a wild turn this year and it almost feels like a reboot with new characters and plot lines, expanding the scope of the story across a larger canvas. You can easily give it a shot.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 trailer has already been leaked and you can watch it here.
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