TV Review: 'Stranger Things 4: Volume 1'

 

On May 27^th the long awaited fourth season of Netflix’s 80’s-infused mystery series ‘Stranger Things’ was finally released. Or more rather, part of the season was released. Dubbed ‘Stranger Things 4 Volume 1’, this contained only seven of the nine episodes set to come out. Whilst I can see why some people may find this choice frustrating (no binge watching the entire series in one go) I think there are merits to this decision. For one, it keeps the series in the public conscience for longer, giving everyone more time to discuss the show before those last two episodes drop. This is what I plan to do today by discussing my thoughts on this season so far because, even though the season hasn’t finished yet, there’s still a lot to unpack.

 

Taking place around a year after season 3, this series primarily focuses on the returning ensemble (along with some new faces), as they find themselves against a new threat. This is Vecna, a humanoid monster responsible for a string of murders which he commits by entering his victim’s mind. Throughout the episodes, we see different group members find new information to uncover the origin on this mysterious threat. Overall, I found this main storyline to be very compelling. Whilst Vecna himself wasn’t particularly frightening (feeling like a pastiche of old horror villains) the mystery around him is genuinely interesting. It’s fun to try and piece all the clues together and speculate about who he is. When his identity is finally revealed, it feels fair but shocking, as though you could have guessed parts of the truth, but still be shocked by the full answer, the implications for how this will affect the story going forward are very intriguing. During all of this, there’s a real sense that the series is moving towards a conclusion. Maybe not the conclusion since apparently a fifth season is already being planned, but more rather a major shift in the series’ status quo. Frequently, characters mention an impending final battle, and with Vecna set up as some sort of dark lord of ‘The Upside Down’, it seems we may be reaching this conflict very soon. Furthermore, we’re finally getting answers to lingering questions from whole seasons ago and seeing some characters reach the end of their arcs. This greatly adds to my anticipation for those last two episodes and, so far, I feel this may be one of the strongest main stories the series has offered yet.

 

As hinted at earlier, whilst most of the season is dedicated to the Vecna storyline, this is not the entire focus of the show. Instead, the season splits its cast into four loosely interlinked plots. The first plot sees a selection of the cast investigating Vecna’s origin and skillset, whilst also dealing with rising tensions in the town. Meanwhile, the series lead Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has her own plotline where she must confront her repressed memories of her time as an experiment. This story is closely connected to the plot involving Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will (Noah Schnapp), who find themselves on a journey to reunite with Eleven. The final plotline sees Joyce (Winona Ryder) attempting to free Hopper (David Harbour) from Russian captivity, which so far feels very separate from the other events. For the most part, I thought all these storylines were solid when looked at on their own. The issue is that they don’t really fit together that well. It makes sense to split the cast up a bit, there’s too many of them for them all to stay together, and it’s something the series has done before. But in past seasons it’s felt like everyone was working towards the same objective despite being separated. In this season it just feels cluttered, everyone’s working on very different things, with a good number of characters not even knowing about the main conflict. For me, it feels as though several elements could have been dropped. The most notable example Mike and Will’s storyline, which mostly feels like a footnote to Eleven’s story. This seems the most shocking considering these two characters were amongst the driving forces prior to this, but now they barely impact the plot. However, I can admit I might be jumping to conclusions here, there’s still a chance the last two episodes will bring all these plotlines naturally together. However, this doesn’t change my feeling that, for most of the season, the storyline feels oddly structured and it’s challenging to keep track of where everyone is.

 

I feel like my main reason for this dissatisfaction is because of how it affects the characters. As mentioned earlier, previously important characters like Will and Mike now feel strangely side-lined and aren’t given much time to grow or develop. A bigger example of this is Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), who was my favourite character in the first few seasons, but now mostly exists as a somewhat comedic side character. I mostly bring this up because even if the character dynamics are meant to be secondary to the supernatural mysteries, they remain the high point of the show to me. From Will realising his friends have moved on without him, to Steve (Joe Keery) becoming a father to several teenagers before he’s even twenty, everyone manages to play off each other so brilliantly.

 

This isn’t to say these character moments are gone entirely because there are still plenty. Even if some have less screentime, the others more than make up for it.  The characters are at a very different point in their lives from where we last saw them, with the younger children now being in high school whilst the teenagers are preparing to go to college. This leads into some surprisingly mature character arcs, most notably with Max (Sadie Sink), a character who’s never really been a central figure before. This time, she’s given a solid arc dealing with grief and mental health that becomes the focus of ‘Dear Billy’, which was, in my opinion, the best episode of the season. There are plenty of new relationships this series too, like the surprising friendship between Nancy and Robin two girls who are seemingly nothing alike at first, or the way everyone interacts with Eddie (Joseph Quinn), the theatrical newcomer to the group. These dynamics really help keep these characters feeling alive and fresh. Overall, even if I’m a little dissatisfied with the direction taken for some characters this season, this colourful ensemble remains as much of a delight to watch as they continue to interact and grow.

 

In conclusion, whilst this season of ‘Stranger Things’ has been messy and unfocused in places, it has nonetheless been highly enjoyable through its ability to combine likeable characters with a genuinely intriguing mystery. Overall, the season demonstrates why the show is brought up so often when talking about the many great TV shows that have come out in recent years. I largely feel like most my issues with it will be addressed or resolved in this ‘Volume 2’, and I’ll likely write a follow-up to this when that happens to see if the series manages to stick the landing.