It's been close to three years since the last season of Stranger Things. The mall-centric third volume left things on a bittersweet note: Hawkins had been saved and Eleven would finally get to live a normal life, but she, Will, Jonathan, and Joyce would have to relocate to California. On top of that, it seemed like Hopper had been killed, and Max had lost Billy to the Mind Flayer. Now, fans finally get to return to Hawkins to see where the story goes next, and it is to some truly dark places.
The first volume of Stranger Things season 4 may be the most ambitious, brutal, and overloaded the show has ever been. It was already made clear that these latest episodes would be some of the longest the show has ever done (with the upcoming season finale clocking in at two and a half hours), and it's not always clear if this much time was actually needed. Even still, Stranger Things remains as endearing as ever.
The story picks up just before spring break of 1986. Mike and Dustin are still partaking in their nerdy pastimes (specifically Dungeons and Dragons), while Lucas has found a new niche by joining the high school basketball team. Meanwhile, Max is still dealing with the grief of losing Billy, and it appears that she and Lucas have almost completely lost touch. On the west coast, Will and Eleven (now going by her real name, Jane) are struggling with school, though Eleven is definitely having a harder time. Luckily, Mike is headed out for a visit during the break, but he's unaware of the bullying Eleven has had to face at school. Her current troubles are also darkened by a vicious flashback to when she was still in the care of Dr. Brenner.
This being Stranger Things, it doesn't take long for supernatural events to take place. The community is rocked by the death of a Hawkins High student, and the blame is quickly laid on the local outcast Eddie Munson. However, the real culprit is a powerful entity from the upside down, who is given the moniker Vecna (the name of a powerful D&D character mentioned in the premiere). Meanwhile, Joyce receives a mysterious package from Russia revealing that Hopper is alive, leaving her and Murray to figure out how to find him and bring him back home.
The story builds out much more from there, revealing one of the only big weaknesses from this season. Many of the main characters spend too much time apart. While Mike, Will, and Eleven are on the west coast, Dustin and Max are left to work with Steve and Robin to figure out what's going on. That's not even mentioning Nancy and Jonathan, whose long-distance relationship is only mentioned in passing, but mostly falls by the wayside. If anything, the two seem to only serve the purpose of helping to develop other characters. In Nancy's case, it's adding some more dimension to Robin, who is written as more neurodivergent this season. For Jonathan, it's introducing a brand new character, California stoner Argyle, into the mix.
Stranger Things also still has a lot of trouble figuring out what to do with Will. Noah Schnapp gives a fine performance, but all of his lines of dialogue could likely fit on one script page. It's too bad, because the third season seemed to hint at some more development for the character. There was speculation that Will would come out as gay, and even if that wasn't the case, it would be nice to see him grow and come out of his shell a little bit more, especially when it comes to his relationship with Mike.
This is all in spite of the fact that these are the longest episodes that the show has ever produced. With only one entry coming in at under an hour and ten minutes, it's a lot to take in. It doesn't always feel like the extended runtimes are justified, but one thing the show does well is keeping everything moving at a solid clip. The pacing of these episodes is the real accomplishment, as nothing feels unnecessary and there isn't a single moment that feels like it goes on too long.
Credit is due to the editing on this season, which is snappy and stylish, but never ostentatious. The same goes for the direction of the series, with fantastic visual work from Shawn Levy (who most recently directed Ryan Reynolds in The Adam Project), Nimród Antal, and series creators the Duffer Brothers. If there's an opportunity to make even an establishing shot look dynamic, they take it. The budget for each episode of this season was somewhere around $30 million, and none of it seems to have gone to waste.
Even with a few too many plot threads to keep everything streamlined, this season still delivers on what Stranger Things has become known for: sci-fi elements, nostalgia, and just the right amount of cosmic horror sprinkled in. The latter, especially, gets a workout this season. This might be one of the most frightening and brutal season of Stranger Things that fans have ever seen. Without going into too much detail, there's a touch of stylistic influence from The Ring that is truly unsettling, and it lends season 4 an urgency like never before. Fortunately, the show doesn't forget that the characters are the heart of everything, and there are plenty of comedic and emotional beats in between all of the more fantastical stuff that land just right.
While it may be imperfect, it's great to see Stranger Things return, and this season is likely to be hailed as the best one so far. It's hard to believe that a fifth season will be following this one (even if that one is intended to wrap everything up). The show, which has pretty much taken the title of Netflix's flagship program, has gone bigger than it ever has before, and that's saying a lot for something that has pushed the boundaries of television for so long. The wait has been long, but the good news is that it was worth it.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 premieres on Netflix on May 27.