The Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things is returning with its fourth and penultimate season to serve you more ’80s nostalgia but it has more in store than just that. The last season ended with the Battle of Starcourt, which saw Jim Hopper die (but was later shown to be alive), Joyce moving out of Hawkins, Indiana with Jonathan, Will and Eleven and the rest of the group- Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Max stay back. The epic ride of the fourth season begins with the teenagers navigating their lives and it is not easy for them as they are separated for the first time. Eleven, without her powers, find it difficult to adjust to her new school and life in California and is bullied constantly, and Will is no help. Jonathan has found a new friend in Argyle (Eduardo Franco), who is also a new addition to the series.
Back at Hawkins, Lucas is having a tough time balancing between his ‘nerd’ circle and the group of jocks and Mike and Dustin have found more nerd friends – the Hellfire Club. Max is suffering from the trauma of his stepbrother Billy’s death. Meanwhile, Joyce receives a parcel and a phone call from Russia indicating that Jim Hopper is alive, and along with Murray, she tries to investigate the matter. Once again, the characters are divided into several groups and despite being on different routes, they have one common destination.
Amid these different plot points, new challenges and a much bigger threat from the Upside-Down are lurking in the corner.
The tone for the fourth season is set from the first episode itself, which is titled The Hellfire Club. With the kids grown up, the story has also taken a darker, bloodier turn. Mysterious deaths begin to happen in Hawkins again, and people are convinced that the town is cursed. This time the threat is Vecna, a demon who can speak and has a mind of his own. The season seemingly gives an ode to various cult classics- A Nightmare on Elm Street being one of them.
Unlike the Demogorgons or the Mind Flayers from the previous seasons, Vecna can kill from his realm. Whenever he encounters his victims, they go into a trance, much like the victims of Freddy Krueger.
The first seven episodes, which comprise the first volume of the season, show the Hawkins group-Steve, Nancy, Robin, Eddie, Dustin and Lucas- trying to find out what’s the deal with Vecna, while Joyce tries to rescue Hopper. Eleven, on the other hand, is trying to regain her powers and she is alone on this not so pleasant journey. As the Hawkins group try to come closer to Vecna, Eleven figures out what gave birth to him and also the Upside-Down.
Blood and gore are not the only new thing or highlights of the series and Robin and Nancy’s newfound friendship is the thing to look out for. With Jonathan away from her and them wanting different things, Nancy again finds herself drawn toward Steve but her flirtatious looks at her ex-boyfriend are overpowered by the awkward yet badass moments she has with Robin.
The show moves away from the initial innocence by introducing more complications, drama, thrill and horror, but the essence is not lost. The government chasing Eleven, the fight between the Americans and the Russians and the camaraderie between the characters remind us of the previous season. The new characters, Joseph Quinn and Eduardo Franco bring a fresh breath of air into the series with their shenanigans and gesture. It is also refreshing to see Winona Ryder come out of the wailing mother phase of hers and fight adamantly to save her old friend.
Another major change is the runtime of the show, which will make you mistake the episodes as standalone feature films, but when we have around nine narratives going on, the runtime ends up seeming less.
However, one thing remains visually jarring. There is a clear age difference between the actors and their characters. While only six months have passed in the story, real-life has seen a gap of three years and in this time, the main group of actors have grown up and it obviously shows. It becomes difficult to pass them off as teens although they try to fit into that shoe.
Nevertheless, with the fourth season, the writers have not played safe and taken up risks that could either make the show or break it. The seven episodes of volume one did not answer all the previous questions, which only makes the anticipation of the second volume higher. One can only pray that The Duffer Brothers do not go the Game of Thrones way with the second half of the penultimate season and the final one.
The first volume of Stranger Things season 4 will premiere on Netflix on May 27, followed by the second volume which will drop on July 1.
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