Stranger Things 4 was a return to form for the Netflix series, bringing together threads and teases form the previous seasons to set up a final showdown in Hawkins, Indiana. But the season had its flaws, and some people flat-out didn't like it. We give our take on what worked, what didn't and what we can expect in Season 5.

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Written and Hosted by Ryan Arey (  / ryanarey  )
Edited by Ryan Arey, Srinidhi Rao, and Sean Martin
Featuring:
Adam Lance Garcia (  / adamlancegarcia  )
Heather Antos: (  / heatherantos  )

To talk about why I liked season 4 so much, I gotta talk about why I did not like season 3. It;s not a bad season of TV. I love these characters, and there were some really compelling character arcs and those fun 80s references. Like, everything with Eleven and max–great. But the Russian stuff did not work for me.

Doug: Ins;t that basically the entire season.

Yes, that’s basically the entire season. Stranger things 1 and 2 worlds because we were in a fairly normal universe, where one thing was out of place: Hawkins lab. The lab opened a portal, held a super powered kid there. If you grew up in a small town with a mysterious building near it, then maybe you could even relate to the premise of the show.

Season 3 took this basic premise and got wau, way too silly with it. The idea that the Soviet Union could establish a sprawling underground lab under a mall in Indiana, just a few miles from one of the most top secret government labs ever–not believable. Demogorgons I can take, cause that’s weird sci-fi stuff. But the storyline where the mayor of a town of a few thousand people strikes a secret deal with the Evil empire to build a mall–bro.

[that’s just lazy writing]. I loved the new characters like Robin and Alexi, loved seeing the gang come together and all that–but the Russian stuff was too goofball. Plus, the Joyvce Hopper storyline was extremely irritating. The show was trying to mimic the love hate re;ationships of shows like Moonlighting.

This made Hopper seem jealous of Bob, and insiejive about Joyce’s grief. Sothis story dragged down the rest of the show, which undercut his death, which was undercut a few minutes after it happened [not the American].

This storyline also exposed a weird flaw in the show’s structure that has been there since season 1. The kids have to be left alone. They can;t go to the authorities, or tell their parents. And most importantly, Joyce and Hopper have to have a reason to not protect their kids. The kids can;t have an adult support network, or the whole premise collapses.

But this season turned that weakness into a strength. The Russian story seems superfluous on the surface. Like maybe they wrote themselves into a corner with Hopper’s death, and they just had to find a way to write them out of the main story. But actually, this storyline was a key part of this season.

One, it got hopper and joyce away form the kids in a fun, creative way. Two, it brought back Hopper. Three, this was a genuinely fun caper. The season didn;t have much comic relief, but Murray and Yuri brought the laughs. [Murray karate].

I also like that it was drawn out. Escaping from a Russian gulag should be difficult. Hopper’s false start escape shows us how hopeless his situation was, and ,ade me think that maybe they kept him alive just to kill him.

The prison is also a danger that we can understand. Telekinetic and psychic battle with a demon ghost in alternate dimensions is hard to wrap your mind around. So the seasons' grounded conflicts, like the jocks' satanic panic and the russian prison give us human villains we can understand.

It also showed us how good Hopper is in a fight. We know that he served in the military, but up until now he’s been a dumpy small town sheriff. This season elevated dhim to an action hero, which he’ll need to be in the next season. Also, loved when he outsmarted the tough guy russians and organized them into a team. Again, bodes well for season 5.

The final fight with the demogrgans and mind dust was also pretty great, and did a good job with the kids’ final battle.

This also showed us that the evil of the upside down can defeat one of the world’s superpowers. The Russians or the US government can;t save Hawkins–only the main character's can.