Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 1 Review: Darker And More Mature Season, In Which Quote Horror Is King | Stranger Things 4 Part 1
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown
Creators: The Duffer Brothers
Streaming Platform: Netflix (click to watch)
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4.5/5 (four and half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 1 Review: Three years have passed since the last season of Stranger Things, a series that, like many others, has been paralyzed by the Covid pandemic. However, the creature of The Duffer Brothers does not seem to have suffered for this long time. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the fourth season, and now the wait is over. The series returns to Netflix on May 27 with the first seven episodes, while the remaining two will be released on the platform on July 1. We return to Hawkins, Indiana, in the “cursed” town that has seen a succession of threats over the years. A curse that reminds us of a lot of Buffy’s Sunnydale, and where the Demogorgon has given way to the Mind Flayer. Now the danger from the Upside Down seems to have returned and is embodied in the form of Vecna, a mysterious new enemy who, like the previous ones, bears the name of a famous Dungeons & Dragons villain.
The production of the fourth season of Stranger Things raises the bar, with a series of episodes lasting more than an hour. The visual sector also makes a large leap in quality, and it can be seen from the very first minutes. The series that started the ’80s nostalgia grew together with its young performers, now teenagers. A bit like the Harry Potter saga, the plot has become more adult as a result. Spielberg’s science fiction gives way to a real horror fiction with gore colors, complete with jump scared and citations to the world of horror. Stranger Things has always stood out for its quotation nature, but in the fourth season it takes a further step – already observable from before – and passes to the homage. During the episodes we can see winks at films such as Carrie – The gaze of Satan or Nightmare – From the depth of the night; with the latter, the series establishes a close relationship. But let’s go in order.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 1 Review: The Story
We had left the Stranger Things protagonists at the end of the battle with the Mind Flayer at Starcourt. After the sacrifice of Billy (Dacre Montgomery), the group managed to defeat the monster upside down once and for all. But he was not the only one to sacrifice himself for the success of the plan. Indeed, in the Russian military base below the mall, Hopper (David Harbor) seemed to be losing his life. Except then discovering him alive in the post-credit scene and a prisoner in Russia. But this is knowledge gained only by the public, and not by the characters. Joyce, Will, and Jonathan Byers leave for California with an Eleven now devoid of powers. The group separates, leaving indelible scars that will be difficult to mend. The fourth season restarts exactly six after these events, showing us the quiet life of the characters.
The first episode opens with a large flashback, which takes us back to the origins of the series and to that laboratory where Eleven grew up. This is a clear reference to a certain return to the origins of Stranger Things, to those events that started it all. Past and present merge, creating a link between what will happen and what has already happened. Season 4 brings together the points of Hawkins’ unfortunate events, creating the origin of the curse. In these terms, the new episodes give shape and form to the mythology of the series, expanding the lore of the world created by the Duffer brothers. Four stories, four groups. The first is formed by those who remained in Hawkins, the second by the Byers and the Californian new entries, the third is the one formed by Joyce and Murray in search of Hopper, and finally, the path that will be taken by Eleven.
That of the “separation” into groups is a formula adopted from the beginning by the screenwriters, but here the distance is wide. If before everything we saw was set in Indiana, now the action space is much more extensive. This aspect is both an advantage and a defect of the fourth season. Some storylines seem to work better than others. The weakest and perhaps unrelated to the rest are the ones set in Russia. Finally, everything leads back to the reunion of the characters, but the story of Hopper & co. seems to be the least functional. The problem, perhaps, lies in the expansion of the events which, inexorably, fragment the narrative, a bit like Brandon Stark’s storyline in Game of Thrones. That said, Stranger Things, however, returns in style, and many scenes are a joy to behold.
The actors have grown, and consequently the characters too. Those who were children are now adolescents, and those who were adolescents are now adults. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will tackle the problems of high school in Season 4, dealing with this new world differently. Especially the Sinclair played by Caleb McLaughlin, who tries in every way to free himself from the reputation of nerd loser by joining the basketball team. On the contrary, Mike and Dustin remain true to themselves, joining the Hellfire Club, the D&D group led by the eccentric Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). The latter proves to be the best new entry of this season, confirming himself as one of the most interesting characters. But life has not been easy for everyone, especially for Max. The girl faces mourning the death of her stepbrother, detaching herself from the rest of the group.
It is to her that Stranger Things gives one of the best moments of this first part. We refer to a well-constructed and exciting scene, which to some will very closely resemble a particular moment in Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix. Here the visual sector plays a fundamental role in creating the conflict between the young woman and her encounter with Vecna. But she is not the only one to have problems, even Eleven aka Jane seems to have difficulty adapting to the new school, leading her to some actions of dubious morality. We will also see a very different Jonathan from the one we have come to know, thanks also to the relationship established with another new entry: the Argyle played by Eduardo Franco. The two will make spasmodic use of marijuana throughout the season. In short, a lot has changed, and the series decides to focus on more serious problems, investigating the ways of horror.
The season will also open with a tale of mass hysteria in the town of Hawkins after the various murders that have rocked the city. The self-selected group of kids who will go hunting for their scapegoats embodies the bigotry of a certain slice of the American population. We are talking about a real witch hunt complete with torches and pitchforks, whose prey are the innocent members of a club. Let’s talk about Dungeons & Dragons, a game that in those years was associated with Satanist cults, with lots of boycotts. As we know, this fate was also reserved for Pokémon and Harry Potter. Stranger Things reminds us once again how something innocent and fantastic deviates from an unclear social norm so it must be burned at the stake. In the fourth season, however, a gimmick that only works halfway, going to forcefully insert itself in the many storylines and thus defragment the story.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 1 Review And Analysis
In the original setting that has always characterized Stranger Things since its debut, the Duffer Brothers TV series combines horror, science fiction, and adventure, without forgetting humor and personal drama, within an 80s setting that expertly follows the era, as well as in the sets, costumes, and soundtrack, also in the extensive use of quotes and Easter eggs relating to elements that characterize that period. While maintaining this system in a way that is faithful to the innovativeness of a series straddling the Goonies, The X-Files, and IT, Stranger Things 4 admirably surpasses itself, improves itself, and reaches goals that probably had not yet been experienced with previous seasons.
In this new structure, for example, the desire to make Stranger Things 4 more horror is immediately apparent. The violent deaths caused in circumstances similar to the spiritist, the atmospheres made even more gloomy and anxious, Vecna himself with his frighteningly humanoid aspect and the ability to communicate (compared to the creatures that preceded him): the whole concur to create a terrifying climate and more devoted to paranormal horror caused by an almost demonic presence, channeling itself more into genre cinematography. It is no coincidence that the rhetoric of Satanism is introduced this season, cults, ritual sacrifices. Although as an audience we can intuit that the monstrosity that arose from Hawkins’ alternate dimension has nothing to do with such practices, each element is placed in such a way as to arouse the sacred terror of something belonging to the world of demons and spirits, of a capable infernal figure. to torment the protagonists through the dimension of the unseen in a blasphemous and perverse way in its cruelty.
After what we have told you, it is easy to understand that never before has the Stranger Things narrative turned out to be extremely fragmented, and for this reason even less choral than usual. Breaking the plot into many different storylines, with relative points of view, has undoubtedly given more variety to the story, triggering some unprecedented interactions between the characters. Staging the protagonists’ growth, dividing them, or even putting them in contrast, directs the work on the tracks of an increasingly credible and convincing coming of age. However, we believe the innocent and comradely spirit of the first iterations has been lost a little too much. Fortunately, our young heroes, albeit separated, are always there, with the charisma that distinguishes them and the unforgettable vintage atmosphere that still today unites the Goonies with the adventures of “kingiana” memory.
On the other hand, it is clear, as already stated at the beginning, how gigantic the ambitions of this production are now. This is demonstrated by the need to physically move away from Hawkins, to differentiate the locations (sometimes even with large and convincing artificial sets), and to expand the segments set in the dark Upside Down. As well as the need to expand the mythology of Stranger Things itself, enriching its story with details, characters and even crucial revelations that partially rewrite everything we knew about Hawkins and the experiments that gave birth to the capabilities of Eleven.
We must admit, however, that not all the twists have managed to impress us properly. The reason is above all in the way in which the Duffers have chosen to expand the narrative universe, moving too often on the border between in-depth and soft retcon and even explicitly paying homage to certain aspects of Stephen King’s mythology. If originally Stranger Things, while adopting a style very close to the great cornerstones of literature and pop cinema, he still managed to exploit his vintage frame and the passion for nerd culture to tell something new, the feeling is that the attempt to further explore the ravines of his Lore has now completely defused that overwhelming novelty effect that had made the Netflix jewel an extraordinary product.
What remains in our hands, once we have concluded the vision of Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1, is a work of incredible productive value, in which the visual framework rarely reserves smudges or stumbles. Thanks to the usual, impressive artistic direction and the palpable investments in technical resources, which leave no doubt about the cinematic quality of the product. However, it would be necessary to think about how effective a plot is that becomes more and more complicated, enriching itself with details that risk compromising its coherence. An answer that only the time and the season finale of ST4 will be able to give us. In the meantime, you can fool the wait for May 27 with the first 8 minutes of Strange Things 4.
The mythology of Stranger Things has always been closely linked with the pop culture of the 80s, weaving a very strong bond with nostalgia. The fourth season, on the other hand, tries to expand its internal imagery thanks to the introduction of Vecna. This is a more subtle and less primitive villain. His actions are calculated, methodical, and have their roots in Hawkins’ past. He shows himself from the start, shows his powers and strength of him like no enemy before him. He may not be the best enemy ever, but he is still well done. The aspect of him is closely linked to the environment the upside-down, which he manages to shape at will. The world behind the wall will also have much more importance and presence this season. Especially towards the end, we will discover a new face of that dark and overturned place. As we said, not everything is functional, as in the storyline in Russia, but the Duffer brothers have tested a narrative formula that manages to make you forget even the flaws. The colors, the suspense, and the music, all come together in a kaleidoscopic and intriguing story. One episode eats the other, and we arrive at the end of the meal without feeling satiety yet.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 1 Review: The Last
Despite having previewed many episodes, despite the already dense narrative material gutted in this Stranger Things 4 Volume 1, our final judgment on the new iteration of the Netflix franchise is inevitably suspended until the vision of Vol. 2, which promises an explosive season finale, to say the least. What we have seen so far convinces us in part: if it is true that the production value of the work by the Duffer Brothers is confirmed as higher than ever, thanks to a staging enriched with unforgettable atmospheres, it is the work done on the writing that leaves us partly perplexed. While appreciating the story of the protagonists’ growth, it must be admitted that the fragmentation of the storylines seemed excessive to us, to the point of leaving the potential of some characters unexpressed. The expansion of the mythology also doesn’t seem very much in focus with the original spirit of the saga, with revelations about the origins of the Upside-down taking on the nuances of a partial retelling of the world of Stranger Things. Nonetheless, and waiting to find out how this ambitious season will end, we are sure that you will still be overwhelmed by the sympathy and charisma of these old adventure companions.
