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And so the end begins. Nine years after the Eighties-set supernatural/sci-fi/horror drama kicked off, the first chunk of the concluding season of Stranger Things has arrived on Netflix. Was it really worth the wait?
Well, yes and no. There’s been a distinct sense of Hawkins-fatigue building over the last few seasons (three came out in 2019, with four only arriving in 2022).
The lives of the cast have played out in newspaper columns and online gossip about spats and surgeries, while the years ticked remorselessly on and on and on between instalments.
The teeny kids have grown into gawky adults off screen and are almost unrecognisable now as the Goonies-esque nerd gang of loveable misfits who first assembled to rescue their mate Will from creepy alternate dimension the Upside Down.
Add to that a growing awareness that this is a show that doesn’t so much tell a coherent story as loosely stitch together likeable characters and throw them into a bunch of admittedly jaw dropping set pieces.
Notably Running Up That Hill and the last stand of Eddie Munson from season 4 were amazing, and it’s hard to not feel that it’s well past time for us to close the door to the Upside Down once and for all.
Stranger Things review: Fans will be gripped by the Netflix series’ shattering finish but the plotlines are senseless and overly repetitive
Nine years after the Eighties-set supernatural/sci-fi/horror drama kicked off, the first chunk of the concluding season of Stranger Things has arrived on Netflix
But for all that… there’s still a glorious spine chill to be felt as the creepy tones of the synthesizer theme music heralds the start of this first new episode.
We find ourselves in a much-changed Hawkins Indiana, under martial law and quarantined from the rest of the country after multiple portals to the Upside Down opened at the end of last season.
The white-picket fences look a little run down as the gang strive to keep up a pretence of normal life while covertly defying the military forces – and creepy new scientist Dr Kay (Linda Hamilton of The Terminator fame) – as they carry out a hunt for evil monster-king Vecna.
As mentioned before, it’s frequently a shock to see how much the formerly little kids have changed, but it’s still great to touch base with them again.
While Millie Bobby Brown was the show’s breakout star as Eleven, it’s become increasingly apparent that Gaten Matarazzo as the beaming Dustin is at least her match as an actor.
This season as he mourns Eddie’s death gives him the chance to hint at a darker damaged side to the loveable goofy nerd and he really runs with it.
In these four opening episodes, show creators the Duffer Brothers shuffle their supporting cast around.
It leads to welcome familiar teamings (Steve and Robin running the town’s radio station is a particular joy) but also throws up odder pairings and gives more screen time to lesser known figures – Nancy and Will’s little sister Holly (now played by Nell Fisher) steps into the spotlight with great effect, for instance.
It does feel more than a bit repetitive, but what Stranger Things does well is peril and it’s hard to think of a show that does it better
There’s a lot of exposition to cram into episode one, but once that’s out of the way, those oh-so-effective set-pieces start arriving
By the time episode four comes to a shattering finish, it’s hard to imagine that anyone watching won’t be sticking around to see which characters make it through to the end
Does the plot make a hell of a lot of sense? No, of course not.
And it does feel more than a bit repetitive, but what Stranger Things does well is peril and it’s hard to think of a show that does it better.
There’s a lot of exposition to cram into episode one, but once that’s out of the way, those oh-so-effective set-pieces start arriving, mixing and matching creepy horror tropes with blockbuster-standard action sequences.
By the time episode four comes to a shattering finish, it’s hard to imagine that anyone watching won’t be sticking around to see which characters make it through to the end. Hawkins fatigue be damned…
