Review of Stranger Things 4: Get ready for non-stop action and pay-off in best season yet

I’m not a sci-fi or fantasy fan. Movies or TV shows that require you to suspend your disbelief and get invested in stories about supernatural creatures and forces just don’t really do it for me. But that’s why Stranger Things is such a curious, strange, beast. Because it’s had me hooked it from the get-go. I’ve loved every season getting to know these characters and willing them to win their battles against the Demogorgon, the demodogs, the Mind Flayer, and Vecna who threaten the very existence of their small Indiana town of Hawkins and the fate of the entire world. I really sound like a sci-fi nerd, don’t I? The fact I’m such a fan, despite not liking the genre, surely says something about the show’s quality. It’s the likeable characters and the sense of 1980s nostalgia that really do it for me. The dangers lurking just beneath the surface are the icing on the cake. Give me more Dustin and Steve scenes, and I’ll be set. And I’m here to tell you, I reckon season 4 is Stranger Things’ best yet. It was a rollicking, edge-of-your seat ride and a feast for the senses that started to tie many convoluted loose ends together ahead of the show’s fifth and final season. The many “Aha!” and “Oh-my-God!” moments towards the end of the season really pay off for fans, bringing many threads of the story since season one together. It’s only nine episodes, but the first seven are more than an hour-long, while the final two episodes are a four-hour spectacular. They had me laughing, crying and screaming all the way through. I had a sense one of my favourite old characters was going to be killed off, but thankfully they survived. That doesn’t mean there’s not a death toll — be prepared for some emotional exits and will-they-or-won’t-they-survive tension. Some new characters won me over, especially heavy metal outcast Eddie Munson (who comes close to being season MVP, but to my mind comes second to Sadie Sink, playing Max Mayfield, a target of this season’s big baddie Vecna). Meanwhile some others on the periphery in previous seasons really got into the action this time. These characters get a chance to shine while major players like Millie Bobby Brown’s supernatural teen hero Eleven spends much of the season figuring out her back story, which is key to the show’s narrative. The music is a big part of this show, from the synths of the opening titles to 80s bangers and classics. I was a fan of the song before, but the use of Kate Bush’s epic Running Up That Hill as a key plot point was a masterstroke. However, it pains me to say the song has ventured into overkill territory. Is it just me or is it on constant repeat on the radio? My one negative in this season is they could have condensed or cut the entire Russian story with Hopper in prison and it wouldn’t have made much difference, except to each episode’s running time. Each time they cut to Russia, I thought “not here again”. While the characters have been spread out across different locations divided into mini-groups in the past couple of seasons, I’m looking forward to all players being back in Hawkins next season and fighting evil as one. I cannot wait for season 5. I really hope we don’t have another three-year wait between seasons on our hands. It’ll be a sad farewell to the Hawkins crew, but I have a feeling the show’s creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, will make sure they go out with a bang.