I would like to start this review by noting that I’m not watching Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 1 on the most ideal of devices. Typically when I review a streaming movie or show, I do so on an LG C1 OLED. This gives me the very best (or at least very close) ability to judge the quality of a show in the way it was intended. For this episode, however, I’m watching it in the middle of traveling. To say seeing it on a cell phone with earbuds in is a downgrade… well it doesn’t fully capture how much I’m losing versus the best experience. So if I get something wrong due to just missing it on a smaller screen, just forgive me.
With that said…
I have very much enjoyed all of Stranger Things up until this point. The first season was just about the most perfect season of streaming television I’ve ever witnessed. The second season might not have been quite as good, but it was pretty darn good in its own right. The Ghostbusters episode was peak eighties and authentic in a way that went beyond nostalgia. Meanwhile the ending of Season 3 with the Neverending Story duet was one of my very favorite TV moments of all time.
That means I’m going into this newest season with very high hopes and big time expectations. I’ve also seen great reviews already, although I haven’t fully read any of those to protect myself from spoilers. And rather than just reviewing the entire release of six episodes we received on Friday, I only know how to review one at a time. Each one of these things is nearly movie length, so I just don’t know how to do an adequate review for a combined six-hour-plus narrative.
So for the first episode, there’s plenty to catch up on. It’s been a while since we’ve joined the crew from Hawkins. That means this season feels more jarring than the others, but there’s also really no good way to fix it. It is simply an effect of coming back after a long pandemic-induced hiatus.
And though the kids have been through so much that every one of them should have tremendous PTSD, the show feels like it wants to try to go back to the Ghostbusters episode from season 2. The Dungeons and Dragons storyline just didn’t work for me here. With their innocence lost and maturity gained, I struggle to think why the two boys would care so much about peer approval. Saving the world likely gives you new perspective.
Meanwhile, Eleven is struggling at her new school. But to me, I found the school project scene just a little too unbelievable. I get that some teachers are horrible and I get that some high school girls are insufferable… but surely this felt over the top. What kind of teacher watches a girl talk about losing her father in a fire with tears in her eyes and doesn’t step in to offer a kind word?
Of course the Duffer Brothers are fantastic when it comes to horror and this episode is no different. Everything scary works here… maybe too well… and the bathroom cheerleader scene is phenomenal in its execution of the genre.
Overall I know that others are going crazy about this new season, but I’m a little worried. This didn’t yet feel as good as Season 1 or Season 3. It could definitely go there, and I want it to go there, but there’s work to be done if I’m going to enjoy this as much as in the past.
So those are my thoughts. I’ll try to do a review a day and then give an overall score later in the week. I know some of you have gone blazing through already so please give me time to catch up!
Feel free to drop a comment down below but make sure to exclude spoilers.
