Stranger Things: the series’ fourth season doesn’t disappoint
Last time we were in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, a monster that gathered strength from its victims’ “bubbling corpses” grew so vast it could barely be contained by the local mall, said Fiona Sturges in the FT. It’s an “apt metaphor” for Stranger Things itself, which has expanded its cast and “upped the spectacle with each season”. Season four of the Netflix mega-hit brings yet more characters, split narratives, “zany” subplots, and very long episodes – some top 80 minutes. But there is still much to enjoy in the 1980s culture references and “on-point soundtrack”; and its portrayal of the trials of adolescence is a reminder of what made the first series “so delightful”.
Stranger Things “redefined the idea of comfort viewing, with its 1980s-specific mash-up of Dungeons & Dragons, Stephen King, The Goonies and E.T.”, said Ed Power in The Irish Times. There is something “deliciously familiar about the vintage universe it conjures”, and this season is another “heady retro cocktail – lacking in originality yet wonderfully assembled”.
Four seasons in, and I’ve never enjoyed it more, said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. Yes, the “core idea” doesn’t really stack up: what is the creepy parallel Upside Down world even for? But the “monstery woo woo” isn’t really the point: it’s all about the characters now. We’ve followed the young protagonists for six years; we’ve started to feel protective towards them, and yearn to know how it “will all turn out”. It’s like Harry Potter, only with children who can actually act.