Stranger Things Review: Out of Hawkins and Back Again (Season 4 Episodes 1-7)

After a two-year wait, Stranger Things Season 4 gets off to a strong start but could benefit from a decent trim. On the surface, the largest Stranger Things drop since the series premiered is a gift. The episodes have some of the best storytelling introducing the audience to a new monster that feels more sinister than all the others. 

However, Stranger Things Season 4 also splits up the core cast and requires four different storylines to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. While the episodes do their best to balance all the storylines and intercut between them, it does feel like the episodes drag, especially when you consider that they’re almost double the length of a traditional serial episode. 

But first, let’s talk about the strongest storyline: Hawkins and Vecna. 

Over the seasons we’ve seen several monsters terrorize Hawkins, but Vecna immediately felt more intense. The murders of Chrissy and Fred felt much more personal and much more calculated than the Mindflayer or the Demogorgon.

The personal insecurities and past misdeeds that Vecna targets feel unique to high school when kids want to fit in.

It begs into question what people in Hawkins could be hiding and what they regret. If this was a closed room thriller like 12 Angry Men (1957) or Circle (2015) we’d likely see a smaller group of citizens jumping at each other’s throats trying to figure out what they’re hiding. 

But we have more time here and we have characters that we’ve known for a while, so we know how these kids could be targeted and what events Vecna could use against them. 

And, let’s be honest, the biggest targets aren’t even in Hawkin’s yet. Originally, I suspected that Vecna would attack Eleven if she returned to Hawkins. Will was another person I imagined would quickly fall to Vecna’s attacks as well with his trauma in The Upside Down on Stranger Things Season 1.

But Vecna does strike again before the credits roll on this batch of episodes, and when he does, he goes right back to some Season 1 trauma. 

This is why it isn’t surprising that Vecna’s next attack on Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 7, “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” is Nancy whose guilt over Barb’s death feels ripe for the picking; and foreshadowed by the events of  Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 1, “The Hellfire Club.”

Chrissy Cunningham’s death feels like an illusion to Barb and the way she’s mourned by the town outside of the main cast gives it the same gravity without the story feeling stale.

Stranger Things Season 4 is just scratching the surface with its villain, but the reveal that he’s Henry Kreel (aka 001) also ties into the season’s themes of identity and origin. 

Eleven is a prime example. At the end of Stranger Things Season 3, Eleven lost her powers and as she tries to brave high school with them (and without Hopper) she loses her confidence and any sense of who she is without being a superhero. 

When she gets the offer to try to get her powers back, it’s no surprise that she takes it. 

BRENNER:  You speak of monsters and superheroes. That’s the stuff of myths and fairytales. Reality and truth are rarely so simple. People are not so easily defined. Only by facing ourselves, the good and the bad, can we become whole.
ELEVEN: What if I don’t want to become whole?
BRENNER: Then that is a choice. Your choice. 

At first, it’s easy to say: why does she want them back, they only bring her trauma and pain. Ironically, trying to get them back means that she has to experience more trauma and pain as she accepts the parts of herself she may not like to get her abilities back. 

Through the Nina Project, Eleven learns that she has to find strength in memories from her past. Listening to the 001 talk about it, it’s hard not to think about conjuring a Patronus in Harry Potter, if the Patronus was conjured with negative emotions. 

It was concerning to watch Eleven go back into this situation. Knowing what Dr. Brenner was originally training Eleven to do it’s easy to see how this could get out of control. At the end of the day, Eleven is still a teenage girl who never had any agency in what was done to her.

Now she also has to contend with her role in creating this villain. 

Since time has passed, there is the chance that maybe Owens and Brenner are in her corner, and really do want what’s best for her, but the series has also been great at showing us bits of the oncoming storm.

OWENS: I don’t see any progress out there Martin. You know what I see? I see a frightened, traumatized, little girl.

I want to say that giving Eleven a support system that understands her past and what she’s been through will make all the difference in her facing Vecna, but I am not sure Brenner can be trusted.

After three seasons, the same story about a monster terrorizing the town of Hawkins, Indiana gets old. It was time for this series to go deeper into the origins of some of the lore we were seeing, but if the show wants to keep our interest it needs to trim the side plots. 

While I was very curious to see how Hopper ended up in Russia, I am more focused on the fact that he’s survived the fight with the Demogorgon and that he and Joyce reunited. I don’t need a road trip where they air their feelings again while Murray goes “awwww” in the background. I need to see them land in Lenora or Hawkins and get to their kids.

Similarly, while I appreciated seeing Suzy’s family and tying her into the story, the road trip group needs to get to Hawkins asap so that the team can catch them up because we all know that’s going to take a minute. 

Overall, Stranger Things Season 4 feels like it set itself up to be ambitious and is almost there. It has some of the best storytelling of the series since Season 1 and has some big payoffs for longtime fans. With two more episodes and a new season still to come, we’re still curious to see what befalls the town of Hawkins. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Love the way that they liken Dungeons & Dragons to sports and how Lukas and Erica each had their moment and time to shine in the final countdown of their respective games. 
• Stranger Things Season 4 seems intent on drawing connections and paying off things set up in Season 1 with prime examples being Dustin’s compass and the use of lights for communication. I am here for it, I love when things from early seasons start paying off and on that note, Stranger Things is winning that game. 
• The Russia plotline hits so differently given the current events these last few years. 
• I love the addition of Eddie and Argyle to the cast. They’re both types of comic relief that an otherwise heavy season desperately needs. Argyle’s comment about being stressed out and it’s not even his girlfriend and Eddie’s Lord of the Rings speech are moments where the geeks among us smile. 
• Glad Kate Bush is going to get a resurgence because of this series and that one moment in Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 4, “Dear Billy.” 
• I honestly do not care if Steve and Nancy get back together or if Nancy and Johnathan stay together. I’m more intrigued by the idea of Nancy and Robin at this point. They seem to be evenly matched. 
• I like the directing in the rainbow room scenes when Eleven is in the bath. Using the mirror is a creative way to communicate the passage of time and show just how imposing 001 would have been seven years ago when Eleven was younger.
• Watching Max have to rewind her tape just made me think that Gen Z will never know the pain of having to rewind a cassette to listen to music. Or, the pain of having to figure out a favorite song from a Spotify favorites list. 
• Knitters out there: I give it a week before Joyce’s hat and Murray’s scarf patterns hit the internet! 

What did you think of this episode of Stranger Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Stranger Things Season 4 concludes Friday, July 1st on Netflix. 

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