I scrolled past Stranger Things every time I was on Netflix looking for something to watch. Everyone kept telling me, that it was so addicting, and I would fall in love with it. As much as I tend to not like science fiction, I caved in. The fourth season that everyone seemed to be talking about all over social media was just released May 27. I started watching it from the first episode and I was instantly hooked. It was not like any other show I’d watched. The unique plot, interesting characters, and on-edge feeling it gave me were unbelievable. I knew that this show would be my new addiction. 

The show takes place in the small Indiana town of Hawkins. A quiet town to regular citizens, but a deeper secret behind everything. It was all normal before the energy plant had a fatal mishap. The show follows a group of young kids with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) being the leader of “The Party.” With his best friends Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) they find a strange girl in the woods that seems to have unusual powers. They decide to name her El (Millie Bobby Brown) after the mark on her arm “011.” After Will goes missing out of nowhere everyone is confused. Including his mom, Joyce, the sheriff Hopper, and his older brother Jonathan. They go on a wild goose chase trying to find where he went, who took him, and why unusual things seem to be happening. With the help of their new friend El they can fight any other world creatures, which they do but this is only the start of their problems.

One thing I loved about these series is how each season was based on a different upside-down creature. The upside down is Hawkins, but a darker, colder, deadlier, stranger that is connected to Hawkins through a “gate” in the energy lab. In season one El and “The Party” take on “The Demogorgon,” a tall, skinny creature with a flower-like head with petals lined with sharp teeth and long limbs with claws on the end. In season two while El is dealing with finding out who she is “The Mind Flayer” is a shadow-like creature that takes over Will and causes El to shut the gate between the upside down and the real world. Season two also brings new characters Billy (Dacre Montgomery) and Max (Sadie Sink) who become essential in the next seasons. In season three they take on the mind flayer in a new way, physically. The Mind Flayer is now a meaty spider-looking creature that took over Billy that made him go kill people so that it could grow. This ultimately costs him his life at the end of the season when El and “The Party” fight it. 

In the most recent season they take on a new and more powerful villain, Vecna (Jamie Bower). He uses his victim’s own past trauma against them, he is the strongest of all the upside creatures. Before the victim is taken over by Vecna they hear the chiming of a “grandfather clock” and ultimately see the clock before he takes them over. There is one way to break the curse of Vecna, if you listen to your favorite song it gets  rid of him. Max plays a big role in this season as Vecna seems to be targeting her throughout the season, she chose “Running Up That Hil” by Kate Bush to prevent her from being the next victim. 

A new character is also introduced who is a mentor to the young boys. Eddie (Joseph Quinn) is an outcast but plays a big role in taking down Vecna. Vecna has a plan to open gates in Hawkins so he can control the world. The group hunts him down to try and stop him from completing his plan. Mike’s older sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer), her “friend” Steve (Joe Keery), and his friend Robin (Maya Hawke) try to help but it is no use. They get very close using El’s powers, guns, and fire. It was all no use as they failed in killing him but not before he opened four new gates in Hawkins.

There was a ton of social media popularity about this show. Before the fourth season came out I remember seeing a lot of arguments or debriefings about the new villain and plot. A lot of back and forth about who would be next or how the show would end. The song that Max played was everywhere on TikTok for months. People were raving about this show, but for very good reason.

I believe one of the most intriguing features about this show is how different it is from shows right now. You don’t see a lot of shows where there is a dark replica world with out of this world demons that some teenagers have to fight to save the world. It’s unusual but that is what draws people in. You can really escape from modern society and almost go back in time, connect to the characters and be in your own world. 

One thing I loved about this show was the unexpectedness. You never knew if someone would die, what would happen next, or who would go missing next. I think this is what keeps so many people watching the series because you need to keep watching to see who is next to go. The show had so many turns with some “main characters” dying or disappearing. There were many on edge moments throughout the whole season. It made me upset at times, but it made the show so different and captivating.

Overall, I loved the way that they took on the approach to the fourth season of the already amazing Stranger Things series. This show was so different from the ones offered today but I think that is what made it so intriguing. I recommend this show to anyone that wants to escape from the modern world we live in.

5/5