The 80's are Back! ...again!

Hoh boy! Hold onto your roller skates folks, and grab a box of Eggos, 'cause Stranger Danger is back for season 4!

So we got a whole lot of Stranger Things going on here. Firstly, there's a lotta characters. Ensemble cast plus all the new additions from the last couple seasons that I mostly remember, because they gotta stick around. And we got a whole gaggle of new characters. Maybe that's why they call it Stranger Things, because everyone feels like a stranger to me. Hopper is alive of course, because Thinger Strangs can't keep a character dead longer than one episode. On top of that, these episodes are long as fuck. The first one is 1 hour and 18 minutes. Thats a whole lotta strangers. We also got a whole bunch of plot lines and ideas.

So, DnD is actually demon worship propaganda is sweeping the nation. DnD was the villain the whole time! This actually feels like the natural progression of the series to me, and I kinda dig it. But of course you have this jock/frat boys trying to stop this nerd cult, but they’re kinda the real cult, with the way they try to initiate Lucas. Really makes you think when you think about. Except also, DnD kinda maybe is the true villain all along, since DnD conveniently has analogues for all the main Spookum McGookums from the Upsie Daisy. Speaking of spooky gookys, meet the new big bad; the Gargoyle King. He’s an evil Swamp Thing wizard, and he’s the devil that made Freddie Kruger kill his family in the 50s. Because there’s nothing more 80s than 50s nostalgia. Now, like IT, he’s back 27 years later, in the haunted slasher house down the street to kill off people that need therapy, I guess.

Which brings us to why there's these boring extra characters, so they can get brutally killed off. The stakes feel higher, the horror is bigger, more dangerous, and a creepy new villain that still feels connected to the Oopsy Doopsy. We actually have, dare I say it, a new plot, for the first time since season 1. Now, we do have some stuff that’s not amazing. The Hopper plot feels awful familiar to the El plot from season 2, and there isn't really a reason why it's happening the same time as everything else(which everything else can be traced to the murder of cheerleader girl.) other than it makes for inconveniences for our other characters. But I don't mind it that much as it gives a reason to have the adults away so the Stranger Kids can play.

The season starts out a bit slow, and the kids are all teens now, which is fine, it just makes the show feel less unique since there is already a billion teen dramas on Netflix alone. But the season builds and gets better. Episode 4 was an absolute banger. This crazy oner, a Robert England cameo, and they made me actually care about Skateboard, my least favourite Stranger Kid. In comparison, episode 5 was kinda weak. El’s plots are usually the best, but this one is kinda not great. Somehow, Matthew Modine has returned. I still have a couple episodes left, and apparently there's two more coming later. I'm still enjoying it, but we’ll see where it goes.

I’m happy to be done with this series. Not that I don’t like it, it is a pretty good show, and it looks like they're pulling out all the stops and hoping to end with a bang. But man, am I sick of the 80s. This isn’t even the first Netflix 80s nostalgia show to have a bully attack at a roller rink. Though I do kinda like El’s Carrie with no powers, just committing normal crimes. And hopefully Steve and Nancy get back together because Jonathan is boring. Anyways, the Duffer brothers are good filmmakers and I hope they go on to make something else new and cool after this. I think I would've preferred a completely new thing than 4 seasons of the same. Not that Thinger Strangs is a bad show, but the later seasons are fun to watch in the moment, but aren't super amazing on rewatch. Whereas Stranger Danger season 1, totally slaps on rewatch. It's tight, effective storytelling, and feels like you're rewatching a classic movie. I want more new things, not necessarily more Stranger Things.

I felt sorta the same way after A Quiet Place. I was like "Wow! Who knew Jim was such a good horror director? I can’t wait to see what he does with his career next! Oh. A Quiet Place 2. I guess that’s ok." Guess I gotta wait for a full trilogy before he eventually does something else. Same with The Batman. I really liked The Batman. It was refreshing to see a Batman movie that is just a good detective story. But now I kinda want to see something totally different, like Batman vs. Dracula. Mike Flanagan and Jordan Peele have been doin in it right man. New idea, after new idea, after new idea. I'm not sure how well Stringer Thangs 4 will play on rewatch, but it does feel fresh and exciting again. Hopefully, for better or worse, it kills the 80s and leads to us getting something new.