Yeah I will agree with most...Meh first episode. It was a slog to watch. Maybe too much time has passed and I just don't care about the show anymore.

Watched last night. I thought it was great. Plenty of catching up with what is now a pretty big cast. Lost of character development which was fun and good before diving into the darker stuff. Earlier seasons moved too quick to really develop characters beyond surface level characteristics. Just one example, Billy. They give just enough so that everyone's takeaway is that he's a douche so no big deal if he dies. Unfortunately since he had a lack of development kinda impacts our perception of Max in season 4. Yes, she experienced trauma seeing Billy die, but he was a douche to everyone including her so why is she so torn up?

Anyway, it was a fun first episode seeing how the characters grown.

If I had to guess, it was another actress on set (hence the credit) but MBB's face CG'd on there.

^Yeah, they used a young girl who looks a fair amount like a younger MBB. I think there were some scenes (closeups) where they used CGI on her face, and others where you are just seeing the younger girl's actual face.

Here's a few pics of the two of them on set together:

That's great seeing that picture. My wife and I were wondering if it was a younger sister or a double.

We finally started this new season. Really great stuff on the first episode and very cool seeing them all again and a bit older. And an outstanding job with the horror element amped up quite a bit, especially with Chrissy's death. The demon fingers wrapping around her head was definitely some peak horror that I love. I hope these last episodes wrap up everything well. Seeing as how the Duffer dudes got their wish on how many seasons they wanted, I'm guessing it'll be a satisfying ending.

This is not the final season. There is one more

I see where you're coming from and don't entirely disagree except in the case of Max. Yes, Billy was a douche, but he was still her older brother. When we were much younger, my older sister and I didn't always get along, but I wouldn't have just shrugged if she died. And then you add in that Billy's death was a violent one and right in front of her. I think it seems pretty reasonable she'd be torn up.