majorjoe23

My review:

Metallica: Very fitting
Kate Bush: Of course
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Makes sense
Moby: WTF?

Cellar Door

They've used that same Moby song before, in season 1 when Joyce and Hopper find Will in the Upside Down. The show sometimes uses post-80s songs as non-'diegetic' music (soundtrack music that the audience hears, but the characters don't). Like the Peter Gabriel cover of 'Heroes' that was used in both season 1 and season 3.

majorjoe23

I had totally forgotten it was used in season 1. But it's still a Moby song, so the statement stands.

Michael Corvin

Alright, we binged the whole season this weekend and man, what a ride. Watched 8 & 9 last night back-to-back. Ended up starting 9 around 10:30, so that was a lot of ST in one sitting.

Damn near perfect season of television and easily the best ST season since season 1. Hopefully it will win some awards. I enjoyed seasons 2 & 3, but this was on another level. With the extended runtimes I get the "bloated" complaints but to me, almost every minute of screentime serviced the characters or story in some way, so it wasn't truly bloated, IMO. All that extra breathing room gave more character development time to almost everyone which was much needed. The earlier seasons have been more about the plot and the sci-fi than the characters inhabiting that world. I was glad to see everyone getting some much needed depth. All the characters talk and interact like real teens would and everything just felt natural amongst the entire cast. That's a pretty strong testament to their acting skills and real life friendship.

I only had a few complaints... the Alaska/Russia plot was the only thing that dragged on for me and the first few episodes showing Hopper bordered on torture porn. Is this still TV-14? The whole season felt more MA/R rated to me. Similarly once they're out and decide to go back in the whole plot with Yuri stalling was infuriating. All that could have been cut. Only other thing is that the core cast is bullet proof. Outside of the scene with Will at the end, Jonathan is useless. He could go. Argyle was funny, but clearly a one note character that could have also bit the dust.

Sucks Eddie had to go, as he fit right in, but as someone else posted, even after the "earthquake" people still blamed him so there is no way he could have stuck around. On the opposite end of the spectrum, how are they going to explain Hopper being alive since he died in a "fire?" And where has he been? I guess once demons start infesting Hawkins, nobody is going to care all that much.

Millie Bobby Brown was phenomenal this season. Mike was kinda wasted this season. Lucas and Max are great together. Max became my favorite last season, so I was glad she got a bigger role this season. Next to MBB, probably the co-best performances of the season. Dustin always delivers. Will has been the most useless character of the entire show's run, but his conflicted feelings was a nice touch and his performance that will likely go unnoticed. Setting him up for a bigger role in 5 might be what the character needs. Just get rid of the bowl cut. So hideous and frankly, distracting. I know it's the 80s and they're nerds but did anyone really wear that after their pre-teens? That was more of an elementary school hairstyle, IIRC.

Robyn falling for a girl just like her, is kinda weird. Seems like one of those relationships that will burn hot for a few weeks until they both realize they're dating a mirror image of themselves and part ways. I liked the storyline, but hopefully they ditch that girl for someone else, especially if they're doing a time jump. Steve had a solid, more adult-like role this season instead of the pretty-boy of seasons past which was nice.

Pineapple on pizza is great.

Draven

Great ending for a great season. I teared up several times - they really sold the emotion throughout. I’m also glad it wasn’t solely Eleven saving the day again - everyone had a part to play. But I also want Eleven with her powers, so I’m glad they seem to be back and stronger than ever.

Also I’m not sure how anyone could miss Jason dissolving from the middle. I literally said “GAH” out loud when it happened.

johnnysd

Great season. It did not really feel bloated to me all. I think if it was 13 1 hour episodes no one would say it was bloated, maybe except a little too much Yuri.

Was there a large Covid break in filming? They all seemed older than the previous 6 episodes and not to be indelicate but Millie seemed to have sprouted quite a bit in that time.

It had the quality of a theatrical movie that is for sure. Season 5 will be a challenge to stick the landing.

JZ1276

I know it didn't occur in this episode but Hopper had the other inmate hit his feet with a sledgehammer multiple times for what? To break his cuffs? Wouldn't that also break his ankles???

Cellar Door

^The purpose was to bend--but not break--the ankle cuff enough so that he could slip it off when he needed to run. He didn't want it broken because he needed to pass the brief inspection of the cuffs the guards did each time the prisoners were brought out to work on the rail.

Coral

Pretty much, and it magically healed the very next episode. He should've been in pain for a while after that.

Deftones

Is it really a retcon? We knew so little about the Upsidedown.

Add another sad to see Eddie go. Was a great character. I also thought Steve would eat it. They kept focusing on him and his dreams. Thought his regret speech to Nancy sealed his death. Glad not. He is one of the best parts of the show.

Gunde

So Mike is the real hero. Since Eleven continues to be fuck up who just freezes and gives up at the slightest opposition (why do they still write her like that?), It would have all been over without his peptalk.

She's stupid too. "Is he hurt?" No, you idiot, you saw him right there next to Max.

Underwhelming finale. Great season overall.

Xander

Pretty great season, though I felt the Alaska/Russia storyline dragged a LOT. It DID lead to a nice fight between Hopper and the demogorgon, which was fun. Really sad they killed Eddie, I thought he was awesome. Did not realize his character was inspired by one of the West Memphis Three.

Max was fantastic this season, I'm glad she survived. Was hoping the general that was chasing Eleven would get his, but apparently he's still alive. Hope Owens is too. Glad Papa is gone. Did they ever explain how he survived the demogorgon? I thought the last time we saw him it was leaping on him. Thought they would explain what happened, but they never did.

TomOpus

Is Dark Horizons a reliable source? Some info on final season:

Final “Stranger Things” Season To Be Shorter

1. Aiming for 10 total hours
2. Takes place entirely in Hawkins
3. A lot of the original pairings as in S11
4. Writer's room starts in August.

Deftones

Did you read the article? It sources that info directly from Duffer Bros from a Collider interview. I would say it is as reliable as it gets.

dex14

They aren't the original source of the info, Collider is... from an interview directly with The Duffers.

I am glad it will all come back to Hawkins. And hopefully a tighter edit.

TomOpus

No, I didn't catch that part. I guess I'll wait for others to post info since I can't catch everything other than the main points of the article.

GoVegan

I definitely preferred the first half of the season to the second, but it was still enjoyable. I was kind of hoping that Eleven was somehow trading herself for Max - it would have been interesting to see the rest of them try to take care of things on their own next season, without a magic superhero backing them up.

Coral

I'm not a fan of how generic Eleven's powers are.
She stopped Vecna at first... then gets her assed kicked... and then stops Vecna again. I don't think she's doing anything different each time. She just concentrates on something and things happen.

Stopping Vecna the last time was due to Mike talking to her? So if Mike said something sooner, Max wouldn't be in the state she's in now?

MLBFan24

To be fair, when Eleven battled Vecna the second time, he was in the Upside Down with additional "powers" - like the Mind Flayer. It would make sense that Eleven needs time to adapt to the situation.

Cellar Door

^Regarding those points:

1. I didn't mind the longer run time this season, so I hope they don't feel the need to rush anything or condense things too much.

2. Good news--the jumping between all the different locations this season was a bit much.

3. I am glad to hear this. I like it when the main group of younger kids are all together (Mike, Lucas, et al). Eleven was separated from them for most of seasons 2 and 4, and Dustin was with the Scoops troop for most of season 3.

4. Hopefully we won't have to wait three years for season 5.

The Duffer brothers have also said there would be a time jump between the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5, in part to account for the aging of the actors. But the way season 4 ended I would have thought season 5 would have to pick up almost immediately where S4 left off.

Eric F

Her powers seem pretty arbitrary. She has telekinetic powers but doesn't use them like most people would- like to get a beer from the fridge.

IBJoel

I'm realizing more and more that I just don't care about the romantic side plots. I really just want all of them resolved, because they don't really sell me on them, especially with the younger kids.

For me, this was the worst season. Or at least it felt the most "designed by the marketing team" and features the most modern-storytelling out of the seasons so far. Maybe I'd tie it with season 2 for my least favorite?

GoVegan

I think they should release the final season like an 80's TV show. It hasn't even been a week since the two finale episodes and we're already done talking about it. One episode/week would have given everything a chance to breathe a little, and allowed more of those water cooler chats to happen since we'd all be on the same episode.

Thos19

I was disappointed Steve didn't get to go "Evil Dead" with his axe on Vecna's head.

johnnysd

I suspect it will be at least 2 years. And Netflix definitely needs to adopt weekly releases for their huge Tentpoles like Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Witcher.