(Please keep spoilers in tags.)
I loved Stranger Things when it first came out. I thought Stranger Things 2 was good; not as great as the original, but still fun. I could not watch Stranger Things 3. After just a couple of episodes, I was surprised to discovered it was making me viscerally angry rather than giving me any form of pleasure.
I could not stand what they did to the characters. So many of them received fast and unneeded de-evolution rather than growth, like Jim and Nancy. Especially Eleven, who seemed to do a complete 180 from season 2. It may have just been me, but the 80s references seemed to change from interesting to forced. I hated everything about the mall. And the weird attempt at a plot with Russian codes hidden there in plain sight basically made the whole season arc feel like the show had changed from X-Files to Hardy Boys.
So, noting all that, is there any chance I could watch Season 4 and enjoy it? I'm willing to give it an honest try, and can forgive a show for going through rough patches (for reference, I made it through all 15 seasons of Supernatural). Am I okay to jump straight from 2 to 4, or do I need to watch the season ending (or some sort of Youtube summary) from Season 3 to understand what's happening?
I loved Stranger Things when it first came out. I thought Stranger Things 2 was good; not as great as the original, but still fun. I could not watch Stranger Things 3. After just a couple of episodes, I was surprised to discovered it was making me viscerally angry rather than giving me any form of pleasure.
I could not stand what they did to the characters. So many of them received fast and unneeded de-evolution rather than growth, like Jim and Nancy. Especially Eleven, who seemed to do a complete 180 from season 2. It may have just been me, but the 80s references seemed to change from interesting to forced. I hated everything about the mall. And the weird attempt at a plot with Russian codes hidden there in plain sight basically made the whole season arc feel like the show had changed from X-Files to Hardy Boys.
So, noting all that, is there any chance I could watch Season 4 and enjoy it? I'm willing to give it an honest try, and can forgive a show for going through rough patches (for reference, I made it through all 15 seasons of Supernatural). Am I okay to jump straight from 2 to 4, or do I need to watch the season ending (or some sort of Youtube summary) from Season 3 to understand what's happening?