Stranger Things 4 - Any good?

[Ryujin]

So apparently the door Nancy is removing planks from is a push door. She could have just stepped over the last pieces of wood and left the room. She had Disadvantage on her perception check because Vecna was there.

I didn't even notice. Did you?

Yup, was head-desking pretty heavily over that one, so laughed hard and long when the meme surfaced.

 

[Dausuul]

Who here thinks Hopper acquired some kind of super resistance to pain because of his experience with chemicals in Irak? The punishment he can take is phenomenal.

Vietnam, not Iraq; but yes, I agree. Dude clearly put all his ability increases into Constitution.

 

[Umbran]

I think that last half hour to 45 minutes could have been tightened up a lot, but a good season.

 

[jerryrice4949]

I really adored season 3, especially the big fireworks fight at Starcourt.

I've been having a great time in season 4. I'm up to episode 5. I think episode 4 was probably the best TV experience I've had in a while (with a caveat that I'm not up to date with Better Call Saul).

Me too. Loved the Starcourt mall. The nailed the mall nostalgia; it was almost exactly like the mall near me that opened in the 80s.

I liked season 3 better than four. Don’t get me wrong I still like season 4 but they have too many locations and the whole Hopper storyline does not really seem to move the plot forward.

 

[RangerWickett]

Naturally you'll run into problems when you write a series a year at a time. The showrunners allegedly intended the series to be more of an anthology, rather than following the same characters every season. If they had planned for Vecna to be the big bad way back in season 1, they could have set things up for the reveal and made sure that when they had stuff happened, it would pay off.

Like, if you're going to involve Russia in season 3, you'd imagine it would matter for the climax, right? Going from Hawkins to California and Russia makes for a less tight story, though of course reality isn't neat and tidy.

 

[billd91]

My wife pointed out how much Robin's love interest, Vicki, is channeling Molly Ringwald in one of the scenes. I told her "Well, they were living in the 80s".... which got me here:

 

[Zardnaar]

Fun season best since season 1.

 

[embee]

Just finished watching Season 4.

First of all, talk about a loving tribute to 80's slasher horror... Strong Nightmare On Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors vibes. Not a ripoff but a definite homage. And I was definitely here for it.

Storywise, it was all lore, all the time and, again, that's what I'm talking about.

What worked for me: the "Goonies never say die" vibe of the main plot. When Eddie and Dustin connected in the final episode, that's Stranger Things at its finest.

What didn't work for me: The USSR B plot. It started silly and proceeded to ridiculous and then culminated in ridonkulous. Hopper with a Conan sword at the end is exactly what Teen Titans GO! were mocking in "Nostalgia Is Not A Substitute For An Actual Story."

Soundtrack was fairly off-the-hook. Philip Glass' "Prophecies" is starting to become a musical trope, right up there with Barber's "Adagio For Strings." However, they still know how to tug heartstrings just right, even with the anachronistic use of Moby.

Overall, I liked that they really focused on (a) a definite and coherent plot and (b) relationships. Whether it was the Eddie/Dustin dynamic or Steve and Nancy just charming the pants off me in the Winnebago, it's a nice return to form.

 

[Stalker0]

What didn't work for me: The USSR B plot. It started silly and proceeded to ridiculous and then culminated in ridonkulous. Hopper with a Conan sword at the end is exactly what Teen Titans GO! were mocking in "Nostalgia Is Not A Substitute For An Actual Story."

Yeah I think it went a bit off the rails after Hooper escaped and then was caught and brought back. Up to that point I was pretty invested, Hooper was having a rough go, Joyce and Murray got to go save him....I'm on board.

Then....back to the prison, and I think it just lost all the momentum at that point.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I still have to watch the final episode, and that could of course turn everything around, but so far I enjoyed this season a lot.
The new characters work pretty well. Even though the whole Russia plot so far lacked believability.
I dislike that the characters are seperated so much, but every reunion will feel so much sweeter that way, I think.
Of course, there is a lot of "furtuitous timing of events" as well that stretches credibility in ways otherworldly dimensions of horror don't.