One of the most popular programs on Netflix is coming back and is exactly what the streamer needs to counteract its malfunction.
Stranger Things must be great. Netflix needs to be big.
The siege streamer must counteract its negative press burst and declining membership with a massive series of events that remind its subscribers, especially those who lost, that Netflix remains the home of the must-see show.
Tan, Strange things it was big, very big. Or at least it took a long time. The shortest episode of its fourth season lasts one hour and three minutes, while the finale lasts two hours and 30 minutes.
The season has split in half with seven episodes this week, while the last two episodes will run through July.
The length of the episode is just one side to making sure fans know about it Strange things‘ambitions and scale, and it’s expansive with its narrative tentacles that go far beyond Hawkins this time, as the crew stretches across California, Russia and Alaska, and over periods of time.
But walking the world is not the reason Strange things he became a big part of the zeitgeist when he burst onto the scene in 2016: it’s that combustible mix of wild and innocent adventures, the pure terror of his horror elements, and the emotional weight of his well-written and even better-played young characters .
All these elements are here in the fourth season, they have only marked one level. Containment be damned.
The third season, which came out in the run-up to the 2019 pandemic, has deviated more to the point than the scares, but this new installment returns to spooky territory. Terror is both psychological and physical, as a malevolent force chases Hawkins, paying special attention to the past of his victims.
The atmosphere is often more like Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s maze) or JA Bayonne (The orphanage, A monster screams) that George Romero (Day of death) – a low discomfort that reaches its climax with truly grotesque pieces that remind you, yes, Strange things it exists to scare you more than to animate the culture of the eighties.
The new episodes go a little too far to restore everything, you don’t have to build the world when the world is already built, but in the second half of episode two you get it. While these first two hours may feel a little slow, there’s a familiar charm in every texture of spending time in this world without the scares of the jump.
And it’s always worth watching how Millie Bobby Brown does her thing, taking advantage of her well of emotional maturity and empathy, because she’s a talent. A scene of her remembering the memory of Hopper (David Harbor) will not fail to impress.
Hawkins is plagued by a supernatural threat and the most socially malicious satanic panic, in which morally respectful Americans were genuinely concerned about cults and ritual sacrifices, a hysteria that spread to Dungeons and Dragons.
Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are now in high school and are soon caught in a gray death when another friend is the main suspect.
Meanwhile, the Eleven (Brown) and the Byers are cross-country in California, separating the Eleven from Mike and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) from Nancy (Natalia Dyer).
Joyce (Winona Ryder) learns that Hopper is still alive when she receives a mysterious package in the mail from Russia, and recruits Murray (Brett Gelman), who bows to the conspiracy.
The hot air balloon cast, which also includes Max by Sadie Sink, Will by Noah Schnapp, Robin by Maya Hawke and Steve by Joe Keery, are caught up in the dramas that will grind your nerves.
Strange things it remains one of the most important programs on Netflix because it does what few others do. If you offer a cheeky show that calls for emotional investment, and more than a few scares along the way. It’s not flawless, but it’s always driven.
Will it be enough to save the streamer from itself? Only if Netflix is willing to invest in more programs with the ambition and scale of Strange thingsinstead of giving him his luck with dozens of indistinguishable and timeless shows that some people may like but no one loves.
The fourth season of Stranger Things begins airing on Netflix starting Friday, May 27th
Read related topics: Netflix