'Stranger Things 4' Is Funny In All The Wrong Ways
Over its four seasons, Stranger Things has transitioned from a sci-fi horror series to more of a drama and comedy. And many people think this works well, and they love to quote certain lines and discuss the fun throwaway characters. But this time, it’s gone too far. This is an unpopular opinion, since lots of fans are claiming this is the best season of Stranger Things, and so are critics, but season four is basically a genre experiment gone wrong. And yes, it’s funny, but not in the “we can make a meme about this” sort of way, and more in the “wow, this is kind of awkward” sort of way. There are going to be some major spoilers ahead, so don’t let me ruin this season for you (unless you’ve already seen it, in which I hope I can ruin it a little more for you).
The main villain of this season is by far the worst part. Unlike previous seasons, where a monster has been the focal point of the conflict, this time, it’s just some dude, and he looks like a Borg if they only had anatomical materials to work with instead of metal. It’s impossible to look at him without thinking of the scene from Avengers: Infinity War in which Red Skull guides others to a treasure he cannot possess. He also lives in a house surrounded by bats and speaks in a very deep drawn-out voice, both of which come off as a half-attempted Halloween horror movie character, and it would be much better off if they’d fully committed to that concept. After the last episode’s reveals, it’s easier to accept that the main villain is just some regular dude, but throughout the majority of the season, every appearance “Vecna” has made has felt a lot more comical than scary. The show even acknowledges at one point in a dialogue that their villain is essentially Freddy Kruger, then glazes over that fact and moves on.
A good portion of the characters do not have any role in this season. Yes, they’re there, but they do just about nothing. Mike, Will and Johnathan in particular just kind of exist until they get rescued by Johnathan’s stoner friend Argyle or come up with the idea to drive to Utah and find Suzie (why is she suddenly more than a minor joke character?). But at the same time, it’s not all bad. Some other characters who once had more minor roles have become much more important this time around, like Max, and her actor Sadie Sink’s impressive performance was honestly one of the best parts of season four. It’s become one of the most talked-about aspects of the show after her role in “Dear Billy,” along with some memes about the song “Running Up That Hill” that she becomes associated with in the same episode.
Logic has also disappeared. The characters playing young high schoolers are obviously adults, and while this was to be expected, they didn’t bother to write in a reasonable gap of time between this season and the last. Eleven is completely homicidal, everyone’s haircut has evolved to become somehow worse, and Nancy is once again caught up in the same love triangle even though she already made her decision. And best of all, there’s a scene in which Hopper emotionally explains that his daughter’s death from cancer is the result of his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. This obviously occurred decades prior to her birth, and in order for this to be true he’d have to have genetically altered super-DNA and some very self-destructive sperm, and he seems to believe this is the reason his wife left him. But based on that monologue alone, I can think of many more compelling reasons why his wife would have left him.
Not all of season four was bad, but before the last episode (the last one before the two new ones coming in July, at least), it’s kind of like watching a completely different show made using the same characters. And given how awkward this season has been, especially at its start, we should have a lot more to joke about already, but instead the fandom is mostly discussing how Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munsen is making them feel things (with everything this character does, I definitely can’t wrap my mind around this one). After the nostalgia factor of a new Stranger Things season finally settles down, we’ll hopefully have a lot more new, better memes, maybe some of which will be about the dramatic change in the series itself. But until then, we’re in a hell dimension of bad jokes scarier than anything the Upside-Down could contain.
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Chewybunny
A rebuttal.
Stranger Things Season 4 is actually superior to season 2 and 3 and does a good job in bringing the themes and characters home, and bringing the series back to a high-stakes horror of Season 1. Let's talk about some of the major themes of this season: Estrangement, personal growth, fear of oneself, loneliness, and most of all trauma. The season opens up where it left off in Season 3: Jonathan, Will, Joyce, and Eleven move to what seems like a town in California. This has obviously had a profound impact on the relationships between the characters as both Jonathan and Mike struggle to maintain a long-distance relationship, while Eleven is thrust into a new environment without the deep level of support of her friends, or the protection of Mike. The rest of the gang that stayed back in Hawkins go through major changes as well. Entering high school for many teenagers is entering a new world; new relationships must be built, you are once again at the bottom of a hierarchy, friends grow apart or find new things to endeavor, and sure enough the same thing happens here. We are establishing the first element of this season: Everyone is going through massive changes, fueled largely by separation and adapting to an entirely new environment.
Chewybunny
Let's talk about estrangement first: distance can create a lot of tension in a relationship. While Nancy and Jonathan are much more older and mature, and clearly care deeply about each other the fact of the matter is, their goals in life seem to drift apart. Meanwhile, the friendship between Mike and Will drifts apart while Mike maintains a long distance, but emotionally distant relationship with Eleven. At one point, for example, Eleven chastises Mike that, while they maintained a lot of communication through letters, he never once said he loved her. Meanwhile Will feels like a third wheel, a nobody, with whom Mike hasn't even talked to in the long period of time they were all separated. Lucas joins the Hellfire D&D club but also the school's basketball team, and is unable to maintain a schedule for both. This leads him to be increasingly estranged from his friend Dustin and Mike, while Max's trauma in seeing her step brother Billy die a horrific death in the previous season has left her emotionally detached, not just from her friends, but seemingly even her own mother, who both were forced to downgrade into living in a trailer park.
Chewybunny
There is an interesting parallel in Jonathan and Mike that is established. Eleven is often bullied at school, but is continually lying to Mike about her life, fearing that she cannot reveal the misery she is going through. Meanwhile, Jonathan is terrified to see or speak with Nancy because he's realized their life goals aren't the same, and he either didn't get accepted to the same college she was, or didn't want to pursue journalism like she did. Both fear that the person they care and love would reject them knowing the truth about their situation. Trauma is the other major element of the season. In fact the main villain "feeds" on the trauma of his new victims, haunting and then killing them while putting them into a trance like state. Each victim has experienced severe Trauma – seemingly very recently. Hopper is in a Gulag in Kamchatka, he is given a chance to escape but is ultimately betrayed. He retells the story of his time in Vietnam, and being a victim of Agent Orange, which he implies is what led to the death of his daughter, and eventual estrangement from his wife. Agent Orange, incidentally was used from 1961 to 1971. He also concludes that he is cursed, everything he touches dies or loses, and that he feels tremendous self loathing about his ordeal and experiences. Meanwhile, in parallel the constant harassment and trauma that Eleven is undergoing leads her to a major violent outburst. She too loathes herself, and looks at herself as a monster.
Chewybunny
Eleven is also haunted by the memories of her time being a laboratory experiment. She sees visions of blood violence and gore that she blames herself on, reinforcing her view of herself as a violent monster that is undeserving of love – which Mike indirectly reinforces through his emotional distance in the letters. When Eleven is returned to a secret laboratory to re-discover her powers she has to deal with her past, and her trauma, to come to terms with who she is, and regain her abilities. Trauma is also what fuels the sudden and strange murders in Hawkins which our Hawkins protagonists are set to try to solve. The big baddie preys on teenagers who've experienced severe traumatic experiences, first putting them into trances then killing them. The stakes become huge when Maxine begins to experience the hallucinations that other victims have experienced prior to being killed. The gang finds out that a favorite musical song can bring them out of this trance. One can understand the larger symbolism here: trauma can lead people into psychological dark places where they are no longer feel like they are in control of themselves or their environment (the trance), and it does lead many people into making terrible, violent decisions either hurting themselves or others (the murders). But an emotionally close and positive thing such as a favorite song can bring you out of such a state, which is where Maxine's favorite song' Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill comes in.
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theje1
Amateurish reviews? on my meme website?