To paraphrase Jurassic Park : costs have been spared for the latest season of Stranger Things . Each of these seven full-length episodes cost about $ 30 million. Let me put it briefly: you can see every cent here! There is Hollywood momentum in streaming format, there are different locations, there are impressive computer effects and an amazing, terrifying – suitable for an older viewer – atmosphere.
Source: Netflix
The fourth season, which is very dense
As in previous seasons, in the fourth installment of their series, the Duffer brothers draw handfuls from nostalgic references and films from the 80s. Except that instead of reaching for Spielberg again, they now look into more terrifying areas of cinema. You can see the influences of The Exorcist , The Return of the Living Dead by Dan O’Bannon, the films of George A. Romero and James Cameron (I’m talking about the Alien ), or Sam Raimi and his ghoulish ideas from Evil Dead . However, you can feel the influence of Wes Craven the most, and more specifically his horror series, Nightmare on Elm Street . You can even see Freddy Kreuger!
Source: Netflix
The Duffers also reached for the typical youth adventure cinema and the prose of Stephen King, which we know from the first seasons. You can see here the influences of spy cinema, family comedies, and even … stoner movies . There are also stories from films for teenagers (John Hughes may shyly bow here).
The action takes place in 1986, after a two-year jump, the heroes (and actors) are older, and their problems are different. Everyone has entered a phase in which popularity among peers, love dilemmas and the need to belong to a certain circle become very important elements of teenage life, no matter how many times before you saved the world. In addition, they will all have to cope with trauma, mourning, and numerous trials to which their friendship or love will be exposed.
Source: Netflix
Is that enough borrowings and inspiration? Can you get out of breath from just replacing? And it’s not over yet! You can see here nods to newer productions, such as Lovecraft’s Land or … Game of Thrones . This time, the Duffers went into multi-threading, as was the case in the production of HBO.
Who says they won’t get into trouble when they’re separated?
In the fourth season, the action takes place not only in Hawkins, but also in California, Arizona, the Soviet Union, and on the other side. Due to the fact that the creators keep jumping from thread to thread, the action is moving forward and there is no time to break away from the screen and start complaining about boredom. These nine hours, which make up the first seven episodes of the new season, draw you in, keep you in suspense and don’t let go. In addition, the numerous, but not abused, cliffhangers stimulate the appetite for more. The fact that the season was divided extremely unevenly (seven and two episodes, which premiere in July) does not bother us at all. What’s more, after the end of the seventh episode, you can even praise the creators for such a procedure.
Source: Netflix
The new season continues to develop the mythology of the Other Side. Now it is inhabited not only by Demogorgons, Demodogi and other bloodthirsty creatures that enter our world. We also get to know the evil born of the greatest nightmares, fully conscious and hunting people, using weaknesses, secrets and trauma. The evil in question also gets a name taken from Dungeons and Dragons , because some things in Stranger Things don’t change (like Steve complaining about being a babysitter). It is also worth adding as an encouragement that in the new season we learn more about the activities of the secret center in Hawkins, where Nastka lived for most of her life. And in both of these threads, history makes a ghastly and destructive circle.
The heroes are separated from the beginning; in the end, Nastka, Jonathan and Will went to California, the rest stayed in Indiana, but as the action unfolds, these groups become even more divided and have to deal with without mutual support. At their side, however, there are new heroes who quickly become party members, such as Eddie – a fan of metal and RPG games – or Argyle – Jonathan’s new California buddy. We also get to know Dustin’s girlfriend personally and a whole group of popular high school students as clichéd as befits youth cinema, which takes place in the 1980s. Besides, they are not the only ones drawn from the pattern known to viewers – adults and kids in this production also happen.
Source: Netflix
And for all this cliche, there aren’t many things to complain about in the fourth season of Stranger Things . There are of course weaker threads, in several places I even wondered if it would be possible to write this new character better, leave someone dead or give myself a few unnecessary jokes. But from the very beginning, Stranger Things was about constantly playing on the viewer’s nostalgia, and they include nostalgic known patterns, such as mean rich high school girls (not Heathers yet , not Mean Girls ), honorary guards, annoying sidekicks or stoners.
Source: Netflix
What more can I say? The fourth season of Stranger Things is great fun from start to finish. It may not be innovative, but it is under a well-known sign. How this series plays on nostalgia, what it looks like (Kate Bush praise!) And how wonderful the chemistry between the cast members is … we’ve been waiting for all of this. And the three years were worth waiting for.
