A long time ago, on a website far away, I wrote a retrospective of the first three seasons of Stranger Things for the show’s fifth anniversary, and covered season four as it released. When it concluded, it was believed the fifth and final season would premiere only two years later… and then the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes hit. But as the old cliche goes, better late than never, and a good thing too, as Stranger Things remains the most entertaining, spectacular, and satisfying “drama” on TV. As we approach the release of the second and third volumes of the season on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, let’s dive in.
Written and directed by the Duffer brothers
It’s November 3, 1987, 19 months after Vecna transformed Hawkins into a giant portal to the Upside Down. The town is now occupied by the military, who are still pursuing Eleven, while making frequent forays to the other dimension. The party continues to hunt for Vecna by infiltrating the military’s supply convoys, while the youngest Wheeler sibling, Holly, begins experiencing visions of a kindly visitor.
An awkward opening flashback
The premiere’s opening takes us back to when Will Byers was trapped in the Upside Down during the first season in 1983, when he was captured and turned into a Trojan horse by Vecna. For this sequence, Will was played by Luke Kokotek, who was then digitally made up to look like Noah Schnapp as he did then, and the effects do unfortunately come across like he’s wearing a mask.
The deaging isn’t as strong as what was done to turn Millie Bobby Brown back into an eight-year old in season four, and there’s several likely reasons why, from how brief those shots of Eleven were, to how much more is going on here, between the lightning, rain, and the sheer amount the digital Will is doing. It’s great we got to see Vecna during the first season’s events, but the sequence doesn’t completely work as a result of that.
(By the way, I’m not touching the discourse over actors in their early twenties playing 16-year olds with a ten-foot pole, I discussed it when season four premiered and there’s no point further arguing about it – the Duffers probably wish the show concluded two years earlier too. However, I will add that when you “meet” someone when they’re a child, they’ll always be a child in your head, so that’s likely one additional reason it doesn’t bother me at all.)
19 months later…
Season four had a rather sluggish start, thanks to the increased number of characters, settings, and storylines in that season. While this episode is still pretty long, at 68 mins, it benefits from having everyone back in Hawkins, and by combining reestablishing everything with following everyone preparing for the titular mission of Hopper scouring another part of the Upside Down for Vecna. For example, why haven’t the older kids left for college? Well the threat means they run a radio station giving discrete instructions to the others, which we see instead of having that spoonfed to us.
It’s ironic, given this is the longest time-jump the show has had, meaning the season may’ve benefitted from slowing down and exploring everyone’s lives under occupation more, but in fairness, this is the final season, it has to maintain the momentum, and it’s not like we don’t gets lots of strong character moments, such as Dustin’s conflict with the Hawkins Tigers, Will discovering Robin and Vickie’s relationship, or Eleven’s heart-to-hearts with Mike and Hopper. If anything, it just proves season three should’ve been set a year later than 1985 (which is when the upcoming cartoon takes place, funnily enough.)
Welcome Holly, we hope you survive the experience
Speaking of how more time could’ve passed in-universe, Mike and Nancy’s little sister Holly Wheeler is now played by a new, older actress, Nell Fisher (who is delightful, and another testament to casting director Carmen Cuba being the unsung hero of this show.) Holly was three in the first season, meaning she should now be seven, but we’re told in a subsequent episode she’s 9-10 (Fisher was 12 during filming for what it’s worth, but that’s never been important.)
It’s totally fair, it presumably provided less of a headache with labor laws regarding how long a child actor can film for, and retcons are inevitable when a series runs for this long, although it does render Karen’s accusation that Ted doesn’t know how old his daughter is somewhat unintentionally comedic. In any case, it’s great to see Holly become a major participant in the story, and to watch Mike guide her the way a much older sibling should, greatly demonstrating how much he’s grown and matured with age.
The Linda Hamilton type
One of the few major additions to the season’s cast is Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay, the general running the military’s operations in the Upside Down. It’s a funny coincidence given she also played General McCallister on Resident Alien, but as far as type-casting goes, she could do worse than continue to land the role of an antagonistic military officer. She’s certainly one of the few actors who’s more intimidating than Sherman Augustus (Colonel Sullivan), and you can’t help but wonder what it’d have been like if Matthew Modine‘s Dr. Brenner was still alive to butt heads with her.
More importantly, like Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, or Paul Reiser, Hamilton is one of the cast members whose presence acknowledges the ’80s media that inspired the show, including The Terminator (which was previously homaged by the character of Grigori in season three.) Speaking of Reiser, where is Dr. Sam Owens? Is he safe? Is he alright? Perhaps it’s just as well Dr. Brenner is dead, since Kay and Sullivan’s scientific opponents are nowhere to be seen in the first four episodes of the season.
“A great big bushy beard”
It is rather amusing that for season four, David Harbour and the Duffer brothers went to a lot of effort to make sure the incarcerated Hopper looked nothing like another Russian prisoner he was playing (Black Widow‘s Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov). They made him bald, clean-shaven, and gaunt, but now… Hopper just has the huge, shaggy beard Harbour continued to sport in Thunderbolts*. (An irony that becomes even more funny when you remember Shostakov was originally clean-shaven in the comics.)
And that’s pretty much it for my takes on the first episode, which is moreso of a “part one” than many Stranger Things episodes, thanks to the utterly diabolical cliffhanger of a Demogorgon descending into Holly’s bedroom. Tune back soon for thoughts on “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” and in the meantime, enjoy the similarly “oh boy, they finally went there” choice of end credits song: