here… there… it’s a bit E V E R Y W H E R E! too all over the place and yet nowhere at the same time. why :man_facepalming_tone1:
This show feels very much like an ensemble piece now.
The amount of characters is huge, it’s almost like an HBO flagship (The Wire, Game of Thrones).
As for the quality of the show, it’s still reliably entertaining and very well produced. It’s still shoving its 80s setting in your face at just about every turn, and the music, visuals and tone are all on point. The writing is also still pretty decent; you’re usually pretty engaged and there’s some great dialogue, but at the same time it can get messy, unimaginative and very predictable.
It’s entertaining and the characters are all great, but the show kinda lacks narrative ambition in order to be more than just pulpy fun. Simple stories tend to work for movies, but not as much for the extended format of a tv show. However, when compared to the recent Star Wars and Marvel output on Disney+, it’s kind of a miracle that this show remains as good as it is.
So, is this show still quite overrated? Yes.
But is it probably more fun and better made than most of the big stuff that’s going to come out in cinemas this summer? Also yes.
An absolute marvel. They have managed to simultaneously create three mundane, arduous story lines within the single season. The actors are too old for their characters and the storyline lacks the great qualities of the first season. Season 4 Part One is like sitting through algebra class, long, pointless and throughly unenjoyable.
It's not the totally unkmown villain that noone knows til now. It's not the useless storyline for David and Winona. It's not the unfinished love stories and unclosed plots. It's not the stupid, dull and predictable basketball club. It's not the excessive length and filler material of the last two episodes. No. Even it's not the MBB's horrific wig. It's Eddie's death, the Metalian Role Play Dungeon Master killed dishonorably by a Level 1 demon bats horde, what gets the score down to 5.
Good gods, I hope they stop making movie-length episodes, because they seriously don't add anything to the experience. Rather just detract from it. Two hours and seventeen minutes for a season finale? Bloody hell, that's almost a LotR movie, that would be too long even for a series finale. And this is supposedly a series. Not a movie serial. And from Netflix, who has a habit of releasing things all at once anyway, so people would binge. There's no rhyme or reason to keeping the episodes this long, especially when there's so much fluff and filler. Editing is a tool, for cryin' out loud - USE IT. More than enough points in every episode where they could've chopped them up without sacrificing anything. And the absolutely lopsided release made it feel even stupider. Just... stop, please. Get back to sensible episode lengths and sensible amounts of episodes.
So I got through the entire season for them to get together and the main action was all in different places......... awesome.
I think the whole finale would make more impact if the villain was introduced in 1st/2nd season, even for a scene or two to show us that there is a bigger boss. We were just left season after season with scarier monsters but I just didn't make the connection between Vecna and them. Its just random that while sending him to the upside down world with the monsters already existing, Eleven made a way for them and Vecna just happens to be on the same level as them, not a boss and not someone they could eat I think. The series didn't show much to think otherwise. It would be great to feel the need to understand every little thing to connect the boss to everything, not at 4th season which while almost entirely premiered at the same time and you didn't need to think, just get through episodes.
Almost all the crew was "dying" soooo long for Vecna to have a slow speech to Eleven and for Eleven to found her braveness again... also I hate when suddenly the plot is saying 'you hurt one you hurt all the bad guys' x.x
And also the plan which all of others thought is not going to work, worked, and they almost didn't need Eleven.... well.
Idk, maybe this show isn't for me but it still has the thing that interests me. I just cannot with the characters. I barely like Steve, I liked Max in the beginning, not now. I like Eleven for her powers only nowadays. So this season almost got none of it. I'm just staying for monsters and Upside Down world so it seems next season will be it for me, but I also thought every time that the next season will be amazing/better than the previous so idk really anymore.
I also liked the new characters more than the old ones and I wished for the new guys to live more than the old ones.... hmmm.
So much time is wasted on boring plots and introducing new characters.
If I only could I'd make a deal with God and get him to swap our places (with someone who didn't sit through this entire shitty, lame season)
Conflicted on this one. The first half of Season 4 was some of the most impressively boring TV I have ever witnessed. It was an absolute slog to get through. I even started watching at 1.25x speed on Netflix and was still so bored I rarely made it through a full episode in one sitting. I can appreciate slow, deliberate pacing - Twin Peaks: The Return is one of my all-time favorites - but this somehow transcends that. There are 0 stakes, nothing engaging happening, no new ideas, every single shot (soo many match cuts) and line of dialogue was like a fractal of predictable tropes nested within tropes.
That said, things really start to pick up around Episode 6, and only get better until the final episode, which was legitimately pretty awesome. Then back down again for the last 20 minutes or so, where the bleakness of the ending felt a little forced.
Overall, it ended great, it's just a shame you have to suffer through 6+ hours of some of the most boring TV I've ever seen to get there. (Speaking of which, why are the episodes so dang long? A show like this does NOT need 1.5 - 2 hour long episodes. Were previous seasons like this too?)
“Stranger Things” already jumped the shark with the third season, and honestly, I was never too fond of it to begin with. As Netflix’s first blockbuster, it might deserve its status from a productive standpoint, but the limits of the writing and especially the poor pacing started to take a toll after a few episodes.
This season was mostly an improvement in all aspects, except for two major things.
First, there’s no way they needed thirteen hours for this. It’s good to take time to explore characters, but the material here was barely enough for a couple of 90-minute direct-to-video movies. This has been my biggest issue with this show since its beginning, and I can’t believe that episodes are getting longer and longer with each season. The finale felt as grandiose as a blockbuster movie and really managed to build momentum, yet two hours and a half feel way too long to swallow for a TV show. At this point, it pretty much became an extremely watered-down movie series.
Secondly, the Russian storyline. This was the biggest problem of season three, and here it arguably got even worse. At this point, it’s just the most ridiculous excuse to keep the grownups busy. Judging by the premise, I thought it was supposed to be a way to quickly “undo” an unpopular storyline and bring Hopper back into the game, and instead it just kept getting crazier and crazier.
Other than the problems above, I have to say I enjoyed it. It belongs to a genre where contrived writing and stereotypes become inevitable, and I am fine with the silly moments and suspension of disbelief as far as it doesn’t get too much on the nose like in the previous season. The show has been packaged extremely well, and the ensemble cast felt more balanced than usual. Some historical characters have been put aside, but it's good to see the others getting more screen time and more relevant roles in the story. The new characters were sometimes even more interesting, too bad that they mostly serve as cannon fodder for the horror scenes.
Is it worth going through seasons two and three? No, but if you already got to this point and were unsure about continuing, go ahead and enjoy these overlong episodes little by little. It’s pretty much a 13-hour feature film chopped into pieces, so watching 30 minutes at a time won’t change your perception much.
Episodes were too long. The last became boring. Too much stuff going on and too much sub plots. It's a TV show keep episodes short and the plot on track,
Much as I like this series, this season, more than any other, just draaaaaaaags on for what feels like ever! Lots of new characters introduced, some a lot more interesting than others and the totally pointless Russian sub-plot (actually not even just a sub-plot now, it's a full blown, and boring, story in its own right) that seems to do nothing more than keep the adults out of the way, spruced up with some monster action rather than just having them sat in a library. The biggest problem by far though is the sheer length of the episodes, I mean feature movie length. Fine if there was a need for it but most of of the episodes could easily have been 40 minutes max, the rest is just padding, so much padding that half the time I ended up just wishing that the episode, and then the whole season would just hurry up and end, really hard to maintain the interest to keep watching, not helped by the endless monologues that seem to increase in length and frequency as the season drags on. Not sure I can be bothered with the next season.
Sort of lame that season 2 has 9 episodes. Yet the last season will only have 8 ?
Pointless subplots, overused clichés, drawn-out scenes, soppy dialogues, irrational decisions, stupid motivations... How did it come to this? How did it come to such awful, lazy, uninspired writing? This season was so bad it's a fucking insult to the audience.
these episodes absolutely did not need to run well over an hour each
the show went exactly where I thought it would and took its sweet ass time dragging its feet there, hitting the most obvious beats and then hammering home the point over and over and over again with the most on-the-nose dialogue, packed to the gills with cliches, dialogue i've heard a million times over in other sci-fi/fantasy media, and characters largely reduced to fan-service spouting fan-service dialogue
The show’s appeal has regressed after each new season for me. This one was particularly poor.
The season is not well-rounded and most of the time boring. I don't understand why the single episodes lasts almost 90 minutes when it primarily consists of filler material. It feels like they had to put some stuff in so that the season feels big but its only shallow stuff, like the empty vastness in modern open-world RPGs that has no relevance to anything in the game. The same applies basically for two of the four main plots. It felt like watching three different movies that only connect in the penultimate and ultimate episode - and again in a very shallow way.
The season has some great ideas but since it choses to increase the cast and tries to give every character a decent storyline, the screentime for the interesting parts of this season get neglected.
So, in general, it's just a bunch of ideas thrown into a season, but nothing is ever explored in some deeper way. That's why this season feels shallow - with no heart and soul attached to it. Most of the emotional moments feel cliche and forced.
On the plus side, the visuals and soundtrack are nice as always. The retro feeling is still on.
This season will probably the reason why I will not watch the next season - the first two seasons were awesome though.
I'm not fond of the separate storylines because I enjoy watching the entire gang interact, and some storylines are better than others, but the objective part of me understands why it's necessary. At the end of the day, I'm invested in these characters, and this season convincingly sets up just the right amount of high-stakes situations to keep me tense and engaged.
I'm sure the "two volumes" format worked in terms of buzz and post production but that month of waiting, hype, chatting and watching trailer is, I think, part of the reason why the ending didn't move me as much as it could have. I was too focused on that, on guessing deaths, on the wait, and even though I had lots of fun, something didn't click for me. And I found a confirmation of that when I rewatched some scenes and found them more emotional on a second viewing. So I really think I would have enjoyed this so much more if I had the two final episodes ready two watch a day or two after the seventh. I guess I will never know.
That being said, I still think it's the best season after the first one, I still think the ending of episode four is one of the best moments of all Stranger Things (and that may also be part of a problem, because after such a high in the middle, you wait for something as powerful to come, and it doesn't), I still think that the longer episodes are not a problem because sure, they could have cut something here and there but it was always very enjoyable and in fact the length helped them to give dignity to all storylines, like it happened in season one and didn't really happen in two and three.
The new bad guy really works, even though he looks ridiculous and his info dumps can be quite annoying. The cast is amazing as always and the Duffers confirmed their talent in introducing characters that I don't really care for at first sight but I end up loving. It happens at least three times here, in very different and successful ways.
And of course the point, as usual for Stranger Things, is in how good the characters are and how well they are used. They are amazing, with great chemistry, really well written. Even in its worst moments, this show is always great with characters and relationships. And every episodes has got two or three amazing moments of comedy, drama, sweetness, beautiful interactions that are the engine of Stranger Things. Because they are the reason to watch it.
But it really is time to end it: the seams are visible, there's so much repetition and a huge risk of having emotions deflated by predictability. It kinda happened for me here with how it ended, I have to say.
Hope they don't miss the landing. They never did in season finales, but a series final is a different and tougher beast.
The best season of Stranger Things yet. Highly suspenseful and filled with incredible moments and big reveals. If season 5 can bring this story full circle and close on a high note, Stranger Things will go down in history as one of the greatest TV series of all time.
This has been a great return to the ominous and dark air that made the first season good. It could have been better but all the faget shit that they decided to throw in for no good reason damaged it in the end. How much more of this woke crap do we have to endure?
Okay this one of most best seasons i ever watch, i mean not all series can keeps this level of excitement,Yah I know there some Expected scenes but it's not matter as they in the overall done great job, and makes you want the new season right now!
Anyway i really enjoyed it and big thank you for all who done this work
Amazing season despite a lot of new characters being more interesting than some of the old ones. Especially when Will has nothing to do but be love sick and jealous. While Jonathan is now a goofy stoner.
Though it is annoying how everyone tries to get Nancy back with Steve when Jonathan isn’t around.
The villain steals the show and so does as Max at one point. Eddie the metalhead Dungeons and Dragon club leader steals almost every seen he is in though.
Oh, it's been a very long wait. Here's hoping it's worthwhile
This is the best season of Stranger Things since the beginning. The show started to feel like it had lost its way and become generic horror/gore, but that neon synth lightning has returned! I am eager to see what's in store for the fifth season.
Robin Buckley love of my life
Honestly the Teen group in Hawkins is the most entertaining part of the show, would love a spin off of them going full scoooby gang and fighting supernatural stuff with the kids showing up every so often
Imo the other storylines we're v slow this season and just not as entertaining as the Hawkins team, the current group in Hawkins just has the best chemistry to watch
Anyway I love a lesbian, her platonic soulmate, his gun-wielding ex-gf, and their weird gaggle of children that they babysit
Stranger things has been a ride and one with its ups and downs. With episode 7 (All that is released at this point) it is definitely on an up right now. This season really feels like it has matured and now has everything in place to become a classic. Season 3 was a down for me and so far it has been good writing with only minor forced progressive identity politics thrown in. I am very pleased so far and love that it is all back to basics and simple storytelling. Some feels very forced, like the Joyce and Jim story... but it is fun and I am ok with it because its not a serious show and is very 80s anyway.
Thumbs up from me so far and now I am ok for more unlike I was after season 3.
It is the darkest season of the series, things happen all the time and there is no character left unexplored, the creators have left no detail unexplored, it is a leap in quality compared to previous seasons
the only downside is that the music is a bit too much on the nose.
Decent season so far. A bit disappointed in the retconning, though: after Eleven escaped in season 1 she had to learn how to speak but here she's having full-on conversations with One... Still, looking forward to the finale.
Bloody hell season 4 is really good.
There's a lot of great, creepy parts of this season. But there's also a lot of great character developments. Splitting the party between Hawkins and California gave a lot of time for people to develop.
The season had some pacing issues, with the final episode 2.5 hours to conclude all the things they started. They could've done better at integrating the stories earlier so that the season blended more smoothly.
Still, there's a lot of good drama throughout.
So apparently i am the only one that didn't find the Russian storyline to be boring. I was able to enjoy almost every moment of this season.
10/10
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this season but it certainly wasn’t what we got. It was so incredibly dragged out, but also lacked any feeling or charm. Everything was focused on the boring, repetitive plot while no attention was given to the character arcs and the relationships. We hardly saw anyone actually interact with another character in a meaningful or even fun way. Everything was bland, which is such a shame because the season started in an interesting way and ended strong. It was just the middle that didn’t work at all for me.
Almost watched seasons 1 through 4 in one go. Thought this wasn’t really for me, but man was I wrong. This show is great. The performances, music and overall story are awesome.
First 3 seasons flow together nicely, episodes are nice and tight. In season 4 you feel this changing. It comes together in the end and it’s not bad at all, but you can almost feel the writing struggles. It just doesn’t fit as nice as the first three season. Still, I’m glad I’ll be tagging along for the final chapter.
Fuckin aye man. The twists and turns just keep coming more powerful than the last. The longer runtimes are a chore to get through yes, but I still enjoy spending time with these characters and all the reuniting from each of the 4 main storylines are just the sigh of relief we need after such an extreme rollercoaster of emotion. No idea how Season 5 will top everything from Season 4 as well as wrap things up in a satisfying manner, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Calling it right now: it’s gonna end like how it started, like a D&D game
It wouldn't be wrong to call this season "the beginning of the end." Apart from that the creators have confirmed season 5 as the last season, this season ends by opening up new possibilities for close the story of this series in the next season.
Absolutely, unequivocally a step forward from season three. In many ways, Stranger Things 4 seems to finally delve deep into the subtext of the premise of the show and as a result gets considerably darker than the series has since it’s initial run. This fourth season is a thrill ride and gets going from episode one with little time to let up, which is surprising considering the behemoth that this season is.
The episode lengths have long been discussed and although I never felt like any episode dragged aside from the wrap-up in the 2.5 hour finale, it does feel like it’s long to be long. Many of the longer episodes do feel like there is an opportunity to either be split into two regular sized episodes or to be shortened. Although none of it feels like a waste, some plot threads are less interesting than others—namely Mike, Jonathan and Will’s even though it does end up connecting in an important way.
Overall, I have to commend the Duffer Brothers for course correcting so strongly from the misstep that was Stranger Things 3 to create a season much more in line tonally with what audiences came to expect from this show, even if the lore is a little messy and all over the place. What it lack in finesse, Stranger Things 4 makes up for in sheer power and intensity, with several episodes leaving me on the edge of my couch, white-knuckling through the action. Can’t wait to see how this series ends in the next season.
Special shout out to David Harbour, who kind of carried half this season on his back. Hopper has long been one of my favorite characters on this show and it is incredible to see him back to his brooding roots.
I think Stranger Things has officially taken over Game of Thrones label as the next TV phenomenon. It's odd since this is the only show with a whole season at once release to receive this label (Netflix has had other big successes with Ozark, The Crown and House of Cards, but neither ever turned out to be the big talk of the town like say Breaking Bad and Lost when they aired on a weekly basis). Anyways, this is probably due to the Duffer Brothers for creating a nostalgic work that pays homage to Steven Spielberg, Dungeons and Dragons and Stephen King. Also, like GoT, it's a series with a blockbuster budget and effects, showing that viewers now want bigger worlds on the small screen. Even if the series isn't perfect, it still manages to entertain and remain a favourite among the masses. In other words, there could be a worse show that is currently the biggest thing on the air (remember when that was The Walking Dead?). Anyways, I'll only mention that this season really suffers from the runtime, some arcs definitely could've been shortened which just makes the 90-minute and 80-minute episodes rather annoying and the season finale which is over two hours feel like an overload. Anyways, it's still the entertaining hit viewers dig and hey, at least people are obsessed with a series that's an original idea and not something Marvel/Star Wars.
I’ve always given this show 9’s & 10’s once the season is over but I’m conflicted. The first half was good but not up to it’s usual standard. The Russian storyline bored me, as did the characters who went on the ‘roadtrip’. Lots of new characters introduced with only one of who I liked. As always my favourites are Dustin and Steve as I love their camaraderie. It improved by Dear Billy then slumped slightly then picked up again at episode 7 and continued to get better up until the finale. I don’t want to be too harsh because I did enjoy certain storylines but the others for me just felt too drawn out and overcomplicated. If only trakt did half stars my issue would be solved. Going to have to think on this
Soooo, Part 2 was two episodes. Nicely done (sarcasm sign). Also out of all the characters, you decided to kill the coolest one, again, very nice. Just out of curiosity, I'm gonna watch S5 to see how you blow it all away, 'cause at this rate, that's definitely gonna happen.
Holy hell this was good. Such amazing shots, blocking, dialogue, fun characters, epic themes, goo performances, excellent usage of tropes, etc.
I LIVE for this shit.
But also? I wish the Russia/Joyce/Hopper storyline didn’t exist. It didn’t really add anything to the story thematically, internally, or externally. Just felt out of place.
The primary storyline though?? INCREDIBLE. I love love love Vecna. Fantastic.
001 now resides in on of the kids
Best season since season 1 and might even be better. This is the most epic and emotional season of the show yet and it feels very fresh and different from the last two seasons. It is much darker than previous seasons and I really loved the tone. The Duffer brothers called this their game of thrones season and I can really see that, with all of the characters being in different places and having their own journeys but all still being related to the main plot of what's happening in Hawkins. This season really did feel massive and so much bigger than anything they've done before, with the biggest stakes and the most complex story. I think overall this season did an amazing job of capturing that tone. And I really love the way the season ended, not like the happy victory from previous season but much more of a bittersweet and ominous ending and it really makes you feel like things are different this time. It does a great job of setting up what will be the final season of the show, and truly feels like the beginning of the end. My one main complaint is that I wish that some of the main characters got a little bit more attention. However, in the final two episodes many of these characters did get more to do and played a larger role, so this is more of a nit-pick mostly related to volume 1 and many of my complaints about the characters were resolved in volume 2. Otherwise, I thought most of the characters were given great arcs this season and the actors did a great job of conveying these arcs and bringing a lot of emotion to their performances. Just an amazingly epic and emotional season and this show proves it's still one of the best series out there.
2022 TV Shows Ranked --> https://trakt.tv/users/justinnumerick/lists/2022-tv-shows-ranked?sort=rank,asc
I hope Sadie Sink's and Kate Bushe's backs do not hurt from carrying this season on them.
So, I really really appreciate the inclusion of a character like Eddie ('cuz of course I do) but I also really really hope this "part 2" is the last of this series. Because, frankly, I feel just the way I felt when they kept bringing out seasons for AHS, and that feeling is the one you have when you know something it's losing its magic. Like a relationship that you watch die from afar and don't know how to stop it. Let it die as a hero for the series, don't let it become another villain.
Kyle is either an unnecessary character or the actor playing him doesn’t fit the character.
After a disappointing season (not sure which one, perhaps several) I have to say this one is really close to a master piece.
I was so disappointed from the last two seasons I wasn't planning on watching season 4, but I'm really glad I did. This is a real step up. Really enjoying it.
so far so good. I like the origins storys, i think they made sense (in the nonsense that the show is, of course)
Not very fan of the russian escape plot .
I REALLY hope the second part finally asambles all the subgroups and they fight together. What made the first season so great was the friendship, and so far there wasnt any scene where the 5 friends where together in the same place .
impressive their ability to renew themselves each season, nothing is the same as the previous ones but it does not deviate from what has already been presented to us. I think such long episodes are an exaggeration, mainly because of the way the series is made available (seriously netflix, put one episode a week is much better), but the series manages to do well. literally a single core didn't catch my attention, all the others are amazing, tense, funny and everything good that the series has already presented us. Watching the kids grow up is a really good experience, seeing them go through other problems and not just monsters from another dimension shows the series has matured. once again the series introduces us to new characters in a way that captivates us, even Argyle that I didn't like at first has a place in my heart hi so Eden who won hearts by having 10 seconds of screen. The revelations are incredible and the script almost perfect.
the second part manages to be even better, everything fell into place and the quality exceeded my expectations. but I'm completely devastated so stop here.
NOTE FOR MYSELF SO I REMEMBER SOMEDAY, ONLY REPRESENTS MY OPINION/THOUGHTS FOR MYSELF NOT A “REAL REVIEW“, SO YOU MIGHT NOT AGREE WITH IT
(also its not my 1st language)
I have to say.. so far something about this season feels wrong/off.. since its been 3 years I don't exactly remember what I thought of this show before but I thought it was better. This whole Vecna as the villain thing isn't for me, its a little "basic horror movie monster" which I don't like, the demogorgon and the upside down storyline was better imo.
Also too many character story lines and "groups", feels kinda messy and like nothing feels smooth and together if that makes sense.
Also the characters often make stupid choices or act unnatural like the dialogue was badly written and many (little) things don't make sense (like actually arresting a little kid and intending to put her in jail?! Americans can't drink until 21 but can get arrested at 15?? ok idk how old Eleven is but it was weird)
Im not saying its bad or anything Im just surprisingly disappointed, Im just not enjoying it as much as I thought I would.
waiting for the second half!
Review by ragreynoldsVIP 7BlockedParentSpoilers2022-07-01T15:59:10Z
I think this season is probably on par with season 3 for me. Season 1 and 2 are still the best (by a lot imo). This season was still good, but there was way too much focus on that dull Russia subplot - it felt as though the writers had no idea what to do with certain characters this season, so they just threw them into that boring mess.
For whatever reason, I had missed the announcement that season 5 would be the final season. For some reason I was under the impression that this was the 4th and FINAL season. I thought that's why the episodes were released the way they were and also why the were so long (especially that final 2.5 hour episode). I was left feeling pretty underwhelmed after the final episode (because I thought it was the last ever episode) so I'm kinda glad there's another season left to go, since that means the unresolved plots will actually be resolved. Still, I felt this season dragged a little in places. Eight episodes that were one hour each would have been plenty.
Anyway, it was still a good season of television, even if it might be my least favourite of the show so far.