The first volume of Season 4 of Stranger Things, Netflix’s signature series, is a whole lot scarier. While the second and third seasons seemed to lean more towards the family-friendly side, the fourth season promises a darker tone and gives us a more thorough exploration of the origins of the Upside Down as well as an origin story for 11 explaining how she got her powers.
In this season, the show remembers its roots as a scary show whereas seasons 2 and 3 were interested in the 80s nostalgia, being slightly campy in nature. The ominous soundtrack, Vecna’s ticking clock counting down the seconds you have to live and the sudden jumps cares, are sure to leave audiences biting their nails and peeking through hands covering their eyes.
The lighting of the show gets darker and scarier. The red lighting in the Upside Down makes us feel the evilness surrounding the place and the flickering lights that we remember from season 1 is used as effectively as before.
The main story has a few sub plots. Every episode of the show is definitely longer but the show includes every member of the extensive cast they created over the last three seasons, thus justifying its runtime. The positive part being the episodes keep us entertained. The last episode of the volume could be a movie of its own with a runtime of an hour and 40 minutes
The Vecna monster is targeting teens that are haunted by their past and Max seems like his next victim. Following her as she is haunted by Vecna and watching her deal with the grief of losing her brother gives us goosebumps.
The story of how Hopper endures torture and incredible amounts of pain at the hands of the USSR and manages to escape is told well and had us marvelling at his determination. At the end of the first volume, it seems that Murray and Joyce are successful in rescuing him. Hope still remains that Eleven will get her powers back and help the group stop Vecna. The rest of Hawkins have banded together to find Eddie, who they believe to be a serial killer possessed by the devil and blamed for the Vecna killings as well as the “Curse of Hawkins.”
So far Eddie has been kept safe from the police as well as the rest of Hawkins, but now that a posse consisting of practically every able citizen in the town is after him, how long will this last? Will Hopper and Joyce be safe? What about the Lenora gang who are being chased by the government?
It seems like we are just getting started as the first volume leaves us with far more questions than answers. The second volume is expected to be out on July 1.