SiftPop

by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer

After a few long years, the Netflix show is back for the first of three holiday releases for its final season.

The jokes about how long it’s taken us to get to the finale of Stranger Things are plentiful, so I’m not going to belabor the point here, but it does have a way of heaping on pressure every time there’s a new season because of the wait.

We rejoin the Hawkins crew roughly 18 months after the events of Season Four, and they’re a part of a sort of resistance. They’re trying to avoid detection from the military while ferreting out where Vecna is hiding under the cover provided by military resupplies at night. As a general starting point, it makes sense, given where things left off. 

In their day jobs, our crew is split up into a few different camps. Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) are focusing on training El (Millie Bobby Brown), as Hopper leads the incursions into the Upside Down. The older crew of Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Robin (Maya Hawke) are running the communication angle of the resistance through a radio station. The rest of the kids are dealing with the repercussions of the fallout and trying to keep their heads down — with one notable exception. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) is still reeling from the death of Eddie and the events of Season Four which gives us a little less of the fun, sarcastic Dustin we are used to initially. However, I loved that it shows there are stakes and repercussions to the trauma our crew has experienced. 

The show has always been about its pairings. This season, it’s a mix of tried and true pairings with the new pairings, and there’s a bit more fluidity to the groups. Dustin when paired with Steve and other of the older crew still remains a highlight for the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category. On the other end of the spectrum, I’m really hoping we get more from the trio of Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan, as it is largely reduced to love triangle tension tropes. There are also a couple of pairings that we surprisingly don’t get enough of. Before breaking up into their usual crews, watching Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy work together early in the season is a nice treat. In a surprising pairing when I thought about how little we actually get to see them together, the El and Hopper duo probably spends more time together this season than they have before — since much of their close relationship largely happens off screen. The clear winner of the new pairing of the season is Robin and Will (Noah Schnapp). The pairing offering an avenue for Robin to connect with Will about his own sexuality provides a key emotional and narrative impact for this first period. 

Speaking of the narrative, I was largely disappointed in what I would call the more mundane narrative beats. By that, I mean the inter-character moments. This is where the dialogue can feel a little bit paint-by-numbers, with some exceptions. On the other end of the spectrum, character moments within spectacle work much better. The overall arc of Will is perhaps the best example of this. The result of the combo is I often found myself waiting for the next set piece to arrive. 

That’s not the only way this season feels a bit bisected. The visual style of the first part also falls across this line. In the quieter moments, what’s sometimes referred to as the “Netflix sheen” is much more noticeable. In contrast, the show really shines when it’s in its set piece bag. It uses its mix of merging and cutting between storylines and longer sequences to great effect. 

There’s a couple of characters that deserve a mention. 

Quickly, Erica’s (Priah Ferguson) usage in the doses she’s given work a treat. She’s a delight whenever she’s on screen. But Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) as this season’s human big bad is the weakest the show’s ever had in that department.

I also want to talk about the “new character” of the season. Usually there’s new character brought into the fold, this season, it’s more a case of a character being brought to the fore after being in the background for four seasons. Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) has been aged up and given a new actor (I don’t know that the math works on how old she’s supposed to be, but since everyone else is in their 20s and 30s, I’m not sure how much that matters). The way she’s been brought into the story truly adds stakes and an interesting wrinkle to the story, though it hasn’t avoided some of the inconsistencies that have plagued the rest of the season to this point. I just hope she gets a happier ending than the rest of the new characters for each season of this show generally do. 

Thus far, it’s been an at times frustrating, admittedly inconsistent, start to the season. There are some down moments, but the show’s been saved because of the magic formula they’ve figured out in the writing room. They know how to end their episodes with an impact that immediately makes you want to click “Next Episode.” As always, it’s challenging to review a part of a season, but what I can say to this point is that where it leaves the audience truly feels like it earns the finale of Part One status, and I will no doubt be there Christmas Day after everyone else has gone to sleep for the next installment.

Rating: Liked It

Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix

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You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd