It was the click heard ‘round the world: on May 27, 2022, volume one of “Stranger Things” season four dropped on Netflix, with volume two following a month later. Since its premiere in 2016, “Stranger Things” has transformed Netflix into one of the most popular streaming services, made the Duffer Brothers a household name and launched the careers of its actors. Whether one is a fan of the show or not, “Stranger Things” changed pop culture in the 2010s and its popularity is hard to downplay. This season was no exception.

Season four of “Stranger Things” divides the action between Hawkins, Indiana, California and Russia. In Hawkins, we see Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), his sister Erica (Priah Ferguson), Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Robin (Maya Hawke), Max (Sadie Sink) as well as new character and fan-favorite Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) go up against the menacing and all-powerful Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). While this crew has experience defeating creatures from the Upside Down, they are at a disadvantage since telekinetic and telepathic Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) moved to sunny California with the Byers. On the West Coast, we see El struggle with her newfound powerlessness while Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and his friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco) attempt to free her from a secret experimentation facility. Meanwhile, in Russia, Hopper (David Harbour), alive but not well, is imprisoned by the Soviets. Joyce (Winona Ryder) and conspiracist Murray (Brett Gelman) embark on a mission to break him out. By the amount of settings and storylines alone, it is no understatement that season four is the most enterprising season yet. But does it pay off?

Much of what endears “Stranger Things” to viewers is the characters and immensely talented actors. The stars of “Stranger Things” season four include Brown as El, Sink as Max and McLaughlin as Lucas. Brown is adept at capturing El’s identity crises both as a powerless individual but also as a teenage girl trying to regain a semblance of normalcy in a new environment that evokes familiarity but also alienation. Like El, Max questions her identity and sanity as she is haunted by Vecna because of her traumatic experiences related to her abusive step brother’s death. Sink shines in her acting as Max and has arguably the best scene of the season in “Chapter Four: Dear Billy.” McLaughlin is thankfully given more of an arc this season, allowing him to delve into Lucas as he is caught between maintaining his social status on the basketball team and keeping his old friends. McLaughlin’s scenes with Sink are compelling and some of the best of the season as their characters try to mend their relationship in the face of adversity. 

Where season four gets bogged down, however, is in the storylines outside of Hawkins. El’s storyline and Brown’s performance are the only things going for the California storyline. Schnapp and Wolfhard do well in their roles as Will and Mike as they showcase the breakdown of their friendship. Jonathan’s character continues to flatten as he is reduced to the moody member in the love triangle between him, Nancy and Steve. However, his scenes with Argyle provide some levity. The Russia storyline is engaging, especially with Ryder and Harbour’s palpable chemistry, but even its most high-pressure moments do not compare to those in Hawkins and California. 

One of the other gripes with this season is the excessively long episodes, some that border on feature-length films. Putting aside discourse on the current state of television that argues that seasons are simply eight hour movies, I agree that the episode lengths in season four were overkill. If the Duffer Brothers insist on having lengthy episodes, the most effective way to premiere them would have been to release them weekly rather than all at once. Season four was split into volume one and volume two, but this did little for me in the viewing experience.  However, releasing the season in weekly installments would not have had the same effect. A show like “Stranger Things” has enough popularity that airing it weekly would justify the episode lengths, keeping fans considerably more engaged and avoiding spoilers. 

Overall, “Stranger Things” season four is an effective continuation of the series that does not sacrifice character development for high production value, even if it overextended itself in its storylines, settings and episode lengths. Nevertheless, with each progressing season “Stranger Things” proves to be a good time for avid fans and casual viewers alike and reiterates it is a cultural shift in television and pop culture.