This review contains spoilers for Stranger Things Series Four Volume One but review on Volume Two is completely spoiler-free. Spoiler-free thoughts on Volume One of Series Four can be found here.
After Stranger Things burst back onto Netflix a few weeks ago with the first seven episodes of Series Four, the gang are back for the final two episodes of the latest series! Volume One of Series Four perfectly expanded this sci-fi world from Hawkins to California and Russia but the question everyone wants answered, does Volume Two nail the landing?
Volume One ended with Vecna’s identity being revealed, Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) powers being restored and Hopper and Joyce being reunited in a KGB prison. Many events were thrown at viewers during episode seven (titled ‘The Massacre at Hawkins Lab’) so essentially, episode eight begins with the aftermath of everything that has happened thus far.
Volume Two consists of two episodes: episode eight (titled ‘Papa’) and the huge, two and a half hour, finale (‘The Piggyback’). Episode eight did feel like the calm before the storm, if I’m being completely honest. It is sandwiched between the end of Volume One and the end of the season making it an episode where all the characters deal with consequences while preparing for their huge fight with the season’s big antagonist, Vecna.
However, the finale is the part of the series everyone will want to be talking about and to sum it up in one word, it is ambitious. The Duffer Brothers swing for the fences in an explosive finale that is pure bliss for Stranger Things fans. For an episode of television that is the same length as The Dark Knight, Pulp Fiction and Dune, it flies by and is over before you know it. The episode runs at a breakneck pace that is tension-filled, action-packed but packs a gut-punch that will bring you to tears.
The main reason Season Four was split into two volumes was mainly down to the special effects being unfinished and I am glad that we waited for the finished product. While a few shots in the finale do standout as looking a tad rushed, the VFX used to bring the Upside Down to life are magnificent! The Duffer Brothers have said that the finale has more visual effect shots than in the entirety of Season Three and it shows. Every scene is filled with science fiction elements and if there are four or five quick shots that looked a little iffy in a two and a half hour episode of television, you have done a good job.
Going into Stranger Things Season Four, I had my concerns but they were immediately put to rest by the time episode one had finished. Each episode just improved on the one that came before delivering one of best season finales ever put to screen! Sadie Sink as Max and Joseph Quinn as Eddie are the highlights of the season, giving performances that will be up for Emmy consideration. This season delivers the spectacle an epic fashion while having some truly ambitious storytelling. This truly is up there with Season One as some of Netflix’s best TV to date!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stranger Things Series Four Volume 2 is now available on Netflix.
