Like the rest of us, I binged Stranger Things 4 Vol 2 yesterday. But here’s why I think it should’ve been left until season five.
The last two episodes came in at a whopping 4 hours in total and I’ve seen a lot of praise for how the run time was handled.
However, I can’t be the only one that felt like four hours felt a little too long. Don’t get me wrong, I want all the Stranger Things I can get, but I struggled.
***SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers of Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 below***
Was Vol 2 too long?
Chapter 8: Papa, was an hour and a half of set up, slowly getting people into the right place for the grand finale. They did their best to disguise it, and there were definitely some amazing moments (Eleven taking down the helicopter, for one). However, whilst I made a cuppa in-between episodes, I couldn’t help but think it could’ve been done in less than an hour.
There was lots of time spent on emotional moments spent believing us characters were going to die when we all know that most of them wouldn’t. And I’ve got to be honest, it was a bit repetitive.
- SPOILERS: Does Vecna die in Stranger Things 4?
There was a good 10-minute sequence where the Hawkins gang individually said something along the lines of ‘here are my plans for the future,’ (Steve and Nancy’s six kids for instance), moments of advice (Eddie telling Dustin to never change) and Robin’s ‘knawing feeling’ that they won’t all make it this time. By the end, I was willing for some momentum toward the action.
Even the finale itself could have had at least half an hour cut off of it. After the big fight, Max and Eddie are dead and the four gates have cataclysmically joined in the middle of Hawkins – we cut to two days later?
We then spend 40-minutes reuniting everyone and mostly forgetting about the state of Hawkins until the last two minutes. Truthfully, I found it a bit odd. The reuniting of Hopper and El was more than welcome, and I welled up as they got used to each other’s new looks after almost a year apart. But why were they all cleaning up the cabin?
What worries me now? That they’ll feel the need to up the runtime for series five and we’ll have an Endgame length final episode. Yikes.
Papa
The major thing that happened in the penultimate episode? The death of Papa, or Dr Brenner. The puppet master of all the super-powered children who El’s been on the run from since series one.
It was clear that the creators, the Duffer brothers, wanted us to feel something sad about him dying, but I was nothing but glad. Only a few scenes before had El been trying to kill him, declaring that he had been the monster all along. So why was there dramatic music and a drawn-out death for him? It felt like an emotional misfire, that we were meant to feel things that we were never going to.
Badass Women
One thing the final undeniably got right, was how they used the women of the show. Millie Bobby-Brown is always great as Eleven, but it was the more nuanced, human performances of Sadie Sink and Natalia Dyer that stole the finale for me. The entirety of Stranger Things 4 has been dominated by Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield. Episode four, Dear Billy, which centred around Max, was by far the best of volume 1, but her performance in the finale may have even topped that. As Vecna takes hold and we see each of her limbs crack, blood coming from her eyes, she begs for her life so powerfully that you had to be heartless not to bawl.
Ending the series in a coma, with her mind nowhere to be found, Max *has* to be back in series five – she’s risen to become a dominant fan-favourite, and it’s so deserved.
Nancy Wheeler began as no one’s favourite. The selfish high schooler who put Steve over her best friend has had character development close to that of her ex-boyfriend. Now using a shotgun customised herself to take Vecna down, I was in awe of her – no one will ever be as cool as Nancy Wheeler.
Eddie Munson
*starts sobbing*
Eddie, our metalhead hero. He was always going to make the ultimate sacrifice, even if none of us wanted it. The moment he stopped climbing the rope we knew it was going to happen. That didn’t stop me from screaming at the screen though. Logistically, it had to happen. Most of Hawkins hated him, and he’s still being blamed for the Vecna’s murder.
His playing Master of Puppets on top of a caravan in the Upside-Down may be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on television. A heart purer than most (and hair better than most too), I know everybody is mourning the loss of *another* one-season-lovable character.
Why Volume 2 Should’ve Been in Season 5
And he’s one of the reasons why volume 2 should’ve been in series five. Imagine Stranger Things 4 had ended with volume 1. We could’ve had more time with Eddie so that his death was even more impactful, and it wouldn’t have been as predictable.
Vecna could’ve just been killed, instead of kinda-killed, but still very much alive for season five. I did enjoy the fact that this time, they didn’t actually win, but it was a little bit cliche.
The revelation of Vecna as 001 was enough of a cliffhanger to carry over to series five as well. I can’t help but wonder that the impact of volume 2 if it had been earnt a little bit more.
I have no doubt that the Duffer brothers have a plan for season five (please use Will more!) and that it’ll be phenomenal. I’ll still be ready to binge it the second it comes out! But I wonder just how much control Netflix has had over run-times and release schedules. Stranger Things is the biggest thing to come out of Netflix – I just hope it doesn’t fall at the final hurdle because of that.