Stranger Things 4 Vol.2 Review + Full season Review (HEAVY SPOILER WARNING!)

It's finally here, the finale we have been waiting for. Stranger Things 4 premiered a month ago and finally gave Netflix the punch it needed after the stock issues the streaming service had been facing. But let's not get technical here. To keep the momentum for the season raging on, Netlfix decided to air the last 2 episodes on July 1st. So was the anticipation worth the wait? 

Both episodes 8 and 9 clocked about 1 and a half hours and 2 and a half hours respectively, totaling up to four hours of content. The epic finale continues where volume 1 left us by leaving more unresolved plotholes yet pleasing fans with its surprising successful attempts at what seems like perfect continuity while answering a lot of the questions have had since season 1. In two episodes, The Duffer Brothers (who wrote and directed these pair of episodes) manage to, at least, tie up the season in epic and gargantuan ways. 

It is clear here that Stranger Things 4 functions as the penultimate adventure before the narrative ends in the next installment. Like the MCU's Infinity War, all of the characters are in different locations, far from reach which will be the cause of their downfall. With it being the most informative season, some details are still left in the dark to make their potential reveals before we close the book on these characters. As a whole, it is safe to say that there might have been too many characters to follow up on this season. They may have handled it well enough to be emotionally invested in each of them but it almost seems like a chore, especially for anyone who was paying attention to character development, to really see how characters have grown. 

Speaking of character developments, there are characters that haven't made a clear change since season 1. In Vol.1 it was almost written in the stars that the Duffer Brothers might have been preparing us to say goodbye to Steve with how they were handling the character and his dynamic with Nancy. It was almost unexpected to see him survive that tragic ending where they killed off fan favorites instead.

The pairings between the characters seem to be a staple part of the show, especially the romantic ones, but not all of them should be rooted for. It almost seems uncharacteristic for the writers to want to take a step backward for Nancy to be still stuck in the triangle with Jonathan and Steve. It not only ruins their dynamic but also ruins Steve individually as the redemptive figure who has been trying to figure out his true purpose. And Nancy somewhat reciprocating Steve's feelings makes the slow burn to her realizing she had feelings for Jonathan a waste of time. However, no OTP's chemistry dripped off the screen better than Lucas and Max. They may not have been dating this season, but it was clear these two still cared for each other. Lucas had changed from when they were on and off dating, wanting to be there for Max at her lowest. 

This season centers around Max, especially in the first 4 episodes which led up to her survival or impending doom. Because she ended up surviving, viewers were able to put that aside to focus on the fates of other characters. However, it was blindsiding to see Max as bait for Vecna and her own self-doubt once again, sacrificing herself in order for that final plan to work. Sadie Sinks's performance and the arc written for Max truly live up to the promise that the show matures alongside the characters. Her arc also marked itself as a worthy message towards mental health issues when volume 1 rolled about but her fate in the finale diminishes that message.  

Instead of getting the level she deserved, Eleven does manage to gain her powers once again, probably even stronger than before but not enough to have stopped the events that transpired here. In Episode 8, Matthew Modine's character, Papa made it very clear that Eleven wasn't ready to help her friends nor defeat Vecna. Eventually escaping his clutches, the end result proved that he was right which led to Eleven's first epic failure. Hawkins is destroyed, and the Upside Down is bleeding through and was too late to save Max. This failure will drive Eleven's arc in the final season, once again grappling with her doubt of whether she is the superhero or the monster.  

In Russia, Joyce and Hopper finally reunite and they also share their long-awaited first kiss but that's not the only thing that tied up the Russia storyline. Apparently, that Soviet prison had its own mystery going on that I fear wasn't carefully planned out well enough. Murray and Joyce get Hopper out of the prison but how did the Russians somehow get their hands on a piece of the mind flayer let alone the demogorgons or demodogs? Hopefully, this mystery doesn't get abandoned when the next season arrives. 

Vecna/Henry/One (or according to fans, VH1) is the best villain the show has had. From what we've learned, he currently rules the Upside Down due to his superior abilities, creating the mind flayer, and controlling the democreatures, which makes him the threat to beat to end this madness. Learning his motivations and goal from Volume 1 proves that he is yet another tyrant who wants to remake the world in his own image, where he controls nature and makes his own rules. Despite it being a cliche plan for a worthy adversary for our group of heroes, this is his revenge towards man-made constructs that deemed him unfit, his way of rebelling against men is downright terrifying. 

Noah Schnapp's performance as Will in these final episodes was astonishing. We do not get a clear answer about his sexuality but do we need one, at this point? It is very much obvious where it is going here. His speech about how Mike is the heart of the group is why Will's character development is fulfilling and heartbreaking. The rest of the cast spends their time running around, worrying about their crushes, romances and places in the world despite it on the verge of going to hell at any time, they still brought their A-games and provided enough reasons to care about and be annoyed with them. 

There were a number of shortcomings when it came to certain characters, but the finale did not disappoint when it came to answering more questions we didn't know we needed answers to and setting up all the chess pieces needed before the final season. The Duffer Brothers promise that the wait between this season will be shorter but there was no reason why this season should have arrived earlier. It was clear Stranger Things 4 was going to be large in scale, dramaticism, and episode lengths and the time and space needed for exactly that was worth the wait.