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The fan-favorite series Stranger Things premiered its brand new season today, May 27. Things seem to be getting much darker and bloodier than usual.
Directed and created by the Duffer Brothers, Season 4 of Stranger Things shows viewers the aftermath of the Battle of Starcourt in the previous season. It initially focuses on the separation of the group before highlighting the new and horrifying supernatural mystery that has surfaced. This season might finally put see the end to the horrors of the Upside Down, but we have to wait and see what happens.
Note: This article reflects the writer's opinions.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 Episode 1 review: Return to Hawkins
Netflix's Stranger Things Season 4 is nothing like what viewers had expected it to be. Besides the kids being all grown up, the show too has taken a bolder and bloodier approach this season. After a strong comeback almost 3 years later, Stranger Things is all set to regain viewers' undivided love and attention.
The new season of Stranger Things opens with the return of Dr. Brenner. The year is 1979, and he is seen at his infamous laboratory, piping on hot coffee and solving a crossword puzzle. A young boy, Ten, is working with Dr. Brenner on finding anyone and anything if he puts his mind to it, which are powers similar to Eleven's.
Eleven gone rogue
During their session together, Brenner asks Ten to locate Dr. Ellis, which turns out to be an unfortunate event when they learn that Dr. Ellis and a child named Six are dead. Viewers then hear screams and cries from outside. Within seconds, the door is thrown from its hinges, knocking the doctor out.
Upon coming to his senses, Dr. Brenner sees Ten dead along with countless other people in the lab. Blood and glass is spread all over the place. Viewers then discover a young Eleven turning around in a subject's room with bloodstains all around her eyes, meaning that she killed everyone in the lab.
Everyone is all grown up
Fast forward to 1986, it is springtime and the Stranger Things universe is no longer the same. Eleven and Will now live in Lenora Hills, California along with Jonathan and Joyce. It's project day for El and she is all set to present her adorable diorama of Hopper. Will seems all grown up and Joyce now has a work-from-home job of cold-calling customers to buy sets of encyclopedias.
Back in Hawkins, Mike is seen getting ready to pay El a visit during spring break while Dustin is still smitten with his long-distance girlfriend who helped him change his Spanish grade. As for Lucas, he is now on the basketball team and on his way to becoming a part of the popular group.
Things really are not the same
Max is not with Lucas anymore and still seems to be grieving over the loss of her stepbrother Billy. She now lives in a new house with her mom and keeps to herself. Haunted by post-traumatic stress and nightmares, she prefers being alone, unlike the boys who are part of The Hellfire Club, a D&D group similar to theirs with seniors.
Nancy and Jonathan are still together, trying to work their long-distance relationship. Nancy works at the school paper while Jonathan is awaiting his early college acceptance letter. Steve and Robin are still friends, dealing with girl troubles and their work at Family Video.
It is rather emotional for the fans to see all the kids grown up, but there is no doubt that the performances are brilliant. One can see how the actors have held on to their roles and made them their own.
Newbies in Hawkins
This season of Stranger Things has introduced two new, significant characters, Chrissy and Eddie. Chrissy is a high school cheerleader, who has hallucinations of her abusive mother criticizing her. She also sees spiders escape from an old clock in a tree. To calm her nerves, she goes to Eddie to buy some pot. It turns out that Eddie, a nerd with a punk appearance, is part of the Hellfire Club. He is shown to be struggling at school.
In the meantime, we see El finding it hard to adjust to her new school because she is bullied on a daily basis by her classmates. They make fun of her for paying tribute to Hopper through her project and later smashes it. She tries using her powers against them but nothing happens.
The biggest reveal of the entire episode is when a Russian doll arrives at Joyce's door. She calls Murray and together they open up the doll to check for bombs from the communists across the Pacific. However, the doll instead has a note saying, "Hop is alive! He Looks ford too date, Pleaz to make."
Gruesome turn of events
Right after this, Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 1 takes a bloody and gruesome turn that was quite unexpected. When Eddie takes Chrissy to his trailer park home, she starts hallucinating and finds herself trapped in a two-storey home. A woman, her mother, is seen working on a dress with her sewing machine and scolding Chrissy. The scene then shifts to her father, whose eyes, nose and mouth are glued and sewn shut.
The next shot focuses on a dark, ominous figure resembling a Demodog who corners Chrissy and tells her that it is time to end her suffering. Back in the real world, Eddie sees Chrissy standing in the middle of the room, eyes fluttering back and forth while also rolling in the back of her head.
The situation was certainly not ideal for Eddie since he had a teenager with a medical emergency in his drug store warehouse.
Gory cliffhangers
Back in Chrissy's hallucinations, the evil creature grabs her head with his claw and lifts her off the ground, which makes her levitate in the real world as well. The next moment, Chrissy is thrown up against the ceiling and all four of her limbs are broken and turned in a different agonizing way, along with her jaw. Finally, both her eyes sink into the back of her head, killing her.
Stranger Things surely knows how to end an episode and to leave everyone's mouths hanging. The upside down and the real world have collided once again but without really crossing over, which seems to be the focal point of the season.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
