Plot: As Eleven works to restore her full powers, her friends prepare for the showdown with Vecna. With part of the group racing to save El and another fighting to escape from Russia, it will take everyone’s combined strength to battle the greatest threat that Hawkins has faced yet.
Review: Like many of you, I was surprised to learn that the split volumes of Stranger Things 4 would conclude with just two episodes. As the month gap between releases got closer, the super-sized runtimes of Volume 2 made it apparent that The Duffer Brothers were saving the conclusion to be experienced as they intended: a massive, cinematic experience that distills down everything this series has been building towards. The final two episodes of Stranger Things 4 are worth the wait in every way and represent the best this series has yet put on screen. Had this season been the last, Stranger Things would be going out with a crowd-pleasing finale that works in every way. Knowing that there will be one more year to go, Stranger Things 4 sets up a final run that has a lot to live up to.
These two episodes, “Papa” and “The Piggyback”, each run the length of a feature film. “Papa”, clocking in at 85 minutes, is a very dialogue-heavy episode that works in the typical fashion of most penultimate chapters of Stranger Things in prior seasons. The heroes all prepare for the final showdown and the playing field is set for the final battle. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this episode with characters all talking about their fates and revealing feelings that were previously unshared. The long-running theory about Will’s sexuality gets another heavy dose of support in this episode in a sequence that is very emotional. Overall, the action and horror are kept to a minimum but the episode never feels like it is padding its runtime. If anything, I realized that there was no way to trim this episode down or split it into two without impacting the desired impact of where it ends up.
On the other hand, “The Piggyback” works as well as any blockbuster big-screen event movie and certainly rivals what has been playing at the multiplex this summer. At a whopping two and a half hours, the finale is the definition of epic. By pairing these two episodes together, The Duffer Brothers set up their pins in episode eight and then bowl a strike in episode 9. This is a stunningly powerful episode, not just of Stranger Things but of television in general. There are substantial stakes here for all of the characters and great use of music, both in regards to the song selection as well as the score from Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein which gets an entire album’s worth of memorable music in this episode alone. So much happens in this episode that by the time you have reached what could be the expected end of the story, not just of this season but of the series, there is still thirty minutes left which drives this season towards what will be Stranger Things 5.
You have gotten this far into this review and are probably bracing for spoilers, but I refuse to divulge anything about these episodes specifically. What I will say is that the elements that bothered me from Volume 1 are somewhat alleviated in Volume 2. Mostly, the disconnect between Mike, Will, and Jonathan chasing after Eleven as well as Murray, Joy, and Hopper stuck in Russia are addressed as the characters ultimately come together in Hawkins for the final showdown with Vecna. It may feel rushed to have had them apart for so long to only be reunited in the final two episodes, but the four hours’ worth of story here allows for some wiggle room in bringing it together logically. The Hawkins-set story still is the strongest this season and more than makes up for the tangents the other storylines have taken. After finishing Volume 2, I still feel disappointed about the subplots involving the Satanic Panic in Hawkins and the military hunting Eleven as they remain underdeveloped threads in the season.
Fans have also spent a great deal of the gap between volumes speculating about which characters will not make it to the final season. I can neither confirm nor deny the body count, but there are impactful deaths that will alter several characters moving forward. It is impressive just how much this season has been able to accomplish both visually and narratively and I truly don’t know what The Duffers are going to have planned to finish this story. Volume 2 drives home the big reveal that Vecna is actually Henry Creel/One (Jamie Campbell Bower) and makes great use of this to tie together story elements going all the way back to the first season. In many ways, Stranger Things 4 could have worked as the end of the show and fans would have been very satisfied and that is a testament to the cast all knowing their characters inside and out by this point and the writers embracing their maturity as these kids grow into adults.
Volume 2 of Stranger Things 4 is a great ending to one of the series’ strongest seasons and stands well enough on its own to almost be regarded as its own season. Everyone watching the show this weekend will experience these two episodes much differently than future viewers who will have the chance to binge the entire season as a whole. With the month of breathing room between volumes, I had the chance to digest where this season was headed but I was not prepared for where it would end up. Stranger Things 4 ends with its most epic and ambitious episodes of the season and of the entire series. None of you are going to be prepared for who lives, who dies, and where this story with head for the final season, but you are going to be white-knuckling for these four hours until the very end.
Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
Follow the JOBLO MOVIE NETWORK
Follow us on YOUTUBE
Follow ARROW IN THE HEAD
Follow AITH on YOUTUBE