The Eleven left Hawkins with the Byers family to distance themselves from the traumatic memories it held for them.
Along with the return of all the familiar faces, such as Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, and David Harbour, Stanger Things season 4 will see the addition of a few new faces, such as Eduardo Franco as Argyle, a Californian stoner friend of Jonathan’s, and a new main Upside Down villain. Taking over from the now-defeated Mind Flayer, the Vecna will be terrifying the residents of Hawkins, and has been promised by the show’s creators to be their most terrifying monster yet. This will also be the biggest season so far, with the Stranger Things season 4 episode runtimes almost almost all over an hour, with a budget at a reported $30 million per episode.
According to the first Stranger Things season 4 part 1 reviews, the increased scale has brought bigger scares and heaps of ambition, but maybe at the cost of some of the human elements that made the show popular to begin with. Most of the positive reviews highlight the terrifying impact of the Vecna, outlining that season 4 is set to be the scariest season yet, while other reviews are critical of the show’s increased scale. Catch some snippets below:
Amy Charles, BBC
"Throughout these first six episodes given out for review, threads and storylines from previous series are coming together, finally giving fans some answers to long-asked questions about just what on Earth is going on. And with each episode in the series so far running between 62 and 77 minutes, and The Wrap reporting that the finale will be over two hours long, it could be a long slog – but thanks to zippy pacing, wild twists and great comic moments, it never drags. Each episode also reportedly cost an eye-watering $30 million to make, and it shows: the effects are impressive, and the sets are beautiful, elaborate time capsules."
Sophie Butcher, Empire
"Though it feels over-crowded at times, what remains is the compelling comfort and charisma of the world first introduced nearly six years ago. The clean, colourful cinematography, pockets of pure chemistry, and sprawling, Scooby-Doo-style mysteries that make Hawkins such a fun place to hang out (even with all the Demogorgons) are all present and correct. This time, it’s taken up a notch with extra filmmaking flair — most evident in the camera swinging seamlessly into the Upside Down, and an impressive out-of-the-blue one-take shootout — and tying in timely themes like the Satanic Panic, Vietnam aftermath and increased Cold War hostilities."
Alex Stedman, IGN
"Part 1 of Stranger Things Season 4 sets up its most ambitious season yet, and despite a few moments where you can feel it struggling under the weight of that ambition, it largely works. The performances – particularly David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, and Sadie Sink’s – are all top notch, new baddie Vecna is appropriately terrifying, and there are some gorgeous special effects. Not every plotline in these extra-long episodes works as well, but none feels unworthy of the time spent."
Caroline Framke, Variety
"With all these characters to track, “Stranger Things” certainly does have its work out for it, and mostly manages to keep everything moving at a steady enough clip once it establishes the four or so subplots that end up defining the season. The problem is that pretty much every plot (except for Eleven continuing to explore her origin story) gets less compelling the further they get from Hawkins."
Daniel Fienberg, THR
"With two more unseen feature-length episodes coming in July, the fourth season of Stranger Things is the biggest, scariest, most ambitious Stranger Things season yet. It’s also the least charming, least funny and least inventive season yet, which doesn’t mean that those elements are wholly lacking, just that the effort to concentrate on moments of human relatability often gets overwhelmed by the attempts at scale."
Charlie Mason, TV Line
"In short, unless you’re for some reason dying for a reinvention of the wheel, you’re gonna love this. It’s suspenseful, exciting, funny and scary as hell."
Petrana Radulovic, Polygon
"The bands of adventurers this season have been grouped haphazardly in ways that could theoretically make sense, but fall flat once they actually come together. For every fun and exciting element introduced, there is an overwhelming mushy gray pile of slog to wade through. There are a few glimmers of hope amidst the mush — a few good dice rolls that help a party with horrible stats at least squeak on by. But overall, the terrible party calibration makes those moments few and far between."
Chris Bennion, Telegraph
"Too much? Not a bit of it. Stranger Things is a 1980s Americana theme park, and it is all the better when it embraces that fact. One note of warning to parents: Vecna’s method of dispatching his victims is genuinely horrific."
For the Duffer Brothers, the critical reception might be a sign that their aspirations have gotten too large this time. Many of the negative Stranger Things season 4 part 1 reviews suggest the narrative is spread too thin between the separated characters, with few of them getting any real development. They also highlight the runtime of the episodes, saying that they are too long and feel overstuffed. However, the Vecna has definitely proven a hit, and many critics are quick to say that the scares are impactful. Similarly, they highlight the moments when the show goes back to basics as its best, stripping away the excess storylines in other locations to return to the atmospheric streets of Hawkins.
This reception continues a trend for Stranger Things, which peaked critically with season 1 and has received gradually worse review scores for season 2 and season 3. While this is not a good sign, suggesting a sense of fatigue among viewers, Netflix shouldn't be too concerned, as their main focus will be on the show’s viewership. In a time when the streamer is losing subscribers at a record rate, a popular show like Stranger Things will be invaluable in helping to stem the loss, and middling review scores won’t be too much of a worry unless it impacts the audience numbers. Going by the considerable hype that the lead up to the show’s release on May 27 has generated already, Netflix should be looking forward to a bountiful month.
Source: Various (see links above)