Stranger Things season 4 spoiler-free review: Is it good?

Stranger Things season 4 is a darker turn for the Netflix series but does it live up to expectations? 

It’s been a long time coming but the return of Stranger Things is almost upon us. The show’s fourth season has easily found itself among the most-anticipated TV installments on the horizon, simply because of how long it’s been on the horizon. A project three years in the making, it finally finds its way to TV screens this Friday. The question is: Is it worth that wait?

It’s a question I found myself asking when watching the first part of the season. I say “part” because, yes, the iconic series has now followed in the footsteps of so many other Netflix shows by premiering in two separate installments.

The first of those parts is seven episodes, and it’s bigger, bolder and badder. But is it better?

Is Stranger Things season 4 good?

If you’re going into Stranger Things 4 hoping that it will be worth the three-year, I’m happy to report that it’s highly likely you’ll come away from Volume 1 feeling very satisfied. The Duffer Brothers and all involved have taken extreme care in crafting a narrative that not only feels like an extension of the story we’ve become familiar with, but an evolution of it.

Stranger Things is a show that thrives on nostalgia, terror and family drama, but the way in which it employs each of those elements revolves so often that it’s hard to pin down one exact tone. This shouldn’t work, but for this series, it always does. And it always ensures that, just when you think you know what you’re going to get from Stranger Things, you’re wrong.

From the very first episode of the fourth season, it becomes clear that the Stranger Things you thought you knew has gone. Like its characters, the Netflix series has matured into a moodier and broodier adult set to explore a very different kind of adventure. And different is exactly what it is. Same but different.

We were told that a new horrifying threat would emerge from the world of the Upside Down, and horrifying definitely sums the mysterious Vecna up. A mysterious and gruesome creature that gives the Mind Flayer a run for his money from his very first appearance, the stakes are there from the offset, and even though he comes from the same dimension, he feels like a very different kind of threat. And that allows the show to employ a much darker and grander type of horror than it has before.

Another thing The Duffer Brothers have also taken is time, and a lot of it, because each episode is over the hour mark (some significantly so). This does occasionally hurt the pacing of the season, with some of the earlier episodes feeling a little unnecessarily dragged out, but it’s understandable given the lengthy wait between seasons, as it really feels like an attempt to give fans the chance to spend as long as possible with these characters (making up for lost time, if you will). It also imbues the season with a true larger-than-life sensation, which is really saying something considering Stranger Things has always had a quality like that about it.

There are some familiar beats along the way, with the Duffer Brothers relying on some of the same tropes we’ve seen in previous seasons, but they don’t always pan out like you’d expect, with plenty of suspenseful thrills and unanticipated outcomes. And it all allows the cast to do what they do best: Hook, thrill and compel you from start through finish.

Stranger Things season 4, part 1 is a spectacle that holds your full attention. It’s scarier, more unnerving and a lot grander in scale than its predecessors, and even a little flawed from time-to-time. It’s all of the above and so much more. But the one thing that it is, beyond any doubt? Worth the wait.

Grade: A-

Stranger Things season 4, part 1 debuts on Netflix on Friday, May 27.

Are you looking forward to Stranger Things season 4, part 1? Let us know in the comments below!