The not so long wait has come to an end. Netflix today premiered the last two episodes of ‘Stranger Things 4’, thus closing a season that had increased its commitment to terror without sacrificing anything that made it one of the most addictive series in recent years .
Everything suggested a carnage caused by Vecna ​​and the truth is that the confrontation with this sinister character has been strongly felt in Hawkins. The series bets on a continuous crescendo until it reaches heights more typical of a gigantic blockbuster than of a television series, but it is also true that it lacks the last dose of courage to take ‘Stranger Things’ to another level.
As in previous installments, ‘Stranger Things 4’ separates its protagonists into different groups to face the threat they are dealing with. This means that some characters end up having more importance and weight than others, but the truth is that the Duffers know how to integrate more intimate moments very well without this implying a break in the rhythm and also providing that necessary dose of humanity to remind us why. we care so much about what happens to them.
At that point the tension also plays a fundamental role, often to remind us how happy its protagonists could be if everything goes well. Obviously, it doesn’t take long to remind us that this is unlikely to happen, since something that these two episodes do very well is to intensify the feeling of danger, and not only through the intimidating presence of Vecna.
There we have the main hook, because both the seventh episode and a good part of the eighth are headed towards an inevitable confrontation. Plans rarely go as we have planned and that leads to all the main characters having to face extreme situations.
Once again, ‘Stranger Things’ once again proves to be capable of great use of parallel montage in those moments when there seems to be no going back. Personally, I think it ends up getting the idea that many characters are simply useless, because in the end only Eleven can make the balance perhaps lean on the side of the heroes. After all, she is the one with similar abilities to Vecna.
That’s when season 4 of the Netflix series hits the ceiling and I don’t think anything would have happened if the series ended there. However, that is not the plan of the Duffers, which causes some other questionable decision -I will not say in what sense because of avoiding spoilers completely- that smooths out the interest of the season finale a bit before leaving us with the honey on the lips with that very powerful cliffhanger. It has been said that there will probably be a time jump before the fifth season but what happens there screams to know what will happen in a matter of minutes, not months or years.
In addition, this final stretch of the season also looks on another level visually. Volume 1 was already a decided step forward, undoubtedly the result of its enormous budget -there is talk of 270 million dollars-, but here it was time to go a step further, and do so without falling into digital schizophrenia or unnecessary saturation. There is nothing wrong with the episodes on that side, since it is also the additional support necessary for that epic aspect to take over the story, but as the main great complement and not as an excuse for anything goes.
Of course, here that terrifying touch associated with Vecna ​​lowers the level a bit. In part it is because we already know better who she is and what she wants, but also because her methods of action are the same and they no longer impress as much as the first time. That this is not understood as making the character less, but here there is also that feeling that she said before that the series has lacked taking that last step forward. I don’t doubt that she will do it in the fifth either.
The end of ‘Stranger Things 4’ has been as epic as we expected and perhaps more, it has also handled its characters very well, it has given the chest visually and laid the foundation for a final season that promises to be dizzying . Let’s hope that the Duffers dare to take that definitive leap into the void that the series needs to go from being very good -without a doubt, one of the best Netflix of the year- and addictive to that other level that few series reach. It is in your hand.
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