What’s the Initial Response to ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4?
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Already one of the biggest TV releases of the year, Season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things premiered on May 27th. The first seven of nine episodes are now available for viewing, and the reviews from critics and viewers are in. How are people responding to ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 so far? Read on below to find out.
What’s it about?
The new season follows the townspeople of Hawkins, Indiana, as they face a new horror, “something long-buried, something that connects everything.” As of the end of the last season, popular character Jim Hopper is imprisoned in Kamchatka, Russia, and many of the main characters are separated and trying to work through these new problems on their own.
Ratings
The response to the new season has been overwhelmingly positive so far, and it’s received a 93% critic rating and a 91% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This means the show is currently reviewing better than the last season and nearly as good as Season 2. Season 1, however, received an impressive 97% rating from critics and 96% from audiences.
What people like
As with previous seasons of Stranger Things, Season 4 has been praised for many of its impressive performances. David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, and Joe Keery are among the actors who have received extensive praise.
Additionally, many fans have enjoyed the darker and more mature tone of this season compared to the previous seasons. Just like seasons one through three, the new season is popular among viewers for its stunning visuals and intense action sequences.
Negative responses
One point of criticism of the new season has come from the fact that its episodes are longer than previous seasons, which some critics say make it feel “overstuffed.” Some of the episodes are as long as 98 minutes, and the upcoming season finale is planned to be close to two and a half hours.
Netflix has come a long way since it initially released the first season of Stranger Things back in 2016. When the show started, Netflix wasn’t sure where it would go, so it didn’t pour funding into it, but over time, it’s become one of the platform’s premier shows, so the new season had an estimated budget of over $30 million per episode.
This is a budget increase of $23 million per episode more than Season 1, but more money doesn’t necessarily mean a better show. While the production quality is there, some say that the show has lost the charm and urgency that made it popular at first.
Should you watch it?
If you watched the first three seasons of Stranger Things, watching the new one is really a no-brainer. And if you’ve waited until now to check the show out, this might be your cue!
If you want to watch Stranger Things Season 4, as of now, the only way to see it is on Netflix. The first seven episodes are available for on-demand streaming, and the final two will be available on July 1.