Stranger Things, Season 4 - Thoughts on Episode 1

The episode starts with a flashback and the bang. The Hawkins National Laboratory is running its psychic tests on gifted children when everything goes wrong. Before even the opening theme, we see a massacre there and a much younger Eleven compared to when we saw her last, in complete rage with blood running from her eyes. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but then Stranger Things fans know that they can expect a lot of hard-to-digest visuals.

Most of the remaining episode is lighter. Though Eleven who now goes by the name of Jane, having moved with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and her two sons Will and Jonathan away from Hawkins, is being picked on at school. Having lost her powers and suffering grief and trauma, what after the last season, she is still her gentle self but having a really hard time coping. And Max is still processing Billie, her step-brother’s gruesome death. Even then, it is a relief to see that at least for now these lovely girls are in relatively predictable environments, not fighting inter-dimensional entities when they should be growing up safe!

The other characters are mostly introduced with a lot of fun banter, making the vibe of the episode even lighter. Mike and Nancy’s sibling moments, Robin and Steve talking about their love interests and Dustin and Suzie still bonded over their mutual love for tech all make for very watchable re-introductions. There is even a fun new character called Eddie, who runs a board game club called ‘Hellfire Club’. He gets quite the introduction, and does he perform or what. He manages to hold attention with his acting, helped by a character that is full of personality. I was wondering when I saw him perform, is this guy supposed to be high?

Oh wait, he is a drug dealer. And this is where the real story begins. Sweet cheerleader Chrissy, another new character, is having auditory hallucinations and needs substances to repress them. Enter Eddie. The most unlikely two people to be seen together end up driving this story forward. Making for a really dark end to the first episode. I won’t reveal what it is. But if the beginning was shocking, the end was even more so. And we are not talking about secret psychic projects anymore. We are talking full-blown demonic attacks. I couldn’t wait to watch the second episode.