'Stranger Things 4' Is Funny In All The Wrong Ways

Over its four seasons, Stranger Things has transitioned from a sci-fi horror series to more of a drama and comedy. And many people think this works well, and they love to quote certain lines and discuss the fun throwaway characters. But this time, it’s gone too far. This is an unpopular opinion, since lots of fans are claiming this is the best season of Stranger Things, and so are critics, but season four is basically a genre experiment gone wrong. And yes, it’s funny, but not in the “we can make a meme about this” sort of way, and more in the “wow, this is kind of awkward” sort of way. There are going to be some major spoilers ahead, so don’t let me ruin this season for you (unless you’ve already seen it, in which I hope I can ruin it a little more for you).

The main villain of this season is by far the worst part. Unlike previous seasons, where a monster has been the focal point of the conflict, this time, it’s just some dude, and he looks like a Borg if they only had anatomical materials to work with instead of metal. It’s impossible to look at him without thinking of the scene from Avengers: Infinity War in which Red Skull guides others to a treasure he cannot possess. He also lives in a house surrounded by bats and speaks in a very deep drawn-out voice, both of which come off as a half-attempted Halloween horror movie character, and it would be much better off if they’d fully committed to that concept. After the last episode’s reveals, it’s easier to accept that the main villain is just some regular dude, but throughout the majority of the season, every appearance “Vecna” has made has felt a lot more comical than scary. The show even acknowledges at one point in a dialogue that their villain is essentially Freddy Kruger, then glazes over that fact and moves on.

A good portion of the characters do not have any role in this season. Yes, they’re there, but they do just about nothing. Mike, Will and Johnathan in particular just kind of exist until they get rescued by Johnathan’s stoner friend Argyle or come up with the idea to drive to Utah and find Suzie (why is she suddenly more than a minor joke character?). But at the same time, it’s not all bad. Some other characters who once had more minor roles have become much more important this time around, like Max, and her actor Sadie Sink’s impressive performance was honestly one of the best parts of season four. It’s become one of the most talked-about aspects of the show after her role in “Dear Billy,” along with some memes about the song “Running Up That Hill” that she becomes associated with in the same episode.

Logic has also disappeared. The characters playing young high schoolers are obviously adults, and while this was to be expected, they didn’t bother to write in a reasonable gap of time between this season and the last. Eleven is completely homicidal, everyone’s haircut has evolved to become somehow worse, and Nancy is once again caught up in the same love triangle even though she already made her decision. And best of all, there’s a scene in which Hopper emotionally explains that his daughter’s death from cancer is the result of his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. This obviously occurred decades prior to her birth, and in order for this to be true he’d have to have genetically altered super-DNA and some very self-destructive sperm, and he seems to believe this is the reason his wife left him. But based on that monologue alone, I can think of many more compelling reasons why his wife would have left him.

Not all of season four was bad, but before the last episode (the last one before the two new ones coming in July, at least), it’s kind of like watching a completely different show made using the same characters. And given how awkward this season has been, especially at its start, we should have a lot more to joke about already, but instead the fandom is mostly discussing how Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munsen is making them feel things (with everything this character does, I definitely can’t wrap my mind around this one). After the nostalgia factor of a new Stranger Things season finally settles down, we’ll hopefully have a lot more new, better memes, maybe some of which will be about the dramatic change in the series itself. But until then, we’re in a hell dimension of bad jokes scarier than anything the Upside-Down could contain.

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