Taking on the classic tropes of the 1980s sci-fi, this stylish, intelligent and quite frankly terrifying series is one of Netflix’s most loved originals. “Must TV phone home…” and tell them to stick the telly on, we’re going to the upside-down.
When you first see these dorky-looking kids, dressed in their finest converse and flannels, riding about on bikes and playing Dungeons and Dragons, you may well think, “ah, here’s a gentle, nostalgic teen watch.” But then one of them gets abducted, and a little girl is being experimented on in a lab, and there’s this weird, sticky looking underworld, and just-out-of-sight creatures lurking in the woods? This is not family viewing. Far from it, in fact.
The spooky show has become one of Netflix’s biggest hits, with fans desperate for the fourth instalment, which has been held back by the pandemic. However, we can reveal a few little bits of goss about the new season. But WARNING for those who aren’t up to date, spoilers in the next few lines…
1. We can mend our broken hearts, as it appears that Hopper is very much alive. Though not well, as the teaser trailer sees him a prisoner in Russia.
2. Whilst the exact release date is yet to be announced, it looks like we will unfortunately have a while longer to wait, at least until 2022.
3. All our favourite cast members are going to be in the new season, and will be joined by nine new characters, with the new cast members including Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Franco, and Amybeth McNulty.
4. This season is apparently set to be the scariest yet, with cast members telling fans to get ready for a right fear fest.
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Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven are brilliant, complex characters, and played by impressively talented child actors, they’re also utterly absorbing. As they stumble through this world of extra-terrestrial activity, evil scientists and teenage angst, you become more and more engrossed by their world and the mission they’re on. And this is made even more captivating by the level of detail in the aesthetics – it is drenched in the atmosphere of the 1980s, from the music, the interior design to the walkie-talkies the kids carry everywhere.
There have been three seasons of Stranger Things so far, and fans are impatient for a fourth. There was a little bit of criticism for the latest season, which The Telegraph’s Ed Power called “plodding and predictable,” but Stuart Heritage of The Guardian said “the final episode of Stranger Things 3 is a flawlessly executed, truly beautiful piece of television,” but exalts, “what a slog to get there.”
The first two seasons, however, were met with almost universal praise. Lucy Mangan in The Guardian called season one “a spooky shot of 80s nostalgia straight to your heart,” whilst The Telegraph’s Tristram Fane Saunders says, “once you’ve been drawn into it, there’s no turning back.”
First shown July 2016. You can watch the trailer by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here.
