Stranger Things 4 Ends by Trusting in the Season’s Best and Worst Instincts
Though Netflix hyped
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2
as being its own standalone season of the
Duffer Brothers’ nostalgic sci-fi opus, its two extra-long episodes are truly just the final
chapters of
Vol
.
1
’s story about what’s really been hunting Eleven and her friends.
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2
puts a period on this season’s introduction of Vecna, and sets the stage for
its psionic hero and villain to take on even larger roles in the series’ future.
As a season finale focused on emotional payoff,
Vol. 2
’s manages
to rise to the occasion and deliver. But it does so while also leaning into some of
Stranger Things
’
worst instincts that have plagued the series from the jump.
While
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2
does actually sneak in a solid couple of jokes that succinctly summarize the important bits of
Vol. 2