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The Russian arc of Stranger Things Season 4 definitely had some lulls, but at least Murray was there to liven things up. His shenanigans with Yuri (Nikola Đuričko) and Enzo (Tom Wlaschiha) eventually led to his turn into full-on Rambo mode, which had no business being compelling, but definitely was. Murray isn’t someone I would love to hang around with, but I love watching him work. Brett Gelman somehow plays the character with such equal parts charm and horribleness that the end result is a jolt of pure insane joy. I alluded to it above but the other really fun part of the Russia arc was the increased screentime for everyone’s favorite reclusive conspiracy theorist, nerd, and expert on all things Russian (including apparently flawless ability to converse in the mother tongue without an accent), Murray Bauman. These individual relationships and moments are what the show excels at most when it is working properly, and it was great to see the little Eggo-loving family reunited. As Hopper pulls El in for a hug and tears well up in both of their eyes, the moment really creates an emotional response in the viewer. Barbour and Brown feel like a family unit on screen and many of the best moments of the show have been about the two of them learning to understand each other through their father/daughter bond. Eleven and Joyce had an unspoken bond over the fact that neither of them really believed Hopper was dead and it was clear that while she was overjoyed to be back with her surrogate dad, she never really believed he was gone. After their reunion, the Russian plot continued to spin its wheels until Murray started flambéing demogorgons with a flamethrower, but at least the crucial moment felt earned.Įven more emotional was the final reunion between Hopper and Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) once everyone finally got back to Hawkins in the finale. Joyce thought she watched Hopper die saving the world, like Bob before him, and the emotional toll on the character had to be experienced on the show, not just during the off-season. The two star-crossed, almost, lovers still seem destined to be kept apart but the buildup of having them spend so much time apart made their moments together feel much more special. Thankfully, once Joyce and Hopper finally got together again their reunion was worth it.

So it was going to be necessary for Joyce and Hopper’s reunion to be really well done if it was going to pay off emotionally.

The long scenes of Hopper in Russia and of Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) trying to get him out, were among the least compelling of the show’s entire run. Of course, it turned out he had just been transported to a Russian prison.

Hopper (David Barbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) were torn apart in the emotional climax of Season 3 when everyone initially thought Hopper sacrificed himself. I’m cheating the system right off the bat and combining two separate moments, from two different episodes, into one entry.

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So, what better way to discuss the show than to share some of my favorite moments in our ongoing Favorites feature! And feel free to share your own favorite moments in the comments. I love some of the characters, plotlines, and moments with all my heart, but other parts of the show are sometimes so bad as to be virtually unwatchable. But it is also a show that tends to rely on nostalgia and emotional manipulation to tell the story so it is often a show I find difficult to talk about. Stranger Things has been a cultural phenomenon, that touches on deep and meaningful questions and themes, throughout its previous three seasons, and Season 4 certainly continues that trend.

Of course, the Duffer Brothers also decided each episode should be at least an hour and a half long, so the benefits were somewhat muted. For Stranger Things Season 4 they did, thankfully, tweak the model by releasing the first seven episodes back on May 27 and the final two-feature-length-episodes on July 1.

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Netflix’s model makes writing consistently on their shows difficult for those of us who don’t seem to have the time to binge multiple episodes of a series all at once. The following contains spoilers for all of Stranger Things Season 4.

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