4 Things We Loved (& 3 We Didn't) About 'Stranger Things' Season 4

An explosive season of 'Stranger Things'!

Editor’s note: this post contains spoilers for season four of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer – a.k.a. the Duffer Brothers – Stranger Things has been one of the most successful shows in Netflix’s history.

Since its premiere in July 2016, Stranger Things catapulted young actors like Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Noah Schnapp (Will), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), and Finn Wolfhard (Mike) to mainstream success. The series also reinvigorated the careers of veteran actors such as Winona Ryder (Joyce) and David Harbour (Jim Hopper).

Over time, viewers have watched these young actors literally grow up in real-time while their characters are further developed throughout the seasons. In 2022, season four of Stranger Things finally dropped on Netflix with a lot of hype surrounding it. Thankfully, longtime fans and new viewers were mostly not disappointed by the new episodes.

From classic 1980s songs going viral on TikTok to new characters becoming immediate fan-favorites, the fourth season of Stranger Things delivered on its promises and still managed to keep audiences on their toes at all times. Despite having so many exciting storylines and scenes, though, one can also argue that Stranger Things 4 had a few unexpected low points this year.

Now that both parts of Stranger Things season four are out on Netflix, it’s time to look back at what worked – and what didn’t work – on this season.

Loved: The renaissance of “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush.

Kate Bush released “Running Up That Hill” in 1985 as the lead single off her album Hounds of Love. The song was pretty successful, reaching no. 3 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart and no. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

One of the very best things to come out of Stranger Things 4 was the “renaissance” of Kate Bush when it comes to younger audiences. As Max’s favorite song on the show, “Running Up That Hill” became a viral sensation on TikTok and even reentered the Billboard chats nearly 40 years after the song’s original release.

Didn’t love: Will’s (lack of) “coming out” story.

After dangling Will’s potential queerness in front of viewers’ faces for four seasons, producers finally declared that the character’s sexuality would be more directly addressed – and perhaps even explained – in the second part of Stranger Things season four.

While there is no need for writers to necessarily “label” Will’s sexuality on the show, he is clearly going through a closeted process that seemed like was going to be better explained in the final episodes of season four. As a result, fans were pretty disappointed upon realizing that Will’s sexuality was once again ignored and not better explained in any way.

Loved: Robin conquering up her fears to talk to her crush.

Unlike Will, Robin had a fantastic coming out scene with Steve in the third season of Stranger Things and built up an even more hilarious and entertaining friendship with him in season four. Besides the Vecna of it all, Robin’s main storyline on the show this year was having a massive crush on a girl in her school named Vickie (played by Amybeth McNulty). After going back and forth all season long with Steve about whether or not Vickie would be interested in girls, Robin ended the season gathering up enough courage to talk to her ultimate crush and not even care if the conversation went as perfectly as she had hoped it would be. We loved to see it!

Didn’t love: The relentless bullying against Eleven in high school.

Eleven went through lots of hardships in her life, so it was hard for many fans to watch her go through such relentless bullying in her new school. Even though Eleven is not a queer character in any way, she’s always felt like an outsider. Therefore, many scenes of her getting bullied felt somewhat familiar to LGBTQ+ fans who went through similar experiences in middle school and/or high school.

In any case, the bullying of Eleven on Stranger Things 4 was absolutely relentless – at times feeling eerily familiar to the 1976 horror filmCarrie. Eleven thankfully persevered, but not without getting into some deep trouble first.

Loved: Eddie rocking out in the Upside Down.

Eddie was introduced as a brand-new character during this fourth season of Stranger Things, and it didn’t take long at all for him to become a legitimate fan-favorite in the series. As the trailer for part two of Stranger Things 4 had already revealed, Eddie had an absolutely iconic scene playing his guitar in the Upside Down as a distraction for Vecna.

While the odds were certainly not in Eddie’s favor from start to finish on season four, he still managed to come through as one of the most lovable characters in the history of the show. Eddie’s addition to the group was fantastic, and his scene rocking out in the Upside Down was certainly the character’s “peak moment.”

Didn’t love: “Papa” Martin Brenner is still the worst.

Somewhat understandably, many viewers wanted to expect better from Dr. Martin Brenner (played by Matthew Modine), also known as Eleven’s “Papa.” The character did seem to have better intentions on season four of Stranger Things, and like he was trying to remedy a few of his mistakes with Eleven.

As the season went on, a lot of fans held out hope that “Papa” would finally treat Eleven better and look out for her best interests, even if some of her training involved a little bit of suffering and trauma. By the end of this season, however, it became painfully clear that there was just no redemption for “Papa.” He is who he is and was just hiding it slightly better this time around.

Loved: Nancy and Steve might get back together.

While there are many Nancy and Jonathan stans out there – and even Eddie and Steve stans now – it is clear that Stranger Things is setting everything up for Nancy’s ultimate love story in season five to be with Steve. And honestly? We’re here for it!

Jonathan is a great guy who has been a great boyfriend to Nancy, but there’s no way around it: Steve is her true love interest, and Nancy is his. Though all of the set pieces are in motion for Nancy and Steve to get back together in the final season of Stranger Things, anything can happen, of course. With that said, it would be pretty sweet and nice if they had a full circle moment and got back together in the end.

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