Every ending has a beginning.
In any other context, that might not be the most scintillating of taglines but when it comes to Stranger Things and its fourth much-delayed season (thank you once again COVID but no, thank you), it is the mostb exciting statement of the obvious ever.
In a move that pretty much broke Twitter, TikTok and sundry other platforms upon which the internet finds creative expression, news broke overnight that Stranger Things 4 was a thing; no, not a demogorgon sliding its way creepily from the Upside Down to our oft-attacked reality but a series of eagerly awaited episodes, the kind that must be binged as fast as humanly possible when they become available in two tranches, at the end of May and the beginning of July. (The fifth and final season will then follow, hopefully less than three years away.)
This time around everyone is split up as Digital Spy observes, making the storytelling arc a wholly different exercise to previous seasons when everyone was in blighted Hawkins, Indiana.
“With Eleven and Will leaving Hawkins to move to California and Hopper presumed dead, the protagonists are separated for the first time. The new season will see the action split into four different locations, including Russia where, according to a newly released poster, Hopper is currently stuck. The show also unveiled three more posters, featuring the Lab, the Creel House and California.”
Thankfully season 4, where no doubt everyone will find their way back to each other since that is what heroes do, won’t be the last we see of the gang, with the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers having this to a quirkily-delivered typewritten letter to fans.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things.
“At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but – as you’ll soon see for yourselves – we are now hurtling towards our finale.
They added: “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things.
“But first, we hope you that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mum, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.” (Digital Spy)
So, the ending is completely ending just yet (phew!) but it is beginning, and how, giving us plenty to look forward when the world gets weird again in a just a few months …
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 slithers onto Netflix on 27 May 2022 with Vol.2 coming up fast on 1 July 2022.
