Stranger Things is wasting 3 great characters in Season 4

Stranger Things convincingly sucks us back into the hit series. How the Netflix hit manages to give all the stars of the now massive cast something exciting to do in Season 4 is quite a feat. Unfortunately, the calculation doesn’t work out with only three figures: Eleven, Jonathan and Erica come up short. The annoying waste of the three characters has three different reasons. (Warning, it will follow Stranger Things season 4 spoilers.)

1. Stranger Things turns Eleven into a narrative wheelbarrow

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is arguably the most important protagonist in Stranger Things. That season 4 doesn’t do her justice may sound strange at first given her many appearances. But with her it’s not the quantity, it’s the Quality of their presence that suffers.

Don’t get me wrong: Millie Bobby Brown plays the psychic girl convincingly as ever. The Californian move with school enemy and roller skate fight is in the new season promising start for Elfie aka Jane Hopper. But as soon as the youngster goes to the underground laboratory to regain her powers, she treads (in the water tank) on the spot.

Worse still, during the alleged exploration of “her” past and what happened back then in the Hawkins lab massacre, she becomes a degraded to another’s narrative vehicle: her character piles up like a wheelbarrow all the clues and hints that ultimately only serve to point to Stranger Things villain Vecna.

The new number (00)1 (Jamie Campbell Bower) suddenly becomes more interesting and – with the deep exploration of its backstory – Eleven uncomfortably underwhelmed. Millie Bobby Brown’s CGI rejuvenation of her former self as a “marvel of technology” ultimately distracts from the independent young woman with depth that she has now matured into. Unfortunately, without real interaction partners and human relationships, through which a character is defined A step backwards for Eleven’s importance in the series.

2. Stranger Things quietly sweeps Jonathan under the rug in Season 4

Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), on the other hand, has a completely different problem in Stranger Things: him becomes uninteresting in Season 4. His story seems to have been told and his job now is to smoke weed, bring his new pal Argyle (Eduardo Franco) into the ensemble and long for long-distance friend Nancy (Natalia Dyer) even though he wants to go to another university. As a result, he sinks into insignificance.

When his troupe embarks on a journey in California, he increasingly becomes a pale narrative follower, who has nothing really substantial to add to the adventure that follows. This even goes so far that many Stranger Things fans are now seriously worried about Jonathan. Asked about it by GQ, actor Charlie Heaton said:

I know why you’re asking that. I have [in Foren auch schon die Frage gelesen] ‘What happened to the character?’. But Stranger Things has an ensemble cast and of course new wonderful characters have to be added every season to take the story to new places.

When he then enthusiastically compares Stranger Things’ Season 4 to Nightmare, it still doesn’t explain his marginalized role, who once started out as the main character. He could also speculate that Nancy and Jonathan are about to break up (after flirting with Steve). “don’t say much”. Does his withdrawal in the series prepare for his departure here (in the most bumpy way)? It would be more than a pity to sweep Jonathan under the carpet in such an unspeakable way.

3. Stranger Things doesn’t give Erica enough space to shine in season 4

Lastly, in Stranger Things Season 4, we also have one acute case of “too little attention”, although her figure would have deserved more. We’re talking, of course, about Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson).

Lucas’ (Caleb McLaughlin) little sister has been one since Season 1 absolute scene thief. According to the small-but-mighty principle, she conquered our hearts with her self-confidence and her big mouth with concise short appearances from the beginning. So when Erica joins the Dungeons and Dragons group (aka Hellfire Club) in Season 4 Episode 1, things seem to be on the right track, she finally rise to a full main cast member allow.

But instead of following their predetermined path, the fan train named Erica unexpectedly derails — or rather, hops off the rails after their first strong showing — only to lose themselves out of sight in the middle of nowhere. She is only allowed to reappear just before the midseason finale and be begged for help. But that enormous potential of her character is not exhausted.

In the 4th season of Stranger Things, for example, three beloved characters get lost while juggling with what is probably the largest character ensemble in a Netflix series at the moment. We can only hope that the two-part season finale airs on July 1, 2022 (or at least season 5) will correct these errors again.

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Are you happy with all the characters in Stranger Things’ Season 4?