The Stranger Things 4 Spoilers io9 Roundtable

The fourth season of the show was the last one. The kids from Hawkins and beyond were pushed to their limits against a terrifying new villain who isn't that new at all.

io9's Germain Lussier, Sabina Graves, and Rob Bricken sat down to discuss what they liked and what they didn't like about the second volume.

Don't watch the full recap so you don't get fullspoilers.

Germain Lussier is the host of io9's discussion of the fourth season of Stranger Things. It means all of the show. The last two episodes of the season were released this weekend.

The short and long movies are what Rob Bricken is talking about.

We'll get to that, Rob. I would love to hear what you thought of the second volume, as well as the season as a whole.

I really liked both of them. I was not a big fan of the first two episodes of the fourth season, but I was more interested in the last two episodes.

The build-up and reveal to Vecna being 001 was really enjoyable. I didn't like the idea of two movies in volume two. The best of the movie-length episodes were episode 7 and episode 9. I didn't think episode eight lasted very long.

Germain thinks he fell in the middle. The Duffer Brothers set up a lot of stakes in volume one and that's what made me enjoy volume two the most. To me, they set up so much that I didn't think it all came together in the right way. It was like season four in that it was its own volume one to season 5.

I think it is normal for a season finale to be the last one. The stakes are more dire when the characters return because of Empire Strikes Back.

For example, what did the Russia section add? I think it was a little bit of a cheat to do this. They moved the characters too far from each other. It worked, but I didn't like it. Are you referring to Sabina?

The Russian section felt unnecessary and I am tired of seeing David Harbour escape from Russian prisons. It felt like the angle was "we need to make sure the kids are supervised so let's make Joyce go after her man." I didn't like it.

The cast schedules and the Pandemic made them feel viable storylines to me. The Russia stuff was not extraneous because they found Eleven at the end. Although I know it is a bit of a cheat, the fact that all the teams had something to do that made it very satisfying. The Justice League will come back together to take down Vecna in the series finale.

Everyone is back in the town.

The fifth season seems to be going back to the roots of the first one. What were the best and worst moments of volume two? If not "moments" then just general things. It was kind of what I said before, just so much going on in the end and the timing didn't match up, so I think my least favorite was that. The bromance between Eddie andDustin was enjoyable. Even if their role was unimportant, they were still really fun.

Since I just saw volume two last night, it's hard for me to remember volume one. Everything about Eddie was wonderful. It's everything. It's everything.

I thought Eddie was in league with Vecna but I grew to appreciate him as a misunderstood fella and loved his arcs. Every year, the Duffers make a season star who dies.

He was a great character who surprised me by being a nerd but also a metal head, but also a really good guy.

Is that true? I am pretty sure I would have given it five stars if it had been two hours and 16 minutes of the Duffer brothers picking their noses on camera and four minutes of Eddie playing a puppet show.

Eddie was the most valuable player for season four. It was similar to Sean Astin's Bob in the second season. Is it ok that he's gone? We had a great time withDustin and his uncle.

I'm fine with that as long as I miss him. The main characters of the show were protected from being killed by the Duffers because of his death. He could not have died worse. The scenes with Eddie and his dad were wonderful.

Barb, Bob, Billy, and now Eddie are the people that Sabina refers to. Oh, aaaah! I don't want Eddie to be an evil person, but I hope it's not the last we see of him.

The dead character's first letter was changed. What about the characters from the show? She needs to come back. Yes, right?

Rob is certain. There's no question. If they were going to kill her off, they would make her die now.

I was surprised that the Piggyback didn't work as well as I thought it would. It crushed Eleven and made her feel like she couldn't protect her loved one. It was great to see her and Max meet. When I thought Max and Eleven were going to be successful, I thought the dime-store Gaston was going to be Vecna's planB.

Germain agrees with the point. It went back to Eleven and Max being friends. In previous seasons, that was very important to the two characters. Let's talk about the pigback. It's just how it fits in with the show and how interesting it is between Will, Mike, and Jonathan. I think that back and forth between the three of them was great, even though it was a little short.

They were the weakest of the three storylines. Jonathan and Argyle didn't need to be in the season except for Jonathan's speech to Will and Argyle's ability to get into a pizza joint. You could call it Argyle... Chekhov's joint smoking gun.

Sabina said it was funny.

TheComic Relief was a big thing in the 1980s. Will and Mike have a relationship. Is Will a fan of Mike? Is Jonathan aware of it? It was very clear and powerful, even though some people didn't understand it.

Rob said yes and yes. It was obvious that some people didn't understand it. With the caveat that I am a cis gender white male, I liked the scene, and I appreciated that Will never felt like he could be honest about his truth with Mike, which was an unfortunately very real situation in the 80's. I think Will may come more into his own in season five as a result of that moment, because he clearly hasn't accepted himself, which is why he hides it.

That was the most important scene for me because it gave Noah and Charlie a chance to shine. Vaguely redeemed Jonathan for me by being there for his brother and not being high all the time. What about his and Nancy's story? I don't know what to say. Both Jonathan and Steve have grown up. He might be motivated by the events that just happened. I like the love triangle.

Correct, Germain. Why is Nancy with Jonathan in that scene? Come on now. I want to indulge myself a bit because I have a lot of questions. Did the Russian prison scenes work out? Vecna may have been hurt by the adults killing the demogorgons. The bats dropped. It wasn't clear to me or some of our readers.

The show said they would hurt Vecna. I think they did since the other people kicked Vecna's ass. The show was able to tie the storylines together for the climax despite being so far away.

The bats might have dropped when Vecna dropped. Vecna has to withdraw his power from his external forces when he starts getting Kentucky Fried because he is the leader.

I just wanted to get back to the place that made me who I am. It was nice to see some of the action against the Demodogs.

Hopper's decision to take out a Demogorgon with a sword is stupid and nonsensical, but it was great.

That was crazy and heavy.

The sword was left there from the weapons cache. It's obvious, but adorable. Eddie wears a mask and then Vecna pulls a mask from him and then he disappears. The John Carpenter theme was not used by the Duffers.

The Duffers are masters of restraint.

Let's discuss that as we wrap it up. Is episode 9 too long? It would have been better if it were two or three episodes. I liked the propulsive nature of making it all one, episode since so much was going on but I had to plan to watch it like a movie.

Some of the pacing felt like a lot of fluff for me. She took her agency back from Papa. She was dragged out with obstacles to prevent her from escaping. The plan Max, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Robin, Lucas, Eddie, andErica set into motion could have been the focus of their own episodes. The town was lost in the background for a long time.

The master plan was the highlight and at times it got left in the dust. Or grapevines. What is the name of the person?

Rob thought it was fine despite all the jokes. I never saw it flag for me. I was looking for a place that would make sense to end an episode and start a new one, because the Duffers couldn't figure it out. I couldn't as well. It all worked out nicely.

There are some cuts to black in the show. I mentioned there was a break a few times.

Those felt like a break for a business, not a break for relaxation. I don't think you can split the assault on Vecna into two episodes, and if you separated the epilogue from the action, it would feel very boring. You need the narrative to carry you through the fight.

It's okay, fair. It's the last thing. They merged at the end of volume two. Everyone is okay. What do you think will happen in the fifth season? We are going to end up with Eleven vs. Vecna again, can the ending be better?

I'm looking forward to season five more than I was in season three and four. My hope is that it can be a group fight against Vecna instead of a single confrontation.

I hope Max comes back with power.

Germain, whoa! I really like that idea. I didn't think about that.

Rob was thinking that way as well. Maybe because they have been dealing with the Upside Down for so long, they all have psychic powers.

Sabina said yes. I would like to see someone replace Max's tape deck and Kate Bush's cassette with something else.

I would ask Vecna to put me out of my misery if I had a Walkman that only played one song. People who like it aren't to begrudge them.

The Walkman was broken by the worst character. I am happy that he is dead. Is that too much?

I didn't think his death was that hard on him.

This was the most worthless part of the story. The head jock on the show panicked because of his girlfriend, not because of anything else. During the final assault on Vecna, that character was the only one who messed up. Call him... Chekhov's Smoking Jock holding Chekhov's smoking gun.

Germain: That's right. I'm glad we agree on that, but I can't finish the discussion on that guy. Now that the show is over, what do you think about it?

Joyce and Hopper finally kissed. It's a good thing. It is strange that it finally happened in the USSR.

I am relieved that Steve is alive, but I am also worried that he is dead. If he doesn't get the girl, I hope he has six kids and a cool aunt like Robin.

Germain loves Steve and Robin. They are the greatest. We should see it in less time than it took for this season to come out. It's two years.

If Steve has six kids in less than two years he will have more problems than Vecna.

The second part of the TV show "strange things" You can now watch 4 on the internet.

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.

I would like to receive your newsletter.

Do you want to know more about io9. House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, can be found on this page.