It would be an understatement to say that the first volume of the fifth season of “Stranger Things” was a masterpiece.
The interesting story, impeccable lighting and suspenseful music are some of the rapturous elements that make the first four episodes of the final season so good.
The season takes place in November 1987, eighteen months after the previous season. The main characters are heavily focused on finding and killing Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the main antagonist of the season. Vecna isn’t the only one in hiding. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is training her powers off the grid with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour).
The military has put the city of Hawkins under quarantine due to the effects of the previous season. The environment in this season is uncertain, stressing out the characters and motivating them on their missions.
An intriguing aspect of the new season is the focus on the relationship dynamics between the main characters. I really enjoyed how they portrayed a grieving Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) whose mental deterioration begins to truly spiral out of control.
There are many shocking twists in the relationships between Will (Noah Schnapp), Eleven and Mike (Finn Wolfhard), including a new friendship between Robin (Maya Hawke) and Will. Exploring the relationships of the main characters gives the first volume of the final season a lot of emotion.
Another exciting aspect of the first volume is how creatively lighting is used. There are many neon colored scenes, with explosions of red, blue and purple bursting through the screen.
Along with the colors, the music by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein is more cinematic than the previous season’s synth wave soundtrack.
As the second volume approaches, fans are excited to see what is in store for them on the December 25 release date. The creators and directors of the show,
Ross and Matt Duffer say they aren’t going to leave any storyline unsolved.
“It doesn’t feel like we dropped a storyline — it all connects,” said Duffer in an interview with Variety. “We [will] do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters.”
