It should come as little surprise to learn that Netflix’s Stranger Things is popular. Like, extraordinarily popular. Indeed, the first volume of season four broke the Nielsen streaming record for most-viewed programme in its first week of release, according to the measurement company’s newly released streaming top 10 records – which means that the science fiction drama was viewed for 7.2 billion minutes over a single week.

Naturally, then, the hotly anticipated second volume – aka the season four finale – was a Very Big Deal too. In fact, the overwhelming influx of Stranger Things fans rushing to binge the feature-length episodes managed to temporarily crash Netflix, with a whopping 13,000 viewers (among which this writer herself is bashfully included) complaining of errors just minutes after they launched.

On the surface, it’s easy to assume that our obsession is just down to good old-fashioned cliffhangers. From the clever staggering of episodes to the steady thrum of anticipation that had built up via Stranger Things fan theories shared far and wide on social media threads and Reddit forums. Add to that the near-addictive levels of 80s nostalgia being served up in each and every episode. But that’s not it. Not really, anyway.

In fact, it runs far deeper than that.

First things first, there’s no denying that horror films of the 1980s had a certain… well, a certain style to them. They introduced a plethora of cliches that still appear in films produced today – some of which have aged like a fine wine while others have aged like an old sandwich (ever found a two-year-old sandwich – fur and all – sprouting away merrily inside a long-forgotten plastic storage container? You’ll know what I mean, then). 

In the fine wine category, we have the haunted houses filled with ghosts, the motley crew of young heroes, the nightmarish blurring between reality and unreality, the creepy kids with murderous intentions and (of course) the Big Bad that becomes an instant icon. In the furry sandwich category, though, we have… well, we have problems. Problems such as, say, the senseless violence and gratuitous nudity. The outdated gender stereotypes around heroes and victims. And the outrageous sexism of the Final Girl concept, which basically decrees that a woman must be “pure” and virginal to survive a bloodbath – and only then if she has suffered first. 

Herein lies the success of Stranger Things. Because while it does, on the surface, offer up a steaming bowl of nostalgia as it pays homage to 80s horror, it also sets to work righting those wrongs of the past.

Think about it: way back in season one, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) was shown partying and having sex on screen as her friend, the bespectacled Barbara Holland (Shannon Purser), sat quietly by herself at the edge of a swimming pool. In a classic 80s horror, Nancy would have been killed off for her supposedly sinful nature and Barb would have been spared – but Stranger Things flipped the script: Nancy survived – thrived, even – and the unlucky Barb died a miserable death at the hands (claws?) of the Demogorgon.

Come the fourth season, and Nancy has evolved into a very different kind of Final Girl. She keeps a stash of weapons in her bedroom (always handy in the monster-adjacent hellscape that is Hawkins, Indiana). She’s a tenacious journalist, who goes after the information she needs – and doesn’t stop until she gets it. She’s got big hair AND big plans for university. She’s not just had (and enjoyed) sex on screen, but she’s done so with two different partners. And, best of all, she’s shaken free of 80s gender stereotypes and embraced the role usually seized by the Roddy Pipers, Bruce Campbells and Kurt Russells of the genre: the action hero. Because she is the one wielding the sawn-off shotgun, she is the one who dives into the Upside Down with nary a second thought to save Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and she is the obvious leader of the group, drawing up plans and executing them flawlessly. No wonder Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) singles her out as his equal, communes with her directly and releases her afterwards, eh?

If you thought Nancy’s character arc was the only way that Stranger Things has zigged where other horror films and series have zagged, think again. We’ve also got Steve, who began his journey as the stereotypical jock, only to wind up taking on the traditionally feminine role of the babysitter: he is the group’s babysitter, and he is the one who dreams of having a big family of his own someday (complete with six little Harringtons). And he is also, much like archetypal 80s babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), frequently the focus of several zoomed-in shots thanks to his good hair, great bod and ever-present sheen of shimmering sweat. 

Elsewhere, we have Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), who learns in Stranger Things: Season 4, Volume 2 – via Will’s painting – that he is the “heart” of the group. He’s not the musclebound hero who goes storming into dangerous situations head-on; instead, he’s the emotional cheerleader that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) needs to help her fulfil her goal of defeating the Upside Down’s monsters and saving the day. Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) is the one who puts her life on the line and willingly sacrifices herself for the sake of everyone else. It is Eleven and Max’s deep friendship – as in, yes, the connection between two teenage girls, and not a romantic relationship – that proves key to defeating the villain. And Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) is the alternative older teen in black eyeliner that, by all 80s movie standards, should have proven the villain of the piece, but instead goes out in a blaze of glory – shredding his electric guitar all the while.

Perhaps the best “screw you” to 80s horror stereotypes of all, though, is how Stranger Things: Season 4, Volume 2 ends. Because the action finishes about 40 minutes before the final chapter’s conclusion: Eleven uses love to max out her powers, Vecna is (temporarily) defeated, Steve and Nancy share a much-anticipated “moment”, Max falls lifeless in the arms of a sobbing Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) – albeit with a tearful Eleven knelt over her, and poor old Eddie bites the big one.

If this were an 80s horror, it is at this point that the credits would begin rolling – probably after one last jump-scare, but still. Stranger Things, however, keeps going. Two days later, the town of Hawkins is still in tatters; many have been killed in Vecna’s big attack, countless others are injured or missing – and let’s not forget all those that have been left homeless. Our heroes have taken on a new mission: picking up boxes of warm clothes, old toys and cans of food, and they’re helping to hand them out at emergency Red Cross centres. In doing so, they remind us that there is more than one way to save the day: simply showing up and helping – an important lesson, considering everything that is going on in the world.

As if that weren’t enough, the series also places a huge amount of emphasis on the emotional fallout of the events of season four. The Pizza Van contingent finally makes it to Hawkins, where they hug it out with friends and family. Eleven is given the space she needs to heal from her trauma, to take stock of what’s happened, and to tearfully reconnect with her loved ones (that’s right, everyone; David Harbour’s Jim Hopper makes it – this time!). Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is reminded by his brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), that it’s OK to be different, that he always has someone to talk to and that – if and when he is ready to share anything major about himself – his brother will be there waiting to embrace Will’s most authentic self. Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) takes the time to inform Eddie’s uncle of his nephew’s heroic passing and sweetly console him in his rawest moments of grief.

So no, there are no further deaths. There’s no more action. And no, there are no more big showdowns. Instead, we get 40 minutes to share in everyone’s sense of tremulous relief. We get to bask in the enormous value that the Duffer brothers have placed on love, friendship and connection. We get to sit at Max’s bedside with her friends and hope that she might one day wake up. And we get to sit in our feelings and really take stock of everything that has happened before we learn that (horror of horrors!) Vecna’s gate remains open, the world around it is slowly withering and dying and that and the Upside Down has arrived in Hawkins.

It’s a controversial ending, sure, because it seemingly commits the ultimate sin: it doesn’t end on an adrenaline-fuelled high. But, in taking us beyond that “Vecna is defeated” moment, Stranger Things: Season 4, Volume 2 offers up something different. Something warm and thoughtful and nuanced. And, while some people might slate it as anticlimactic, the Duffer brothers have once again dodged those tired old 80s horror cliches to give us the kind of ending we all need right now.

After all, it is only with hope and kindness that we can ever hope to win in this cold dark world of ours. 

Images: Netflix