Catching up on stuff: Stranger Things IV.
I've pretty much binged the episodes. If there's one largely negative thing I can say regardless of anything that happens is that the episodes are definitely too long. Please structure your episodes better next time. There's also no need to make the final episode of the season into a 2:20 movie with actual acts. With that said, there's a part of me that is hypercritical about Everything Everywhere All at Once (well that pun went better in my head than it came out here), however, if there's something I love, and it continues and just spins its wheel, or it becomes terrible, it takes a long, long time for me to change opinions.
Like back when the third season of Andromeda aired, I watched the episodes and read the complaints online, and I disagreed. 15 years later on a rewatch, I joined in. Season three is bad, and the series never recovered from that. Now, Stranger Things IV is probably not bad, because if nothing else, the episodes are impeccably shot, the CGI could be a tad better, but it's all right for a streaming series, and the actors are still great - even the new additions.
That said, it was definitely running too long. Large parts of El's storyline could have been shortened, and it never contained characters I really like, outside of El herself perhaps. I have no idea why Will was even on the show, doing nothing but looking awkward, the same with Jonathan. The entire Russian storyline is ludicrous and useless, just like in season three. Everything else though was not entirely what I expected from the trailer, but it was entertaining enough for me to not really care that all of this feels tacked onto the world building (basically what you get when you a have a self-contained first season with an order of YOU'RE MAKING US OODLES OF MONEY, CONTINUE! afterwards).
If they had cut the Russian plot a little and reduced El's self-discovery to a tighter, more streamlined part of the season the time could have been spent on, dunno, resolving some issues that are just dangling open because even with all the time they had for the season, it's kind of a mess where so much is left unfinished. That just goes way beyond having sequel hooks. It also up and abandons a lot that happens in the first two episodes. What gives?
Typing up all this just to state that I'm not blind to the faults. I still loved watching every episode. It wasn't what I expected from the trailer, which looked much more goofy than it actually turned out to be. So this isn't the Stephen King / Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors crossover that I wanted it to be. Maybe 15 years down the line, I'll rewatch and eventually even stop at the second season. That's still a ways off. A long, long ways off. So for now... yeah. Still enjoyed this a whole lot and don't regret spending the time on it.
Anyways, guess continuing the Boys is up next. Still on early season two.