When you stretch the run-time of each episode of your already lengthy 9-episode season to over an hour-long, culminating in a mammoth 2-hour long finale, the makers of Stranger Things needed to ensure that the narrative justified its length and the time invested by the viewers. And the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy achieve just that, seamlessly combining the coming-of-age and horror-thriller genres to deliver a sparkling, almost-cinematic experience that will set new benchmarks on the levels a series can aspire to reach.

We rejoin our beloved Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her rag-tag bunch of compatriots as they look to navigate the vagaries of high school, all-the-while keeping at bay the nefarious forces of the other-dimensional "Upside down", where a new power has surfaced, a demonic being known as "Vecna". While the core coming-of-age storyline continues to go from strength to strength, the makers deftly split the narrative into three branches, deftly switching back and forth between the POVs of Eleven, her adopted father "Hopper" who is trapped in Russia and the enterprising "Dustin", my personal favorite character in the entire franchise.

The throwback references to the 1980s, where the story takes place, add a superlative charm to the proceedings, with everything from vintage brands to metal music weaved neatly into the storytelling. The writing is top-notch as usual and how they manage to give each one of its 15+ main characters a compelling story arc with seemingly equal importance is beyond my comprehension. Because of the same, it is very difficult to pick a stand-out performer, with everyone from David Harbour ("Hopper") to John Keery ("Steve Harrington") turning in eye-catching portrayals, and even the newly introduced characters like "Argyle" and "Eddy Munson" make their presence felt.

The only downside of the 4th season is the romance tracks which seem forced and contrived in places, with the writers seemingly drumming up conflicts where there naturally aren't any and deliberately leaving behind loose ends and unanswered questions just to build anticipation for Season 6, said to be the final season of the franchise. Due to these small shortfalls, Volume 4 will still lag behind the landmark Volumes 1 & 2 for me but still manages to deliver a satisfying, immensely binge-worthy viewing experience. Recommended!