Stranger Things: An Ensemble Cast Gone Wrong

#JusticeforBarb

Sorry, had to get that one out of the way. But we are here to talk about another new show: Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1. I won't spend a ton of time doing a full review of the series, since I've never rewatched the first season, couldn't be bothered to even finish the second season, and blasted through the third season in a day. But here's my main point -- the cast has grown too big.

You see, what was once a show focusing on the 4 titular kids Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Will (Noah Shnapp) along with Joyce (Wynonna Rider), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the teen love triangle between Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Even with this fairly talented ensemble cast, a litany of other characters was added over the seasons, most notably Max (Sadie Sink) and Robin (Maya Hawke). Still this list goes on to include Billy, government agents, students, Russians, townspeople, and other background characters. Now, the show numbers close to 20 of what I would consider "main" characters, five of which have been added in the Season that just aired.

Now, there have been shows with 10+ main characters in an ensemble cast that have worked: I think back of course on Game of Thrones, but also to LOST, and some seasons of the office. Unfortunately, something else all of these shows also have in common besides the huge cast size is how they slowly died under the weight of their own creative vision. What I mean by this, is that in all 3 of these shows, new and important characters and plots were introduced in the final seasons, mostly to run out the clock whilst important characters tread water in their series long plot lines. Ex. Euron and Harry Strickland in Season6 and Season 8 of Game of Thrones, Jacob and the Man in Black in LOST, or Pete and Clark in the Office.

So, am I worried about Stranger Things? Well, yes and no. No, because when I saw each of the latter three TV shows I was very invested in their endings, and I don't feel the same about Stranger Things -- probably because it's been ages between seasons. Yes, because, outside of Season 2, it's a pretty good show. But why would I be worried? Having now watched most of Season 4 Part 1 two times (Once with my girlfriend and once with my roommate) I can say there are a couple things to look out for in future seasons.

#1 the addition of new characters and plots to fill in the "80s world"

Ok so Season 4 was certainly the guiltiest of this one. There were some thematic additions in season 1 and season 3 like the shoppers and other townsfolk -- pointless scenes with the parents besides Joyce are added to reflect the "80s-ness" of the world. This season though, we have at least 6 supporting characters added purely for the thematic nature of their presence: Jason (Mason Dye), Enzo (Thomas Wlaschiha/Nicola Djuricko), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), Argyle (Eduardo Franco), Angela (Elodie Orkin) and Victor Creel (Robert Englund). These roles ostensibly could have been given to existing characters, or had their plots combined with one's going on. Jason vs. Eddie serves the purpose of pinning the murders on someone but is more a thematic plot meant to bring back the show's roots of D&D and Jason of the 80s small town sports star turned jerk (Think Footloose or Breakfast Club). Realistically, Yuri and Enzo could've been the same person - a prison guard turned smuggler (Though I wouldn't ever recommend depriving the world of Tom Wlaschiha acting) and the Victor Creel sequence could have easily been read from a book or heard from a previous character, or better yet, add some depth to the past of a parentless existing character like Max.

#2 old characters given nothing to do

Unfortunately, this season has seen a massive decrease in screentime for the earlier stars of the show; with Mike and Will being strung along with El and random government agents, and Lucas caught up in the escapades of Jason and Eddie. The only season 1 characters actually driving their own plots are Joyce, Hopper, El, and Dustin (Kinda). The other main characters have seemingly taken a backseat where they once led. A lot of this has to do with the fact that when you have groups like Max, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Dustin, Lucas, and Eddie all in the same room there's just not enough dialogue to give every character time to shine. A compliment I will give Marvel in this regard is that both infinity war and endgame were crowded films, and they had the right writers there to make sure every character had a memorable role to play. Unfortunately, you don't see this in Stranger Things Season 4 -- most of the characters that are caught in 4+ people group plots that aren't preferred by the writers get few lines and feel like they got "Rose'd" (an expression I'm coining for a main character getting critically sidelined). I hope for Season 4 Part 2 they can find a bigger role for Lucas, Will, Mike, Nancy and Jonathan going forward. That said, both Sadie Sink and Gaten Matarazzo have better acting chops, and drive the story better than a lot of the other cast.

#3 converging and diverging plots

Since we are nearing the end of the show, Stranger Things needs to start answering more questions than they ask. I think they do better than LOST but worse than Game of Thrones in this respect. Despite it being probably my least favorite plot, I was happy they brought Dr. Brenner back and finally going to do some real explanation of El's backstory and the people around it. Season 2 tried to answer some of these questions to mixed success, and Season 3 avoided it entirely. One area I do want to find out is more of the history and purpose of the upside down -- and why creatures like Vecna, the Demogorgon, or the mind flayer want what they want (for real, not just evil or need to consume). Lastly, they need plots to converge for the finale, and it's going to have a Game of Thrones moment soon where every character is going to need to reunite-- the problem is now that since the end of Season 3, more characters are in different places than they started. Hawkins has largely stayed in the same pod, but the group of Joyce, Will, El have been split into 3 separate plots far away from each other. Planning these reunions will be very tricky so as to not spend whole episodes on them. 

Overall, I've enjoyed Season 4, and am looking forward to the Part 1 finale and beyond. And again, there are a bunch of other things I didn't mention here like #1 from Brenner's experiments, the purpose of Angela or Murray, and why Russia is still a part of this show. Anyway, thanks for the read -- if you agree or disagree, comment below or bring it up in Lords Day