Stranger Things: Season 4 – Volume 2 Review

Note: This article contains spoilers for Volume One.

If you’re reading this article, there’s an extremely high chance that you’ve not only watched Stranger Things 4 volume one, but you probably loved it just like the rest of the world. It was an incredible, pulse-pounding volume that proved to us that even the most beloved characters in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, aren’t as safe as we think.

Just when we thought things couldn’t possibly get any crazier, the volume one finale, “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” whacks us over the head with the realization that the sweet and shy orderly at Hawkins Lab with young Eleven is actually “One,” the first of the lab to get his superpowers.

Not only that, but One is also Henry Creel, who turns out to be a pretty unhinged kid who essentially gets pleasure out of hurting people and animals. And, to top it all off, it is revealed that Henry Creel is also the big bad of the season – Vecna. Yes, the same Vecna that’s been killing off so many children in Hawkins.

It’s an absolutely jaw-dropping reveal that blew everybody’s mind, and it also sets up one hell of a conclusion in volume two… or does it? In Volume Two, our heroes in Hawkins, California, and Russia, are in for much more than they bargained for when new problems quickly begin to arise and they realize that the looming threat of Vecna is getting more dangerous by the second.

Episode 8 – “Papa” – is a heart-stopping penultimate episode that truly dives deep into the relationship between Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) throughout the years. It’s an exhilarating yet emotional episode that, by the end, will surely leave you feeling a mixture of excited, scared, and deeply upset.

The finale of season four, volume two – “The Piggyback,” may very well be the best episode of the entire series to date. No joke. This episode does not play around whatsoever. Some may look at the nearly two-and-a-half-hour running time and get concerned that a lot of it is filler. Thankfully, there is not a single moment in this episode that feels wasted.

Just when we think our heroes are about to succeed, the Duffer Brothers throw a new problem at them and force them to reevaluate. There are countless moments in the finale that are sure to leave Stranger Things fans unbelievably worried and concerned in regards to the fate of their favorite characters.

Certain moments in this episode are downright heartbreaking, and it’s safe to assume that there won’t be a dry-eye from every single Stranger Things fan in the world by the time this episode comes to a close. It also sets up the fifth and final season of the hit television series is exhilarating fashion, making us all wonder how in the world we are supposed to wait several years in order to see how it all gets wrapped up.