Stranger Things - Season 4, Episode 9 - the good, the bad and unsatisfying:
The Good:
Hopper and his relationships: even if one did not like the Russia subplot, it was less about the mission / threat of returning to the prison (as a potentially lethal encounter), but about the key reunions for Hopper, which reminded viewers how much of a role he played in El and Joyce's lives, despite his tendency to undervalue himself.
Max and Lucas: One might find themselves breathing a sigh of relief that they did not end up as something of interest for a mortician, but Max's condition--from a loss of eyesight, broken limbs and now comatose--was one of the worst events to happen to a main character in this series. I take it El's inability to reach into Max's mind is the result of the coma, as defeating as the outcome of that scene was, I cannot imagine Max will remain in that state (or suffer from any of the effects of Vecna's attack) throughout all of the final season. There's no guarantees or plot points about the final season leaked so far, but Max and Lucas deserve more screen time pointing toward their future, and a dark one.
The Duffers unintentionally laid out the contrast between the teenage couples; there was more believable, heartfelt, genuine connection in the scene of Max & Lucas exchanging notes (ending with Max's illustration indicating her desire to be in a relationship with Lucas again, which he later copied and pinned to her hospital room's wall), and (obviously), Lucas' agony over thinking Max died than any scenes between Mike and El. Whenever Mike has let go of any insecurities and just lets out what he's feeling, it tends to sound like he's simply saying what he believes he should, rather than it sounding like a weighty declaration of true love. Perhaps its Wolfhard's performance, or the way the Duffers often write the character, but by this time in their relationship, Mike and El--despite being the usual "winner" of the Stranger Things "favorite couple" discussion, never feel quite honest or realistic.
Steve: His hopes to win Nancy back were dashed, but as Nancy pointed out (to Jonathan), he's grown over the past couple of years, and he seems to have resigned himself to a life without Nancy. Yeah, yeah, Nancy's distracted conversation with Jonathan would lead some to think she's contemplating breaking up with Byers, but I can see her staying with Jonathan out of loyalty, and ending up in as loveless a relationship as her parents.
Erika: Sweet scene between Lucas and Erika, with his calling her out on attending all of his basketball games, knowing it was not due to the prompting or demands of their parents. Like many sibling, they snip and bicker, but this brief exchange left no doubt that Erika loves her big brother.
The Bad:
Nothing particularly bad, other than Vecna being more of a vehicle for others to react to, instead of his own character having more development and meaning.
The Unsatisfying:
Eddie: His redemption arc fate was telegraphed, because of course the guy hated and hunted by various townsfolk / has the urge to run from his troubles would finally become some sort of hero, and just so no one had any doubts, Steve telling Eddie and Dusting to not try to be heroes was the loud call to action for someone to do something during this dangerous time. Yes, you knew it would never be Dustin. The problem is that the Duffers have a tendency to write in such an obvious, on-the-nose manner (similar to many of the 80s productions they take inspiration from), that there's no strong or surprising character development--certainly not with Eddie--again, his fate was clear all along. Further, the biggest problem with his "Not running away" stand is that in the grand scheme of things, how much of a functional purpose did it play for the mission? Oh, we had characters say Eddie and Dustin were playing their part in the mission, but when Eddie made his stand, it did not have the impact intended (that, and many of the bats flew right past Eddie, or ignored him), so how effective was his plan?
Will: Tease after tease after tease, the Duffers dragged Will's "revelation" on throughout the season, with a number of teases in E9 alone; it seems like the Duffers were not only aware of the social media discussion about Will and his alleged sexuality, but they played up on it with moments of conveniently interrupted conversations, longing looks, statements that were written to sound if his feeling were about friendship, rather than romantic love, etc. So, after two seasons of fans playing the "Is Will gay?" guessing game, they are still left with no answer whatsoever.
Overall, the fourth season of Stranger Things was not that much of an improvement over season three; both had strong nuggets that should have been larger parts of the plot, while the central conflict--in this case, Vecna--was not as threatening as the imagery would have anyone believe, and if he's returning for the final season, will he be an interesting antagonist from start to finish? Who knows.
Regarding character deaths just about all ST fans are thinking about / forecasting for the final season, I would be content if S5 steered clear of that plot device.
