Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

It's not the best episode of the show or anything, but I still enjoyed watching it and it wasn't agonizing or boring to watch, because it has a good direction and knows how to keep the scenes not boring by good editing.

I was the biggest critic of season 3, because how it repeated what season 1 and 2 already did with the whole "one of them seeing a monster and trying to tell everyone, but no one believes him and everyone is fighting each other, until the last episode where they realize he was right and there was in fact a monster and they team up to defeat it" plot that was already done in the previous seasons and was just embarrassing to see, and also them butchering the character of Hopper for no reason whatsoever just to add some drama and conflict in the story.

But I'd lie if I say this is not a well-made show. The production is amazing and feels as authentic as it can be, the direction is really good and the editing helps the scene to be more interesting and not boring.

The only thing this show is lacking in, is the writing, and the clichés are really annoying.

Like how many times have we scene this bully cliché and every time it was so fake and uninteresting that makes you roll your eyes?

I really this particular cliché and I don't know why they can't other ways to do it or make it feel more authentic.

Other than that, it's the first episode of the season after a really really long hiatus between season 3 and 4, and I can't really blame them for spending time with the characters and introducing the new ones.

And I really commend them for taking their time and not cram everything in 40 minutes like Disney Plus shows, the only thing MCU shows are disappointing and don't reach their full potential is the weird 6-episode per season and under an hour episode limit they have. So it's a nice to see a show that takes its time for a change.

Although I hope next episodes pick up the pace and don't have as much as fluff this episode, and also, I really really hope they don't do the same plot from season 3 which was the same plot as the 2 before like I describes above, and give us a fresh and new experience and they stop butchering Hopper or any other character.

This episode felt like a 4 hour movie. In a good way. Really, congrats to everyone on the production team. Fantastic work, really.

I feel like they've handled the grief max is feeling quite well. The whole episode felt a bit slow as a beginning episode but I suppose that's because there's a lot to come. It's good to see what's happened since we last saw them all.

This is a great start to a new season of this amazing show. We have been waiting for this season for almost four years now! This episode introduced some great special effects and added a great element to this show. Now there was a little bit of pointless filler, but it wasn't all the way useless. You have to have some annoying drama to start this seasons theme of eleven getting bullied. I liked the ominous style that set this seasons terrifying effect. As every group of characters faced there own problems all apart from each other, a batch of scariness stirs up around the world. I recommend watching this episode. A solid 8/10.

A pretty well made season opener. The intro was really intense and gritty, followed by some catch-up with all of the characters that makes this feel like the opening episode it is. BUT, I love most of the characters and I hope the ones I don't quite love will grow on me this season, which may happen, seeing as all of the episodes are well over 75 minutes.

I love all of the horror vibes as well, that's something that keeps me coming back to this series. As per usual with Stranger Things, the sound design, VFX, acting and direction are all top quality!

Really solid.

Eleven has a tough time at her new California school, whilst the remaining crew are part of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High School.

This is an incredibly entertaining episode with great 80s nostalgia and horror-genre filmmaking.

The plot's primary focus is to set the scene following the events of the previous season and establish the lives of certain characters split between different locations. It does this incredibly well with great cinematography, editing, colour grading, and use of music.

I love the scenes that bounce seamlessly between the two locations using audio transitions from similar conversations taking place between certain characters.

It does a solid job of generating intrigue and suspense in the plot with a new threat shown via the experiences of certain new characters. This involves some very effective horror sequences that combine imagery and sound to frightening effect. All of it is done in a very retro way of course.

As ever the nostalgia is done brilliantly and rather than being for the sake of it serves the plot and tone of the episode very well. All the songs, cultural references and movie homages are perfect. The intercut basketball/Dungeons and Dragons sequence is particularly entertaining and impossible not to enjoy, especially if you are an 80s child like me.

All performances are excellent.

For me it's an 8.5/10 but I round upwards.