Stranger Things 5.1-5.4: Best So Far

I binged the first four episodes of the fifth season of Stranger Things up this week on Netflix -- we'll have to wait until Christmas Eve and New Years Eve to see the rest -- and these four were by far my favorite so far.

Here are the reasons (with no spoilers):

• The action is nearly non-stop.  Although I've enjoyed the previous seasons, I thought all of them, in comparison to these final episodes,  developed the story two slowly, and had too much talking.  I suppose this might have been a necessary build-up to this final season, but the action and pace of development in 5.1-5.4 was often breathtaking.
• And these four episodes -- also billed as Season Five, Volume One -- also managed to fit in some standalone stories, which were captivating.  My favorite was Max's, which brings in a touch of time travel,  including a mention of Madeleine L'Engle's now classic A Wrinkle In Time.
• It makes sense that A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962, would be known by Max and anyone with a vibrant mind in the 1980s, when Stranger Things takes place.  Having characters spouting popular culture from the 1980s has always been one of the charms of the series, and it was also good to hear Bond and Magnum mentioned again in this finale season.  I miss them both (well, maybe James Bond a little more).
• Speaking of Max again, she also delivers my favorite line in this set of four episodes: "music has a way of finding you, even in the darkest places".  True then, and so true in this world we're in today. (I say this as I'm beginning to binge the Beatles nine-episode Anthology.  Review coming soon.)
• It was good to see Linda Hamilton is this first volume of the final season.  There always has been a Terminator flavor to Stranger Things, and it becomes especially prevalent in this rousing conclusion.

As a closing point -- and the closest I'll come to giving you spoiler -- the best action dramas, in science fiction and non-science fiction -- always feature ultimate heroes and villains of equal power.  The first four episodes aka volume one of the fifth season of Stranger Things also does a great job of setting this up.

See also Stranger Things 1.1-1.5: Parallel Horror ... Stranger Things 1.6-18: Lando to Fringe ... Stranger Things 2: Bigger, Better ... Stranger Things 3: Growing Up...  Stranger Things 4: A Big Step Forward 

more parallel worlds ... "flat-out fantastic" - says Scifi and Scary