Erica Sinclair and Suzie Bingham

We’re done watching the first part of Season 4 of Stranger Things. I have to admit that it was a struggle at first. The introduction of new characters didn’t sit well with me. Mean Girl Angela and the basketball jocks led by Jason are a waste of screen time.

They’re just stereotypes, I know. The likes of Angela… Pretty and popular in high school, their life’s goal is to snag the best-looking jock in school and not much more. S-H-A-L-L-O-W.

And the jocks like Jason are straw dogs. Revered in their youth but throwaways as adults. Jason egging on the community to hunt down Eddie, the outcast, for the death of his girlfriend even when there’s no clear evidence of guilt made me think of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Strong, virile, good-looking and utterly stupid.

Necessary additional characters, according to my daughter, to make the transition from a pre-teen milieu to a more adult environment. Necessary, I am not entirely sure. The way the level of violence increased in Season 4 should be enough to relay the message that Stranger Things is no longer for pre-teens.

Necessary or not, what could I do? I’m just a viewer of the show. A fan. It’s not as if I had the power to write off their characters. If it weren’t for two other minor characters, the first five episodes of Season 4 would have been terribly and unbearably boring.

It’s Erica Sinclair that saved every episode for me. Introduced in Season 2 as a recurring character, she became a regular in Season 3. From a spunky but rather annoying girl, the more grown-up Erica is smart, spunkier and she delivered the catchiest lines.

And then, there’s Suzie Bingham. What a brainy girl!

But all’s well that ends well. By the second half of Episode 6, I knew I’d be eagerly awaiting the second and last installment of Season 4. May Angela and Jason, and their crowd, be devoured by Vecna before Stranger Things conclude.