Stranger Things 4 Makes Season 3’s Terminator Mistake Even Worse
Although the Stranger Things season 3 Terminator parody/homage was already awkward and misplaced, the pointless subplot was made much worse by Stranger Things season 4 and its stronger, more well-rounded Russian villains. While Stranger Things season 3 had many problems, the outing’s villains were among its biggest issues. For one thing, there were far too many of them, with the body-snatched Billy being the primary antagonist of the season, his followers comprising another major villainous faction, the Russians under the mall coming in third, and the misogynistic staff of the Hawkins Post, Cary Elwes’s corrupt Hawkins mayor, and the ever-present threat of Hawkins Lab all rounding out the overstuffed outing.
However, volume was not the only issue with the villains in Stranger Things season 3 that Stranger Things season 4 seemingly attempted to dodge. The portrayal of Soviet characters reeked of Russophobia, with some old stereotypes from the anti-Communist 80s being trotted out by the Netflix show. Erica extolling the wonders of capitalism and Hopper mowing down faceless Russian guards were scenes that felt far too goofy for the more grounded world of Stranger Things, as did the season’s spoof of James Cameron’s iconic original Terminator movie.
Related: Stranger Things 4's Jason Ending Was Great, But This Plot Hole Isn't!
It made sense for Stranger Things to reference The Terminator since the movie is an influential 80s sci-fi horror classic. However, Grigori the assassin — who existed as something of a Terminator homage — was one of Stranger Things season 3’s worst new additions, mainly because his character was too silly to take seriously but not comedic enough to be a parody. He mostly came off as a Russophobic
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