With the announcement that many of Stranger Things season 4's episodes will be longer than the average movie, it seems like audiences are in store for too much of a good thing. There will undoubtedly be many people who will happily accept as much new Stranger Things content as they can get, due to season 4 releasing three whole years after season 3. That's an extremely long time to wait to find out what's next for the denizens of Hawkins, Indiana. That said, drastically elongating the show's format may actually detract from what has previously made it so successful.
Stranger Things season 4's decision to craft longer feature-length episodes has already caused controversy, with many asserting that if they wanted to watch movies, they would watch movies. Stranger Things season 4 furthers a trend that's become common with streaming originals, with Netflix especially being guilty of inflated episode runtimes with shows like House of Cards and Black Mirror. On the one hand, the idea that an episode can be as long or short as its creator feels is right is good in theory. On the other, crafting something lean and fast-paced can be a great thing too.
While Stranger Things season 4 could certainly turn out to be a masterpiece deserving of epic length, if it's anything less than that, those 1.5 to 2.5-hour runtimes may well outstay their welcome. For example, there's every possibility that longer episodes become side stories akin to the much-maligned season 2 episode "The Lost Sister". Such an outcome would likely be met with groans of annoyance from many Netflix subscribers. The fact that Stranger Things season 4's nine episodes run 13 hours in length represents a huge gamble by both Netflix and the Duffer Brothers, one that could well backfire spectacularly.
Another factor to consider concerning the long episode lengths in Stranger Things season 4 is the show's massive popularity. When a show gets so big, the platform it airs on tends to give more creative license to the producers and writers involved. This can lead to creative overindulgence, as when a filmmaker or filmmaking team is given too much freedom, the editing and pacing of a show can suffer. Just because season 4 can be 13 hours, doesn't mean that's really necessary. It's quite possible Netflix was so desperate for more Stranger Things that they agreed to it without much oversight.
The overall pace of the story is already something that's been a subject of debate concerning past Stranger Things seasons, with many asserting that season 2 and even season 3 dragged plot developments out longer than they really needed to. With seemingly every episode of Stranger Things season 4 set to be over the 60 minute mark, it really does beg the question of how much is too much. Even the best shows can overstay their welcome, and finding the right balance in that regard can be a tricky thing. For the sake of Netflix subscribers, Stranger Things season 4 hopefully still manages to knock its story out of the park.