The following contains minor spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2, now on Netflix.

The stakes were higher than ever in Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2. Though the season delivers in many ways, there is indeed something anticlimactic in the way Season 4 ultimately concludes with most fan favorites still standing, ready to fight another day. Anticlimactic, but refreshing.

In truth, TV, and particularly fantasy TV, has conditioned viewers to only think of stakes as a life or death kind of thing. If the show doesn't kill off a character or three, then words like unrealistic start to be bandied about. Though Stranger Things has killed its fair share of beloved characters -- goodbye, Eddie Munson, you will be missed -- in the end, it's easy to feel like a season that left most of the characters that have been around since the beginning safe and sound was somehow too lenient.

RELATED: Stranger Things Season 4 Cast Explores the Series' Inspirations

Nancy, Eddie, Steve, and Robin in Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2.

Perhaps it is too kind, but not in a bad way. The real world is quite often destructive and painful enough that entertainment that manages to, well, entertain while also being a true escape and making viewers feel something is incredibly rare. Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 delivers in every respect, in two episodes that feel more like movies, and that, nonetheless, close out the season about as well as it's possible to do so while setting the stage for the final showdown and delivering some necessary character moments.

Some things don't work as well as others, however. As delightful as Hopper and Joyce are separately, and as much as viewers have been waiting years for them to get together, the Russia part of the storyline went on for way too long, with very little to show for it other than some tremendous Jopper moments that prove that the Winona Ryder and David Harbour could easily go from Stranger Things to a rom-com without missing a beat. Then there's Eddie, who always felt like the obvious sacrifice -- Bob and Alexei say hi -- but who ended up dying in a way that had no impact on the overall mission. To add insult to injury, he also died while looking to redeem himself for something for which he needed no redemption. Running away from monsters doesn't make him a coward -- it makes him smart.

RELATED: The True Story Behind Stranger Things' Satanic Panic

Joyce and Hopper kiss in Vol. 2 of Stranger Things 4.

Everything that had to do with Jason, particularly the visuals in the final showdown between him and Lucas, felt equally like a miss. Small town jocks being racist sometimes isn't exactly treading new ground, and it would have been preferable to have Lucas face some sort of supernatural foil in that scene than to give Jason as much weight as he ended up having this season. Supernatural monsters are, in this respect, much better than the human ones.

For all the ways in which Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 showed an unwillingness to break from the mold when it comes to archetypes, the storytelling this season is still a victory because of the way the series continues to carry the characters we love forward. At this point, the Duffer Brothers are, of course, benefiting from accrued goodwill and some great performances, but that is the way of TV in general. Shows still have to capitalize, and Stranger Things Season 4 absolutely does.

Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Millie Bobby Brown, in particular, carry Vol. 2. Sink's quiet determination is so effective it almost feels like things are going to work out for everyone, which makes it all the more surprising that Max almost dies -- Max, who gets to break fans' hearts when she pleads that she doesn't want to go. McLaughlin matches her powerful acting beat for beat, both before the final showdown, as Lucas tries to find a way to be there for Max, and later, as he pleads with Jason and holds a dying Max in his arms, unable to break because he still has to hold her together.

RELATED: Stranger Things: Millie Bobby Brown & Noah Schnapp Dive Into Season 4

Eleven and Hopper's reunion in Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2.

Then there's Schnapp, who does the most with the quiet moments. Will's sexual orientation has been a point of contention with fans, and though the show continues to treat him and his feelings in a way that feels true to a boy in the '80s, there's so much said in between words that it feels like Schnapp is going out of his way to give us an answer the script isn't ready to put into words yet. His brotherly moment with Jonathan is also a particular highlight in a show that has sort of pushed their bond to the side in the last few seasons.

Brown has the hardest job of all, of course. She has to pull off power and determination, but she also has to still be Eleven, the girl who is happy to see her boyfriend again, the friend who would literally fight a monster for Max, and even the daughter who didn't actually lose her father. That all those facets of the character work is a testament to her range and one of the main reasons Stranger Things is as effective a show as it is.

"I'm here," Hopper tells Eleven near the end, amid hugs and many tears. "I'm here," he repeats, trying to convince both her and viewers that he is indeed back and that all that this group still has to face will be faced as a unit. That's a hopeful place to end, particularly for a season that, at times, left its main characters feeling like ships passing in the night. The show clearly knew what fans wanted because, by the end, it delivered on almost every character and relationship. With the real end of this story now closer than ever before, the best viewers can hope for going forward is that Stranger Things remembers that this story has never been as much about the monsters as about the people and the relationships they've formed with each other. That might just be the difference between a good show and the kind of show that, like the Kate Bush song everyone's now singing, will still be talked about decades from now.

Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 is available to stream now on Netflix.