Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 4

[TREK_GOD_1]

Maybe, but if either Nancy or Steve die I don't see it happening until they've had a proper love triangle standoff with Jonathan.

Not much of a standoff when Jonathan was relieved Nancy did not accompany her brother on the trip, Nancy puts up a sheepish defense of her "love" for Jonathan, yet change of heart about Steve. At this point, Jonathan and Nancy are through with each other. That said, I would not want to see Nancy run back to Steve only for one of them to be killed off.

I'm glad Hopper didn't die but I would have rather him be stuck in the upside down for all that time instead of in Russia.

Agreed; the Russia storyline is underwhelming--even as a subplot to link it with what's happening in America. Just about everyone knew Hopper would escape, so there was no threat to the character / interest for the audience.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

After the first three seasons took place all in Hawkins I don’t see the reason to have three venues here. It just makes the narrative fragmented.

 

[FPAlpha]

Same here. I had been hypothesizing that's what happened to him (before arriving in Russia) during the long wait for this season and I even thought they were going in that direction when we got the flashback about how escaped death...until it was lame he just ran and jumped out of the sight and then was captured by the Russians. Alas.

I too thought it was a bit of a copout. I was quite proud of myself to have noticed him missing in the picture right next to the machine before it explodes so i was sure he survived, just not how ( also the show was not that subtle to refer to the American in the after credits scene).
Would have been better if he was in the Upside Down for a while to find some story clues before exiting in a Soviet rift but we have what we have. I just hope it leads to something in the grander scheme of things.

After the first three seasons took place all in Hawkins I don’t see the reason to have three venues here. It just makes the narrative fragmented.

With a cast that large it is inevitable that they split up at some point, almost all shows do that sometime. The trick is to keep the separate storylines engaging and working on their own but at some point they need to be reintegrated again, most like for a season/show finale. I hope they do that well with Stranger Things and after Season 5, when we look back, we will realize how important each storyline was for the show in general.

The weakest storyline so far for me was the boys going off with Jonathan and Eduardo, even though it led to some of the funniest moments in the show ( i still grin and laugh at the WarGames reference or Eduardo in general) but it still gave us some mystery to keep it engaging enough not to fast forward ( as if i would fast forward through a single second of ST).

 

[Reverend]

Same here. I had been hypothesizing that's what happened to him (before arriving in Russia) during the long wait for this season and I even thought they were going in that direction when we got the flashback about how escaped death...until it was lame he just ran and jumped out of the sight and then was captured by the Russians. Alas.

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the logistics of that whole thing. I mean sure it's a stretch, but I can see how getting all that manpower and equipment IN to the US could work with shell companies and a corrupt official or ten. . . I just don't get how they got OUT again once the jig was up, never mind with a prisoner in tow.
Also not clear of where the demogorgon they have came from, much less how they managed to smuggle that out too! It's been a while since I watched season 3, but IIRC weren't they still in the process of opening a portal? Also it seems like that thing was there quite a while before Hopper.

 

[FPAlpha]

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I am so hyped for the season finale but also anxious that they will actually kill someone from the main cast - there have been some rumors/maybe inadvertend Tom Holland style spoilers and if that actually happens season 5 will be off the scale as the stakes get higher and higher.

And man - i was a fan of Running up that hill long before it made its return in ST but the way they used it again in the trailer gave me goosebumps

 

[the G-man]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the logistics of that whole thing. I mean sure it's a stretch, but I can see how getting all that manpower and equipment IN to the US could work with shell companies and a corrupt official or ten. . . I just don't get how they got OUT again once the jig was up, never mind with a prisoner in tow.
Also not clear of where the demogorgon they have came from, much less how they managed to smuggle that out too! It's been a while since I watched season 3, but IIRC weren't they still in the process of opening a portal? Also it seems like that thing was there quite a while before Hopper.

They only way it kind of sort of works is if one assumes they had somehow found a way to transport things back to Russia through the portal but that in itself is quite a handwave given all we saw and/or didn't see.

 

[Reverend]

They only way it kind of sort of works is if one assumes they had somehow found a way to transport things back to Russia through the portal but that in itself is quite a handwave given all we saw and/or didn't see.

That wouldn't really work either since as we've seen, the upside down contains a 1:1 copy of our world; which we saw is season 1 is literally an exact overlay. So assuming that replica encompasses enough of the world to include Russia, they'd have to traverse that distance *on foot* in an extremely dangerous and actively hostile environment, with only the food and water that you bring with you? Not a chance.

The only think I can think of is that the underground complex had some escape tunnel somewhere that came out well away from either the old lab complex or the new mall, maybe by some backwater country road or abandoned depo. So that by the time the authorities locked it down the Russians had already split under cover of a commercial truck convoy, crossed the state line and on their way to the Canadian border.

How they got from there to Russia is also something of a mystery since the only options would be crossing back into the US via Alaska, and then hopping the Bering Strait on a low flying unregistered flight. Or being picked up by a submarine somewhere in the arctic circle. Either way it's a hell of trip to pull off for that many people AND a prisoner.

 

[the G-man]

That wouldn't really work either since as we've seen, the upside down contains a 1:1 copy of our world; which we saw is season 1 is literally an exact overlay. So assuming that replica encompasses enough of the world to include Russia, they'd have to traverse that distance *on foot* in an extremely dangerous and actively hostile environment, with only the food and water that you bring with you? Not a chance.

I don't disagree. As said before, it would be a hand-wave and involve something we hadn't seen a portal do in the series to date (though the Nancy's discovery of a time anomaly in the USD might tie into it, even if I can't see how).

As I said before, it would have been better to have killed off Hopper at the end of S3. Give him a heroic death. It would still set up Eleven's need to move to CA, avoid questions like this and, perhaps best of all, avoid the whole subplot which just isn't working (as much as I enjoy the Murray Joyce interaction).

 

[tomalak301]

It was a good trailer, but I'm trying not to overhype the show too much so I can be excited when I watch it. I did have some issues from Volume 1, but I'm still looking forward to Volume 2 and how this story ends.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

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Damn smart choice to use "Running Up That Hill" as the throughline beat of the whole trailer.

Looks like Max and Vecna will have a rematch...and I'm damn terrified my theorizing about how she actually escaped might be true.

Not much else to note than everyone going to war...and at some point, Eleven will make it to the Creel House.

I'm so excited for these last two episodes and it's killing me that I'll have to wait a few days longer than the rest of you.

I am so hyped for the season finale but also anxious that they will actually kill someone from the main cast

Same here. Same here. Like I said, I worry my theory about Max might be true.

 

[Mojochi]

Ok, so as we close in on the finale, & it seems we're certain to have an impactful death be a part of it, I'll post my thoughts.

Characters who I think we just cannot do without in the final season: Dustin (unquestionably) Mike, Will & Lucas. I just don't feel like this show will play out right if any of them aren't there at the end, having gotten through all this together. No matter what's transpired, they are the core, even still.

Eleven. If she is going to die, I don't feel like now is the right time for that. Hopper. I mean, killing him off now doesn't work after last season's cliffhanger. He'll have to go beyond this. Robin. I mean it's feasible it could be her, but I've come to feel her presence adds something necessary to the show. More than anyone not in the core, her personality would be too sorely missed imho

Characters who we could manage without, but will be a really painful loss: Steve, Jonathan, or Nancy. I feel like we'll see something of an understanding about the love triangle resolved, at least a little, but the most killer way for it to go down is for one of them to die. My preference would be Nancy. That shit would ROCK the show to its knees.

Erica. I doubt it's her, but there's ways to do it, that could be powerful. Murray. While I sort of feel similarly about him as I do Robin, losing him could serve some use. Max. I feel like we're being led along to think it'll be her, but probably not, & I think she ought to make it through this, but done right, it could work too.

Joyce. Yeah. That. That might be the hardest gut punch they could workably throw us, but they could throw it.

Characters I think could die, & maybe ought to, but aren't the big one: Brenner or Owens. Possibly Eddie.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

After seeing the way Will and Jonathan are hugging in trailer, I have a bad feeling about Joyce. But on the other hand, she's so far (physically) separated from them it seems unlikely that's what they're reacting to, unless they discover some kind Upside Down wormhole (which I doubt based on the established physics).

I do think it's possible it'll be one of the love triangle but, as underutilized as he's been this season, I don't think it'll be Jonathan. Both Steve and Nancy feel very possible.

I agree the original party plus Eleven are highly unlikely. I really don't think it'll be Max after going through the ringer...but I still worry about her. Hopper is safe simply because of last season's finale. Robin seems really unlikely for optics reasons. No way its Erica.

I don't think anyone else would be big enough to really hurt us. Eddie definitely seems likely but that wouldn't be a gut punch. Same for Murray.

 

[theenglish]

I thought we all agreed that Murray was going to be the one to die.

 

[Mojochi]

I thought we all agreed that Murray was going to be the one to die.

I kind of hope not, but it's certainly possible

 

[FPAlpha]

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-duffer-brothers-expect-a-dark-stranger-things-season-4-finale

Now i'm getting scared

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yup, someone of significance is definitely dying.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

If the Duffers are not just screwing with the audience's mind with all of their death talk, I would want the deaths to be weighty--meaning it cannot be B or C-list characters, but perhaps two of the core group, so there's no expectation of yet another beat-the-monster-and-celebrate at the end of it all.

There's certain characters who were thought to be dead (Hopper) or were threatened recently (Max) who should be safe, but the fate of others? Some characters who should never be killed off, either for bad showrunner optics, or because its far too expected. But, the season finale is a little over a week away, so....

 

[Starkers]

Well I've finally finished part one of Season 4. The first two episodes weren't great, as someone who was bullied at school I hate the default to kids being bullied as a trope, but it thankfully got much better, and the Running up that Hill moment was glorious. (even though I'd kinda been spoiled)

Similarly I saw something that said Henry was

Spoiler

Number 1. That said I thankfully didn't realise he was Vecna, that was nicely done.

I do have to say though, as much as I love this show, dropping all the episodes at once linked with the length of many of them has, at times, made watching it feel like a chore. There are just too many characters and too much going on at times. Jonathan et al are effectively pointless (I appreciate they may have more to do in the final couple of episodes) and didn't even feature in episode 7, similarly the basketball vigilantes seem to have vanished as well.

I do quite enjoy the Joyce/Murray dynamic, and the Hopper/Russian stuff was interesting (took me ages to realise Enzo was the faceless man from GOT!) The eleven stuff was ok and did go somewhere interesting, but the best parts have been when the show remembered what made it great to begin with, hence the Dustin, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Max, Lucas investigations. Even here it gets bloated with the inclusion of Eddie and Erica (great as they both are).

Still looking forward to the last two feature films (er I mean episodes)

 

[the G-man]

I do have to say though, as much as I love this show, dropping all the episodes at once linked with the length of many of them has, at times, made watching it feel like a chore.

Maybe it's my age, having lived approximately 4/5 of my life without binging even being an option, but I think NF is hurting itself by dropping all the episodes of their shows at once. It makes it harder to build word of mouth and can even discourage people who might enjoy a show but can't binge it before it gets spoiled.

 

[Starkers]

Maybe it's my age, having lived approximately 4/5 of my life without binging even being an option, but I think NF is hurting itself by dropping all the episodes of their shows at once. It makes it harder to build word of mouth and can even discourage people who might enjoy a show but can't binge it before it gets spoiled.

Absolutely. I really do think Amazon and Disney are smarter in dropping things weekly, often a show is over before you can really process it, rather than something special to savour it's just content to be consumed as quickly as possible before you move onto the next thing.