Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 4

[eschaton]

Out of the core four I think Will is in the most danger. Just cause he’s got an obvious tragedy and is also the least compelling of the group.

Will is safe, because the Duffer Brothers will get raked over the coals if they decide to fall into the "bury your gays" trope.

I tend to feel that whoever dies it will have to be someone who was actually given a compelling story this season, because they don't want it to feel like a random afterthought. If it was the final season, it would clearly be Eleven, but I can't see the core narrative continuing without her. So I lean towards it either being Nancy or Steve.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yup, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it's definitely either Steve or Nancy.

...or both.

 

[eschaton]

Yup, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it's definitely either Steve or Nancy.

...or both.

Honestly, they are both basically done as characters for different reasons anyway within the universe of the show.

Steve has graduated from high school, but he's still kicking around Hawkins hanging out with high school kids and working a shitty job. There is nowhere interesting for him to go in the next season that hasn't already been traveled in seasons 3 and 4.

Nancy is played out in a different way. She's an overachiever and college bound in the fall. So in any reasonable timeline she would be absent from Season 5 anyway off doing boring college freshman crap.

Also, given how long the show is taking to produce, all of the actors playing the "older kids" are aging out of being able to realistically portray 19-20 year olds. Joe Keery is 30. Natalia Dyer is a bit younger at 27, but she's showing her age a bit more - she just doesn't really pass as a high school student at all any longer.

I'd actually hope the last season jumps forward several years. The "kids" are all played by actors 17-19 now. Jump ahead to 1989 and let them play high school seniors in the final season.

 

[Anwar]

Steve has graduated from high school, but he's still kicking around Hawkins hanging out with high school kids and working a shitty job. There is nowhere interesting for him to go in the next season that hasn't already been traveled in seasons 3 and 4.

The thing is, a theory for Steve was that he'd just try to join the Hawkins PD and try to take over from Hopper. I mean, we know that it can't be hard to get hired there.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Honestly, they are both basically done as characters for different reasons anyway within the universe of the show.

Steve has graduated from high school, but he's still kicking around Hawkins hanging out with high school kids and working a shitty job. There is nowhere interesting for him to go in the next season that hasn't already been traveled in seasons 3 and 4.

Nancy is played out in a different way. She's an overachiever and college bound in the fall. So in any reasonable timeline she would be absent from Season 5 anyway off doing boring college freshman crap.

Ah, but its due to the characters running out of plot that the showrunners would (should) avoid expectation and spare their lives. At this point, only one of the main kids dying would have a major impact on / value for the most dramatic possibilities for the series overall.

Also, given how long the show is taking to produce, all of the actors playing the "older kids" are aging out of being able to realistically portray 19-20 year olds. Joe Keery is 30. Natalia Dyer is a bit younger at 27, but she's showing her age a bit more - she just doesn't really pass as a high school student at all any longer.

They have not resembled anything close to teen age since season two.

I'd actually hope the last season jumps forward several years. The "kids" are all played by actors 17-19 now. Jump ahead to 1989 and let them play high school seniors in the final season.

Not a bad idea--the actors are looking every bi their real ages.

 

[eschaton]

Ah, but its due to the characters running out of plot that the showrunners would (should) avoid expectation and spare their lives. At this point, only one of the main kids dying would have a major impact on / value for the most dramatic possibilities for the series overall.

The thing is, Steve and Nancy have run out of plot, but they've actually had fairly weighty roles this season. As opposed to say Jonathan, who has just sort of sat in the background doing his stoner shit with Argyle.

Looking at the core kids we have:

Eleven - Probably can't go until Season 5's finale due to her importance to the main narrative.

Will - Can't go without "bury your gays" being an issue.

Mike - Isn't story critical really this season, as he's largely being defined by his relationship with Eleven (and Will). His death could provide good pathos for both characters in the final season, but I feel like he would be given a weightier role this season other than just being oblivious to what's going on around him.

Dustin - His arc is still being played too comedically to have a death seem anything but a WTF moment.

Lucas - I don't think the abortive attempt to make him a jock really counts as enough character focus, as he's dropped into the background. I also don't think they'd kill their only black main character.

Max - They've already done a fakeout here, I can't see them going down this well again.

Out of all of them, I think Mike would be the most likely to die. Finn Wolfhard also has the most active filming schedule after Millie Bobbie Brown, so he's probably most okay with being let go a season early.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Will is safe, because the Duffer Brothers will get raked over the coals if they decide to fall into the "bury your gays" trope.

I tend to feel that whoever dies it will have to be someone who was actually given a compelling story this season, because they don't want it to feel like a random afterthought. If it was the final season, it would clearly be Eleven, but I can't see the core narrative continuing without her. So I lean towards it either being Nancy or Steve.

Will is gay? Did I miss something obvious or are you speculating based on his personality?

My interpretation of his attitude toward Mike is that he has anxious/ambivalent attachment style. He's insecure about his friendships and needs constant reassurance to not be suspicious of his status.

 

[eschaton]

Will is gay? Did I miss something obvious or are you speculating based on his personality?

My interpretation of his attitude toward Mike is that he has anxious/ambivalent attachment style. He's insecure about his friendships and needs constant reassurance to not be suspicious of his status.

There was the little scene last season where Mike said something like "it's not my fault you aren't interested in girls" but the subtext has really been turned up this season, with his jealousy regarding how Mike only wants to hang out with Eleven and is ignoring him (plus his report on Alan Turing).

David Harbour said something in an interview along the lines of "Will is interested in someone in the group, and it isn't Eleven" which all but confirms to me he has an unrequited crush on Mike.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I can't see any of the original party dying this season. Next season, yes, all bets are off then but not in the next two episodes.

 

[theenglish]

It has been telegraphed pretty clearly this current season, most directly in episode 5 when he is talking with Mike in the junkyard.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

There was the little scene last season where Mike said something like "it's not my fault you aren't interested in girls" but the subtext has really been turned up this season, with his jealousy regarding how Mike only wants to hang out with Eleven and is ignoring him (plus his report on Alan Turing).

David Harbour said something in an interview along the lines of "Will is interested in someone in the group, and it isn't Eleven" which all but confirms to me he has an unrequited crush on Mike.

Ahh, got it. So it looks likely he is. But it could always be Max.

All I'm saying, being shy and emotionally needy compared to the typical heterosexual teenage boy is not in itself evidence he is gay. I was a little bit like him about my friends when I was a teenager, and I wasn't gay, I was just insecure about keeping friends.

 

[Commander Troi]

I'm reasonably sure it's not just for Mike, it's of Mike, or at least Mike as his Paladin D&D character.

D'oh! I feel quite dumb for not thinking of that!

 

[Skywalker]

There have been hints that Will's gay going all the way back to the first season.

 

[JD]

I hadn't really noticed it until this season, but I'm definitely seeing the hints about Will sexuality now.

Maybe I've been watching too much Corridor Crew, but that set-up is about what I expected in terms of what is practical. As a rule, it's best to do as much practical as possible, especially if an actor has to exist and interact in that space. The job of VFX there should be to enhance more than to create. Even with all the best acting in the world, you'll always get a better, more visceral performance from an actor if they have something real to play off of. (indeed, corridor crew recently covered this in an Adam Savage colab of all things.) Also; fluid displacement and surface tension adhesion is a nightmare to simulate and render, so I knew the gunk and splashes had to have been done in-camera.

Very very minor note; but the only thing I'd wished they'd done a little different is for the scene where she's running and dodging, to actually be firing tennis or nerf balls or something into her path to give her something to actually avoid, and and another physical element for the splashes for the VFX to come in later and enhance.

I think one of the best things about "The Volume" that shows like the Star Wars and Star Treks are using is that it allows us to get the big CGI environments, and still gives the actors something real to see and react to.

 

[Reverend]

All I'm saying, being shy and emotionally needy compared to the typical heterosexual teenage boy is not in itself evidence he is gay. I was a little bit like him about my friends when I was a teenager, and I wasn't gay, I was just insecure about keeping friends.

It's a lot more than just him being shy. It's the writer's choice of words, the directors' choice to linger on certain shots, it's the actor's performance. The intended subtext is quite clear once one starts to pay attention.

D'oh! I feel quite dumb for not thinking of that!

I mean I could be wrong, but it seems the most likely reason why he doesn't' want anyone else to see it.

 

[eschaton]

I honestly think even Will's wardrobe this year is meant to signify how closeted he is. All the other kids are wearing loose, casual clothes which reflect their individual styles. He is wearing bland button-down shirts and slacks. Much less causal, and seemingly designed to let him melt into the background. He explicitly doesn't want anyone to be able to notice him.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Every scene with Will and Mike (and the painting) made me think we're going to learn that Will is in love with Mike. Anyone else?

The thought did occur. He's definitely giving off a different vibe than a kid just worried about losing a buddy to his buddy's girlfriend.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The thing is, Steve and Nancy have run out of plot, but they've actually had fairly weighty roles this season. As opposed to say Jonathan, who has just sort of sat in the background doing his stoner shit with Argyle.

The Jonathan plot could end with his just being like so many teens and young adults people grew up with: they sort of fade into the background, never amounting to anything, which seems to be at least part of his issues, and the reason he did not want to see Nancy.

Eleven - Probably can't go until Season 5's finale due to her importance to the main narrative.

Probably, but it would be fitting if she sacrifices herself and brings a true end to the "stranger things" going on in Hawkins.

Will - Can't go without "bury your gays" being an issue.

...or, both Byers brothers die attempting to fight Vecna together for some reason...

Mike - Isn't story critical really this season, as he's largely being defined by his relationship with Eleven (and Will). His death could provide good pathos for both characters in the final season, but I feel like he would be given a weightier role this season other than just being oblivious to what's going on around him.

I would like to see the more mature side of him, as he was very bratty and disrespectful (to Hopper) last season, yet it was Hopper who had to come around and act in a more cordial manner to him.

Dustin - His arc is still being played too comedically to have a death seem anything but a WTF moment.

True about the comedic nature of the character, but would that not be especially tragic of the "funny one" ended up dying?

Lucas - I don't think the abortive attempt to make him a jock really counts as enough character focus, as he's dropped into the background. I also don't think they'd kill their only black main character.

A page or two ago, I mentioned the bad optics of killing of certain characters, and he was one of the few I thought about, but the Duffers do have a serious problem with the handling of Lucas; they only seem to have him step up in some crucial moment, but not really contributing anything to the "investigative" side (not since season 1 and somewhat in 2), leaving that to their apparent favorite character, Dustin.

The Duffers once said (at the start of season 3) that most teenage relationships rarely last, and we know Max broke up with Lucas--but that was due to her issues of survivor's guilt/the influence of Vecna, not some problem between the two, so with that said, I would like to see Lucas and Max together again, as they were always the most realistic couple / "fit" on the series (i.e., more real world back and forth, not directly connected to the fantasy elements).

Max - They've already done a fakeout here, I can't see them going down this well again.

Hopefully not, for the reasons stated in the comments about Lucas.

Out of all of them, I think Mike would be the most likely to die. Finn Wolfhard also has the most active filming schedule after Millie Bobbie Brown, so he's probably most okay with being let go a season early.

That would be a death of significance, pulling the Stand By Me-style tragedy, only it happens during the group's time together, not in some coda / narration about post-series events.

 

[Nightowl1701]

My bet going into it: Mike and Nancy die - the Wheeler family decapitated, Jonathan/Steve/Robin and Will/Eleven left devastated. Murray dies getting Hopper/Joyce home. Dustin/Suzie die in each other's arms.

Next stop, 1989.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

No way the Duffer Brothers would do a slaughter on that level. And if anyone is dying in each other's arms, it's going to be Steve and Nancy.