Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 4
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
Yup. I was weeping through all of that. The letter always gets me but the hugging goodbyes hit harder this time, too.
It's was "KFC" to customers long before the company changed the name.
In celebration of season 4, the Movie Trivia Schmoedown held a Stranger Things exhibition match:
I meant to post this the other day when it came out but the Duffer brothers teased again their very different spinoff idea...one that Finn Wolfhard (and no one else) correctly guessed.
“We do have an idea for a spinoff that we’re super excited about … but we haven’t told anyone the idea yet, much less written it,” the Duffer brothers wrote in an emailed interview with Variety last week. “We think everyone — including Netflix — will be surprised when they hear the concept, because it’s very, very different. But somehow Finn Wolfhard — who is one crazy smart kid — correctly guessed what it was going to be about. But aside from Finn, no one else knows!”
Last edited:
Agreed. Further, if this season does not leave the series in better shape than what some fans thought was a mixed results third season, launching a spin-off--presumably sans any of the "kids"--would not seem like a wise idea.
A spinoff not involving any of the kids would be the most pointless, at least for my part. For me, the kids and the teens (mainly Steve, but I do like Nancy and Jonathan too) are the primary draw of the show. If anything, I feel like the adult characters' roles have increased with every season, to the show's detriment.
Just realized I screwed up the link (used this thread's link, I don't know how that happened), but it's fixed now with the original Variety article.
I'm cautious about a spinoff, too, but I'm willing to trust the Duffer brothers to see what they have come up with. I do agree the kids are the main draw of the series (and the love and nostalgia for the 80s...).
I think someone suggested earlier in the thread that perhaps it would be set in the 90s with the kids of our heroes and I could see that working.
I'm cautious about a spinoff, too, but I'm willing to trust the Duffer brothers to see what they have come up with. I do agree the kids are the main draw of the series (and the love and nostalgia for the 80s...).
I think someone suggested earlier in the thread that perhaps it would be set in the 90s with the kids of our heroes and I could see that working.
Yup, I'm pretty sure that's what happened.
I think that was me.
And I really can't think of any of the recurring or supporting characters who I'd want to see get their own spin-off. Most of them are pretty good, but I can't of any who are really interesting enough I'd want to see multiple episodes focused on them.
I'd doubt most of the kids will want to continue after this show ends. I, for one, don't want a spin-off; I'd prefer the Duffers do something completely new.
That's the baked-in problem with this series; the kids can only do so much vs the various threats and still have the stories play as somewhat believable, so adults have to be around, and in doing that, the adults needed real reasons to be involved, which eats into the the kid side of the plot.
The Duffers should desire to prove they are more than this one idea and move on. If the next production works--fine. If not, they still have enough financial/creative capital to explore other ideas.
E1: The foundation has so many cracks in it...
I'm two episodes in and wow, it's good to have the show back, even though so much has changed. The character dynamics are understandably different thanks to high school, teenage hormones, and physical distances, but the biggest change is the horror element is cranked up a lot higher than the previous season, for better or for worse.
I'm not a big horror fan. I much prefer psychological terror like Hitchcock, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Wicker Man, The Omen, etc. over slasher horror of Michael, Jason, and, well, Freddy. And so you can see why I might begin to have an issue here since the season borrows heavily from The Nightmare on Elm Street, right down to Robert Englund himself. So far I'm love the psychological element of it and it hasn't gotten too gory yet and I hope the Duffers continue to tread the line they're on now and not push it any further. We'll see.
Which brings me to my one worry.
As for the rest, I get the need to show that our heroes are in high school now and everything awful about it, but I really could do less with the ramped up bullying, especially how the second episode ended. I hope that particular thread doesn't drag on to long because I've been skipping past much of it as possible.
I'm not a big horror fan. I much prefer psychological terror like Hitchcock, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Wicker Man, The Omen, etc. over slasher horror of Michael, Jason, and, well, Freddy. And so you can see why I might begin to have an issue here since the season borrows heavily from The Nightmare on Elm Street, right down to Robert Englund himself. So far I'm love the psychological element of it and it hasn't gotten too gory yet and I hope the Duffers continue to tread the line they're on now and not push it any further. We'll see.
Which brings me to my one worry.
Max.
We've seen the trailers. We've seen her haunted by the grandfather clock. We've seen her hover above the ground. Just like Chrissy and Fred.
I know that's classic horror build-up. Show how the horror occurs and kill off the redshirts and then direct the same horror towards fan favorites.
I just hope they don't go all the way here.
Episode four is called "Dear Billy" and that's presumably when this will be confronted so hopefully I don't have to worry too long.
Edit: One thing I am liking about Vecna's storyline is how he appears to be targeting people suffering from trauma and/or guilt and probably sees himself as someone who is doing good. He keeps saying "Your suffering is almost at an end" as if his killing them is a relief.
We've seen the trailers. We've seen her haunted by the grandfather clock. We've seen her hover above the ground. Just like Chrissy and Fred.
I know that's classic horror build-up. Show how the horror occurs and kill off the redshirts and then direct the same horror towards fan favorites.
I just hope they don't go all the way here.
Episode four is called "Dear Billy" and that's presumably when this will be confronted so hopefully I don't have to worry too long.
Edit: One thing I am liking about Vecna's storyline is how he appears to be targeting people suffering from trauma and/or guilt and probably sees himself as someone who is doing good. He keeps saying "Your suffering is almost at an end" as if his killing them is a relief.
As for the rest, I get the need to show that our heroes are in high school now and everything awful about it, but I really could do less with the ramped up bullying, especially how the second episode ended. I hope that particular thread doesn't drag on to long because I've been skipping past much of it as possible.
Last edited:
I've watched through the sixth episode. Saving the super long last one for tomorrow.
I'm really loving this season. Several great new characters with Eddie Munsen as the clear breakout star (each season has one!) although I've been a little disappointed how little Erica we've gotten (but what we've gotten has been fantastic). I loved seeing Tom Wlaschiha (of Game of Thrones) pop up in a terrific role, who I recognized right away because of those wonderfully mad eyes of his.
Without going into spoilers, I particularly love how this season so far has been a deep meditation on trauma and how that can effect each person differently, especially young people. A pretty raw nerve considering the recent news (so raw they even put up a warning advisory before the recap). This has been especially highlighted with both El's and Max's stories. Speaking of Max...
I probably will have more thoughts tomorrow after I watch "The Massacre at Hawkin's Lab" but for now, I'm overall pretty happy how things are playing out so far.
I'm really loving this season. Several great new characters with Eddie Munsen as the clear breakout star (each season has one!) although I've been a little disappointed how little Erica we've gotten (but what we've gotten has been fantastic). I loved seeing Tom Wlaschiha (of Game of Thrones) pop up in a terrific role, who I recognized right away because of those wonderfully mad eyes of his.
Without going into spoilers, I particularly love how this season so far has been a deep meditation on trauma and how that can effect each person differently, especially young people. A pretty raw nerve considering the recent news (so raw they even put up a warning advisory before the recap). This has been especially highlighted with both El's and Max's stories. Speaking of Max...
Thank the gods. I was pretty sure the Duffer brothers wouldn't kill a child on screen, especially in such a gruesome manner that's already been set-up. Yeah, I know the victims have all been teenagers and Sadie Sink is actually 20, playing a freshman, but she still looks pretty young for her age. Nonetheless, the Duffer brothers did an excellent job of ramping up the tension so high that I really did worry right until the last second that she wouldn't make it. Suffice to say, I won't hear Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" the same way again.
I probably will have more thoughts tomorrow after I watch "The Massacre at Hawkin's Lab" but for now, I'm overall pretty happy how things are playing out so far.
I enjoyed the first part of this season. After the last season, which pissed me off because of how ridiculous it was (the Russian base in a Midwestern town, c'mon), this season was more grounded in a believable reality and it answered some rather important questions from the earlier seasons. Yeah!!!
Fingers crossed for a successful landing in July.
Fingers crossed for a successful landing in July.
...always a great structural benefit for fantasy productions. Season three ramped up the worst of its 1980s influences and lost much of the better character interaction / growth (with the exception of Steve and Robin), but more focus on relationships has returned (as it should, being the final season), which I hope holds up in Part Two.
It's going to be a damn long wait until July 1...and then I'm going to have to wait a few days longer because of a family reunion.
The Duffer brothers weren't kidding when they said they were going to answer some of the big questions.
I'll probably have more thoughts later on (like on the whole mob thing...) but these are my initial thoughts after finishing this part of the season. Like I said, it's going to be a long wait.
The Duffer brothers weren't kidding when they said they were going to answer some of the big questions.
Unfortunately, I was partially spoiled on this reveal because I went to Wikipedia trying to remember Fred's name and accidentally saw that Jamie Campbell Bower played Vecna and "Peter Ballard" (a stock name for the press to hide the truth). On its own, that wouldn't have meant much but I noticed each episode's closing credits included Bower as "Friendly Orderly" even when that character didn't appear in the episode (I think I first noticed before he was even introduced). But that knowledge was enough to make me realize that Orderly probably became Vecna, I just wasn't sure how that happened.
Fortunately, I still got to be swept away by the reveal that the Orderly was also Henry Creel (while figuring out the Orderly was One moments before that part was revealed). I do wish I hadn't gotten spoiled enough to figure it out was going to happen but it was still a cool reveal overall. I love how the Duffer brothers threaded the needle just right to tie both this season's big mystery with the greater tapestry of the show, right down to showing how El originally opened the gate to the Upside Down (and getting Brenner's attention to the Upside Down's existence).
What I'm curious about is did El actually create the Upside Down in that moment as part of her counterattack to One's evil? Or was it just the initial opening of it? I'll have to watch the scene again but it feels like it's possible that she in fact created it, although I'm far from certain of it. I'm sure we'll get a proper answer before the end (of the show, maybe even this season).
Another thing I'm uncertain about is how One developed his powers. This whole time we've been working on the assumption that El opened up the gate from the experiments that Brenner did as part of his broader ESP experiments during the Vietnam War (as elaborated on in Suspicious Minds). But now we know those experiments were originated from One's existence, which Brenner then tried to recreate on Terry and her fellow adult guinea pigs before moving onto children including Eleven.
Which means how did One get them? It's not as simple as he "developed them naturally." Maybe the Upside Down had some otherwordly influence on young Henry (which would fall in the theory that El didn't create it)? Although why him in particular? There's clearly something still missing from the puzzle and hopefully that particular piece is revealed in the remaining two episodes.
Fortunately, I still got to be swept away by the reveal that the Orderly was also Henry Creel (while figuring out the Orderly was One moments before that part was revealed). I do wish I hadn't gotten spoiled enough to figure it out was going to happen but it was still a cool reveal overall. I love how the Duffer brothers threaded the needle just right to tie both this season's big mystery with the greater tapestry of the show, right down to showing how El originally opened the gate to the Upside Down (and getting Brenner's attention to the Upside Down's existence).
What I'm curious about is did El actually create the Upside Down in that moment as part of her counterattack to One's evil? Or was it just the initial opening of it? I'll have to watch the scene again but it feels like it's possible that she in fact created it, although I'm far from certain of it. I'm sure we'll get a proper answer before the end (of the show, maybe even this season).
Another thing I'm uncertain about is how One developed his powers. This whole time we've been working on the assumption that El opened up the gate from the experiments that Brenner did as part of his broader ESP experiments during the Vietnam War (as elaborated on in Suspicious Minds). But now we know those experiments were originated from One's existence, which Brenner then tried to recreate on Terry and her fellow adult guinea pigs before moving onto children including Eleven.
Which means how did One get them? It's not as simple as he "developed them naturally." Maybe the Upside Down had some otherwordly influence on young Henry (which would fall in the theory that El didn't create it)? Although why him in particular? There's clearly something still missing from the puzzle and hopefully that particular piece is revealed in the remaining two episodes.
I was terrified for Nancy. As they were climbing through the topsy-turvy gate, I suddenly thought that Steve was about to get attacked as the last man remaining...but clever Duffer brothers went against that obvious trope...and then I worried about a different trope: Female teenager has sex and then is killed (albeit after a much longer period of time).
Fortunately, I know she's safe at this point. Not just that the episode ended with her alive (of course, they could've gone against narrative convention with a murder at the beginning of an episode), but I distinctly recall a moment from one of the trailers with her, Steve, and Robin armed up, marching through the Upside Down which, of course, we haven't seen yet.
That doesn't mean she won't die later on, but that makes me feel better about that scene because they way Vecna/One taunted Nancy for her sin against Barbara, made me think she was going to die specifically for having sex. I don't know how she's going to get away since narratively we don't know her favorite song.
...although I now worry that's not something so important. Why? Because we saw One specifically say he spared his father so he could take the blame. Which means Victor didn't really escape from Vecna/One because of the radio. Which means maybe he also let Max go for some reason? Maybe I'm overthinking it but we didn't need to hear Vecna/One state outright he let his father live. And yet...
Fortunately, I know she's safe at this point. Not just that the episode ended with her alive (of course, they could've gone against narrative convention with a murder at the beginning of an episode), but I distinctly recall a moment from one of the trailers with her, Steve, and Robin armed up, marching through the Upside Down which, of course, we haven't seen yet.
That doesn't mean she won't die later on, but that makes me feel better about that scene because they way Vecna/One taunted Nancy for her sin against Barbara, made me think she was going to die specifically for having sex. I don't know how she's going to get away since narratively we don't know her favorite song.
...although I now worry that's not something so important. Why? Because we saw One specifically say he spared his father so he could take the blame. Which means Victor didn't really escape from Vecna/One because of the radio. Which means maybe he also let Max go for some reason? Maybe I'm overthinking it but we didn't need to hear Vecna/One state outright he let his father live. And yet...
I'll probably have more thoughts later on (like on the whole mob thing...) but these are my initial thoughts after finishing this part of the season. Like I said, it's going to be a long wait.
