Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 4

[Finn]

I noticed Joyce's storyline is often more of a fluff compared to other storylines in a given season, aside from season one where she was obsessed with communicating with Will via Christmas lights.

I suspected there was some kind of connection between what was going on with eleven with what's happening in Hawkins.

It might still turn out that the Joyce/Murray/Hopper storyline has some kind of connection to what's happening back in the states...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

As I mentioned upthread, the teaser for the last two episodes indicate a much stronger connection for Hopper, Joyce, and Murray with the larger events. While I do agree that their story thus far felt a little too tangential, I figured there would be a payoff further down. Just a shame that it won't happen until after the break.

 

[Anwar]

I'm on the last episode. Yeesh, they weren't kidding when they said some were movie length...

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I also thought the stuff with the Basketball team was not all that great either.

If you mean the sub-plot of the team going on their hunt, I felt it was necessary, as it adds realism to the story where more than just the core characters are reacting to / becoming involved with the fantasy elements in ways not really explored before on this series.

I thought the MVP of the season might have been either Max or Dustin.

The entire end of the Max storyline was the most compelling for me, while Dustin is sort of where he's always been as a character. The only "wrinkle" or addition (if it can be called that) was Munson telling Steve about Dustin's hero worship of him...although Steve really should have picked up on that long ago.

 

[tomalak301]

If you mean the sub-plot of the team going on their hunt, I felt it was necessary, as it adds realism to the story where more than just the core characters are reacting to / becoming involved with the fantasy elements in ways not really explored before on this series.

It may add realism, but it makes this cast a lot larger than it needs to be. Every time they featured this part of the story I kept hoping they would go back to the Kids in the Upside Down or what El was up to. Granted, I guess everything will come together in the final two episodes, but I'm only opining on what I've seen so far. I hope the final two episodes do a great job pulling everything together and then my opinion on the season will probably change.

 

[Reverend]

To my way of thinking it wouldn't be that she creating that universe so much as shaped it. Imagine for a second that there's a plane of existence where thoughts are as real and physical as a tornado. So basically like The Fade from the Dragon Age franchise; a realm of spirits that mortal minds can usually only touch in dreams.

In it's natural state it would be just a formless chaotic void. But then what happens when a powerful psychic from the physical plane makes contact with such a universe during a moment of extreme stress? You get a psychic projection of our reality as filtered though her mind into it's domain; a reflection, a footprint, both identical and other. Alien. Cancerous and corrupt, just like the Upside Down.

*coughs*

Well that last episode was interesting, wasn't it? I admit, I didn't see the double twist coming, at least not in it's entirety. I suspected that Freddy Kruger's son was like El, and that he was the lighting rod for what occurred in that house, but I didn't connect that to the creepy orderly, the mysterious "One" AND Tentacle Face Swamp Thing. I just thought that guy was a sociopath paying games, because what other kind of personality would willingly work in a place like that?

All makes perfect sense though.

 

[Markonian]

Hypothetical scenario.
So, once Vecna and the Mind-Flayer plus their hiveminds are defeated, the Upside Down could be colonized by the US, could it not?
It is stormy and lacks any water, and the atmosphere is toxic. But it is free real estate with an existing infrastructure. There's no Soviet spy satellites. Water could be imported from a freshwater lake and taupins in the... Upside Up?

From the last ep, we know the Upside Down was originally a featureless, stormy void before assuming the "viny Earth" form. Does it only include the Hawkins countryside, the entire planet, or universe? Does it have rare earths that could be mined?

 

[Anwar]

I think the spores in the atmosphere of the place wouldn't be good for colonists.

Anyways, did anyone else get a feeling that the whole "Basketball Mob" thing is the writers making fun of Riverdale? I'm remembering Archie trying to form a vigilante gang at one point.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Running Up Those Charts...
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/stranger-things-catapults-kate-bush-221313647.html
(the article says position 106 on Spotify Top 200, last I checked it's at #4)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yup, saw that yesterday. First "The Neverending Story" and now "Running Up That Hill" gets the Stranger Things bump.

 

[Skywalker]

I really can't believe I'd never heard it before this. (I suppose I might have in the past and just don't remember it.) It's a good song.

 

[tomalak301]

Yup, saw that yesterday. First "The Neverending Story" and now "Running Up That Hill" gets the Stranger Things bump.

I listened to Running Up That hill last night. It is indeed a pretty good song. That usage of the Song with Max was probably my favorite scene of this entire volume. I didn't feel any other tension has great as that, even though the ending of Chapter 7 came close.

 

[FPAlpha]

People tend to forget how important music is to movies and TV shows. Often enough it is just background noise but when it's well done it becomes part of the story and enhances it beyond what is onscreen.

John Williams and Hans Zimmer are masters of it, Quention Tarantino is brilliant when he chooses the music for his movies and now we have Stranger Things too. I can't imagine the scene be so great without Running up that Hill. How they low key introduced it in the first episode was good, i enjoyed it when i heard it because i really like it ( i grew up in the 80s) but with season 4 it really exploded.

 

[theenglish]

John Hughes also had excellent soundtracks. Although not a favorite movie of mine, the Pretty in Pink soundtrack is amazing and does so much to enhance the movie. The Breakfast Club, one of my favorite films, does the same. I feel like the Duffers take inspiration from those 80s style soundtracks in their production of Stranger Things.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

I really can't believe I'd never heard it before this. (I suppose I might have in the past and just don't remember it.) It's a good song.

Also one of the few great songs that for me has an even better cover version.

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[The Nth Doctor]

People tend to forget how important music is to movies and TV shows. Often enough it is just background noise but when it's well done it becomes part of the story and enhances it beyond what is onscreen.

John Williams and Hans Zimmer are masters of it, Quention Tarantino is brilliant when he chooses the music for his movies and now we have Stranger Things too. I can't imagine the scene be so great without Running up that Hill. How they low key introduced it in the first episode was good, i enjoyed it when i heard it because i really like it ( i grew up in the 80s) but with season 4 it really exploded.

The Umbrella Academy is another excellent example. I enjoy the show's soundtrack selections just as much as the show itself!

 

[JD]

I finished up Vol. I this morning, and it really went off with a great finish.

Spoiler: End of Season 4 Vol. I

Of course the biggest thing was the reveal of Henry/One/Vecna, and I did suspect he was One the moment they wouldn't say what happened to him, but I did not expect him to also be Henry Creel and Vecna.
We also finally got an explanation for why Hawkins is duplicated in The Upside Down. I'm also curious if Henry created all of the creatures we've seen there, or if they were already there and just floating around in the void before he arrived.
OK, I have to admit, after these last few episode, I might actually give a Murray spin-off a shot, he was pretty fun in these last few episodes.
I was a little surprised by how Jason reacted to seeing Patrick killed. I thought maybe that would convince him Eddie didn't do it, but it made him even more determined to go after him and the other Hellfire Club members.

A thought occured to me, when Owens was talking about a war being about to happen, I had assumed he meant an invasion from the Upside Down, but what if he was actually talking about the Russians invading with an army of Upside Down monsters? We already saw them using one Demogorgon in the prison, and then in the teaser for Vol. II, it looked like Hopper, Joyce and the rest of them were in a lab filled with Upside Down monsters. So maybe that is all them trying to control them so they can unleash them on the US.

 

[Mojochi]

I'm actually quite enjoying this, even with the lengthy episode times. Honestly, what do you expect? I think once we get vol. 2 of S4 done, we'll probably only get one more season. Expect those run times to be lengthy too. They got a lot to pack into less than 10 shows, ya know? It's a lot, but it's worthy of a pass at this stage imho.

As for Hopper's Russia stuff, I agree it is rather tangential, & added to something of a scattered narrative that most of us probably found a little taxing, but I expect they've got some good plans to work this all together into something, by the end, including that aspect. I will say this though about Hopper's stuff. The penultimate appearance, saw some really very powerful character work for Hopper.... the "I'm not cursed. I am the curse" stuff. IMHO Harbour really knocked that out of the park, & then when the reunion landed, & he played some concern which reflected that, but then quickly chose to let it go, & come back to the goodness of it. Well played, that.

 

[JD]

I'm pretty sure they've already said Season 5 will be the end. I think they even promoted Season 4 as the beginning of the buildup to the show's climax.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yup, the Duffer brothers announced a couple of months ago that season five will be the last, which is partially why they're ramping up things so much this season. They're preparing for the endgame.