News Stranger Things - Season 5

[Firebird]

It's going to be really weird by the time season 5 finishes filming and seeing the cast still portraying high schoolers, but the vibe will be more like:

 

[Kai "the spy"]

[*]Who vanishes (and why isn't it Will again)?

Probably Joyce. They planned to give Winona Ryder substantial time off to film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (as per their original agreement when she signed on). That wasn't necessary, due to the strikes delayed filming ST5 while BJ2, filming in the UK, wasn't affected by the strikes, but they didn't know that when they were originally scheduling and writing the season.

It might also be Hopper, as David Harbour was expecting to have to shoot ST5 and Thunderbolts* concurrently (which also didn't happen, due to the strikes), but I think they'd try to avoid that, seeing how Hopper disappeared and reappeared only last season.

 

[The Scrooge Doctor]

I really hope it's neither of them.

Could be Jonathan since they haven't done much with him as of late. His biggest part last season was giving Will emotional support and offering an open ear for when Will is ready to come out. Hopefully that's not something they drag out this season, especially since they already said Will play a bigger role in the final season.

Another possibility: The mind of Max. I remember there was some discussion after the last season that one of the directions they could go down is searching for Max's mind because she's no longer connected to her body (or something like that, I'll have to find the specific posts from the last thread when I have a chance).

 

[mkstewartesq]

The biggest questions are:

• Who vanishes (and why isn't it Will again)?
• What's a turnbow trap?
• What or who the hell is Camazotz (aside from an obvious allusion to Alcatraz)?

To answer the last one, Camazotz is a Mayan bat spirit in the service of the underworld, according to Wikipedia. Next question is: How do the Mayans connect with the Upside Down?!

Actually, I have to assume this is also a reference to Camazotz, a dark planet in the famous sci-fi young adult book A Wrinkle In Time. It’s the location where the children go to rescue their kidnapped father from IT, sort of an evil brain that controls the planet through a hive mind and keeping everything conformist.

Edit to add, from Wikipedia “Camazotz is a planet of extreme, enforced conformity, ruled by a disembodied brain called IT. Camazotz is similar to Earth, with familiar trees such as birches, pines, and maples, an ordinary hill on which the children arrive, and a town with smokestacks, which "might have been one of any number of familiar towns". The horror of the place arises from its ordinary appearance, endlessly duplicated. The houses are "all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray", which, according to author Donald Hettinga, signals a comparison to "the burgeoning American suburbia", such as the post-war housing developments of Levittown, New York. The people who live in the houses are similarly described as "mother figures" who "all gave the appearance of being the same".

M

 

[JD]

That's where I recognized the name from, I knew I'd heard it somewhere before but I couldn't remember where.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Actually, I have to assume this is also a reference to Camazotz, a dark planet in the famous sci-fi young adult book A Wrinkle In Time. It’s the location where the children go to rescue their kidnapped father from IT, sort of an evil brain that controls the planet through a hive mind and keeping everything conformist.

Edit to add, from Wikipedia “Camazotz is a planet of extreme, enforced conformity, ruled by a disembodied brain called IT. Camazotz is similar to Earth, with familiar trees such as birches, pines, and maples, an ordinary hill on which the children arrive, and a town with smokestacks, which "might have been one of any number of familiar towns". The horror of the place arises from its ordinary appearance, endlessly duplicated. The houses are "all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray", which, according to author Donald Hettinga, signals a comparison to "the burgeoning American suburbia", such as the post-war housing developments of Levittown, New York. The people who live in the houses are similarly described as "mother figures" who "all gave the appearance of being the same".

M

That certainly sounds more applicable to Stranger Things than the other.

 

[The Scrooge Doctor]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1854207185519341786

Some great behind-the-scenes shots. I love the one of the original party together. They still pass for (Hollywood) teens and that's good enough for me. The shot of Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, and Dustin is also wonderful.

Edit: Huh, Twitter embedding isn't working for some reason.

Actually, I have to assume this is also a reference to Camazotz, a dark planet in the famous sci-fi young adult book A Wrinkle In Time. It’s the location where the children go to rescue their kidnapped father from IT, sort of an evil brain that controls the planet through a hive mind and keeping everything conformist.

Edit to add, from Wikipedia “Camazotz is a planet of extreme, enforced conformity, ruled by a disembodied brain called IT. Camazotz is similar to Earth, with familiar trees such as birches, pines, and maples, an ordinary hill on which the children arrive, and a town with smokestacks, which "might have been one of any number of familiar towns". The horror of the place arises from its ordinary appearance, endlessly duplicated. The houses are "all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray", which, according to author Donald Hettinga, signals a comparison to "the burgeoning American suburbia", such as the post-war housing developments of Levittown, New York. The people who live in the houses are similarly described as "mother figures" who "all gave the appearance of being the same".

M

I'm sure Madeleine L'Engle got the name directly because of the Mayan spirit. I honestly had forgotten that was the name of the planet since I've only read the book once and that was years ago (I remember not being a big fan of it at the time but I don't recall why now).

That certainly sounds more applicable to Stranger Things than the other.

Not inherently so considering the role (demo)bats played last season and I'm sure we'll see them again.

 

[The Scrooge Doctor]

Matthew Modine will return for the final season in some fashion:

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Question is the manner of his return: Survival (I hope not), flashback, or some kind of vision/manifestation created by Vecna (my preferred option).

 

[JD]

Yeah, a vision or something created by Vecna does seem like the most likely way he'll return. Did they use that kind of makeup on him last time we saw him?

 

[Rich Watson]

Saw "the First Shadow" last night and if it's supposed to be a canon part of the series, it pretty strongly hints at how it's going to end.

Spoiler

They're going to Anakin, Vecna and have his childhood girlfriend redeem him with the power of love.

It also seems to suggest that most of what Henry says when he's telling his backstory in S4 is a lie. Which to be fair it does make sense that he'd not want to tell the true version, if that's what the play shows us.

 

[The Scrooge Doctor]

Damn, I'm super jealous that you go to see it. I'm still hoping fo a Hamilton-esque recording release sometime in the future.

I'm not clicking on the spoiler but I did accidentally read some spoilers about Henry's history when I was reading his entry on the Stranger Things wiki (when I was reading the Choose Your Own Adventure book and I was trying to refresh my memory about something). Based on what I read (and I imagine it's at least part of what you're referring to), I think there are some pretty big implications concerning Henry's existence. I hope that's the case because that was a core issue I wanted the last season to clarify on but didn't, and I hope the final season properly addresses the point.

Either way, I agree that it wouldn't be at all shocking to find out that Henry lied about his past.