Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 5

[JD]

EW.com has an article about the Henry Creel memory scene and the actress who played young Joyce.
https://ew.com/young-joyce-byers-in-stranger-things-birdy-11859693
From what the Duffers say at the end of the article it sounds like this won't be the only flashback to this era that we're getting this season. It also gives a little more of an idea of what exactly the relationship between Season 5 and The First Shadow is, they said that the show will cover some of the same material that the play did, and that they even had to stop the creators of the play from putting in some stuff that they felt was too spoilery. That sounds to me like the show will basically be giving us a cliff notes version, while the full version is the play. At least it's a relief to hear that they were aware that the majority of the audience won't have seen The First Shadow and built that part of the season with that fact in mind.
I'm still holding out hope that we'll eventually get a filmed version of one of the productions of The First Shadow.

And another article has a quote from the Duffers where they confirm that Will does not have powers of his own, he's just channeling Vecna's.
https://ew.com/stranger-things-star-reveals-will-byers-season-5-spoiler-fans-missed-11859595

"He's not a new Eleven, and that was important to us," Matt explained. "In fact, he doesn't really have powers himself. He's channeling Vecna's powers. Because he's, since season 1, been connected to him and, in part, connected to the Mind Flayer, that is allowing him to tap into and use these powers if he's in close enough proximity.

 

[The Grinch Doctor]

EW.com has an article about the Henry Creel memory scene and the actress who played young Joyce.

https://ew.com/young-joyce-byers-in-stranger-things-birdy-11859693

From what the Duffers say at the end of the article it sounds like this won't be the only flashback to this era that we're getting this season. It also gives a little more of an idea of what exactly the relationship between Season 5 and The First Shadow is, they said that the show will cover some of the same material that the play did, and that they even had to stop the creators of the play from putting in some stuff that they felt was too spoilery. That sounds to me like the show will basically be giving us a cliff notes version, while the full version is the play. At least it's a relief to hear that they were aware that the majority of the audience won't have seen The First Shadow and built that part of the season with that fact in mind.

I'm still holding out hope that we'll eventually get a filmed version of one of the productions of The First Shadow.

I figured that was the case, both that we would see more flashbacks and that the final season would cover the broad strokes of The First Shadow, but it's good to see that confirmed.

That doesn't take away from desire from seeing The First Shadow, either in person (which is unlikely for numerous reasons) or as a recording (still fingers crossed on that hope).

And another article has a quote from the Duffers where they confirm that Will does not have powers of his own, he's just channeling Vecna's.

'Stranger Things' star reveals Will Byers' season 5 spoiler tease fans totally missed

Noah Schnapp reveals the 'Stranger Things' tease that fans missed foreshadowing Will Byers' season 5 journey. 'Everything is very intentional that we do.'

ew.com

"He's not a new Eleven, and that was important to us," Matt explained. "In fact, he doesn't really have powers himself. He's channeling Vecna's powers. Because he's, since season 1, been connected to him and, in part, connected to the Mind Flayer, that is allowing him to tap into and use these powers if he's in close enough proximity.

Good to see that confirmed and I'm glad that's a deliberate choice on their part. That does play down the expectations of Max and Holly getting powers as well as Henry using the kidnapped children to form his own army of superpowered children. I think that's a wise choice because I don't think that fits with the rest of the show and the kind of story they've been telling. I'm still curious as to what Henry is doing with those children and I suspect what the Duffer brothers have planned will be more interesting that than superpowered children.

On the same note, while the cast talked about their reaction to Will's powers with Entertainment Tonight, Finn Wolfhard made an interesting comparison: He felt like that Henry and Will are similar to Harry Potter and Tom Riddle and how they exist in direct connection to each other. Mind you, this is just Finn's own feelings about their connection and doesn't actually suggest when one dies, the other will die, too. But it's a curious comparison nonetheless.

 

[tomalak301]

Just curious, should interviews and talk of future episodes be put in the spoiler tag? I ask because the whole thing with Will and his "powers" kind of deflated the cliffhanger ending now. I know spoilers are given but i thought they were for episodes aired, not future episodes. Hate to avoid this thread all together.

 

[eschaton]

Legal repercussions?! That's where your mind went during that sequence? Certainly the group may face consequences for their actions but they wouldn't be facing them at that moment since only a matter of hours have passed since they kidnapped the Turnbow family. However, considering Derek's role helping them fight Henry, he'll probably convey to his family why all of that happened. Especially since everything is about to blow wide open publicly, I highly doubt there well be any legal repercussions (well, except for damages against their house). But, again, that's not really of importance here.

I considered whether Derek would be any help convincing his family. But why would they believe him, when he told them a monster attacked them and tried to kidnap him? Particularly when he himself ends up going missing pretty soon thereafter?

I get everything is going fast and furious right now. But they cut a giant hole in a living room floor, for fucksake! I dunno, even if they somehow escape arrest, it just seems so goddamned disrespectful (the trashing caused by the Demogorgon is another thing, of course).

Mind you, if it turns out this version of Hawkins is some sort of fraud in the mind of Vecna, all will be forgiven here.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

I really hope that this is not "some sort of fraud in the mind of Vecna". I still have memories of the Dallas debacle, where one season was shown to be the dream of the characters, or, in the case of St. Elsewhere, it was revealed in the final episode that the entire series was the product of an autistic child's imagination. I remember both getting lambasted in the media of the day.

 

[Santa Kang]

I considered whether Derek would be any help convincing his family. But why would they believe him, when he told them a monster attacked them and tried to kidnap him? Particularly when he himself ends up going missing pretty soon thereafter?

I get everything is going fast and furious right now. But they cut a giant hole in a living room floor, for fucksake! I dunno, even if they somehow escape arrest, it just seems so goddamned disrespectful (the trashing caused by the Demogorgon is another thing, of course).

Mind you, if it turns out this version of Hawkins is some sort of fraud in the mind of Vecna, all will be forgiven here.

If you’re looking for “grounded in reality” this might not be the show for you.

 

[JD]

Just curious, should interviews and talk of future episodes be put in the spoiler tag? I ask because the whole thing with Will and his "powers" kind of deflated the cliffhanger ending now. I know spoilers are given but i thought they were for episodes aired, not future episodes. Hate to avoid this thread all together.

I don't think any of what we've talked about so far would really count as a spoiler, it's just confirming information that we already have.
And we a little bit more from EW, they also have a 17 minute video with Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin. Noah Schnapp, the Duffers, and people from the hair, costumes, and VFX departments all breaking down the MAC-Z battle.
https://ew.com/stranger-things-5-mac-z-battle-demogorgon-attack-oner-explained-11859105

 

[Lakenheath 72]

Speaking of being "grounded in reality", I did some research on real life animals and discovered that there are animals which have a strong resistance to bullets, like elephants. In the case of elephants, it was possible to cause damage to the animal by melee weapons, like they depicted in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Ancient soldiers would hamstring the elephant by cutting their legs. It could be possible that the two women could do damage to their attacker, while bullets had a harder time getting through the skin. Which begs the question, why hasn't the military developed a specific weapon for taking down these creatures, like an elephant gun?

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[The Grinch Doctor]

I don't think any of what we've talked about so far would really count as a spoiler, it's just confirming information that we already have.
And we a little bit more from EW, they also have a 17 minute video with Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin. Noah Schnapp, the Duffers, and people from the hair, costumes, and VFX departments all breaking down the MAC-Z battle.
https://ew.com/stranger-things-5-mac-z-battle-demogorgon-attack-oner-explained-11859105

Indeed. Conversations in this very thread had already leaned towards this direction and the Duffer brothers merely confirmed what we already suspected by on-screen evidence.

I've watched a lot of the interviews and they've all been very careful about not spoiling anything. In fact, since the four episodes came out, more interviews have been released that were clearly filmed on the same day as previously released interviews. Various online news sites to standard entertainment news outlets and all the way to the AP have all following this pattern.

My point is everyone involved do not want to spoil anything serious for the upcoming episodes. Plus, all of those aforementioned news outlets have only seen the first four episodes. Everyone is in the dark now and I think at this point the cast and the Duffer brothers are seasoned pros about what and what not to say.

 

[tomalak301]

Indeed. Conversations in this very thread had already leaned towards this direction and the Duffer brothers merely confirmed what we already suspected by on-screen evidence.

I've watched a lot of the interviews and they've all been very careful about not spoiling anything. In fact, since the four episodes came out, more interviews have been released that were clearly filmed on the same day as previously released interviews. Various online news sites to standard entertainment news outlets and all the way to the AP have all following this pattern.

My point is everyone involved do not want to spoil anything serious for the upcoming episodes. Plus, all of those aforementioned news outlets have only seen the first four episodes. Everyone is in the dark now and I think at this point the cast and the Duffer brothers are seasoned pros about what and what not to say.

Well, I come in and out of this thread so I guess I missed the speculation leading to the cliffhanger about Will, but I still say having that confirmation does lessen the impact of the cliffhanger a little. I guess it makes sense considering Will can see through the Demogorgon's eyes, so why not be able to channel that power.

Hopefully there are a lot of surprises to come, and I actually try not to read that much interviews because they tend to "over explain" things a bit. It's not just the Duffers, it's a lot of creators I've noticed. I guess it's all part of the hype and speculation in the interview process.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

if there ever was a season 6 i think it would have a new cast and most likely set in the mid 90s or in the 2000s

 

[Reverend]

If Hopper is hiding, too (as it appears to be), then there isn't really any reason for them to know.

I don't know about that; if one is trying to stay hidden from the military under martial law, then it certainly wouldn't hurt to have someone still loyal in what's left of the Sheriff's department to leak intel and maybe spread a little misinformation.

And another article has a quote from the Duffers where they confirm that Will does not have powers of his own, he's just channeling Vecna's.

Interesting that they came out with that after the show made a point to characterise Will as a Sorcerer (even naming the episode as such), while what they're describing would make him closer to a D&D Warlock.

For those that don't know: in the D&D class system, Wizards get their magic through study and spellbooks, Sorcerers just have an innate talent in their bloodline, Clerics from their patron deity of choice through faith and prayer, while Warlocks get theirs through a pact with some kind of powerful being; Archfey, Demons, Angels, Lovecraftian Nightmares etc.

I know it's a bit of a stretch to describe what's going on between Will and Henry as a "pact", but it seems closer than any of the other options.

Which begs the question, why hasn't the military developed a specific weapon for taking down these creatures, like an elephant gun?

As we saw last season, the mindflayer particles animate these things even after death, so a special gun really isn't the answer. Realistically though, since we also saw last season that dismemberment by sword works fine, then those .50cals should do the job. Those things are meant for anti-material, so when they're turned on people, they would indeed be able to blow off extremities.
The problem is that any gun with enough firepower to deal with them is by necessity going to be large and unwieldy. Not the easiest thing to aim as a small, skinny, fast moving target that just ate your face off in the time it took you to bring the gun the bear. Those sonic/microwave/EM dish things would have been more effective, assuming they have a similar effect on the mindflayer particles, which Vecna seems to use to control them.

Personally, I always attributed much of their physical toughness to a decentralised circulatory and nervous system. Closer to plants than Earthly vertebrates, at least in terms of anatomy.

Side note: Emus are also highly bullet tolerant. Just ask the Australians; they fought (and lost) a war over that one!

 

[eschaton]

You know, it struck me that since this season takes place in 1987, the perfect last scene would be if the gang all gathered around a TV for the TNG Season 1 premier.

 

[Set Harth]

The last scene is everyone watching "Code of Honor".

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

EW.com has an article about the Henry Creel memory scene and the actress who played young Joyce.
https://ew.com/young-joyce-byers-in-stranger-things-birdy-11859693
From what the Duffers say at the end of the article it sounds like this won't be the only flashback to this era that we're getting this season. It also gives a little more of an idea of what exactly the relationship between Season 5 and The First Shadow is, they said that the show will cover some of the same material that the play did, and that they even had to stop the creators of the play from putting in some stuff that they felt was too spoilery. That sounds to me like the show will basically be giving us a cliff notes version, while the full version is the play. At least it's a relief to hear that they were aware that the majority of the audience won't have seen The First Shadow and built that part of the season with that fact in mind.
I'm still holding out hope that we'll eventually get a filmed version of one of the productions of The First Shadow.

And another article has a quote from the Duffers where they confirm that Will does not have powers of his own, he's just channeling Vecna's.
https://ew.com/stranger-things-star-reveals-will-byers-season-5-spoiler-fans-missed-11859595

Could you please spoiler stuff like this for the people who make a point of not reading these kind of reveal all spoilers.

Same goes for the poster earlier saying this or that happened in trailers.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

You know, it struck me that since this season takes place in 1987, the perfect last scene would be if the gang all gathered around a TV for the TNG Season 1 premier.

The DnD gang watching the poker gang.

 

[theenglish]

Interesting that they came out with that after the show made a point to characterise Will as a Sorcerer (even naming the episode as such), while what they're describing would make him closer to a D&D Warlock.

For those that don't know: in the D&D class system, Wizards get their magic through study and spellbooks, Sorcerers just have an innate talent in their bloodline, Clerics from their patron deity of choice through faith and prayer, while Warlocks get theirs through a pact with some kind of powerful being; Archfey, Demons, Angels, Lovecraftian Nightmares etc.

I know it's a bit of a stretch to describe what's going on between Will and Henry as a "pact", but it seems closer than any of the other options.

Back in the 80s there were Magic-Users and Clerics. There were some alternative classes from Dragon magazine, but at the time sorceror was only a name for one of the levels of being a Magic-User.

 

[JD]

Could you please spoiler stuff like this for the people who make a point of not reading these kind of reveal all spoilers.

Same goes for the poster earlier saying this or that happened in trailers.

There are no spoilers in there, or in the trailers.

 

[The Grinch Doctor]

There are no spoilers in there, or in the trailers.

And what I said was in the trailers is pretty damn vague.