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Stranger Things S4 | OT | Every ending has a beginning (Open spoilers)

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ResetSoul

ResetSoul

Banned
Jul 29, 2021
1,366
CrazyDude said:
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No, I'm familiar. I know it was a real hysterical panic back in the day. A similar thing happened around Pokemon cards and they were banned from our school after the PTA kept harassing the school board saying kids were trying to recruit each other into...whatever evil darkness Pokemon is a gateway drug to, in their minds.
 
CrazyDude

CrazyDude

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,727
ResetSoul said:
No, I'm familiar. I know it was a real hysterical panic back in the day. A similar thing happened around Pokemon cards and they were banned from our school after the PTA kept harassing the school board saying kids were trying to recruit each other into...whatever evil darkness Pokemon is a gateway drug to, in their minds.
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Pokémon was banned our school too but it was more because it was distracting kids from school apparently.
 
ResetSoul

ResetSoul

Banned
Jul 29, 2021
1,366
"Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that'll loosen their lips."

Oh, fuck you, Mr. Wheeler.
 
LycanXIII

LycanXIII

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
9,979
Finished episode 7. Finally the Eleven story is interesting. It only took them tying it back in to the Hawkins gang to get there.
 
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Conditional-Pancakes

Conditional-Pancakes

The GIFs of Us
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Jun 25, 2020
10,826
the wilderness
variety.com

Why Sadie Sink Should Be Running Up That Hill to an Emmy Nomination for ‘Stranger Things’

Why Sadie Sink's work as Max in the "Dear Billy" episode of Netflix's "Stranger Things" is worthy of an Emmy nomination.
variety.com variety.com

Sink's anguish and technical skill are displayed beautifully throughout each episode. Still, it's the stellar monologue delivered at Billy's grave in the episode titled "Chapter Four: Dear Billy," where Sink furnishes the best acting of the entire series thus far.

Shawn Levy, who directed the crucial episode from writer Paul Dichter, utilizes the red hues against the backdrop of Kate Bush's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill" to create a tension-filled sequence that quickly goes down as one of the best episodes yet. The song has now acted as the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" of the fantasy series, reaching the top of the Apple Music charts in the United States.
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More than just a slam-dunk for music supervisor Nora Felder to land in her respective field, it offers an opportunity for Sink to land a spot in a very competitive Emmys race. Also submitted alongside Sink are her talented co-stars — Millie Bobby Brown, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer and Priah Ferguson.

While there's always a risk of vote splitting between actors, there's no denying the word-of-mouth this season that Sink has generated on social media and within the industry.
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Savvy awards campaigner Netflix is being smart on the framework and submissions for Emmy consideration. While actors don't need to worry about episode submissions until nominations are officially announced, the writing and directing races require submissions to garner noms. For directing, in addition to the Levy-directed episode "Dear Billy," the streamer also submitted the Duffers Brothers' finale episode, "Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab." The episode was also offered in the writing (drama) category.
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Sadie Sink really deserves an Emmy for her performance in episode 4.
 
Indy in the Fridge

Indy in the Fridge

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
15,278
Through 3 episodes and this season is just dark and bleak af. Full on horror at times too. It's crazy watching this and thinking back on season 1 and how constrained that was relative to what we have now.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
So just out of curiosity, when did the phrase "play Nintendo" enter the vernacular as a generic term for playing video games? The system had only released a few months earlier, though I guess Atari was all but dead by that time and the Sega Master System wouldn't be released for another half year. Does anyone else suspect that Murray probably has his own NES?
 
sfedai0

sfedai0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,932
So Im not the most avid on details but the Upside down has always confused me.

Is it a mirror world that also has time travel mechanisms involved? Whats with Nancy and friends going to her house and realizing theyre in the past? Has it always been like that in the previous seasons?
 
Nose Master

Nose Master

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,717
Embiid said:
Character spoiler, not much

I hope the Russian prison guard makes it,
good character. He was great in GoT too
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I did not even recognize him until I read that.

Fantastic season overall, popped hard for Englund. Loved how NOES the Vecna bits got.

Jakenbakin said:
Okay Yuri, so the Russian government will pay for an escaped prisoner. And a corrupt guard. And an American target. But obviously Yuri would be fine, right, because the government wouldn't have any interest in a smuggler who had been planning to help an escaped prisoner, supplying corrupt guard his illegal goods, plotting illegal activity with those guards, or being willing to help American enemies of the state for money.

I can't be there only one who thought his double cross was beyond a stupid plot point, right? You don't be a huge criminal smuggler in the USSR and then buddy up with them on a convenient paycheck, surely that's going to cost you your fucking life. Even worse was when the warden met up with "Yuri", they play it off as no actually they were just going to give Yuri everything he wanted for... reasons.
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There's a lot of contrivances in that vein that I just have to hand wave away as trying to make the storytelling engaging. There's weird logical leaps and plot holes around almost every twist in this season. Why are Hopper and Murray suddenly John Wick? Why would 001 not explicitly ask her to remove the limiter, and just hope she offers? Why does remembering banishing 001 to the shadow realm suddenly cause eleven to go super saiyan, if it already happened? Why do the gates magically appear at the kill sites days after the murders? Why wouldn't Viktor mention his son not dying during their interview? Why would he attempt suicide by cutting his... eyes with a razor blade? Other than just for the shock effect of the face reveal, that makes no sense. Why would 001 claim he planned for his father to take the blame for his murders if he was only saved because of hearing a song he liked? It's all just loosely tangled threads to frame cool moments, like Max escaping Vecna.

I have other nitpicks, but they've been said. Mostly that Argyle sticks out like a stiff dick in the wind, and the entire CA crew seemingly only exist for that one ambush scene. Which, I'll admit, was pretty neat. Murray actually drinking an offered drink at a ransom negotiation also seemed really out of character.
 
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Soliloquy of a Dogge

Soliloquy of a Dogge

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,974
sfedai0 said:
So Im not the most avid on details but the Upside down has always confused me.

Is it a mirror world that also has time travel mechanisms involved? Whats with Nancy and friends going to her house and realizing theyre in the past? Has it always been like that in the previous seasons?
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This is the first time we've seen a reflection of Hawkins specifically attached to a certain time period from the past in the Upside Down.

Each time a new breach occurs, the reflection of that location in the Upside Down reflects the world as it exists in that moment.

Beyond speculation and theories, we don't really know what the Upside Down is, how it was created, why it was created, if a reflection of it exists outside of Hawkins and how/why the portals that act as gateways between its dimension and Stranger Things' world operate.

As to time travel, the inferences drawn from Henry/Peter's backstory seems to suggest he may have the ability to affect time so it's a possibility.
 
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Soliloquy of a Dogge

Soliloquy of a Dogge

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Oct 27, 2017
12,974
Dalek

Dalek

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Oct 25, 2017
38,900
sfedai0 said:
So Im not the most avid on details but the Upside down has always confused me.

Is it a mirror world that also has time travel mechanisms involved? Whats with Nancy and friends going to her house and realizing theyre in the past? Has it always been like that in the previous seasons?
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No time travel. It was basically copied from our world on the day Will was taken. From then each world diverted.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
sfedai0 said:
So Im not the most avid on details but the Upside down has always confused me.

Is it a mirror world that also has time travel mechanisms involved? Whats with Nancy and friends going to her house and realizing theyre in the past? Has it always been like that in the previous seasons?
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What I take away from it is that
the Upside Down as a place has always existed, but its versions of normal world places and objects only appear when a massive event connecting the two worlds occured, specifically when Eleven created the gate in Hawkins Lab. As it only generated inanimate objects, there's nothing to update the Upside Down's version of anything, so it just remains frozen as it was at that point. As to why it happened, hopefully that gets explained eventually. It did seem like there was nothing there when Eleven sent One into it. Perhaps he'd been unable to do anything to interact with the normal world until Eleven caused the town to appear.
 
Pendas

Pendas

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Oct 28, 2017
4,644
NostroDalek said:
No time travel. It was basically copied from our world on the day Will was taken. From then each world diverted.
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The real question is....

If the Upside Down copy of the world was created the day Will went into the Upside Down. How was he able to see the Alphabet in Season 1 to communicate with Joyce if she put up the letters a few days after he vanished?
 
Kcoe27400

Kcoe27400

Member
Mar 14, 2018
932
Solo said:
She's probably the best actor on the show
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I dont think you need the probably there. Shes leaps and bounds better than the rest of the kids and i think she has more range than Winona Ryder or David Harbour. Her and Steves actor i think are gonna find the most success after this show from the younger actors.
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

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Oct 25, 2017
20,409
Kcoe27400 said:
I dont think you need the probably there. Shes leaps and bounds better than the rest of the kids and i think she has more range than Winona Ryder or David Harbour. Her and Steves actor i think are gonna find the most success after this show from the younger actors.
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I'd be surprised if Joe Keery isn't getting a bunch of big roles after the show is over with. IMO he has the most upside of any of the actors on the show. Marvel should honestly be lining up to get him in the MCU as Human Torch if they aren't already. He has the charisma/humor, he's handsome, dude is a great actor, and he has a huge fan following now. Steve steals the show any time he's on screen every season.
 
Trey

Trey

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Oct 25, 2017
17,949
Scrobbles said:
katt-katt-williams.gif
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literally said this exactly as it happened
 
Trey

Trey

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Oct 25, 2017
17,949
episode 7: Vecna waiting a week before showing up with a full production to kill his marks all because he was in a coma for a week makes his longwinded evil monologue to El make more sense

always so dramatic
 
Helix

Helix

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Jun 8, 2019
23,734
I don't know why there are some critics criticizing El for being a stoic character and saying that Millie has no range?

I just attributed that stoicism to her character's trait and not her inability to have a wide acting range.
 
Solo

Solo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
15,743
Helix said:
I don't know why there are some critics criticizing El for being a stoic character and saying that Millie has no range?

I just attributed that stoicism to her character's trait and not her inability to have a wide acting range.
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Because El has always been stoic and yet MBB has gone from the strongest kid actor in S1 to perhaps the weakest by S4? Like, she's gotten worse and more stiff at playing the same character traits she has had to since the start.
 
Tambini

Tambini

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,381
The ending of ep4 got all the acclaim (and its probably my favourite scene in the whole series) but the last 5 mins of ep3 are so good too. I found the music too

 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,120
DarthWoo said:
So just out of curiosity, when did the phrase "play Nintendo" enter the vernacular as a generic term for playing video games? The system had only released a few months earlier, though I guess Atari was all but dead by that time and the Sega Master System wouldn't be released for another half year. Does anyone else suspect that Murray probably has his own NES?
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it became part of the vernacular pretty quick, according to my memory (late as '88 i firmly remember it being a thing)

but yeah, they're taking some historical liberty with this one.
 
MotiD

MotiD

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,560
I didn't think about the show since the last season ended and didn't even know about it coming out the day it did, but I miss it already
 
Solo

Solo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
15,743
I have a fair number of issues with the season leading up to Episode 7 (which I'll get to watch later today), but yeah, I've rewatched that end of Episode 4 like 10 times now.....might be the best scene in the whole series.
 
Heynongman!

Heynongman!

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,928
Nose Master said:
I did not even recognize him until I read that.

Fantastic season overall, popped hard for Englund. Loved how NOES the Vecna bits got.



There's a lot of contrivances in that vein that I just have to hand wave away as trying to make the storytelling engaging. There's weird logical leaps and plot holes around almost every twist in this season. Why are Hopper and Murray suddenly John Wick? Why would 001 not explicitly ask her to remove the limiter, and just hope she offers? Why does remembering banishing 001 to the shadow realm suddenly cause eleven to go super saiyan, if it already happened? Why do the gates magically appear at the kill sites days after the murders? Why wouldn't Viktor mention his son not dying during their interview? Why would he attempt suicide by cutting his... eyes with a razor blade? Other than just for the shock effect of the face reveal, that makes no sense. Why would 001 claim he planned for his father to take the blame for his murders if he was only saved because of hearing a song he liked? It's all just loosely tangled threads to frame cool moments, like Max escaping Vecna.

I have other nitpicks, but they've been said. Mostly that Argyle sticks out like a stiff dick in the wind, and the entire CA crew seemingly only exist for that one ambush scene. Which, I'll admit, was pretty neat. Murray actually drinking an offered drink at a ransom negotiation also seemed really out of character.
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I can answer a lot of these because they're covered in the show, and others because they're logical conclusions from things covered in the show:

1. Why are Hopper and Murray suddenly John Wick?

Hopper, this one you just gotta accept as him being desperate and having police training. It's not realistic, but it is what it is.
Murray? He had a whole thing about how he's a black belt multiple times.

2. Why would 001 not explicitly ask her to remove the limiter, and just hope she offers?
001 is playing her, he's been playing her since the start. It's all about "control"

3. Why does remembering banishing 001 to the shadow realm suddenly cause eleven to go super saiyan, if it already happened?
Dr. Brenner talks about why she needs to remember multiple times. She's blocked out her powers in a way similar to how she's blocked out these memories. He compared it to stroke victims having portions of their brain cut off.

4. Why do the gates magically appear at the kill sites days after the murders?
Dustin provided a theory for this, but the fact is we don't know for sure. This will probably be more concrete leading into the finale. But the gate starts to form immediately - this one in the lake was used the next night - not days later. They even showed the fish getting gobbled up by it in the opening scene just after the kid was killed.

5. Why wouldn't Viktor mention his son not dying during their interview?
He did. He mentioned the boy survived and was in a hospital.

6. Why would he attempt suicide by cutting his... eyes with a razor blade?
The dude watched his wife get murdered - losing her eyes, then had hallucinations of a traumatic experience back to back. He went insane - he believed he could "join" his wife and daughter. He talks about it during the interview. He legit thought he was dealing with a demon and it drove him mad.

7. Why would 001 claim he planned for his father to take the blame for his murders if he was only saved because of hearing a song he liked?
He wasn't saved because of hearing a song he liked - 001 said he bit off more than he could chew, so when Viktor escaped, it was because 001 wasn't able to continue (He collapses during the "flashback"). The song thing was a theory the kids had, but I think it's a red herring. Especially since the song alone didn't save Max - it just gives them a thing in the real world to sort of let them realize they're in a trance. This carries over into how Nancy and co could hear Dustin and them while in the upside down.
 
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Conditional-Pancakes

Conditional-Pancakes

The GIFs of Us
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Jun 25, 2020
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sixteen-bit said:
is there a spoiler thread? i wanna see memes and analysis without clicking a million spoiler tags lol
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Netflix dropped all the episodes of Volume One at once and not everyone watches at the same pace. So right now I think it wouldn't be appropriate to lift the requirement for spoiler tags in this thread.

But when Volume Two is released in a few weeks, I think I'll open the thread to spoilers for Volume One (episodes 1 to 7), and move the requirement for spoiler tags to Volume Two (episodes 8 and 9).

If people have other ideas, please just let me know! :)
 
AliceAmber

AliceAmber

Drive-in Mutant
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May 2, 2018
6,653
hydruxo said:
I'd be surprised if Joe Keery isn't getting a bunch of big roles after the show is over with. IMO he has the most upside of any of the actors on the show. Marvel should honestly be lining up to get him in the MCU as Human Torch if they aren't already. He has the charisma/humor, he's handsome, dude is a great actor, and he has a huge fan following now. Steve steals the show any time he's on screen every season.
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If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend the movie "Spree" he was absolutely fantastic in that.
 
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