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

ErrorJustin · Jun 7, 2022

IMO the time jump will put them as HS seniors. as others have predicted.

For one this lines up with the actual age of the cast - at least.... closer to it. Finn Wolfhard is 19 as of right now so it's less of a stretch.

For another, closing the door on some ancient evil while they close the door on their HS careers/Hawkins/etc is just too good and too potentially satisfying to pass up. It almost writes itself - they play one final DnD campaign before going off to different colleges, etc.

Carn · Jun 7, 2022

PlanetSmasher said:
I think they're half-serious about it. Obviously the kids' heads wouldn't actually explode if they saw young Winona at the movies but I think they do kind of want to avoid that weirdness.

I mean; its not that they can write around that. Have them go to Die Hard or Willow or Roger Rabbit or Akira (ha) whatever -if- they really need to go the movies in 1988 :P If you can write about non-existing secret labs in your fictional series you are also capable of not mentionion some specific existing films.

Carn · Jun 7, 2022

ErrorJustin said:
IMO the time jump will put them as HS seniors. as others have predicted.

For one this lines up with the actual age of the cast - at least.... closer to it. Finn Wolfhard is 19 as of right now so it's less of a stretch.

For another, closing the door on some ancient evil while they close the door on their HS careers/Hawkins/etc is just too good and too potentially satisfying to pass up. It almost writes itself - they play one final DnD campaign before going off to different colleges, etc.

I believe filming of S4 took around a year or so (thats excluding Covid-delays), give or take. Assuming that S4 filming starts somewhere in Q3 or Q4 of this year; Schnapp would be 18 (and he is the youngest of the bunch, the rest is older with Sink and McLaughlin being 20 yrs old now). So HS seniors make a lot of sense.

EggShen's6DemonBag · Jun 7, 2022

"Needing" to end before Beetlejuice doesn't seem serious given that they just went out of their way to cast Robert Englund, when these kids have certainly seen A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

CrazyDude · Jun 7, 2022

EggShen's6DemonBag said:
"Needing" to end before Beetlejuice doesn't seem serious given that they just went out of their way to cast Robert Englund, when these kids have certainly seen A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Also you have Sean Astin(Goonies), Matthew Modine(Full Metal Jacket), and Paul Reiser(Aliens) who were all in famous 80s movies.

Conditional-Pancakes · Jun 7, 2022

Reminder that if you need something to watch until Volume Two is released, the Fear Street Trilogy is so much fun!

PlanetSmasher · Jun 7, 2022

CrazyDude said:
Also you have Sean Astin(Goonies), Matthew Modine(Full Metal Jacket), and Paul Reiser(Aliens) who were all in famous 80s movies.

To be fair, Bob died before the Goonies came out. And I'm pretty sure Brenner and Owens aren't going to live long enough for their actors' career-defining films to be released.

Truno · Jun 7, 2022

Indy in the Fridge said:
Yeah, I'm not really needing an answer to the, "Is Will gay?" question. He could be a number of orientations. I'm more interested in how will his seemingly implicit attraction to Mike is resolved.

Seems to me that every one of the kids had a character aid them with their transition into teenagers: Mike had Eleven, Dustin had Steve, Lucas had Max, etc.

Will is in a state of arrested development and he really only has Mike. If Mike and Will do have a heart-to-heart this season in which Will opens up, I think that Mike will be understanding and accepting of Will's feelings. This would allow Will to be more comfortable with himself which would lead to him feeling less side-lined. They could even introduce a love interest for him during season 5 (like they're doing with Robin).

I can only hope that the writers don't force a rushed development of Mike being confused with his own sexuality/emotions in a love triangle for drama. Frankly, it feels quite unnecessary and late for something like that.

StopMakingSense · Jun 7, 2022

CrazyDude said:
It took 7.5 hours to put on the prosthetics for Vecna and they had to to it 20 times. They got it down to about 6.5 hours by the end. Imagine doing that, plus doing the shoot for another 10 hours.

Reminds me of the story how Jim Carrey got CIA torture survival training because of the 8+ hours for the Grinch costume was super fucking with him.

BoxManLocke · Jun 7, 2022

I'm a bit confused about the show's treatment towards

Brenner

this season.

Unless of course we're going towards a major shift of perception from El by the season's end, complete with a scene where she finally gives him the bloody send off he deserves, I always get the feeling he's just being made to look like a guy who did some bad things but was ultimately trying to help those kids, and he genuinely cares for El ?
But I'm not crazy when my assessment of the guy is that he's an abusive, unredeemable asshole, right ?

I don't know, maybe it's just the writing making us look at him through El's current psychological vulnerability, and there'll be a pay off, in which case, well fucking done. But in the NINA storyline we've seen it just made me really uncomfortable that nobody acknowledges the guy is a huge piece of shit.

Ether_Snake · Jun 7, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
I'm a bit confused about the show's treatment towards

Brenner

this season.

Unless of course we're going towards a major shift of perception from El by the season's end, complete with a scene where she finally gives him the bloody send off he deserves, I always get the feeling he's just being made to look like a guy who did some bad things but was ultimately trying to help those kids, and he genuinely cares for El ?
But I'm not crazy when my assessment of the guy is that he's an abusive, unredeemable asshole, right ?

I don't know, maybe it's just the writing making us look at him through El's current psychological vulnerability, and there'll be a pay off, in which case, well fucking done. But in the NINA storyline we've seen it just made me really uncomfortable that nobody acknowledges the guy is a huge piece of shit.

We don't know his backstory but I think he'll be 012 or take Vecna's place. He's the main baddie. The guy is irredeemable. The guy who helped Eleven in S1E1 got shot in the head by his female colleague. They're not good people.

PlanetSmasher · Jun 7, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
I'm a bit confused about the show's treatment towards

Brenner

this season.

Unless of course we're going towards a major shift of perception from El by the season's end, complete with a scene where she finally gives him the bloody send off he deserves, I always get the feeling he's just being made to look like a guy who did some bad things but was ultimately trying to help those kids, and he genuinely cares for El ?
But I'm not crazy when my assessment of the guy is that he's an abusive, unredeemable asshole, right ?

I don't know, maybe it's just the writing making us look at him through El's current psychological vulnerability, and there'll be a pay off, in which case, well fucking done. But in the NINA storyline we've seen it just made me really uncomfortable that nobody acknowledges the guy is a huge piece of shit.

He's doomed. Owens has pointed out that Brenner has immediately returned to pushing Eleven way too hard, necessary or not. I don't think we're meant to look at him favorably at all - this is Eleven making a deal with the devil to fight a different devil.

BoxManLocke · Jun 7, 2022

Ether_Snake said:
We don't know his backstory but I think he'll be 012 or take Vecna's place. He's the main baddie. The guy is irredeemable. The guy who helped Eleven in S1E1 got shot in the head by his female colleague. They're not good people.

PlanetSmasher said:
He's doomed. Owens has pointed out that Brenner has immediately returned to pushing Eleven way too hard, necessary or not. I don't think we're meant to look at him favorably at all - this is Eleven making a deal with the devil to fight a different devil.

Yeah, it's just how he's never shown to do the dirty work, never gets called out directly, and in regards to El is very often shown as a sort of protector or even savior despite the horrible shit he's done.

Again, that will be a terrific storyline if he ends up getting what he deserves. He doesn't just need to die imo, there needs to be a long conversation about what he put El through, so that she can get closure. It's just that I end up doubting this sometimes when I see another scene of him pretending to care for El, and her calling him Papa with tears in her eyes because he's the only person she's familiar with here. It's fucking creepy, and kind of frustrating.

Conditional-Pancakes · Jun 7, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
Yeah, it's just how he's never shown to do the dirty work, never gets called out directly, and in regards to El is very often shown as a sort of protector or even savior despite the horrible shit he's done.

Again, that will be a terrific storyline if he ends up getting what he deserves. He doesn't just need to die imo, there needs to be a long conversation about what he put El through. It's just that I end up doubting this sometimes when I see another scene of him pretending to care for El, and her calling him Papa with tears in her eyes because he's the only person she's familiar with here. It's fucking creepy.

I really don't think we need a big conversation about what he's done, we're in the fourth season now, we know what he did to El and the other test subjects. The audience is smart, no need to take people by the hand to guide them through the morality of it all, no need to spell everything out.

The context and the events speak for themselves in season 4 I think.

PlanetSmasher · Jun 7, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
Yeah, it's just how he's never shown to do the dirty work, never gets called out directly, and in regards to El is very often shown as a sort of protector or even savior despite the horrible shit he's done.

Again, that will be a terrific storyline if he ends up getting what he deserves. He doesn't just need to die imo, there needs to be a long conversation about what he put El through, so that she can get closure. It's just that I end up doubting this sometimes when I see another scene of him pretending to care for El, and her calling him Papa with tears in her eyes because he's the only person she's familiar with here. It's fucking creepy, and kind of frustrating.

I think as long as he gets a suitably messy end (whether it's by El, Vecna, or the other soldiers) it'll all be good. I don't think the character who experiments on children and was perfectly willing to let Eleven die until she became his literal last option needs a "the reason you suck" speech before he goes out. The character can be tragic while still being unquestionably a monster, which he is.

The opening scene of the season being him having a totally normal morning before he goes into his underground child experimentation bunker sold that perfectly well for me.

BoxManLocke · Jun 7, 2022

Maybe I just watch too many shows with shit villains or ones that you're supposed to "love to hate" (most of those are shit too tbh because that trope is overused to hell) and I forget what a good villain is supposed to make the audience feel like ; he creeps me out and I want him to die really really badly. Which sounds about right for a bad guy.

The lack of trust in a proper ending for him is just stemming from my dissatisfaction in how the writers have handled this season so far.

Anways, yeah y'all are right about this.

hydruxo · Jun 7, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
Yeah, it's just how he's never shown to do the dirty work, never gets called out directly, and in regards to El is very often shown as a sort of protector or even savior despite the horrible shit he's done.

Again, that will be a terrific storyline if he ends up getting what he deserves. He doesn't just need to die imo, there needs to be a long conversation about what he put El through, so that she can get closure. It's just that I end up doubting this sometimes when I see another scene of him pretending to care for El, and her calling him Papa with tears in her eyes because he's the only person she's familiar with here. It's fucking creepy, and kind of frustrating.

I get where you're coming from. It's a shitty situation with a shitty person in charge, but it's a necessary one. Owens knows it and even El knows it once she sees her powers start to return, so they're going along with it to save Hawkins. Owens is reluctant to have to bring El there in the first place, but it's his only choice in the position he's in. You can tell Owens is very uncomfortable about the way they're going about it. I don't think we need to have any kind of cathartic conversation on the show about Brenner. They make it clear he's still a manipulative asshole but we have to unfortunately deal with it until El is back to full power again.

I'm sure Brenner's days are numbered anyways. His purpose is mostly served now and the army is coming next ep. I think he isn't making it out of that confrontation alive. Owens might not either.

carlsojo · Jun 8, 2022

I wanna see Max's letters so bad.

Steve's in particular. What's it say - "Thanks in advance for driving me all over town. Sorry I drove your car that one time."

Ether_Snake · Jun 8, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
Yeah, it's just how he's never shown to do the dirty work, never gets called out directly, and in regards to El is very often shown as a sort of protector or even savior despite the horrible shit he's done.

Again, that will be a terrific storyline if he ends up getting what he deserves. He doesn't just need to die imo, there needs to be a long conversation about what he put El through, so that she can get closure. It's just that I end up doubting this sometimes when I see another scene of him pretending to care for El, and her calling him Papa with tears in her eyes because he's the only person she's familiar with here. It's fucking creepy, and kind of frustrating.

I think this is because he'll play the devil's role: he'll offer her something that she has to accept or reject, similar to Vecna. He is also a fake father figure.

Also I am pretty sure his whole schtick is that an evil monster is needed to control Eleven. It is the existence of that monster which allows Brenner to control her, because this gives her a reason to exist, a monster to fight against, and it is through that puppet monster that he can ultimately control her. Remember he is all about control. So Brenner is the real dungeon master.

Hayeya · Jun 8, 2022

Burt said:
Steve must die for Dustin to take up the bat

All Characters must die except for Steve and Dustin.
They are the heart and Soul of Stranger things.

Milennia · Jun 8, 2022

Just got done with volume 1, crazy ending there and seriously had no clue that was building up like that

Gavalanche · Jun 8, 2022

I think the whole show will end with Eleven becoming the master of the upside down and effectively nullifying it. That's my theory!

They need to kill of some characters though. There are far too many. Unless they plan on not having a bunch return due to time jump but I don't think they can do that; can't not have a major character show up.

HStallion · Jun 8, 2022

So that was the best season of the show, so far. I loved season 1 but damn if I was hooked through out and blown away by how well everything has come together. I'm gonna probably read through this entire topic just to read reactions to episode 4 which was the obvious highlight.

Ravelle · Jun 8, 2022

For most part of part 1 I kept thinking Lucas was a new character like Eddy but than I saw him in that flashback and was stunned. I've forgotten a lot of it and I totally didn't recocnize him.

Conditional-Pancakes said:
Reminder that if you need something to watch until Volume Two is released, the Fear Street Trilogy is so much fun!

Seconded. The Fear Street triology is the most fiun I had with horror movies in a while. Hopefully we get something similar this year or next year.

MoonsaultSlayer · Jun 8, 2022

So if my reading of the clues are correct, the upside down is a void that is periodically filled with negative emotions and traumatic events, which is why they seem to be catered towards the lives of the kids involved.

But it wasn't until El used LOVE when she ripped through to the other side.

I'm getting Kingdom Hearts vibes so I better stop lol. Otherwise I might predict we see Xrbba (Barb's Nobody) running things in the Upside Down.

Indy in the Fridge · Jun 8, 2022

Finished Part 1 last night. I've loved nearly every minute of this season; it's been so good.

I do think that the Duffer Bros. are going to have to take some risks in part 2. I am already seeing them setting up Steve's death. There was lots of "wow Steve you've become such a great guy and you deserve Nancy after all of your heroics" in episode 7 which is movie language for, "we're gonna make you super endearing now so killing you off is that much more gut-wrenching for our audience."

CrazyDude · Jun 8, 2022

Indy in the Fridge said:
Finished Part 1 last night. I've loved nearly every minute of this season; it's been so good.

I do think that the Duffer Bros. are going to have to take some risks in part 2. I am already seeing them setting up Steve's death. There was lots of "wow Steve you've become such a great guy and you deserve Nancy after all of your heroics" in episode 7 which is movie language for, "we're gonna make you super endearing now so killing you off is that much more gut-wrenching for our audience."

Steve has been super endearing since season 2.

Indy in the Fridge · Jun 8, 2022

CrazyDude said:
Steve has been super endearing since season 2.

Oh absolutely, he's been my favorite character since season 2. I think his and Dustin's relationship is just so precious. But it is also perfect fodder for the writers to mess with to get us to cry later on.

Sean C. · Jun 8, 2022

PlanetSmasher said:
Time jumping more than a couple of years would mean the teen characters would have mostly gone off to college, and it would be difficult to contrive an excuse for everyone to come back to Hawkins for a whole season.

With streaming shows that aren't wedded to depicting a status quo year-in, year-out, the timeframe is quite easy to tailor. The first seven episodes of Season 4 only cover a couple of days.

Conditional-Pancakes · Jun 8, 2022

No weekly release model for Stranger Things (or for any of the Netflix scripted series).

‘Stranger Things’ Will Likely Not Shift to Weekly Release for Final Season, Netflix US Scripted Chief Says

Netflix exec says there are no plans to shift "Stranger Things" to a weekly release model ahead of its fifth and final season.

variety.com

"For the fans of 'Stranger Things,' this is how they've been watching that show, and I think to change that on them would be disappointing," Peter Friedlander, Netflix's head of scripted series for U.S. and Canada, said during a panel moderated by Variety's TV editor Michael Schneider at Tuesday's HRTS Presidents Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. "To not give them exactly what they've been expecting — which is 'Stranger Things' is a seasonal experience, they go through that with them — I think that it would be an abrupt change for the member."

Per Friedlander, the binge model is still the likely path for all scripted series at Netflix.

"We fundamentally believe that we want to give our members the choice in how they view," the Netflix exec said. "And so giving them that option on these scripted series to watch as much as they want to watch when they watch it, is still fundamental to what we want to provide. And so when you see something like a batched season with 'Stranger Things,' this is our attempt at making sure we can get shows out quicker to the members."

Friedlander says this choice is "really about servicing" Netflix's subscribers "in more expedient ways." "That's what you see [with 'Stranger Things'] and that's what you see with 'Ozark.' So we have had some experimentation in that space. But it's also, you're giving multiple-episodic-viewing experiences, it isn't a standalone. So it really does, what we think, honors our relationship with our members and what their expectations are. There have been other types of launch cadences, but that's connected to an unscripted approach or a competition approach."

PlanetSmasher · Jun 8, 2022

Makes sense. Netflix isn't going to pivot the delivery model for the final season of the show and risk an audience dropoff, which is a natural and inevitable consequence of the week to week release model.

I could still see them pivoting in the future, but ST's delivery model isn't changing for the last season. It would be silly.

Conditional-Pancakes · Jun 8, 2022

Turns out Stranger Things season 4 is insanely popular:

‘Stranger Things 4’ Is Already Netflix’s No. 3 Most Popular TV Season Ever Among English-Language Titles

In it's first full week of availability, 'Stranger Things' Season 4 became Netflix's third most popular English-language TV season ever.

variety.com

The May 27 debut of the first seven episodes of "Stranger Things" Season 4 marked Netflix's biggest premiere weekend ever, drawing in 287 million hours viewed in just three days. Now, after the season's first full week of availability, its success continued and broke another, and bigger, record: It's Netflix's third most popular English-language TV season ever. Netflix calculates that list based on viewership during a title's first 28 days of availability, meaning the "Stranger Things" Season 4 still has 18 days to move even higher up the chart.

According the streamer's newly released weekly Top 10 rankings, "Stranger Things" Season 4, Volume 1 has also smashed the record for most-viewed show in a week among Netflix's English-language TV series, with 335 million hours watched from May 30 to June 5.

Netflix's Top 10 list for English-language TV series (week of May 30-June 5):

Screen-Shot-2022-06-07-at-12.00.16-PM.png

HStallion · Jun 8, 2022

Conditional-Pancakes said:
Turns out Stranger Things season 4 is insanely popular:

‘Stranger Things 4’ Is Already Netflix’s No. 3 Most Popular TV Season Ever Among English-Language Titles

In it's first full week of availability, 'Stranger Things' Season 4 became Netflix's third most popular English-language TV season ever.

variety.com

Netflix's Top 10 list for English-language TV series (week of May 30-June 5):

To think it was a show that appeared with little fanfare to become one of the biggest IPs out there.

AliceAmber · Jun 8, 2022

Anyone doing that LIve From The Upside Down concert experience? Seems silly and fun June 23rd

Conditional-Pancakes · Jun 8, 2022

Khanimus said:
Stranger Things Creators Share Their Regrets About Killing Off [Spoiler]

The Duffer Brothers shares their regret over the heartbreaking Stranger Things Season 4 death of [Spoiler].

tvline.com

Episode 1 spoilers

TL:DR shooting for TV is weird and you don't realize what you have until you see the dailies

Lobster Roll · Jun 8, 2022

Episode 2 Spoilers

Ok I'm sorry Mike & Will but where the fuck is your courage for your friend? Eleven has been ride or die with you from the beginning, taking out both human and otherworldly foes without hesitation and you can't rip that record off the table? You can't knock the camera out of that dude's hands? You can't shove one of the dudes or take Eleven's side to help her leave? Like these two guys just sit there as she gets tormented like "oh noooo this is bad oh noooo what do we do?" Get in there and take an ass beating for a friend. Eleven almost died killing a Demogorgon for you and you can't knock a camera out of some goon's hands? Shameful.

mantidor · Jun 8, 2022

Lobster Roll said:
Episode 2 Spoilers

Ok I'm sorry Mike & Will but where the fuck is your courage for your friend? Eleven has been ride or die with you from the beginning, taking out both human and otherworldly foes without hesitation and you can't rip that record off the table? You can't knock the camera out of that dude's hands? You can't shove one of the dudes or take Eleven's side to help her leave? Like these two guys just sit there as she gets tormented like "oh noooo this is bad oh noooo what do we do?" Get in there and take an ass beating for a friend. Eleven almost died killing a Demogorgon for you and you can't knock a camera out of some goon's hands? Shameful.

I totally see this for Mike but Will was caught between Mike's insufferable attitude and El's lies to him. Will didn't want to out his friend and only did it when things scalated way out of his control.

hydruxo · Jun 8, 2022

Lobster Roll said:
Episode 2 Spoilers

Ok I'm sorry Mike & Will but where the fuck is your courage for your friend? Eleven has been ride or die with you from the beginning, taking out both human and otherworldly foes without hesitation and you can't rip that record off the table? You can't knock the camera out of that dude's hands? You can't shove one of the dudes or take Eleven's side to help her leave? Like these two guys just sit there as she gets tormented like "oh noooo this is bad oh noooo what do we do?" Get in there and take an ass beating for a friend. Eleven almost died killing a Demogorgon for you and you can't knock a camera out of some goon's hands? Shameful.

Honestly that scene felt out of character for Mike and it kinda pissed me off. I posted about it the other day in this thread too and how it bothered me that he didn't just go run out there on the rink and get her away from everyone. Going to the DJ in general was completely unnecessary and not helpful to El. Even if he gets the song turned off she's still out there being swarmed by other kids making fun of her.

To make things worse the Duffers themselves wrote that ep so I would've thought they'd know better than to have Mike passively let the bullies mess with El like that. He has always been so quick to jump to her defense in other seasons so it just felt like a mischaracterization that all he did was go confront the DJ.

Helmholtz · Jun 8, 2022

Fantastic first 7 episodes, my favorite season so far. Easily the most engaged I've ever been with the show, pretty much all the plotlines just worked for me. I think it helps that the main cast is established by now.

BoxManLocke · Jun 8, 2022

Lobster Roll said:
Episode 2 Spoilers

Ok I'm sorry Mike & Will but where the fuck is your courage for your friend? Eleven has been ride or die with you from the beginning, taking out both human and otherworldly foes without hesitation and you can't rip that record off the table? You can't knock the camera out of that dude's hands? You can't shove one of the dudes or take Eleven's side to help her leave? Like these two guys just sit there as she gets tormented like "oh noooo this is bad oh noooo what do we do?" Get in there and take an ass beating for a friend. Eleven almost died killing a Demogorgon for you and you can't knock a camera out of some goon's hands? Shameful.

Having these two doofuses do absolutely nothing was just a contrived way of getting Eleven to stand up for herself the only way she could in the situation ; the real kicker to me is that it wasn't celebrated as an empowering moment but totally the opposite, just fuel for more cheap angst and guilt.

I think when it comes to TV shows (especially those that have 1+ hour long episodes) the journey matters more than the payoff, so I'm not really fond of having characters get constantly shit on for ages without reprieve just to get that "aha" moment at the very end. Which is why I'm really frustrated with El's journey this season.
It also doesn't help that other characters got the shaft this season, including Mike, Will and Jonathan.

Spikematic · Jun 9, 2022

Just finished episode 7. What a fantastic season so far. Loved just about everything and absolutely adored episode 4 in particular. Can't fucking wait for the final episodes!

Ether_Snake · Jun 9, 2022

BoxManLocke said:
Having these two doofuses do absolutely nothing was just a contrived way of getting Eleven to stand up for herself the only way she could in the situation ; the real kicker to me is that it wasn't celebrated as an empowering moment but totally the opposite, just fuel for more cheap angst and guilt.

I think when it comes to TV shows (especially those that have 1+ hour long episodes) the journey matters more than the payoff, so I'm not really fond of having characters get constantly shit on for ages without reprieve just to get that "aha" moment at the very end. Which is why I'm really frustrated with El's journey this season.
It also doesn't help that other characters got the shaft this season, including Mike, Will and Jonathan.

My biggest let down this season is that El's plot seems to be a complete rethread of what S2E7 was about, which was her learning not to use her powers for revenge, and instead to help others. Remember they had the police ask her if she wanted to kill the cheerleader or not, and we got no answer. So now this is the big question:

she has her powers back, is she going to go full on Tetsuo or not?

Thinking a little more about where things might go:

Henry's "evil" is due to him just being a kid who could somehow sense the "supernatural" world or some such, which led to people treating him as weird so he could never fit in and that took him down a dark path. This isn't much different from how Will was treated as weird/a reject in S1E1, or how Eleven was treated this season. And this is a show about kids who don't necessarily feel like they fit among popular kids, a whole town now wants to kill Eddie and will probably want to kill Eleven if they see her use her powers to blow people up... I think there is no way Henry will be left as just having been evil for evil's sake, he will be saved somehow from powers that shouldn't exist.

Since saving Henry as a child implies him never being taken in and becoming 001, and hence all the events of ST never happening, things have to go catastrophic for just about everyone, we need a bad ending to justify starting a new timeline as the best outcome there can be.

So I think the bad ending will be the end of S4, with most people dying and probably Eleven going super sayan Tetsuo.

I was thinking Nancy will be the one to save Henry since she saw his life story when he took over her mind, which might be seen as a call for help.

Anyway, it probably won't happen...

Lobster Roll · Jun 9, 2022

More spoilers through Episode 2.

Also, something that stood out to me through two episodes (and I'm sure it stood out to millions of others, but still, just wanted to comment on it) was the parallels to the West Memphis Three. Eddie Munson being the obvious target for small town Hawkins and jock leader Jason is exactly what down for those guys back in the early 1990s as part of the Satanic Panic. It was a scary thing to think back on because outside of all the supernatural D&D monsters attacking Hawkins, there was a real life witch hunt in the 1990s for three young men who just happened to be into goth stuff.

Wrexis · Jun 9, 2022

Conditional-Pancakes said:
Turns out Stranger Things season 4 is insanely popular:

That's pretty crazy, but also it's a full three years between S3 and S4.
That's a long, long time to grow (or lose) an audience.

ForgeForsaken · Jun 9, 2022

Lobster Roll said:
More spoilers through Episode 2.

Also, something that stood out to me through two episodes (and I'm sure it stood out to millions of others, but still, just wanted to comment on it) was the parallels to the West Memphis Three. Eddie Munson being the obvious target for small town Hawkins and jock leader Jason is exactly what down for those guys back in the early 1990s as part of the Satanic Panic. It was a scary thing to think back on because outside of all the supernatural D&D monsters attacking Hawkins, there was a real life witch hunt in the 1990s for three young men who just happened to be into goth stuff.

One of the victims last names was Byers probably not a coincidence.

Indy in the Fridge · Jun 9, 2022

Also, Jason's little speech rallying the troops was some "EVIL DIES TONIGHT!" shit lol

Razmos · Jun 9, 2022

I am really curious whats going to happen to certain characters.
There is no way Eddie will be able to go back to Hawkins with the goon squad out to kill him and the town thinking hes a deranged murderer. The way he mentioned that hes a coward who runs away makes me think he will sacrifice himself in the upside down judging from the scene in the trailer of him playing his guitar there.

on a similar note I dont see how Hopper could ever go back to having a normal life with the KGB after him.

Qwerty Keyboard · Jun 9, 2022

Lobster Roll said:
More spoilers through Episode 2.

Also, something that stood out to me through two episodes (and I'm sure it stood out to millions of others, but still, just wanted to comment on it) was the parallels to the West Memphis Three. Eddie Munson being the obvious target for small town Hawkins and jock leader Jason is exactly what down for those guys back in the early 1990s as part of the Satanic Panic. It was a scary thing to think back on because outside of all the supernatural D&D monsters attacking Hawkins, there was a real life witch hunt in the 1990s for three young men who just happened to be into goth stuff.

It's been confirmed that was some of the inspiration for Eddie.

Chitown B · Jun 9, 2022

Mr Swine said:
Is Steve the guy that got bit by those "rabid" Bat thingies in the upside down?

seriously?

Chitown B · Jun 9, 2022

Zebesian-X said:

I thought S4 would have a bigger time jump than it did, based on initial reports. S5 time jump was inevitable. They've been filming S4 for 3 years.

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

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