Stranger Things Season 4 (Netflix Show, so spoilers for everything released!)

[CPX]

Binged the fist half hard this weekend.

So I was hard on Season 3. My biggest two complaints were that character development didn't match the story and the tone shifted far too wildly. All in all, it felt to me like what made Stranger Things work was coming apart at the seams.

Seems someone on the production team listened. The first half of S4 was one helluva ride back to what makes ST work. Everyone has something to do actually worth doing, even if the story is spread kinda thin among the many, many characters.

Big standouts so far: Steve and Robin are a complete treat from the very start, Max finally gets something worthwhile to do that centers on herself, David Harbour seems to have a Russian prison fetish, the solves feel more earned (still some grasping at straws), and the character drama now legitimately works with the story beats overall instead of conflicting with them. The tone feels far more consistent throughout. It turns dark in the first episode and mostly stays there with lighter moments instead of the "two tone" issue of S3.

And the villain! I still don't know if it's a human corrupted by the Upside Down or a creature native to it, but this season's villain is all Krueger and it works!

 

[Klockwerk]

Personal speculation ahead:

I think they foreshadowed very well that eleven created the original rift, although that she did it by atomising one came completely out of left field.

I'm kinda not liking that one had powers all along, and all it took was moving into a giant house left by his uncle - I'm hoping there's a little more to it than that. I would have liked a few more clues in previous seasons as well, even something that looking back makes sense.

As for eleven and first episode or two when she was bullied - that was hard to work through because I have been there, minus the Carrie moment. Sorry not sorry for the bully getting a rollerskate to the face.

I don't know what they're going to do for the last five/seven episodes but I'm really looking forward to them.

 

[fragile]

We binged them over the weekend and we are planning a watch-back over the next couple of weeks, starting at S1.

A couple of things stood out to us.

- The visuals / audio - sure they always been good. but watching on a big 4K screen with a huge sound system, it was quite obvious that significant effort had gone into making this look and sound utterly incredible. There was a scene in the upside-down with a low rumble that was shaking our sofa and enormously detailed environment was just spectacular. Are are very used to high definition, but this seems to show off our systems abilities beyond petty much anything we have watched in a while.

- The character development and bringing everyone together efforts has been amazing to watch - if not slightly frustrating at times. That they split everyone apart at the end of S3 was probably necessary, they they are bringing everyone back together and advancing the story. at the same time has. been. a joy to watch.

Overall, I think that this is stronger than S3, in some ways S3 felt like it did not really advance things too much - it was anther monster de jour and an expanded team to fight it, with the Russians thrown in for interest / suspense.

So far, this is the best season after S1....

 

[Visigoth]

And the villain! I still don't know if it's a human corrupted by the Upside Down or a creature native to it, but this season's villain is all Krueger and it works!

Um, it's pretty clearly shown in episode 7 that Vecna is Henry/Peter/One. His story was shown in the episode from the first time he killed up to his transformation after El shoved him into the Upside Down and at the end they zoomed in on the tattoo on his wrist.

As I mentioned in the other thread I'm surprised Brenner kept One around even if his powers were blocked. Especially since the little device didn't really seem to be in that hard of a spot to reach. Wonder why he hadn't tried to cut it out himself at some point instead of having to manipulate El to do it. Also curious if this isn't the first massacre committed by One in the facility. Could certainly see him doing something similar to fight back against Brenner's work on him until he got chipped.

Overall I really liked this season and probably would put it above S2 and S3. Might even tie or be slightly ahead of S1, but imagine some of that is due to the cast really working well together now which makes everything better. The longer episodes also help as there's just more story being explored leading to a fuller feeling season. And with them juggling a number of different storylines the extra time allows them to touch on each one in each episode.

I do find it a little odd that they broke the season up but to only have 2 episode remaining in the season. Seems odd to not include more episodes in the 2nd half of the season, like other shows that do split seasons, but wonder if maybe they spaced it out to deal with budgetary issues or needing more time for special effects. Both could make sense due to all of the episodes being supersized which would make the per-episode costs and effects work needed pretty high I imagine. And of course any delays due to Covid could have impacted them getting all of the episodes ready in time to release all at once. Though because of the longer runtimes those last two episodes could be long enough to be like 4-5 episodes so almost a full half season on their own.

Is it July yet?

 

[CPX]

Yeah, I missed the seventh episode somehow when I binged it. Caught back up.

Glad they introduced an outright human menace from the Upside Down. The Mind Flayer needs to take a back seat.

My biggest questions are now about the Upside Down. I'm getting a little confused. If El sent One through a portal in 1979, why was the upside down mirrored from Hawkins of the 1983 resonance cascade incursion date?

 

[byrningman]

Yeah, I missed the seventh episode somehow when I binged it. Caught back up.

Glad they introduced an outright human menace from the Upside Down. The Mind Flayer needs to take a back seat.

My biggest questions are now about the Upside Down. I'm getting a little confused. If El sent One through a portal in 1979, why was the upside down mirrored from Hawkins of the 1983 resonance cascade incursion date?

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I’m pretty sure they’ll address it because they made an emphatic point of it. I’m wondering whether El created the upside down in the first place, or conversely if Vecma (sp?) did, replicating his world from the raw material of whatever that dimension is. Especially because the upside down dimension looked a lot more nebulous when he was first cast into it.

I was sure that the young boy was the big bad as soon as the old guy in the asylum shared his story. He had that same cherubic face that the actors they used for the younger Voldemorts in the HP movies did. Makes the bad guy so much creepier for much of the audience if the boy seems really sweet and the young man version seems really handsome.

One theory that I think I’m wrong about, now that I’ve seen episode 7, is that I was wondering if the Army essentially created the demon child. The army has been really eager to just wipe out all traces of these programs from the get-go this season. The dad was in the army in WW2, and then I became doubly convinced of it when Hopper talked about how Agent Orange screwed up so many kids, including his own daughter. It seemed like maybe setting up a backstory where the military tried some experimental chemical that the likes of Vecma’s dad were exposed to. But now I’m not so sure about this theory at all.

I was convinced The Hair Harrington (aka Hopper: The Next Generation) was going to die at the end of this episode, sacrificing himself so the others could escape the upside down. But it went in a different direction. I’ll be gutted if The Hair bites it, I don’t know if I could take that.

Addendum: this season is really really strong. They’ve knocked it out of the park.

Addendum 2: I'm getting the sense that season 5 will be a direct continuation. This season could be an Empire Strikes Back style ending with things looking dire, and the fifth and final season sees the gang prevail in the end. Vecma is a very well developed a bad guy now.

 

[Bardon]

We're enjoying it but I'll admit I'm not impressed with the arc (or really, the lack thereof) for Mike.

In Season one he was a leader, involved and caring.

Season 2 he pushed to protect others & was a lynchpin.

Season 3 he was an idiot child.

Season 4 and he's still copping blame for things he's not responsible for & has had zero character development that we can see at all - in fact, S1 Mike was more mature and a better person than Season 4 Mike. So he's pretty much going backwards.

Maybe things will change in the last two episodes of S4 but thus far, not impressed with the writing for that character. Most of the others have had growth and it's great to see Max having a nuanced and engaging storyline to sink her teeth into in particular, but unfortunately some of the others have been left as background for the most part.

Don't get me wrong, we're huge fans I just wish there was a more even spread of "shining moments" and growth for all.

Shutting up now.

 

[Visigoth]

Time seems kind of weird in the Upside Down. Nancy's house was in 1983, but when they went to Eddie's trailer the portal that was created when Vecna took Chrissy was there on that side so would have been in sync with the normal world. Also when they were communicating with the Lite Brite it from in the current time in both the normal and the Upside Down. So wonder if certainly locations can get anchored in time there due to something that took place in the normal world. I can't remember if the party where Barb was taken was at Nancy's house or somewhere else. If it was at her house that might have created the anchor point to stop time for the house in the Upside Down. Like it's related to whenever something from the Upside Down impacts the regular world like Vecna or something from the Upside Down killing someone.

I do wonder what kicked off Vecna to start killing in Hawkings now. The obvious Pitch Meeting response would be "So the show can happen", but since he's been hanging out since 1979 you'd think he'd have been killing others between then and now. I guess it could be its taken this long for him to figure out things and set-up shop so that he could reach out to the normal world and influence things. Or as one of them mentioned this is the Mind Flayer taking things up a notch and bringing in someone more skilled. Though doesn't seem like he's done a lot when compared to the other incursions. He also kind of has the stereotypical bad guy trait of liking to play with his opponents instead of just outright killing them. He appears to be targeting people based on an inner guilt which I'm sure all of the gang has some of that lingering around after everything they've been through. So would seem like he could be going through them all with some ease but instead is kind of just poking at them while mainly targeting those outside the central group. Not to mention I'd think he'd be really interested in taking out Brenner due to everything that was done to him and yet he's still around.

 

[dimhue]

Time seems kind of weird in the Upside Down. Nancy's house was in 1983, but when they went to Eddie's trailer the portal that was created when Vecna took Chrissy was there on that side so would have been in sync with the normal world. Also when they were communicating with the Lite Brite it from in the current time in both the normal and the Upside Down. So wonder if certainly locations can get anchored in time there due to something that took place in the normal world. I can't remember if the party where Barb was taken was at Nancy's house or somewhere else. If it was at her house that might have created the anchor point to stop time for the house in the Upside Down. Like it's related to whenever something from the Upside Down impacts the regular world like Vecna or something from the Upside Down killing someone.

My understanding is that time in synchronous between the upside down and standard reality, but the upside down's environment only reflects reality in the moment the Eleven created the first portal kicking off Season 1.

 

[CPX]

I was convinced The Hair Harrington (aka Hopper: The Next Generation) was going to die at the end of this episode, sacrificing himself so the others could escape the upside down. But it went in a different direction. I’ll be gutted if The Hair bites it, I don’t know if I could take that.

Hell, I was terrified of him getting offed basically all S3.

We're enjoying it but I'll admit I'm not impressed with the arc (or really, the lack thereof) for Mike.

Mike and Will have both seriously suffered since S3. Will was still central in S2 but now barely does anything besides, as one reviewer puts it, unfairly lets the Internet run with the possibility of him being in love with Mike without actually having the maturity to address it. And Mike now seemingly exists only as Eleven's love interest and not much more.

I do wonder what kicked off Vecna to start killing in Hawkings now. The obvious Pitch Meeting response would be "So the show can happen", but since he's been hanging out since 1979 you'd think he'd have been killing others between then and now. I guess it could be its taken this long for him to figure out things and set-up shop so that he could reach out to the normal world and influence things. Or as one of them mentioned this is the Mind Flayer taking things up a notch and bringing in someone more skilled. Though doesn't seem like he's done a lot when compared to the other incursions.

I actually think there's plenty of possibilities here, a lot of which have to do with Vecna either transforming or developing the power to mentally cross over. Remember that Eleven had to be in the Hawkins deprivation tank to contact the original Demagorgon.

He also kind of has the stereotypical bad guy trait of liking to play with his opponents instead of just outright killing them.

I think that was actually explained where he needed to toy with them to build the psychic connection through dimensions. Notice how he snags Nancy into a trance immediately since she's in the Upside Down already. He's using the buried trauma of Barb but he can go straight in because he's not needing to project.

 

[Hound of Cullen]

I think that was actually explained where he needed to toy with them to build the psychic connection through dimensions. Notice how he snags Nancy into a trance immediately since she's in the Upside Down already. He's using the buried trauma of Barb but he can go straight in because he's not needing to project.

I had a momentary hope, about halfway through this part of S4, that the big bad was going to be Barb, all angried up about being abandoned and taken over by the Mind Flayer.

I don't mind that Mike and Will have taken a bit of a back seat. I like the time given to Max, who got short-shrift in s2 and s3, and to Lucas, who has a decent arc in the first half of this season (still waiting for the showdown with the basketball team).

I'd like to see less of Murry Bauman. It is annoying to see Joyce get, essentially, shoved aside in her quest story arc for Murry's shenanigans. I find him too broad and too loud. I'd've preferred it if he stayed a bit part in a basement somewhere.

 

[byrningman]

I think that was actually explained where he needed to toy with them to build the psychic connection through dimensions. Notice how he snags Nancy into a trance immediately since she's in the Upside Down already. He's using the buried trauma of Barb but he can go straight in because he's not needing to project.

I had a momentary hope, about halfway through this part of S4, that the big bad was going to be Barb, all angried up about being abandoned and taken over by the Mind Flayer.

I don't mind that Mike and Will have taken a bit of a back seat. I like the time given to Max, who got short-shrift in s2 and s3, and to Lucas, who has a decent arc in the first half of this season (still waiting for the showdown with the basketball team).

I'd like to see less of Murry Bauman. It is annoying to see Joyce get, essentially, shoved aside in her quest story arc for Murry's shenanigans. I find him too broad and too loud. I'd've preferred it if he stayed a bit part in a basement somewhere.

Big Bad Barb would be really cool actually! But maybe we might still get an angry undead Barb, because it does seem like Vecma is going to unleash an army on Hawkins and take over the whole town. It seemed at the end of ep 7, when he grabbed Nancy, that Vecma was about to reveal a whole “forest” of his victims trapped in those tree-like trophy cases. Apart from making lots of gates, it would be good if his victims get reanimated with their twisted limbs are faces. A bit more horrifying than simply a Marvel-like army of CGI beasties like demagorgons and those bat-like things.

I guess Jonathan, Mike, and Will are in the C or D plot line right now. Someone has to do it. But it might have been more engaging and given them a lot more hero energy if they decided to lead the evil military types on a wild goose chase after the shoot-out at the house. Leading the army away from El, instead of the army just torturing some guy.

But I’m still mad at Mike and Will for their weirdly passive and judgmental response to the extreme bullying of El at the roller rink. So they deserve their time in the corner wearing a cone of shame.

 

[byrningman]

Time seems kind of weird in the Upside Down. Nancy's house was in 1983, but when they went to Eddie's trailer the portal that was created when Vecna took Chrissy was there on that side so would have been in sync with the normal world. Also when they were communicating with the Lite Brite it from in the current time in both the normal and the Upside Down. So wonder if certainly locations can get anchored in time there due to something that took place in the normal world. I can't remember if the party where Barb was taken was at Nancy's house or somewhere else. If it was at her house that might have created the anchor point to stop time for the house in the Upside Down. Like it's related to whenever something from the Upside Down impacts the regular world like Vecna or something from the Upside Down killing someone.

I do wonder what kicked off Vecna to start killing in Hawkings now. The obvious Pitch Meeting response would be "So the show can happen", but since he's been hanging out since 1979 you'd think he'd have been killing others between then and now. I guess it could be its taken this long for him to figure out things and set-up shop so that he could reach out to the normal world and influence things. Or as one of them mentioned this is the Mind Flayer taking things up a notch and bringing in someone more skilled. Though doesn't seem like he's done a lot when compared to the other incursions. He also kind of has the stereotypical bad guy trait of liking to play with his opponents instead of just outright killing them. He appears to be targeting people based on an inner guilt which I'm sure all of the gang has some of that lingering around after everything they've been through. So would seem like he could be going through them all with some ease but instead is kind of just poking at them while mainly targeting those outside the central group. Not to mention I'd think he'd be really interested in taking out Brenner due to everything that was done to him and yet he's still around.

It definitely seems like there is more to be revealed regarding time and timing. The show itself has had its characters call attention to these issues, with some of the characters asking “why now?”, and of course being so emphatic that the upside down is frozen at the moment El created the new gate at the beginning of season 1. Then there’s the fact that, in addition to the spider, the grandfather clock is the main visual manifestation of Vecma’s hunting. He spoke a lot to El about his disdain for time, and they then showed him moving the hands of the grandfather clock.

 

[CPX]

I don't mind that Mike and Will have taken a bit of a back seat. I like the time given to Max, who got short-shrift in s2 and s3, and to Lucas, who has a decent arc in the first half of this season (still waiting for the showdown with the basketball team).

But I’m still mad at Mike and Will for their weirdly passive and judgmental response to the extreme bullying of El at the roller rink. So they deserve their time in the corner wearing a cone of shame.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so very glad that Max not only gets an arc of her own but that it finally addresses her tumultuous family life. She was essentially just there to get exposited at in S2. Lucas, similarly, felt a bit lost in S2. My issue isn't that the characters themselves are taking a backseat in terms of importance overall but rather that they don't seemingly do much useful onscreen at all when they are present (such as the weaksauce response to El getting bullied). Throughout S3, Mike existed damn near entirely to be emotional conflict for El and Will only seems to exist for emotional conflict with Mike. Neither of those conflicts were properly resolved in S3 so they're back and providing the only real material for Mike and Will.

I'd like to see less of Murry Bauman. It is annoying to see Joyce get, essentially, shoved aside in her quest story arc for Murry's shenanigans. I find him too broad and too loud. I'd've preferred it if he stayed a bit part in a basement somewhere.

Murray's been a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, Joyce and Hopper desperately need peer adults to inject some levity in their lives of trauma. None of the Hawkins adults like the other parents or teachers can possibly process the evil machinations of government or horrors of the Upside Down. Someone like Murray gives them someone they can actually share with. OTOH, Murray started getting used as a crutch in S3 to be the expert on all shady government things, US or USSR. He's used as an even bigger crutch in S4 because of the batshit insanity behind having this drawn-out Russian sequence.

I think the story could have been much tighter by having Hopper as an exchange between the US/USSR trying to address this Upside Down business in the first episode or two and then have him under the Army's thumb as the carrot to try and assert control over Project Nina. It would've played much better to Murray's strengths, too, by letting him stay on US soil.

That's not to say I'm not enjoying the Russian sequence. It's still entertaining as hell to watch. But it's eating a lot of time for three characters that would be much better served by engaging them with the rest of the cast quicker.

 

[rtrefz]

Just finished episode 7. I agree that it’s good to see more focus on Max, and that Mike is just sort of there.

I love the satanic panic angle. Had to explain to my wife that this was a real worry about d&d in the 80s.

Episodes are long, but are mostly holding my attention, so I won’t complain.

Isn’t one a little too young looking in 1979? I need to look at the timeline

 

[CPX]

Isn’t one a little too young looking in 1979? I need to look at the timeline

I have way less problems with One's age than I do Eddie's and the other Hellfire non-Upside Down party members.

 

[Visigoth]

Isn’t one a little too young looking in 1979? I need to look at the timeline

I have way less problems with One's age than I do Eddie's and the other Hellfire non-Upside Down party members.

Well Eddie is, based on talk with the other Hellfire members, the stereotypical kid held back in school multiple years. I think they mentioned it's been 2 or 3 times that he's said that it was his year to graduate so quite likely he's actually closer in show age to his real age then that of a typical senior. I mean he is also living in his own mobile home so not quite like most high school students. The others in the group might be in a similar boat where they have become perpetual high school students.

 

[CPX]

Isn’t one a little too young looking in 1979? I need to look at the timeline

I have way less problems with One's age than I do Eddie's and the other Hellfire non-Upside Down party members.

Well Eddie is, based on talk with the other Hellfire members, the stereotypical kid held back in school multiple years. I think they mentioned it's been 2 or 3 times that he's said that it was his year to graduate so quite likely he's actually closer in show age to his real age then that of a typical senior. I mean he is also living in his own mobile home so not quite like most high school students. The others in the group might be in a similar boat where they have become perpetual high school students.

I was more joking about the Hellfire actors/casting choices compared to the character ages.

Specifically to Vecna, I was pretty sure his kid scenes are set in the 50s so he looks like the ambiguous "Hollywood 25-40" in 1979.

 

[Jonathon]

Isn’t one a little too young looking in 1979? I need to look at the timeline

I have way less problems with One's age than I do Eddie's and the other Hellfire non-Upside Down party members.

Well Eddie is, based on talk with the other Hellfire members, the stereotypical kid held back in school multiple years. I think they mentioned it's been 2 or 3 times that he's said that it was his year to graduate so quite likely he's actually closer in show age to his real age then that of a typical senior. I mean he is also living in his own mobile home so not quite like most high school students. The others in the group might be in a similar boat where they have become perpetual high school students.

Eddie's living in his uncle's RV; he's not off on his own.

Eddie's supposed to be a couple years older than a typical high school senior, but he's not 29 (how old Joseph Quinn actually is). The older students are all cast older than they "should" be, partly because that's what Hollywood does when casting high-school students, and partly because they need to contrast with the supposed "freshmen" in the main cast who've all aged out of their parts.

 

[Visigoth]

I guess I can see why they split the season up a bit since the last two episodes were basically movies unto themselves with a combined runtime of nearly 4 hours.

Overall I liked it and did like the longer runtimes of the episodes this season. They probably could have used a little trimming here and there, but still feel like they filled each one with enough interesting things. Sometime better than shows half their length. And with the ending setting up next season it should be an interesting final run.

 

[Skoop]

I didn't know that there was a dedicated thread; been posting about it in the generic Netflix thread. What I wrote there earlier today:

Episode 8 of Stranger Things. It's about half again longer than it should be, authors have the annoying propensity to drag shit out. But we're building to the big finale against the baddie, so on we go.

Spoiler

Papa, the scumbag we've always known him to be, finally gets offed, still thinking that he's doing god's work. Eleven, at last, sees him for the creep he his and denies him the satisfaction of the understanding that he so desires.

Dr. Owens is still a bumbling fool, continuing to do all the wrong things re: the crazed military out for blood.

The Hawkins kids decide to fight it out with Vecna, go to surplus store for tools and guns, and, of course, run into all the jesus jocks there, too, also buying guns, we presume to kill the metal head nerd. Totally unbelievable; jeez louise, authors. Is that all you got?

Eleven is finally sprung and reunited. How, oh, how, are they gonna get to Hawkins in time, in a VW pizza delivery bus?

Hopper and crew skip the prison with slimeball Yuri as their only hope.

It's pretty dumb, a lot of it, but when there's action it generally delivers.

Edit: And Mike, Will has given you all the clues you're going to get. Open your eyes and grow the fuck up. You've been an idiot bystander for two and half seasons.

 

[CPX]

Sadie Sink and Gaten Matarazzo both deserve awards for performances this season.

 

[Skoop]

Well, that was way too long and drawn out, and

Spoiler

they killed off the wrong guy, and I don't mean the psycho bible banger. Really, any of the California characters are totally superfluous and are easily fodder.

Strong performances by Max and Dustin, some craft there. Even Erica has some chops and doesn't be an idiot.

Spoiler

Good for Robin, she maybe has found a girlfriend.

Somebody give Nancy a sandwich. She's unhealthily skinny and mostly useless.

Wheeler's comment that the news has become tabloid is code for how this show is going,

Spoiler

if the writers don't get over the immortality of the players.

 

[Semi On]

Best use of Master of Puppets in show, ever.

 

[CPX]

Season 5 will have to follow directly from 4, given the storytelling thus far. This is the first time that people outside of the Party and government will have to deal with the direct ramifications of the Upside Down.

I was surprised they went back on Max and crippled her. I hope that doesn't limit Sadie Sink's performance next season, because she really knocked it out of the park.

Vecna being the true power behind the Upside Down is both somewhat disappointing but also somewhat intriguing. The Upside Down would not have cared about our world without Vecna.

Here's to hoping the ignorant asshole in charge of the Army response to Eleven gets gruesomely eaten by a dema-dog or the like, both for his incompetence and his malice.

As for who dies going forward, pretty sure Jonathan's a dead man given the trouble they had with the actor in the last few years. I was honestly surprised he survived this season.

I was hoping Will would finally come out completely this season. I am quite disappointed the way the show's drug it out given how he acted this season. The show really can't have it's cake and eat it too... especially after Robin.

But sadly, I feel like Hopper's gonna go out with a bang next season too. I hope not. But I wouldn't put it past this show.

 

[Skoop]

I'm guessing that Will gets offed next season. He's a seriously weak character in the scheme of things. He's completely dependent, he oscillates between his internal struggle over whether he loves Mike and why they all can't just play D&D like they used to. It's as though he got damaged by his possession early in the show, and has never fully recovered. Witness the pain in the neck he gets.

That is, if the authors are willing to kill any of the principals. So far it's been only walk-ons. But, really, there's so many candidates. Jonathan? Maybe, but he's kind of come around and is acting mature again. The group needs a leader. And it's not Nancy. I can see her getting munched. Or maybe Mike, as a prompt to make Eleven go to 11 on the bad guy.

The action having to be split between Hawkins and California is also problematic. Somehow they've got to relocate Joyce and crew back to Hawkins. They're already fixing the cabin back up, so Eleven will be there. Does she still need to be undercover? The sympathetic .gov woman knows she's there. The evil Army colonel seems to be plugged in to everything, so he'll know, too. Does the S5 climax feature Eleven fighting both the army and Vecna? This show is wack enough to go there.

 

[CPX]

Somehow they've got to relocate Joyce and crew back to Hawkins.

Did you see the last episode? All the key characters minus Owens and the colonel are back in Hawkins and Hawkins just started going Upside Down with a massive set of gates torn through it. Narratively speaking, the story would be far more confusing if S5 starts with anyone "trying to get back".

 

[Skoop]

Well, yes, I saw that. But they drove there for the showdown. Joyce and her kids were moved to CA after the first go-round, to hide Eleven with them. Next season should show them as having moved back. We already know that Eleven is moving back in with Hopper.

 

[Visigoth]

Well, yes, I saw that. But they drove there for the showdown. Joyce and her kids were moved to CA after the first go-round, to hide Eleven with them. Next season should show them as having moved back. We already know that Eleven is moving back in with Hopper.

Why would it have to show them moving back? Season 5 is likely starting immediately after the last episode so all of the characters are already there so no moving needed. And depending on how the show ends up there might not be a Hawkins to move back once things are over. Not to mention I could see them all deciding to leave anyhow just to get away from all the bad things that happened there. Or at least whoever is still left alive.

 

[Skoop]

Oh, I think that there will be a time break involved. It's going to be a year and a half or two years before the next season. It would just look too weird to pick up the action immediately following the previous episode. The kids are all still growing and will look different for one thing. I suspect that there will be some narrative excuse (Eddie is dead, so the devil cult is no longer an issue) for things having settled down, the town rebuilt (to some extent) from the "earthquake", and everyone now living back in Hawkins. Otherwise, they have an entire season of a continuation of the showdown with the bad guy. Given how the writers like to drag things out, I predict a long, slow burn in the build up to the denouement.

Nancy and maybe Jonathan will be at college, Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas as upperclassmen, maybe with Eleven, too. I don't know how they're going to handle whether Eleven still needs to hide out. Max will be recovered from injuries. Hopper back as Chief?

 

[Hound of Cullen]

Well, yes, I saw that. But they drove there for the showdown. Joyce and her kids were moved to CA after the first go-round, to hide Eleven with them. Next season should show them as having moved back. We already know that Eleven is moving back in with Hopper.

And Joyce and Hopper are definitely a thing now, so I doubt she's going halfway across the country after busting her man out of a gulag.

 

[molo]

Another really slow-moving season where nearly everything of interest happens in the last episode. Yeah, a *really long* episode, but still.

The entire series has been frustrating because of how much they drag everything out. It *just barely* keeps my attention. It's like, right on the edge of being too boring to care about. I'm glad they're wrapping it up next season.

Also, Maya Hawke is so cute. I have the same crush on her that I had on Alyson Hannigan back in her "Willow" days.

 

[rtrefz]

We finished S4 last night, and I really enjoyed it. The episodes were long, but didn't real feel all that dragged out.

I'm pretty sure Hopper used a conan sword to take out the last mind flayer.

I'm expecting S5 will start very close the the end of S4. Max will probably come out of her coma part way through the season.

I'm pretty sure Eleven will sacrifice herself to end the threat to Hawkins.

Finally, I need to find a hellfire club tshirt. I really doubt it will be a problem to find one. I am wearing my hawkins gaming club short to gaming tonight.

 

[Visigoth]

Oh yeah, that was certainly the Conan sword. He even kind of posed like Conan did right before the fight began.

I'm not sure what will happen with Max. When El went into her mind it sure seemed pretty empty with no Max around. So El might have revived her but perhaps her mind didn't make it back from the Upside Down. But since they showed her alive it's pretty obvious that she'll wake up, somehow, at some point during the season. No way they did that just to leave her in a coma the whole time.

 

[Jonathon]

Finished up S4 this evening. Looking forward to Season 5, whenever that happens.

I'm pretty happy with the pacing. There are maybe some bits that could've been cut from a few episodes, but I like that the story's being allowed to go where it needs to time-wise rather than having everything cut to fill a time slot. And, frankly, the "filler" material between big action pieces where the characters are just being themselves is where the heart of the show is-- I don't want to see the focus on that cut down.

I'm not sure where they're going next season chronologically-- the very visible way the Upside Down seemed to be leaking into Hawkins seems like it'd make it difficult to have Hawkins go back to something sufficiently resembling "normalcy" for any significant time off-screen. But it'll be difficult from a production point of view to pick up with a direct continuation from the S4 finale given that they haven't even started on S5 yet-- what happens if an actor pulls out or dies or get fired (not even mentioning the age issue for the kids)? Maybe they're going for something else entirely-- start S5 with a several-month time skip forward to Thanksgiving (only major holiday they haven't done anything around yet), but drop directly into ongoing action rather than having almost nothing that happens off-screen between seasons.

Sadie Sink needs an Emmy for her role this season. Episode 4 ("Dear Billy") is still the standout of the season for me (even including the finale)-- if she doesn't at least get nominated (not sure if she'd be up for outstanding lead or supporting actress in an ensemble show like this), I don't know what they're doing.

 

[CPX]

Anyone not on-board for Season 5 can be written out by having their character evacuate with part or all of their family.

 

[Bravehamster]

Best use of Master of Puppets in show, ever.

My 14 year-old son, who never swears in front of us, yelled "this is so fucking metal!". He started to apologize for swearing and we told him that he was 100% right and this was indeed so fucking metal.

 

[CPX]

I was 100% more sold on this use of diagetic music than the Never Ending Story theme last season. The music here served an actual purpose to further the plot (even if it was super cheesy) as opposed to holding the plot hostage until the music got awkwardly shoehorned into the scene. Added bonus that the music fits the theme of what's going on so much better.

 

[thekaj]

It would just look too weird to pick up the action immediately following the previous episode. The kids are all still growing and will look different for one thing.

IIRC, the actor who plays Will is the youngest at 17, outside of the girl who plays Erica at age 15. The rest of the “kids” are 18-20 and the older kids are late 20’s to 30 with the exception of Maya Hawke who’s 23. So almost all of them are probably good for a few years. The growth spurts happened before this season.

 

[fitten]

Probably already known but the number for Surfer Boy Pizza works...

Spoiler