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

[ChaoticUnreal]

Finally all caught up on this. Loved this season.

I really wanted to see a scene of the Surfer Pizza crew coming in the next day and finding the freezer filled with salt water with no one around to explain what happened.

I wanted Will to finally be honest with Mike about his feelings. We almost got that with the talk between Will and Jonathan.

While I loved the imagery and I'm 100% sure that is why they did it. Why didn't they just play the guitar from inside the RV with the Amp on top. It isn't like they needed to be standing there to make the noise which attracted all the Bats.

Thoughts on Season 5 below.

I think they will be picking up season 5 right after with no time skip, if they do a time skip it better be coming back into the middle of some action and not oh the town returned to normal after showing the upside down in the real world at the end of season 4.

I think Max is brain dead. You can't save everyone and I think this will be used to show Eleven her limits. She was able to bring the body back but Max's mind had already moved on. If not that I could see Vecna using Max as a puppet but I think the first one will be the case where she is just dead.

Hopper seems to have some contacts with the .mil at least hopefully they will be able to call in some help to contain the (I'm sure what will be numerous) creatures while the main crew deals with Vecna.

 

[thekaj]

I was sad to see Eddie not make it, but as I'm hoping for a Steve and Dustin buddy comedy spin-off, he needed to go in order to get that duo back together.

Max being brain dead does seem the most likely. But that seems like it would be a waste of the actor to just lay there in a hospital bed not doing anything next season. I expect she's in there somewhere, and El will draw her out.

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out. Was I the only one who was yelling at the TV when they were trying to finish him off and they used a second Molotov on him, rather than switching weapons? He's fully engulfed in flame. There's pretty much no "more on fire". They have a host of other weapons with them. How about the variety of stabbing or chopping ones? Also Nancy, for the love of god, HEADSHOT!!!

 

[CPX]

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out.

Yeah, a lot of stuff doesn't work when the writers made the questionable decision to have Vecna control the Mind Flayer instead of the other way around.

 

[Visigoth]

Max being brain dead does seem the most likely. But that seems like it would be a waste of the actor to just lay there in a hospital bed not doing anything next season. I expect she's in there somewhere, and El will draw her out.

Yeah, to show her alive in the end has to result in some kind of payoff next season. I'm guessing Vecna might still have her since he did kill her and complete the ritual. El just brought her body back. So could see them rescuing Max's "soul" as part of the fight against Vecna.

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out. Was I the only one who was yelling at the TV when they were trying to finish him off and they used a second Molotov on him, rather than switching weapons? He's fully engulfed in flame. There's pretty much no "more on fire". They have a host of other weapons with them. How about the variety of stabbing or chopping ones? Also Nancy, for the love of god, HEADSHOT!!!

Really not sure it actually mattered if they'd have killed him as he would probably just reform again thus the taunt about already losing. And sticking with the D&D theme I'd liken him to a lich. So until they destroy his phylactery he'll just keep coming back again and again. And for that I'm thinking it might be that shadow/swarm thing that he discovered and that the Russians had contained for a bit. So as long as that remains he'll remain.

 

[thekaj]

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out.

Yeah, a lot of stuff doesn't work when the writers made the questionable decision to have Vecna control the Mind Flayer instead of the other way around.

Oh yeah, I was going to ask about that. So he DID create the Mind Flayer. It wasn't a summoning. It felt like it could go either way there, but the discussion afterward about it being the same entity does seem to make that clear.

So we still don't really know why the Upside Down turned into a mirror image of Hawkins, but it did happen when Will was snatched, correct? It didn't look like Henry changed it during his explorations. I'm assuming that means something, and I'm also guessing that this means Will has a unique connection to the Upside Down that will play a role in the last season. Although it's not like it matched his memory of Hawkins, since he wouldn't have had any clue about Nancy's diary.

 

[CPX]

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out.

Yeah, a lot of stuff doesn't work when the writers made the questionable decision to have Vecna control the Mind Flayer instead of the other way around.

Oh yeah, I was going to ask about that. So he DID create the Mind Flayer. It wasn't a summoning. It felt like it could go either way there, but the discussion afterward about it being the same entity does seem to make that clear.

He didn't so much create it as gave it shape and direction. It was a shapeless cloud organism prior to Vecna's arrival. It reached out to Vecna and was shaped by his arachnophilia.

So we still don't really know why the Upside Down turned into a mirror image of Hawkins, but it did happen when Will was snatched, correct? It didn't look like Henry changed it during his explorations. I'm assuming that means something, and I'm also guessing that this means Will has a unique connection to the Upside Down that will play a role in the last season. Although it's not like it matched his memory of Hawkins, since he wouldn't have had any clue about Nancy's diary.

I think this might be a bit of a plot issue depending on where they go with it. Eddie's trailer seemed identical to the real world counterpart in 1986. You're telling me the entire room didn't change in three years? But then there's also a question of what was on the other side of the Starcourt gate the Soviets opened up when they did. Hawkins of 1983 didn't have a huge secret underground Russian base.

There's still the question of how Hopper ended up in Siberia, but everyone seemed to let that slide.

 

[Skoop]

^^^He'll be the next one to get munched, while the heroes and heroines narrowly escape, yet again.

Edit: Oops, next page. He being Argyle.

 

[Jonathon]

I was thinking that the fourth death would be Henry, which is why he was mocking El about how she had lost but didn't know it yet. But that didn't pan out.

Yeah, a lot of stuff doesn't work when the writers made the questionable decision to have Vecna control the Mind Flayer instead of the other way around.

Oh yeah, I was going to ask about that. So he DID create the Mind Flayer. It wasn't a summoning. It felt like it could go either way there, but the discussion afterward about it being the same entity does seem to make that clear.

So we still don't really know why the Upside Down turned into a mirror image of Hawkins, but it did happen when Will was snatched, correct? It didn't look like Henry changed it during his explorations. I'm assuming that means something, and I'm also guessing that this means Will has a unique connection to the Upside Down that will play a role in the last season. Although it's not like it matched his memory of Hawkins, since he wouldn't have had any clue about Nancy's diary.

The producers have said this is something specific they intend to get into for Season 5. We do know that the specific point where the Upside Down is "frozen" is when Eleven opened the gate in Hawkins Lab, but we don't know why (something connected to Will, something connected to Vecna, something about what Eleven did?).

 

[Skoop]

Max being brain dead does seem the most likely. But that seems like it would be a waste of the actor to just lay there in a hospital bed not doing anything next season.

Indeed, given that here and elsewhere she is one of, if not the best dramatic player in the show.

Also Nancy, for the love of god, HEADSHOT!!!

The Nancy character is minimally useful at this point.

Hopper seems to have some contacts with the .mil at least hopefully they will be able to call in some help

If they've learned anything at this point in the show, it's the .mil is focused on eliminating Eleven and cannot in any way be trusted.

 

[Jonathon]

Max being brain dead does seem the most likely. But that seems like it would be a waste of the actor to just lay there in a hospital bed not doing anything next season.

Indeed, given that here and elsewhere she is one of, if not the best dramatic player in the show.

Also Nancy, for the love of god, HEADSHOT!!!

The Nancy character is minimally useful at this point.

Hopper seems to have some contacts with the .mil at least hopefully they will be able to call in some help

If they've learned anything at this point in the show, it's the .mil is focused on eliminating Eleven and cannot in any way be trusted.

Not the whole military-- Owens and Brenner's NINA Project appears to have military backing as well (plus some civilian law enforcement, because the two agents sent to watch the Byers house plus that one lady that I'm not sure if they ever named seem to be FBI).

Maybe we're seeing factions within the Army here, or some kind of conflict between leadership in the Army and Air Force.

 

[Skoop]

There were MPs on security detail in the lab facility and NINA, but they're all gone now. Who can they call without having the evil Colonel hooked in? (Rhetorical)

 

[Jehos]

I think Max is brain dead. You can't save everyone and I think this will be used to show Eleven her limits. She was able to bring the body back but Max's mind had already moved on. If not that I could see Vecna using Max as a puppet but I think the first one will be the case where she is just dead.

Did you miss the part where she was talking to Lucas about how she couldn't see or feel anything?

 

[ChaoticUnreal]

I think Max is brain dead. You can't save everyone and I think this will be used to show Eleven her limits. She was able to bring the body back but Max's mind had already moved on. If not that I could see Vecna using Max as a puppet but I think the first one will be the case where she is just dead.

Did you miss the part where she was talking to Lucas about how she couldn't see or feel anything?

You mean before she died for over a minute (which they were clear to note) before Eleven brought her back? No I didn't miss that point that takes places (In my head cannon) before she became brain dead, I'm just not sure how it would effect the theory of her mind having moved on.

 

[ChaoticUnreal]

There were MPs on security detail in the lab facility and NINA, but they're all gone now. Who can they call without having the evil Colonel hooked in? (Rhetorical)

They were in contact with that woman who Owens had also been in contact with, it is most likely her who got Hopper and Joyce back from Russia. They were clearly setting up multiple factions of the .mil in this season and still have some contact with the "good" faction.

 

[Moller]

There's still the question of how Hopper ended up in Siberia, but everyone seemed to let that slide.

The flashback at the beginning of one of the episodes showed him jumping off the catwalk and avoiding the blast when the gate closed. Then he woke up on the ground surrounded by Russians pointing guns at him, and one of them knocks him out. My take on that is that we were to assume there was enough time between when the gate closed and the US military showed up with Owens that the surviving Russians were able to evacuate back to Siberia, and they took Hopper with them. It's not explicitly stated that's what happened.

Until that point, I was expecting there to be some weird portal thing that shunted Hopper through the upside-down to a gate in Siberia when the machine exploded. But that's a much bigger logical leap than "Some of the Soviets survived and managed to escape before the US forces showed up."

 

[Mortus]

Re: Max

Spoiler

Not sure if this needs a spoiler, but here's my theory. With Eleven and One both battling it out inside her mind, I get the feeling that she's going to gain some of their powers (because reasons), and then her and Eleven are going to tag-team the Mindflayer.

 

[Semi On]

We FINALLY finished it last night. The way they cut this season made it kind of brutal to watch it with my wife. She's physically incapable of staying up past 9pm and it's usually 8-something by the time we are done putting the kid to bed meaning we were taking 30 minute bites of the show. Even without that though, I did not like the pacing of this season.

It paid off in the end for me, but not my wife. It just could have used much more editing. And way better actors. The acting was terribad. I must be more forgiving of little kid acting, because it didn't stand out so badly for me in past seasons.

 

[CPX]

It paid off in the end for me, but not my wife. It just could have used much more editing. And way better actors. The acting was terribad. I must be more forgiving of little kid acting, because it didn't stand out so badly for me in past seasons.

Huh. I have honestly enjoyed the performances of all the actors, but the OMG HUEG cast size left the writing uneven for anyone not El, Joyce, Hopper, or Steve after S1. The kids suffered most since they were the largest chunk of the cast.

 

[Skoop]

We suffered some of the kids, too.

 

[Skoop]

There were MPs on security detail in the lab facility and NINA, but they're all gone now. Who can they call without having the evil Colonel hooked in? (Rhetorical)

They were in contact with that woman who Owens had also been in contact with, it is most likely her who got Hopper and Joyce back from Russia. They were clearly setting up multiple factions of the .mil in this season and still have some contact with the "good" faction.

I don't think that she's .mil.

 

[Mojo-jojo]

I was sad to see Eddie not make it, but as I'm hoping for a Steve and Dustin buddy comedy spin-off, he needed to go in order to get that duo back together.

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

 

[Semi On]

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

And his willingness to finally stand his ground and protect other people wouldn't have as much impact. I liked the character, but he needed to die in order to bring that all together.

 

[Skoop]

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

Agreed, but that was still a pretty dumb plot point. Basketball letter jacket bible nut takes over the narrative, completely nullifies the moronic police force, town turns vigilante, and the lot of them are out with guns to kill a metalhead D&D player.

No legal rights police process here, folks, not happening. When Hopper's away the idiots will play.

Yeah, it fantasy horror show, but that was just too unbelievable. Even when he's out to commit murder, dude is still wearing his letter jacket.

Like something out of one of the movies that blahpony watches.

 

[thrillhouse]

Eddie's guitar solo was fucking epic.

 

[BigVince]

Eddie's guitar solo was fucking epic.

It was the most metal thing ive ever seen or has ever been made!

 

[Jehos]

Eddie's guitar solo was fucking epic.

When he played Master of Puppets with full backing band?

 

[BigVince]

Eddie's guitar solo was fucking epic.

When he played Master of Puppets with full backing band?

Ya i wouldnt call it a solo exactly but the whole thing was Epic Metal!

 

[LizandreBZH]

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

Agreed, but that was still a pretty dumb plot point. Basketball letter jacket bible nut takes over the narrative, completely nullifies the moronic police force, town turns vigilante, and the lot of them are out with guns to kill a metalhead D&D player.

No legal rights police process here, folks, not happening. When Hopper's away the idiots will play.

Yeah, it fantasy horror show, but that was just too unbelievable. Even when he's out to commit murder, dude is still wearing his letter jacket.

Like something out of one of the movies that blahpony watches.

I suspect a redemption arc for the Basketball letter jacket bible nut in s5. Maybe even he reconnects with his true self and him and Will become something. That or Will will do a "bury your gay" trope.

 

[thekaj]

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

Agreed, but that was still a pretty dumb plot point. Basketball letter jacket bible nut takes over the narrative, completely nullifies the moronic police force, town turns vigilante, and the lot of them are out with guns to kill a metalhead D&D player.

No legal rights police process here, folks, not happening. When Hopper's away the idiots will play.

Yeah, it fantasy horror show, but that was just too unbelievable. Even when he's out to commit murder, dude is still wearing his letter jacket.

Like something out of one of the movies that blahpony watches.

I suspect a redemption arc for the Basketball letter jacket bible nut in s5. Maybe even he reconnects with his true self and him and Will become something. That or Will will do a "bury your gay" trope.

Redemption is going to be a bit tough. He got burned in half when the rifts opened up. So he really would need to reconnect with his true self!

 

[Jehos]

Redemption is going to be a bit tough. He got burned in half when the rifts opened up. So he really would need to reconnect with his true self!

 

[Bravehamster]

It paid off in the end for me, but not my wife. It just could have used much more editing. And way better actors. The acting was terribad. I must be more forgiving of little kid acting, because it didn't stand out so badly for me in past seasons.

Huh. I have honestly enjoyed the performances of all the actors, but the OMG HUEG cast size left the writing uneven for anyone not El, Joyce, Hopper, or Steve after S1. The kids suffered most since they were the largest chunk of the cast.

Will and Mike were definitely the weak links. Will is pretty good about looking scared and crying but is wooden otherwise, and Mike seems to only be confused or annoyed. Aside from them I thought everyone else did a great job.

 

[Skoop]

Unfortunately, he had to die. If he had survived, they would have had to deal with the murders of the three kids that he was still under suspicion for.

Agreed, but that was still a pretty dumb plot point. Basketball letter jacket bible nut takes over the narrative, completely nullifies the moronic police force, town turns vigilante, and the lot of them are out with guns to kill a metalhead D&D player.

No legal rights police process here, folks, not happening. When Hopper's away the idiots will play.

Yeah, it fantasy horror show, but that was just too unbelievable. Even when he's out to commit murder, dude is still wearing his letter jacket.

Like something out of one of the movies that blahpony watches.

I suspect a redemption arc for the Basketball letter jacket bible nut in s5. Maybe even he reconnects with his true self and him and Will become something. That or Will will do a "bury your gay" trope.

Redemption is going to be a bit tough. He got burned in half when the rifts opened up. So he really would need to reconnect with his true self!

Maybe a spinoff in which we see his god repeatedly yelling at him in the afterlife for being a total asshole.

 

[ChaoticUnreal]

So this just came up in my feed.

https://www.cbr.com/stranger-things-max ... tflix/amp/

Tldr spoliered

Spoiler

Max is brain dead as of the end of the episode

Now this doesn't mean something can't happen with the her given Elevens powers and growth in the last season.

 

[Skoop]

Ms. Ouellette's review on the FP.

 

[ProphetM]

Pardon this intrusion from a non-viewer, but I'd like to ask about a filming location. I don't watch the show and it would be a bit of a slog to search through it for what might only be a brief scene, but can someone tell me where the Whiting Bros. service station appears? It's a 1950s-style service station painted in red, yellow, and white. I assume it's somewhere in S4, unless they have already filmed for S5. I visited the real-life location last fall - it's famous in the Route 66 circles I run in, as the only remaining Whiting Bros. station of what was once a large chain in the southwest. In fact we contributed to a fundraiser several years ago to restore his signs. I would just be interested to see it as it appears on the show. When we were there, we had a nice chat with the owner who told us that it was closed for several days for filming, and it was one of the only vacations he'd ever taken. (He's in his 80s!)

 

[CPX]

Pardon this intrusion from a non-viewer, but I'd like to ask about a filming location. I don't watch the show and it would be a bit of a slog to search through it for what might only be a brief scene, but can someone tell me where the Whiting Bros. service station appears? It's a 1950s-style service station painted in red, yellow, and white. I assume it's somewhere in S4, unless they have already filmed for S5. I visited the real-life location last fall - it's famous in the Route 66 circles I run in, as the only remaining Whiting Bros. station of what was once a large chain in the southwest. In fact we contributed to a fundraiser several years ago to restore his signs. I would just be interested to see it as it appears on the show. When we were there, we had a nice chat with the owner who told us that it was closed for several days for filming, and it was one of the only vacations he'd ever taken. (He's in his 80s!)

It's a lot less of a slog than you think.

I'll bet the location you're talking about is somewhere in Georgia.

 

[Jonathon]

Pardon this intrusion from a non-viewer, but I'd like to ask about a filming location. I don't watch the show and it would be a bit of a slog to search through it for what might only be a brief scene, but can someone tell me where the Whiting Bros. service station appears? It's a 1950s-style service station painted in red, yellow, and white. I assume it's somewhere in S4, unless they have already filmed for S5. I visited the real-life location last fall - it's famous in the Route 66 circles I run in, as the only remaining Whiting Bros. station of what was once a large chain in the southwest. In fact we contributed to a fundraiser several years ago to restore his signs. I would just be interested to see it as it appears on the show. When we were there, we had a nice chat with the owner who told us that it was closed for several days for filming, and it was one of the only vacations he'd ever taken. (He's in his 80s!)

It's a lot less of a slog than you think.

I'll bet the location you're talking about is somewhere in Georgia.

I think ProphetM's asking about where the station appears in the show-- the station in question is in Moriarty, NM, and he says he's already visited it in real life (and confirmed that it was used for filming).

The station in question appears in episode 9 of season 4, starting at about 10:12 immediately after the opening credits. The scene lasts about three minutes and IIRC the location doesn't appear again in the episode. There's no Whiting Bros. signage visible in the show and the building's been redressed a bit, but the building and its surroundings are still recognizable (in the one wide establishing shot they show at the beginning of the scene).

 

[CPX]

Pardon this intrusion from a non-viewer, but I'd like to ask about a filming location. I don't watch the show and it would be a bit of a slog to search through it for what might only be a brief scene, but can someone tell me where the Whiting Bros. service station appears? It's a 1950s-style service station painted in red, yellow, and white. I assume it's somewhere in S4, unless they have already filmed for S5. I visited the real-life location last fall - it's famous in the Route 66 circles I run in, as the only remaining Whiting Bros. station of what was once a large chain in the southwest. In fact we contributed to a fundraiser several years ago to restore his signs. I would just be interested to see it as it appears on the show. When we were there, we had a nice chat with the owner who told us that it was closed for several days for filming, and it was one of the only vacations he'd ever taken. (He's in his 80s!)

It's a lot less of a slog than you think.

I'll bet the location you're talking about is somewhere in Georgia.

I think ProphetM's asking about where the station appears in the show-- the station in question is in Moriary, NM, and he says he's already visited it in real life (and confirmed that it was used for filming).

The station in question appears in episode 9 of season 4, starting at about 10:12 immediately after the opening credits. The scene lasts about three minutes and IIRC the location doesn't appear again in the episode. There's no Whiting Bros. signage visible in the show and the building's been redressed a bit, but the building and its surroundings are still recognizable (in the one wide establishing shot they show at the beginning of the scene).

Oh eff. Yeah, sorry, I totally misread that.

 

[ProphetM]

Pardon this intrusion from a non-viewer, but I'd like to ask about a filming location. I don't watch the show and it would be a bit of a slog to search through it for what might only be a brief scene, but can someone tell me where the Whiting Bros. service station appears? It's a 1950s-style service station painted in red, yellow, and white. I assume it's somewhere in S4, unless they have already filmed for S5. I visited the real-life location last fall - it's famous in the Route 66 circles I run in, as the only remaining Whiting Bros. station of what was once a large chain in the southwest. In fact we contributed to a fundraiser several years ago to restore his signs. I would just be interested to see it as it appears on the show. When we were there, we had a nice chat with the owner who told us that it was closed for several days for filming, and it was one of the only vacations he'd ever taken. (He's in his 80s!)

It's a lot less of a slog than you think.

I'll bet the location you're talking about is somewhere in Georgia.

I think ProphetM's asking about where the station appears in the show-- the station in question is in Moriarty, NM, and he says he's already visited it in real life (and confirmed that it was used for filming).

The station in question appears in episode 9 of season 4, starting at about 10:12 immediately after the opening credits. The scene lasts about three minutes and IIRC the location doesn't appear again in the episode. There's no Whiting Bros. signage visible in the show and the building's been redressed a bit, but the building and its surroundings are still recognizable (in the one wide establishing shot they show at the beginning of the scene).

Thank you! Much appreciated.

 

[Coppercloud]

Wife and I have been too busy to start the first half until, apparently, just after the second half was released. So we don't have time to traditionally binge the stuff, but got through it in about 2-3 weeks and had perfect timing!

There's definitely a few problems pointed out here and in the FP article. Things like some of the cast (particularly the Byers brothers IMO) being kind of just tag-alongs and not material to the show. The entire Russia thing being both a little unbelievable, also probably unnecessary, and adding to the pile of people who seemingly can't die. That said, we loved it. We loved all of it. There's some people who really hate stranger things and honestly it seems to us like a stand out of modern TV/Cinema. I do hope Munson stays dead. Was he great? Yes. Do I want him to be alive? Yes. Should he be alive? NO! It's sad, but... oh god, unintentional Metallica reference... true.

Despite seeing most of the flaws they didn't bother me. The one big thing I didn't like was that Vecna/One's motivations kind of suck. He's just straight up evil. Why? I don't know, something about he didn't like the order people imposed on... Something? I mean, at best (depending on how you look at it) it seems like a slightly offensive take on a kid being an antisocial kid who is on the spectrum and at worst he's just kind of a lazily written villain that you can kind of get away with because there's greater onus on validating villains than heroes or something.

Also, Master of puppets was an excellent choice. Just sayin'.