Stranger Things - Season 4 Part I (Episodes 1-7)

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This thread is for Stranger Things - Season 4. part I (episodes 1-7) It will therefore will contain spoilers for previous seasons and they don't require spoiler tags. For anything this season, you still need spoiler tags here:

For earlier seasons go to:

Season 1 -- Stranger Things - Season 1
Season 2 -- Stranger Things - Season 2
Season 3 -- Stranger Things - Season 3

The fourth season of the American science fiction horror drama television series Stranger Things, titled Stranger Things 4, finally has a release date and is scheduled to be released worldwide exclusively via Netflix's streaming service in two volumes, with the first set on May 27, 2022, and the second five weeks later on July 1, 2022. This season will have nine episodes in total.

I'm not sure about this. The children were no longer children in Season 3. It's three years later now (although apparently only six months later in story time and they are in High School.) Same cast so they are going to look old for High School. Soon, it won't even be the 1980's any longer (and X-Files will be on TV!)

Apparently, it's Spring Break! Which only makes me think of that Simpson episode when they go to Florida on Spring Break.


 
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As long as we get plenty of Dustin and Steve hijinks, I'll be happy.
 

The fourth season of Stranger Things is almost here—at least the first seven episodes since the release is split in two. So Netflix released a spooky final trailer, chock full of 1980s horror tropes, on the heels of the revelation last month that the season's Big Bad will be a Dungeons and Dragons villain named Vecna.

We've previously reported that David Harbour is returning as Hopper, along with the rest of the main cast. Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield) all return.

We also know the fourth season is the first to mostly occur outside of Hawkins since Eleven and the Byerses have moved away, and Hopper is in a Russian prison. Maya Thurman Hawke returns as Robin, Brett Gelman is back as Murray Bauman, Cara Buono returns as the Wheeler matriarch, and we'll be seeing more of Priah Ferguson, who plays Lucas' sassy younger sister, Erica. Robert Englund of Nightmare on Elm Street fame is among the new cast members, a nice little nod to classic '80s horror. Englund plays Victor Creel, the former owner of the spooky Creel House featured in one of the teasers.

S4 is the longest season yet in terms of running time; not one of its nine episodes runs less than an hour. (Prior seasons had the occasional shorter 35- to 45-minute episode, and episodes only rarely ran past one hour.) Because the main characters have been split up, three distinct storylines must be woven together, prompting the Duffer brothers to call S4 their "Game of Thrones season." The sheer length of the run times prompted the brothers (with the concurrence of Netflix) to release S4 in two installments.
 
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Oh man, the season stepped into the weird pool straight from the beginning. The psychic kids. We knew that 11 was abnormal, but back in the 1979, the Department of Energy had a punch of kids. All equally gifted. All going through same practices of developing Remote Viewing.

Back then, it was a CIA funded operation and now in the 2020s it is still an ongoing thing, even though some Remote Viewers have left the program. But in the story it wasn't just that as DoE was also trying to develop other gifts, including telekinesis. At the heart of it was 11, putting an end to things.

Almost eight years later, the kids have grown out from the basement and moving into the high school, without mobiles and the angst. I felt so weird looking back at that time, as it felt a lifetime ago, almost like a different world. There are something's about the American high school culture that I'll never understand, no matter thought I've been watching it for a number of decades.

It surprised me slightly that the name of the title refers to the AD&D club that one of the boys misses because of the basketball championship match. I know that the RPGs are accepted these days, but the Dustin Brothers captured essentially the madness that went around those games back in those days.

I liked that the big evil also made an entrance twice into the episode, with somewhat classic spooky stuff that I'd associated with the haunting houses. The stuff I loved 11 losing her gift, her powers, as if she has an expiration date and Sinclair's little sister rolling a perfect 20.

How did Hopper manage to send that package?

I'll try to do these one per day, since there's only seven of them in this half of the season.
 
the Dustin Brothers captured essentially the madness that went around those games back in those days.
I thought all those newspaper reports about D&D and devil worshipping were much earlier than 1986. The eighties was my decade. I played D&D from about 1980. Still, apart from that it was great, and while I had series doubts about how they would make this season, I no longer have that problem.
I'll try to do these one per day,
I'm going to watch no more than one a day and savour them.

Number Six didn't die
 
I thought all those newspaper reports about D&D and devil worshipping were much earlier than 1986.
I started role-playing around that time, and my mum went mental over the newspaper pieces. They even showed in Finnish TV that terrible film of young man going bonkers, because he played a game. Didn't talk to mum for two weeks after she forced me to watch it. After that there was no talks about it. So, personally I recollect it being around that time.
 
I've watched two episodes so far. One thing they haven't addressed that I'd hoped:

How the hell did the Soviets get Hopper to Russia? Though I guess that's no harder to answer than "How did the Russians build a base in Indiana without anyone noticing".
 
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It still amazes me that Sheriff Hopper managed to survive the blast, and he wasn't thrown through the tear into that other world. It might have been in the plan as a writer I'd have sent him in that darkness and not into the Soviet Union. His back wasn't broken either.

I liked that the new Sheriff was mostly clueless about the monster victim, but I was surprised that his call was picked up in a big listening center, instead of it going through the computers for a keyword search. It might be strange but that system was supposedly be working at late eighties and due to US laws, seeing a big listening centre draw parallels to the Stasi operations.

I know it's a fleeting scene, but there's so much wrong about it. The media circus appearing straight after it also felt wrong, as I doubt Hawking's even has their own media company. The talking heads were trying to connect it to the Mall fire from last season, but for the story reason, Nancy might be the one who really explodes the truth to the world.

The reason why I bring out the media circus is that it might happen today, in our time, because we are so well-connected, but in the real world, back in the eighties, a trailer park body would not have crossed the threshold for the big media to send down a media crew, or four.

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Why they dressed up like a proper editor and a head journalist? Would eighties high school media crew dress according to the media dressing code? I also hate that Netflix loses information in the still, and it appears as pixelation, because the algorithm doesn't have enough of information to draw a sharp picture from the compressed files.

Eddie's case, blown up media, having the whole police department after him, and Chrissy's death being so gruesome was definitely something he couldn't handle. And then having his stash of drugs in the trailer as well is overwhelmingly against it, but breaking all those bones, and twisting them to odd angles needs a lot of strength, and it's not really that easy. But nobody asked that question, because that information was only among the sheriff people, and the coroner. And Max definitely was barking the wrong tree.

The curious thing is that the baddie was channelling through a police officer and getting into Fred's head, when the pair got at the trailer park. It's strange that he got so freaked that Fred actually closed up and Nancy didn't draw a connection. She has most of the pieces, but yet, she's still a bit blind.

She did right by Eddie uncle, as Nancy asked the right questions and wanted to write his side of the story. If she hadn't, she would not had got a clue about the similarities in the jailed murderer case.

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I love the Hopper letter, but I also wonder how long it took him to get the letters, because as we know russians doesn't do Greek alphabets, unless it's needed. It must have taken ages, but it's also funny that the country code is also included in the phone number.

Back then long distance, and especially the overseas calls were so hideously expensive. I also vaguely remember telephone booths in the airports and fancy hotels, reserved for such activity. These days, it would be abnormal to find such facilities.

The dialogue broke a bit, when Murrey started deciphering the message and the fact that he believed that Hopper was atomized. He used word, "russians" instead of Soviets or "those communists," which would have fitted the timeline much better. After all, 86 was definitely time Reagan time and I really doubt russian fitted into their vocabulary.

Joyce however was doing the right thing by hanging on the Enzo. Murrey did play the tinfoil hat man very well and, in his highest note, he actually believed that the KGB would be going through a complete historical download from the Sheriff that weren't really that intellectual that he'd remember every detail. And meeting at Enzo's would not have been an important detail for them to set up a ruse.

Not that it turned out to be a complete ruse, just part of the corruption that has been going forever. That's one of the biggest reason why their army is in such a bad shape these days. In fact it's one of the most corrupted countries in the world, and with enough of money, Hopper could get out of from the Gulag and into Alaska.

I also bet that the Bering Sea route was the way they got him out from the States. Stuffed in a boot, transferred to a fishing boat, driven to ocean and exchanged there with another vessel.

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How to make a monster. I was waiting for Eleven to do go mental and turn to Stephen King's Carrie in the skate hall. I hated those teens doing gang bullying. I've never liked that in American culture, but so far it has been a steady diet as long as I have lived and we get subjected to each and every year. And instead of getting bollocking from a grown up, nobody did anything except Mike.

Then again, he already knew that by pushing 11, bad things could happen. After all, she's still a teen, and she still can turn evil.

The mob of Chrissy's boyfriends definitely had turned evil by forming a lynching mob without understanding the whole picture. When El smacked the b!itch I felt that she was a victim, and she'd pushed to her limits. That's why the bully got a broken nose.

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A dark wizard. I like that. As a monster, he is quite extraordinary and dark wizard definitely fits the case.
 
a trailer park ... would not have crossed the threshold for the big media to send down a media crew, or four.
Except that despite the official secrecy, Hawkins probably still has a reputation for the bizarre and unusual stories, but I do agree with you that it wouldn't be a top priority for a TV station. Also, the other Newspaper had been and gone before Nancy and Fred even arrived. Plus, communication was slower; outside broadcasts needed vans with huge satellite dishes on the roof and cameras weren't very portable. I think that Better Call Saul (set in the 1990's) does a very good job with matching the period to the technology.
He used word, "russians" instead of Soviets or "those communists," which would have fitted the timeline much better. After all, 86 was definitely time Reagan time and I really doubt russian fitted into their vocabulary.
Here I would have to disagree. This is Sting singing in 1985, one year earlier..


In the UK (I couldn't say about the USA or anywhere else) people generally (though wrongly) and frequently used "Russian" when they really meant "Soviet". They used them interchangeably.

But apart from nitpicking the language, the technology, the pop culture, the fashions, and the hairstyles, otherwise it was good!
 
Hmm. I'm not sure what's happened with the writing and directing this season but it seems to have taken a serious nosedive. I loved the first three seasons (except the attempt to shoe-horn a spin off into Season 2). As a fan of the original Nightmare on Elm Street series which S4 is most definitely, liberally borrowing from (including accurate sounding soundalike cues, sound effects and so on), it's a little too close in parts.

In between all the homage it seems to have forgotten basic storytelling rules like "people shouldn't know information just because the plot demands it". Some of the dialogue is eye-rollingly bad, including an all over the place monologue from hopper that looked like the actor was dialling it in.

It doesn't feel "Stranger-thingsy" to me. It's lost the "kids on bikes" feel and the cast is so split that you don't get enough time with them to really feel any of their predicaments. I get the sense of too many ideas fighting for attention, throughout, and all the subplots with various agencies and the soviets all fighting each other detracts from the plot. Everything is at a break neck speed and I'm beginning to not care. The nearest analogy is the latest Star Wars movie, imho - complete with unearned overpowered antagonist.
 
As a fan of the original Nightmare on Elm Street series which S4 is most definitely, liberally borrowing from (including accurate sounding soundalike cues, sound effects and so on), it's a little too close in parts.
I haven't yet reached those episodes with the specific points you complain about, but it is clearly very deliberate to make it a homage to all those '80's Horror movies (which was why I mentioned The Simpsons 'Spring Break' episode in the first post.) I don't think it's a spoiler to point out that Robert Englund is a cast member! You may not like it, and you may think it is a mistake, but it isn't accidental.

I agree with you that it can never recapture the original series again with the 'kids on bikes' E.T. feel, which was exactly why I was very unsure about this season. The kids have now grown into teenagers and this is the natural progression for the story to make too.
 
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In the above shot, one created the situation and the other one is tasked to solve it. Which one of them is the superhero? The doctor or the major?

It is a tough question, because there are more of dirt on the doctor than on the major. He even claimed that the doctor was responsible for allowing the Soviets to invade Hawkins, because the military had nothing to do with it. They were just blind about everything, which sounds super ridiculous.

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11 is most certainly not a monster. The boffins tried to make her into one, and it sounds about right that the major claimed that the DoE project was to create Mind Assassins, as that's what the real world documents from that period claims were happening. Even the Manchurian Candidate could be slotted under those projects.

But she wasn't feeling it. Instead, the supposed monster couldn't get rid of the thought that she had hurt the bully. In the past, what she did to save the town would firmly put her into the superhero category. Yet, she's horrified about her past, about everything, while the real monster in the other world is getting more powerful in every passing moment.
So why is she feeling so down, when she should feel like a winner for showing the bully the teeth of a tiger? I don't get it.

Mike did the stupid thing by opening his mouth and not defending her, even though they're supposed to be partners. In his defence, all I can say is that the teen boys do what they can, because they don't know any better. But at least, after a good night of sleep, he was able to find his bollocks and try to make amends.

His attempt, "I've been bullied my whole life. You've seen what's it a like. So I understand..."

"No," El answered. She didn't even look at the boy. "You don't."

"What I don't understand?"

"I am different. I do not belong."

Oh man, I've been personally in that situation in so many times. And no matter what you say or do, it won't change the opinion. Not straight away. When women blame themselves, it almost impossible to get it fixed. You have to be so patient and keep building the foundation, so that eventually you can pull them out from the hole and show that the world is nice outside the darkness of those murky thoughts.

Luckily, Mike went on that with autopilot. He did not back out even though 11 were rubbing his failures in his face. What I don't understand is why the police were dicks about the assault? It was not a murder or a manslaughter. It was just a battery, after the bullying incident. The mistake that they did were by not telling where they were taking her to questioning.

The biggest one was doing the questioning without a lawyer or a parent in present, and in the way they were doing it, was a fishing expedition. And then the sergeant-at-the-desk told the kids exactly that. I wanted to scream. The whole situation made me so frustrated.

I bet Mike was feeling the same way.

The twist was with the Doctor Owens, coming to rescue, explaining that the 11 was the only one who would could not only offer for a salvation, but also to being able to give her major powers. I vote for turning 11 up to eleven. Bring on the Doom!

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I'm so glad that the scoopy gang is back together and on the same page, minus Sinclair doing the stupid thing. I just don't get what he is really doing with the bullies? What does he expect to get out from those guys? A status?

At least the girls were able to find information on the big baddie ... at the Weekly World News. *facepalm*

But is Max going to be the next victim? The cuckoo clock seems to say so.
 
Hmm. I'm not sure what's happened with the writing and directing this season but it seems to have taken a serious nosedive. I loved the first three seasons (except the attempt to shoe-horn a spin off into Season 2). As a fan of the original Nightmare on Elm Street series which S4 is most definitely, liberally borrowing from (including accurate sounding soundalike cues, sound effects and so on), it's a little too close in parts.
Holy horror!
I also got an intense Elm Street vibe as Chrissy met her grisly death. The only differences I noticed were that the victim did not need to nod off and that the new Freddy didn't need knife fingers to do his thing.
This is much darker than I remember the previous seasons being. Is this an adjustment for older central characters? The closest this came to matching the old tone was the D&D victory.
I hope this season gets noticeably more upbeat, or I probably won't be watching.
 
Thanks for all the spoiler warnings here, guys. However, damn Twitter is spoiling Stranger Things 4, by showing clips because it has put Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) into the Spotify charts :mad:

This is much darker than I remember the previous seasons being.
I thought that the end of Season 3 was pretty dark with the Upside Down World breaking through and the apparent *death* of a major character. Admittedly, I've only seen two episodes of this and it does appear to get much darker yet.
 
Just finished E7. I had my doubts at various points during this season (and there's one strand I still have doubts about) but for me it very much rescued itself in the last episode. It's annoying that we have to wait a month for the rest, not least because in that length of time I'm quite capable of forgetting almost everything that's happened so far.
 
I've seen E3 now. Okay, I agree that there are quite a few more deaths than in previous series, and I couldn't watch that scene with the broken foot!

So, there were three different stories going on, and now they are beginning to come together. All that nostalgia was great, but I'm disappointed that it's going nowhere very fast, and left thinking that if the end of season 3 hadn't wrapped up everything so well, then we wouldn't have needed three episodes to untangle it. and to get the scooby gang back together again.

Also, why are E1 and E2 90 minutes long, then E3 only 30 minutes?

I'm quite capable of forgetting almost everything that's happened so far.
I have the same problem. Another item for the "Those moments when you realise how old you are" thread.
 
The first 3 episodes were pretty good, but definitely diminishing returns over the years. Hard to compensate for that jolly, cute factor of the first seasons with the kids being about 17 instead of 10! (As with the kids on bikes comments above). Though Fred Benson and Nancy could be out of a cartoon.
So far the Russian stuff is diluting the good parts of the show, but I'm sure it will come together. The Dark Wizard is suitably disturbing. Still plenty to like.
 
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That's was a mistake. I was tired. It was about 63 minutes. I meant to write 60. Not very much happened though. I don't think I'll stick to watching one a day and from now just watch them when I can
 
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