“That’s why we play!”
Stranger Things is cool now, and if you wanna be part of the club you gotta be able to stomach the horror. Which is why The Duffer Bros’ open their 270 million dollar new season with a harrowing 8 minute sequence that had to be prefaced with a trigger warning. It’s a rite of passage. As if to say, make it through this bloody trial and be rewarded with the finest hour of the show to date.
The first episode of the California love infused fourth season delivers all the feels, and dazzles the senses with its killer soundtrack, slick cinematography and editing, majestic set designs, and an Effervescent 80s’ color palette befitting this season’s peppy new characters.
Additions include a charismatic basketball team captain, a savage click of California mean girls, a frosty-eyed cheerleader, a Cheech-ian hippie stoner, and the bodily kinesthetic guitarist and Dungeons and Dragons campaign master, Eddie (Van Halen).
The masterclass hour of filmmaking culminates in a jump shot in the final seconds of Hawkins HS’s championship basketball game, which is intercut with an audacious roll of the dice simultaneously happening in the school’s dungeon. It’s a sequence that sends shivers down my spine, reminds us that heroes are not born; rather they are forged in the fiery crucible of pain and suffering that is life. Reminds us that although this town is far from okay, there is hope even now. That it takes a village. It takes the salt of the earth, the upstanding citizens, the popular crowd to keep the town happy and functional, but it takes the demon slayers to keep the Goddamned town sane. This has been the thesis of the Brilliant Netflix series from the beginning. Now it is simply flourishing with context and elaboration.
E.F.
Experience Film 
Hi EF, sorry late commenting.. somehow your post slipped by undetected. I haven’t seen any of Stranger Things (again I don’t have access to all these streaming services 🙄) but from your description it kinda sounds like a Young Adult/Next Gen version of “Twin Peaks”! That was a weird show (good theme tune though).
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This “streaming” phenomenon sucks! FT. I am lucky bc I can borrow my parents’ subscription. But I do not subscribe to any streaming services myself either…
A YA Next gen version of Twin Peaks is a very good comparison – with more action and special fx to appease the ADHD ridden children haha. Twin Peaks is so majestic. Weird and haunting theme tune for sure. This season is the MOST like Twin Peaks so far✌️
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Hello again, yeah I just can’t afford all the various platforms on my income (I can’t work full time due to illness)….but I will catch up on all the box-sets eventually. It does mean I have to stay spoiler free as much as possible.
That Stranger Things trailer and screenshots just had the same sort of “Americana Bubblegum” look and style about it that reminded me of maybe a slightly lighter version of Twin Peaks.
And that Peaks theme tune is deceptively difficult to play accurately on keyboards!
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(Emphasizes) “Americana Bubblegum”🖖😎
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LOL, yes I wasn’t sure if that ^^ was a genre or style but I meant images like the old style gas station and pumps, the old ice cream parlours with the candyfloss and bubblegum coloured decor and the roadside diners etc. Peaks had that but in a darker palette and Stranger Things has it with the cheerleader packs and the “Mean Girls Cliques” typical on screen school life.
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It looks mysterious, and I like weird things! I just have to be alone to watch it because if my wife sees such movies, she will dream loudly about them!! 😛🤣👍🙏🖖
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This season is nightmare inducing… but also *affirming* It’s all about psychology, government conspiracy theories (close encounters!) that only a few characters have experienced, and how the survivors team up to support each other and solve the horrifying mystery…
One of the main characters is a young girl named Eleven (11). “Eleven” because that was her assigned ID number when she was part of a top secret U.S. government telekinesis experiment. Stolen from her mother at birth and force administered LSD, and into sensory deprivation tanks with EEG electrodes stuck to her head. They were training her to become a weapon. And a weapon she becomes!! And she will have her revenge😈
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Wow! I must think of Matrix 😉 it’s a nice tip anyhow. Thanks bro 🙏 🙌
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Interesting you mention The Matrix because Both The Matrix and Stranger Things are created by duos of very close brothers – The Wachowski’s and The Duffers, respectively. As is your inspired blog! Which proves how much creative, and especially psychological / philosophical progress a fond duo can achieve!
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I speak of the series as a whole.
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I’m really bad with blood and gore so I really had to suck it up to watch this season – worth it though because it was amazing!
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Glad it was worth it! I’ll be watching all summer haha
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We’ve been enjoying this season a lot so far. I really feel sorry for how alienated poor El is. She shouldn’t be suffering as much as she is, considering how much good she did her town… and the whole country, really, if things had spread out of control. But it makes for good drama. Can’t wait to see Hopper’s outcome, too. HE deserves better also, lol !!
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Awesome! Yeah Eleven’s isolation and Sadness is one of my fav aspects of this new season. Her scenes are very powerful aren’t they!? I feel for her too🙏🏼
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Oh, I didn’t know that Stranger Things is a horror/ fantasy series. Considering my general aversion to most scary movies, it’s no wonder I haven’t watched even a minute of it yet. Good to know that those who love it are still having a good time.
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Yeah this season is super intense. Thanks for the great comment!
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My pleasure. 🤓
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Nice. I have just finished watching 4th season. I have written similarities between stranger things and stephen king books. Do read and share your comments. https://gobookmart.com/connection-of-stranger-things-to-stephen-kings-books/
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Just catching up with you. Loved this season of ST. It ticked all the boxes for me. And Eddie is up there with Doc from Z Nation as my favourite TV characters!
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