The story of 001 was very well told. Amazing! I can't describe how much I liked this plot. :open_mouth:
joyce finally seeing hopper again and confirming that he's still alive AAAAAAAAAAH
THE ROTATING SHOT IN THAT BIKE SCENE THAT TRANSITIONS INTO THE UPSIDE DOWN WAS SOOOOOOOO SMOOTH I LOVED IT
THEN joyce and hopper finally reuniting, that scene made me tear up ngl
& i KNEW IT, i f*CKING KNEW ITTTTTTTT, the "number 001 being VECNA" reveal was such a good way to end off volume 1, literally cannot wait for volume 2 to come out
Why is the rating for this episode so low? It did quite a good job to explain the origin. What's more other storyline developed quite well.
[8.5/10] Well hell, they got me good on the twists here. I suspected that the ostensibly helpful orderly had his own agenda, and that when he talked about Number One he might have been talking about himself. But there’s a whole mess of things that I did not guess, including:
That's a lot! It’s effectively making One the show’s Big Bad, give or take Brenner himself. And I gotta say, kudos to the casting directors and Jamie Campbell Bower. He leans into the utter creepiness of One a la Cillian Murphy or Daniel DeHaan. You by him as a sympathetic and troubled yet evil and menacing figure, which is a hard line to walk, and it sells some of the mishmash of cliches that the character represents and succeeds despite.
To the point, One is an odd mix of Agent Smith from The Matrix (“Humanity is a strange kind of pest”), Magneto from X-Men (“We’re superior to them”), Darth Vader from The Empire Strikes Back (“Join me and think of what we could accomplish”), and even Emperor Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith (“Oh no, right after my villainous invitation to powerful young soul, lightning turned me into a scarred ghoulish figure!”). HIs monologue is a touch hammy, and feels pulled from a mix of these other sources, but the superb performance and intensity of the scenes makes it work.
Say what you will about Stranger Things as it reaches its mid-season break, but they can still put together a damn good set piece when they want to. The stand-off between Eleven and One is terrifying. The raw intensity of the two having a force battle a la the one she had with one of her telekinetic bullies in the prior episode, the sheer horror of the way One drags her around as she claws at the floor and hangs in the air, and the rousing but still unnerving way she turns the power back on him and disintegrates him into another dimension is jaw-dropping and riveting.
At a thematic level, I like One as the antithesis of Eleven, her dark reflection and ultimate nemesis. The show implies that he’s been repeatedly abused by his parents, which lends to his dim view of humanity and the way he powers his abilities with sadness and anger. He was not born a monster, but made that way, and it tainted his perspective and his approach to generating his unique talents.
Eleven is the opposite. Time and again, we’ve seen her power through difficult situations not by resorting to pain, but instead, like Max, by reflecting on the people she loves and who care deeply for her as well. It’s telling that when Eleven tries to summon strength from recalling her mother being ripped away from her, or the death and destruction she witnesses as a consequence of her removing One’s inhibitor, it’s not enough to defeat him. But when she recalls her mother’s love, the act of creation and instant bond and affection, it summons a power that One has no ability to withstand.
For all this season has been teasing that Eleven needs to return to negative emotions to regain her powers, I love the subversion that, at the end of the day, it’s the remembrance of that love which not only spurred her to victory on that fateful day many years earlier, but which restores her power now. I still find Brenner to be a morally questionable figure. The show’s treatment of him still makes me a little queasy. And I still feel uncomfortable about Owens’ willingness to throw in with him, even if he thinks it’s necessary to save the world. But all of this ethically dubious “training” lands in a strong place thematically, vindicating Eleven’s bonds with the people who love her as the source of her power, and pointing to the lack of such care and affection as the thing that unfortunately doomed poor Henry Creel.
I don’t know that every part of it adds up logistically. It feels like it conflicts with some other things we knew about the Upside Down, and the attempt to bring together the cosmology of the Demogorgon, the Mindflayer, and Vecna into one consistent effort plays more than a little clunky. But ultimately, it works at an intuitive level, which is good enough for me.
Plus hey, there’s a lot of Star Wars and Harry Potter here, which isn’t terribly surprising given some of the references in the show to this point. (The former, not the latter, obviously.) One is basically tempting Eleven to turn to the darkside, to use negative emotions to spur her use of The Force. The offer to join together is very Vader and Luke, or even Kylo Ren and Rey. And the contrast between a child born of love and one born without it is very Harry and Voldemort. On balance, it makes me think that Eleven will ultimately try to save One in some way, to redeem him, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see in July when the last two episodes of the season come out.
All-in-all, I haven’t loved the Eleven storyline thus far, but this takes into a pretty shocking yet compelling place, about where her flashback adventures fit into the larger story of Stranger Things, and about how who she is informs what she can do in a way her foe absolutely cannot despite all his own malevolence and power.
Oh yeah, and other stuff happens in the episode too! Who knew?
I still don’t like the Russian rescue business, but at least they went somewhere with it. It remains insane that they were able to bluff their way into a secret Russian prison, bring a weapon inside without getting frisked or bothered over it, and hold a warden hostage to get most, if not all, of what they want. This plan makes no sense, but hey, Murray’s Yuri impression is gold, so it’s got that going for it.
And yet, Hopper and the crooked guard’s fight with the demogorgon is reasonably cool. The CGI for the demogorgon was off here, as it didn’t move or react properly. The design remains terrifying though, which does a lot of the work. Plus the Duffer Bros. and the fight choreographers do a good job of adding tension to the scene by having Hopper struggle to light his spear torch at first, and then force them to improvise when getting behind the super-thick doors before the flame runs out. It’s a well-constructed set piece, even if I’m pretty much done with this storyline.
To the point, Hopper and Joyce embracing after so long apart and so much each has been through in the interim should be a moving moment. I felt nothing. I can’t say that Stranger Things didn’t earn the moment. It showed each character going through a hell of a lot to reach it and reflecting on what each means to the other. But the whole thing has been so wildly implausible and tonally different from the rest of the show, coupled with a bit of character assassination last season, that it ultimately holds no emotional weight for me. At least we’re hopefully done with it for a while, though they still have to figure out how to get back to America, which is another layer of implausibility to overcome.
The two teams of junior detectives working back in Hawkins/the Upside Down is a treat as well. There’s parts that I still don’t like. I continue to not understand why they’re leaning so hard back into Steve/Nancy as a couple, but I’ve said my piece on that. The Upside Down looks pretty bad here much of the time, with the actors conspicuously pasted onto green screen backgrounds that breaks immersion. Dustin turns into an exposition machine at one point, which serves to set up the Vecna reveal more than anything happening in his corner of the story. And as clever as some of the solutions are, there’s occasionally some shortcuts taken to avoid the inevitable trial and error of communicating across dimensions that feel convenient, albeit within the realm of acceptable willing suspension of disbelief.
But there’s a lot I really like here. The dynamic of both quartets works really clicks. As lukewarm as I am on Nancy and Steve as a couple, Eddie having a heart-to-heart with Steve about how he’s an unexpectedly decent guy and that Nancy would clearly go to hell for him is the best sales pitch for it so far. Robin’s hyperfixation on the risk of rabies after Steve’s bite is also an on-point bit of fun characterization. On the other side, I’m glad they added Erica back into the mix as the younger kids try to bridge the gap between worlds and keep their stories straight.
I most appreciate the crew figuring out to go to Eddie’s trailer in order to rescue their friends. It pays off the crack in the ceiling the show’s been teasing for a while now, and there’s a crude logic to the sense that every kill from Vecna creates a breach between their worlds. The rope climbing escapade makes for a neat visual to boot.
God help me, I also enjoy the twist of Vecna going after Nancy given her guilt over what happened to Barb. We don’t really have much setup for it -- no headaches or other visions -- but maybe Vecna’s powers are stronger within the Upside Down. More than anything, I dig how it plays on the character’s history in a meaningful way. Much as Max felt guilt over what happened with Billy, Nancy feels the same about the best friend who died while she was too busy having fun to notice. Bringing the two together like that, in a way that plays on Vecna’s M.O. and a prior psychological hang-up for Nancy, is a surprise, but in a good way, finding points of harmony between past storylines and current ones in a way that works.
Overall, “volume 1” of Stranger Things’ fourth season has been a disappointment. So many of the plot threads this year have come off like wheel-spinning, table-setting, and throat-clearing. Some of the core strengths of the show remain, mostly in its characters, but you can feel the show’s creative team spinning out at times. And yet, the high points, when they pay all of that build off, are quite high. Between Max overcoming vecna at the midpoint, and the triumphs and revelations in this mid-season finale, the show can still soar when it brings everything to a climax and puts its cards on the table. I hope we see more of that in the last two episodes of the season.
Well....should we tell them who is 007?
So the tiny chip in One's neck did all the job keeping the class 5 telekinesis x-men powers from showing up? Really? Are we sure we're in the 80s here?
Good episode, but a bit too predictable imo.
Bro that feels like straight adaptation from the back story of Anakin Skywalker
He's great with the psychokinetic abilities (like the force)
He turned evil
He killed the psychokinetic kids (like Jedi younglings)
He got burned (like Anakin)
This season was great
I guess they did a good job of finally connecting the dots. I still think this part had way too many unnecessary characters and subplots. I couldn't care less for so much of it.
so the rope gets stuck afloat in the gate between two dimensions but people don't
i wonder how that works? :thinking:
my favorite part was when it was so dark I couldn't see f-all, again.... seriously, we don't all watch tv in complete darkness so for the love of God, make it brighter!
1:.This was trippy
2: I need to learn morse code
3: maybe also Russian
4: Survival guilt is devasting
We are connecting the dots
but why Eleven? and why was Vecna showing Nancy his history?
Loved the episode. Why isn't anyone relating this with Harry and Tom Riddle's story in the Chamber of Secrets? It's so obvious
Netflix spared no expense on this season’s visual effects. Complicated timeline and multiple worlds sewn together seamlessly
El should’ve just run away with jamie
Too bad it took til this episode for this season to get interesting. But there is still way too much plot salad going on for my tastes. It’s annoying. I hope the back half of this final season is a little cleaner as far as that goes.
Everything is just either really convenient or implausible. For one: Getting across the upside down, communicating and getting help from the other side was way too easy. On the other hand: Why would Hopper waste so much vodka and even throw the bottle away? I was so certain he would at least try firebreathing or get as much out of it as possible.
However I actually liked the revelation about Vecna. Even though I predicted the connection between Henry Creel, One and the orderly. I had however thought Henry had been possessed possessed by Vecna. I like that he is actually the same person who was banned to the upside down better. (Pretty lame though that love is more powerful than hate ...)
I also like his motivation for killing and not simply being an evil being. But I still hoped for more of a "Vader-thing" in terms of continuing trying to pull Eleven to his side.
The reveal was cool, I probably could have guessed it if the previous episodes weren’t so damn long and plagued with boring and unnecessary sub plots and my attention would’ve been at 100%.
Come on! 1.5 hour "episodes" now? Drags a little don’t you think? 30 minutes of exposition with the very last shot making damn sure that "we get it"?! Booooring.
Damn they made EL kinda cool there for a second
The seasons keep getting worse and worse. Eleven's story was boring. Hopper was not necessary. 001. Yawn
Great plots. A terrific reveal. Strong performances all around. The Russia stuff is once again the weak link, but even it is pretty darn good.
What a great episode.
The story of 001 was really cool
My score is an 8 because the writing is still solid, I like the world and the character interactions are really great (more Eddie please), but some of the stuff in the last 30 minutes had me scratching my head. Also Hoppers' storyline feels like a complete waste of time that should have ended in Episode 3, and the California boys got shafted for the final half of Volume 1. A bit all over the place.
They sure turned this season around! Holy sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!
But if he was so powerful, why the hell did he grow up and remain working at that facility? Did I miss something? Was it because daddy modded him with a chip so he could run pirated games on him? Wait, what?
Wow! What an amazing episode that was. Fantastic special effects 10 out of :keycap_ten:.
Roll on the next episode's. :thumbsup_tone1:
what a banger of an ep, the plot blew my mind off
well fuck, i did not saw that vecna reveal coming!
OMG just when you think they cannot do a better show than they've already shown us is the last few seasons they take you by surprise!!! This is really the best season so far and this final episode is pure gold. A little predictable but hey that's ok the story is epic!!! Ugh really don't want to wait till the 1st of July to see how it truly ends!!!
This is the kind of thrill I want in a show or Movie!!!
So many Goosebumps in this episode. Wow!
Glad I live in a world where shows like Stranger Things are made <3
what in the fcking hell was that plot twist OMG...
They fight off the bat things with oars from the boat, but not only did they clearly not dive into the water carrying the oars, they also would not have been able to drag the buoyant oars down to the bottom of the lake and through the gate. (Or did they just happen to find some oars lying around in the Upside Down?)
Also is there no water in the Upside Down? Why isn't there a lake on both sides?
HOLY SHIT!!!! Ok, a lot to process here
-I knew there was gonna be a good reason not to trust that overly friendly orderly, but Jesus Christ this quadruple-whammy reveal of who he really is was nothing short of brilliant. One of the best twist reveals I’ve seen in a show for a long time. It’s so disturbing how not only is he Victor Creel’s son who grew up to be 001, but then became Vecna; this monster that seeks vengeance for himself and others meaning it was HIM that killed all the other patients, not Eleven. Henry Creel became a dark vigilante for justice bringing out everyone’s dark secrets and killing all the wrongdoers for the sake of restoring order, and with El defending herself against him, she ended up creating the first gate to the upside down.
-Thank god Steve didn’t die after last episode’s cliffhanger, and it’s cool we get to see how someone is able to communicate through lights in the Upside Down like Will did in Season 1. It really does feel like this season is doing it’s best to answer some of the glaring question we’ve had. But now I’m scared of Vecna going after Nancy due to her guilt of inadvertently killing Barb.
-At least we get to feel some much needed elation with Hopper & Joyce finally reuniting after too many close calls against a demogorgon.
All these bombshells really take it out of you man. Just…..fuck.
Dustin spoke my mind lol, they were really that stupid.
A huge step up from the previous episodes. Pacing was much better, we learned some new stuff (that twist was great), and got lots of action. Hope the last two episodes will be up to par with this one.
And man, I love Jamie Campbell Bower's voice, the way he speaks is mesmerising.
Ugh.
- Why were they keeping around a deranged supervillian kid as an orderly and why were they letting him interact with the other potential child superheroes?
- How exactly did that chip keep him from manifesting his powers? Isn't that like critical information to stop other gifted kids gone rogue in the future? Would that chip/thing/whatever work on a demogorgon/mind flayer? Why couldn't he just rip it out of his neck himself?
- why does everyone keep wanting to have Nancy get back together with Steve? Pandering to the kiddie audience or something?
- we're never getting away from that dumb Russia subplot until the very last episode, aren't we?
- Hopper and Joyce are CRINGE
Finally! The Russian part gets good
Thank you Duffer Brothers for the most cliche fucking supervillain in the world - 6/10
Hmm
I knew it's gonna be like this :smirk:
A bit predictable if you've seen all the tropes before and the exposition/back story went on a wee bit too long but finally we're there. And if ALL the excruciating details still wasn't enough for Joe Public to get the picture, they do a final shot of Vecna's new and improved MASSIVE 001 tattoo to really drive it home. Cringey shot to end on tbh.
I found it too forced how the built the bridge between Eleven and Vecna.
Guess we'll find out Nancy's favorite song next episode!
That last half an hour was really this show at its best. Even though I predicted him being Nr 1 and the boy to be Vecna (and them being the same person slipped my mind as well) I still really liked the reveal, it was well done and Number One's monologue was fascinating. The actor is perfect for this role too.
Kinda a shame that the rest of the episode was a bit meh. Especially the whole Russia plot; I just can't wait for this one to be over.
Really well executed, but we knew most of these things had to happen. I hope someone knows Nancy’s favorite song.
MIND-BLOWN JUST WOW MIND-BLOWING :exploding_head::exploding_head::exploding_head: tho i kinda felt that one was indeed vecna and he was thrown in the upside down when he fought el but i doubted my theory at first because it didn't align with the timeline of events (since that time i know that vecna was responsible for what happened to victor's family) bUT WHEN I WATCHED THE SCENE WHERE EL FOUGHT HIM AND WAS SUCCESSFUL IN DOING SO. I ALREADY KNOW I WAS CORRECT :flushed::flushed::flushed:
the duffer brothers, come on give us the volume 2 ASAP !!!!! ☹☹☹
That whole Nancy "I heard you've been looking for me" scene was uncalled for. They could have just shown his childhood. Why did Nancy have to be there?
And the final scene was very weak. What was exactly the memory that triggered El's powers? Because 001 tricked her? Because her mother? That was very weird. The deep-fake of El as a child, coupled with her bad acting overall made that fight look very weird. She just remembered her mother giving birth to her and somehow got the power to kill the one who's supposed to be the strongest? Who didn't even get training and is like the founder of said powers?.. Nah.. Season 1 was the best. The rest is nothing but an attempt to make more money.
Another amazing episode, with action and special effects above 90% of all movies. Breathtaking finally and now the clock is counting until volume 2 comes out. I just have one comment: should the upside down world connect via the floor and not the ceiling?
If people are complaining that the episodes are long, i agree. But, it was worth it! The running time is well justified. The storytelling was spot on!
OH MY GODDDD THAT WAS GREAT!!! man this show is really great
Public service announcement: Steve :clap: Harrington :clap: deserves :clap: someone (literally anyone) :clap: better :clap: than :clap: Nancy.
What a plot!!
yes it was little bit expected but they really did it so great, You just can feel there is something wrong with him, behind his smile there was pure evil, So yah they connected everything together perfectly, I felt like they called dark writer's haha, But yah they made a masterpiece and they already on part 4, normally most of series starts to drop down as they makes more parts but no they really kept it on the level
anyway waiting for the second part so soon
and for more of the suspense:')!
Not cool that everyone is trying to get Nancy and Steve back together. When Jonathan isn’t around.
I have just one major problem with this... are we supposed to ignore the episode where Eleven found her buddies from Hawkins lab in the city from the second season?
Amazing episode despite too much of the “this was my plan” villain backstory. A great villain makes you forgive the writers for making Will love sick and jealous and Jonathan a clueless stoner.
This first part of season 4 is a masterpiece in storytelling :100:
At least stuff happens in this episode but it's still TOO LONG. I was relieved once it was over because it felt like an eternity. Still liked it, and the 001 thing is great. Predictable, sure, but I do like it.
nice twist here !!! didn't see that coming ;)
One of the better episodes from this series, 4.5/10.
Holy shit what an episode. One of the greatest in television history and I love the origin of Vecna and how this brings the entire story full circle. Just wow.
when i tell you i am deceased dead in my GRAVE i mean that shit rn bro
The episode was pretty intense, with the backstory of Vecna told in full, there is good news and bad news. Good news is that Eleven didn't actually kill these kids, but the bad news is that the assistant who was kind of helping her turned out to be the monster, after she freed him, he killed all these children and told her he was in fact Creel's son who had superpowers and was responsible for the deaths in his family. Eleven managed to defeat him, summoning the memory of her biological mother saying that she loved her, in a way this is the callback to Harry Potter and Lily's love saving Harry from death. But the bad news is El sort of created Vecna as she apparently sent him to the Upside Down dimension to rid the world of him. Another bad news is that after the kids (Dustin et consortes, Erica now participates in the plot but I am a bit worried about Max since she is now at the margins of the story) manage to rescue the adults from the Upside Down, Nancy gets stuck there and ends up in the Creel house. Good news is that Hopper is saved from a demogorgon and he and Joyce are reunited.
The Upside Down is really Mordor-creepy and I guess Sauron would totally approve ;) It looks like the showrunners of The Rings of Power could learn a thing or two here.
It's such a damn good story. I love it. :heart_eyes:
this is very, very good. right into the dark
this is such a good origin story
Can't wait for last two episodes.This season was the best after season 1 and it's really great made.
What is the upside down place doe still
Holy shit wow
I did not see that coming
I like this show, just wish some of the scenes weren't so dark, it's hard to see what's happening.
if i was giving this show rating of 9 before, i am rating it 10 after this episode. totally ninja!
So good! I have been trying to fit the puzzle pieces together with every episode and just before watching this I had a feeling that Vecna was Henry Creel who was also 001 and that he was the tall blond guard that watched over El. So to see that theory come to life was thrilling! I love how they had him explain it to El in that flashback we saw while also telling Nancy in the upside down. Casting was on point to. Taking a closer look at kid Henry really showed how he resembles Jamie Campbell Bower.
When they were standing at the portal I just had this gut feeling that one of them wasn't going to make it out but I still was caught of guard when Nancy climbed up that rope and fell into her own personal nightmare. Love how that was done because you feel that it isn't going to go as planned but she climbs up that rope and I very much thought 'ah well that leaves Steve... Oh wait!? WHAT?'
Getting to wait a little under a month for the final episodes of this season is killing. Now that we know who Vecna is and what he wants I do also wonder how they will continue on for another season after this one. It feels like this season will end with a conclusion between him and El somehow and if he is defeated wouldn't that be it? Then again you never know. Every season they upped the game and brought a new villain forth.
Oh and last but not least. Hopper. When he saw Joyce again you could tell that he had to adjust his thoughts there. What a beautiful moment. I hope Hopper will let go of these dark thoughts and feelings of not being good enough and even a curse for the people around him. He deserves happiness!
AAAAAHHHHHHHH THIS IS THE MOST VIDEOGAME ASS SHOW IN THE BEST WAYS POSSIBLE!! DOESN'T GET ANY MORE BADASS AND EPIC AND EMOTIONAL!!!
You've been asking yourself about 001 all along. who's 001? what happened to 001? where is 001? Turns out it all comes down to 001
IT CAN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS. SUPERB ENDING FOR PART ONE. PHEW!
THAT'S A CLIFFHANGER RIGHT THERE.
July 1st cannot get here quickly enough, a very strong finish indeed!!
“Promise me you won’t kill her”
...said the man who just experienced worse things than death.
Damn, what an episode and what a reveal! Had not seen that coming. But yeah something was amiss, the spiders unexplained.
Wait an entire month though?! Argh.
saw it coming from a mile away but still surprised me. this season had been very good so far.
I just have one onomatopoeia:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Now if that was a plotwist
this has been the most fun stranger things!!! cannot wait for july.
WOW after episode 4 and onwards to episode 7, my heart and mind are blown.. best season so far I think, definitely rivals season three! :exploding_head: Some of my favorite 80s hit songs made it in this season, Tarzan Boy, OMG @ Robert Englund, also Lite Brite was genius! :upside_down:
Did they just try turning this into Watchmen!?
001 was vacne this whole time?!
loved this episode.. so good.
Shout by leeanBlockedParentSpoilers2022-05-27T18:24:34Z
they finally showed us how to communicate through lights!!!!! and also THAT FUCKING REVELATION THO I SERIOUSLY DID NOT SEE THAT ONE COMING!!!!!!! LASTLY, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO TEAM CALIFORNIA???????