Top 10 moments from Season 4 of Stranger Things!
- Here is a list of my personal favorite moments from this season of Stranger Things!
10). Hawkins turns Upside Down.
- The Duffer Brothers explained that this season was the Empire Strikes Back season. Sadly as hard as our hero's fought...they ended up losing. After Max's heart stops, the four deaths have been completed, and Venca's powers cause the four gates to rip open and cause a devastating earthquake turning this once small town literally Upside Down. In all honestly, the only good part of the town getting destroyed was watching Jason get cut in half. (Still sorta wished he had a showdown with Eddie, but I cheered when Lucas got the upper hand.) Still, in a truly chilling moment, in the last minutes of the final episode Will touches his neck, showing that evil is still looming over them. Set to the show's awesome theme, the characters walk out to a field overlooking the town, which is destroyed, and signs of the Upside Down as slowly appearing. Almost in a full circle moment, 11 watches as those tiny particles float through the air from the Upside Down, red lighting is shown, and those flowers she once missed...are now all dying.
9) Will and Jonathan talk.
- Poor Will. This kid can honestly not catch a single break throughout this entire show! In a pretty powerful scene both brothers have a moment alone in the kitchen, getting 11's bath ready to help Max. Jonathan, who eariler clearly watched, and heard his brother and Mike talk in the back of the van, knows what's really bothering his brother, but doesn't fully come out and say it. It was different times guys, and he clearly doesn't really know how to approach this subject. Knowing his brother is hurting, he reminds him that he used to always be the person Will would go to if he had a problem, and let's him know that hasn't changed. I'm so glad Will got at least this amount of comfort from Jonathan...who honestly as much as I hate to say it...didn't serve too much of a purpose this season.
8). "Chrissy wake up!"
- I'm sure the remix song set to this scene will forever be struck in our heads the remainder of the summer. Thanks to my friend Jeanette, it's actually my new alarm. Still, setting aside that, the haunting final scene in The Hellfire Club episode shows poor frightened Chrissy the cheerleader going to Eddie Munson's trailer to buy Special K. Yep...I actually did a double take, but then again it was the 80's guys. On edge and nervous, she waits alone while Eddie tries to find the drugs, when she's sucked into Venca's curse, resulting in her going into a trance. When Eddie walks out, he finds her with her eyes cloudy and rolled back into her head, and no matter how hard he shakes her and screams...she won't wake up. The scene cuts back and forth of poor Chrissy trapped with the truly horrifying villain Venca appearing. My friend/tattoo artist Shane pointed out how similar Chrissy's death is to Tina's in A Nightmare On Elm Street, which I think was a huge inspiration to the tone of this season. Chrissy, we'll never forget about you...but at least your death resulted in one of the best remixes of all time!
7). Detroit Rock City game montage.
- In the very first episode The Hellfire Club, we were shown a brilliant montage set to Kiss' Detroit Rock City, we we watch Lucas and the basketball team The Tigers play the final championship game, as well as the kids playing D&D in the Hellfire Club held by Eddie. What makes this scene so great is the clever cuts, comparing both games. Eddie's Voiceover, each player getting knocked out, Lucas taking the final shot, and of course Eric winning the game and getting the respect from Mr. Munson. Great job Lady Applejack. Great Job. "To the death!"
6). Hopper battles the Demogorgon
- We all knew this Gladiator epic battle scene was coming. In fact, it was the scene I was the most excited to see after watching the trailer. There's actually two times that Hopper battles the Demogorgan, and both are equally as epic! The other one is at the end when Hopper uses a sword to kill the Demogorgan, set to Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill. Chills. For. Days. The one I'm highlighting is the first battle, in which Hopper and the other men must fight to the death while a giant Demogorgan hunts them. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Also, was I the only one screaming when the lighter wouldn't light?!
5) 11 is reunited with Hopper.
- This truly was the one thing that lifted my spirits at the end of the final episode. I was SO glad it happened. 11 and the California gang returns to a destroyed Hawkins. Here, they decide to try and clean up Hopper's destroyed cabin so there's a safe place for 11 to stay. Exhausted, she sits back in her old bedroom, when suddenly the door opens and there stands Hopper. The expression on 11's face says it all. As someone who's lost a parent, we've all had that fantasy that somehow...someway this could actually happen. It really warmed my heart to see these two characters reunite. What really tugged on the old heartstrings was when 11, overwhelmed with emotion, cries and tells Hopper she kept the door open three inches, and always believed he was going to come back. Thank God we actually got a happy moment in this truly devastating episode!
4). The gang saves Steve.
- This was definitely one of my favorite moments throughout the whole show. In the pervious episode The Dive, Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie take a boat out onto Lover's Lake to investigate if there's an actual gate to the Upside Down nearby. They use a compass, which goes crazy the second they row to the middle of the lake. Steve goes underneath the water, and finds that there is in fact a gate...aka Watergate there. When he resurfaces to tell the others, a tentacle grabs him, and just like a scene out of Jaws, he's pulled underneath the water. Nancy instantly gets up, and dives in after. Next Robin (love that she plugs her nose before going in.), and finally Eddie who screams how stupid this is before half falling, half jumping in. The episode ends with Steve getting attacked in the Upside Down by Demobats. I'll fully admit, I thought Steve might be a goner at this moment. The next episode picks up with Steve getting bitten all over by the creatures, when suddenly a wooden boat oar swings like a golf club, and sends one of the bats flying. Steve looks up, and sees his friends standing there ready to fight. In one of the coolest moments of the show, all done in one take without cutting away, we watch the teens fight the Demobats, in what can honestly be called perfect choreography. Steve finally is able to get up, bites one of the bats, and slams it down before ripping it in two. I truly love how they take a second to collect themselves, as Eddie who looks both terrified and disgusted screams "JESUS H CHRIST!". = Mood. The teens stuck in the Upside Down was a huge highlight for me. Who can forget the epic shot of the gang riding the bikes, and the camera flipping and showing the teens doing the same. Awesome.
3). Dear Billy
- How could I not include one of this season's best storylines? Max is sadly plagued with survivors' guilt after losing her stepbrother Billy from the pervious season. Much like many other people who have lost someone, she starts to become withdrawn, and keeps blaming herself over what happened. The Max in this season is a much different Max from the past two seasons. She's broken up with Lucas, depressed, and living with her mother in a trailer park, almost having to grow up too fast due to her mother struggling to keep a roof over their heads, and her constant drinking. Max says multiple times throughout this season that the night of The Battle Of Starcourt keeps playing over in her mind over and over again. She truly believes she could have saved Billy, but was either too scared...or maybe deep down inside really wanted him to die. Well, if that isn't enough...Max is also cursed under Venca and next to be killed. Here she visits Billy's grave, reading a letter she's written to him venting her emotions. While she's doing this, Venca traps her in his curse, causing her to go into a trance. Steve, Dustin, and Lucas panic not knowing what to do, as Venca uses a vision of Billy to guilt Max into thinking she truly did want him to die, as well as trap her ready to make his next kill. Here, the gang receive information from Nancy and Robin over the walkie that music might make Max snap out of whatever is happening to her. They scramble, putting her Walkman, playing her favorite song. Here Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill blasts (a song we heard earlier from another episode that Max is listening to while walking the hallways of school.) Max suddenly levitates, lifting twenty or so feet up into the air like the other victims. Yet...the magic of Kate Bush makes a small tunnel of light for Max who's pinned against a wall, ready to be killed. She sees her friends at the cemetery, all shouting her name. She closes her eyes, thinks back on happier memories and finds the strength to fight back, get loose, and run towards the light. This scene is extremely powerful set to this song, before Max is able to barley escape, and snaps back to reality. She falls into Lucas' arms, who's hysterical and crying with worry. He tells her they thought they lost her. Here she states, clearly shaken, and terrified, that she's still here.
2) 11 Vs. 001
- It's really hard for a scene from a television show to give me chills. Well, guess what? This moment at the end of episode 7 The Massacre At Hawkins Lab did it for me. After it's been revealed that the friendly orderly who helps 11 escape, staging for how she got out at the beginning of season 1, we learn several different things. First, that the orderly is really number 001. That the story Papa told the other children that this child died years ago was false. That he's been living as a "prisoner" at the lab for years, and due to a tracker in his neck, he's weakened and unable to use his power. Poor naive 11, thinking he's her friend, helps him in ripping it out of his neck. (Was I the only one that truly thought she was going to accidentally kill him, resulting in her losing it?) Well, sadly this was a HUGE mistake and it results in 001 going on a complete massacre killing everyone at the lab, including all of the other children. Poor 11 discovers this, and after a very epic monologue, we learn the backstory of 001 aka Henry as we flash back and forth to Nancy being shown through memories connecting everything. 001 asks 11 to join him, knowing her power, and instead even at such a young age she refuses, and actually catches him off guard by using her power, and causing him to fly across the room. Angered, 001 and 11 have the ultimate showdown and for a fraction of a second you truly think 11 might not be strong enough as she's lifted up into the air, her limbs twisting like his other victims, and blood running out of her eyes. Here 11 nearly on the brink of death, somehow conjures up the memory of her birth, and the only time she ever heard her mother say she loved her. That gives her enough strength to snap out of it, and turn the tables on a truly stunned 001. Here, set to the chilling song "She'll Kill You." from season 1 she's able to blast 001 through a two way mirror, and pin him against the wall. Here she releases the same amount of rage she's shown in the last episodes of season 1 and 2. 001 screams in pain as he basically evaporates before her every eyes, and is banished into a gate she opens, sending him into the upside down. Between the music, 011's pained and defeated screams, and little 11 using all of her power to vanish him really does it for me. It's at this exact moment that 11 remembers what really happened that night, who Venca is, and gets her powers back. Talk about an epic scene!
1) Master Of Puppets
- Are we really surprised that this was my number one pick? It's safe to say that the Duffer Brothers, and actor Jospeh Quinn were responsible for bringing in a brand new character this late into the show and still be an instant fan favorite. Eddie Munson has appeared multiple times throughout my list, since he clearly was a scene stealer. This epic moment was shown for just a fraction of a second when the official trailer for season 4 dropped, and right away fans much like myself were pumped. I was able to put two and two together, knowing the only reason some teenager would be jamming out in the Upside Down would be used as a distraction of some sort since the Demobats were already shown in the very same trailer. What attracts bats? Ding! Ding! Ding! Sound! I knew this had to be the only reasoning behind something so over the top, that it could only work in the Stranger Things universe without being cheesy. For weeks fans tried to guess what song Eddie was playing, and for a brief time fans including myself thought he might be playing his gutter to wake Nancy up from her trance. In the end, the phase 3 of the plan to get the bats away from the house ended up being the much better written direction on getting the ultimate metal show in a different dimension! I felt Metallica was the perfect choice for a character like Eddie, and I'm sure everyone loved his shoutout to poor Chrissy who tragically died in the first episode. The epic editing of the montage of everyone fighting from different locations, as well as poor Max running around trapped was set perfectly to this truly epic song. What makes it even more impressive is that Joseph Quinn played the song himself while filming. This moment will definitely go down in one of the top moments throughout all 4 seasons of Stranger Things!
3 cheers to season 4!
