iâve just finished vol 1 of stranger things and iâm gonna rant about my thoughts so:
â ď¸SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGSâ ď¸
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holy shit it was incredible! the vibe, the plot, the characters, all *chefs kiss* perfection. it was all amazing tbh, but iâm just gonna talk about my personal favourite things from the season.
⢠ep 4ââdear billyâ:
holy mother of god this episode. this fucking episode. possibly the best stranger things episode ever, if iâm honest. maxâs storyline this season was brilliant, dealing with the loss of her abuser/brother, high school, a fading friend groupâit was a dark twist for the character, but one that felt gritty in such a natural way. billy didnât get a redemption arc (thank god) but max still dealt with the loss in a very real, very raw way that felt so genuineâbig pat on the back for the duffer brothers there.
this episode, though. we got to see maxâs true feelings; her isolation, her grief, her suicidal thoughts and feelings. it was a real exploration of her character that made me love her all the more.
and i canât not talk about that end scene. holy. fucking. shit. the cinematography, the song choice, the way it swelled as max rose from the ground, the tension, the suspense, the goddamn flashbacks. all of it was just fucking breathtaking. i was crying and shaking the whole time. maxâs determination to get back to her family, the way she collapses in lucasâs arms. absolutely the best scene in stranger things history, and one of my favourite scenes of all time in anything ever. chills. every time. and sadie sink deserves all the awards for her performance, iâll stand by that. icon behaviour.
⢠the vecna/001 storyline:
this had me gripped from the start. honestly, i was so intrigued the whole timeâand it was played out incredibly well.
from the first scene making us think eleven killed those kids, to the big reveal that 001 had been behind it all along, to eleven blasting him into the upside down and creating vecna. phew. was on the edge of my seat from the start.
it also makes sense in a way thatâs not too perfect, but just perfect enough. itâs a reason for all previous seasons, a perfect storm. it felt like the stuff of epics, the final enemy, the final battle. mwah, i loved it.
⢠eddie, steve and dustin:
i loved them this season. best boys 4 life.
we got the steve and dustin best bros dynamic back, plus seeing how much they mean to each other through eddie coming between them. perfection. i love those little doofuses.
and eddie himself was great. brilliant character, comedic and interesting. good job joe quinn.
â˘lumax:
iâd never really hated or loved this ship before season 4. i mean, it was kinda cute, but i never got all the hype surrounding it. now, i think i do.
their angst this season was just đ¤. the way you can so clearly see that they still care for each other, the way they still need each other. lucas being maxâs safe haven. max being the one lucas is vulnerable around. amazing, spectacular. itâs clear they love each other, they just need to figure some stuff out first. my second fav ship of the season.
and here we go, my favourite thing from stranger things season 4 vol 1:
⢠RONANCE!!!!
oh. my. god. these two stole the show for me.
their dynamic was just immaculate the whole way throughâfrom bickering strangers to grudging allies to genuine friendship. it was exactly what i imagined for them and natalia and maya played it so well. their scenes were honestly my favourite. and whilst i love them as friends, iâm a feral ronance shipperâand lemme tell you, i was FED.
firstly, robin tells steve in the video store that she rambles around the girls she likes. cut to robin talking non-stop around nancy in the library. ROBIN I KNOW UR SECRET BABE.
then, we see tammy thompson (finally), who could be a carbon copy of nancy wheeler, from the style down to the heart eyes for steve. SHIT robin, do you have a typeâpopular pretty girl who falls for the preppy pretty boy? just admit you like nancy already oh my god.
robinâs obsession with having nancy like her?? the fucking lesbianism of it! like, wanting this other girl so desperately to think youâre cool that you end up being so annoying she has to shut you up with mystery and monsters? the gay agenda. needing to be her friend but you donât know why untilâoh shit, thatâs why.
the way they just complete each other!!! they bounce off each other so easily, coming up with all the plans and the genius ideas and basically saving the whole group together. the way they play off each other in the asylum, convincing the guy to let them see victor (and holy shit the way nancy looks at robin during her speech). they save maxâs life together, and are the only reason the group can save themselves from vecna and i just think thatâs neat.
finally, to address the stancy plot line. itâs clear the duffers are trying to make it seem like steve and nancy will get back together, and who knows, maybe they will. but i think (i hope) the duffers are smarter than that.
nancy and steve are the characters who have had the most development over the course of the show. theyâve both grown into themselves, become different and better people. and to have them get back together would completely defeat their respective arcs. i can see them being good friends, but i donât think theyâd realistically work as a couple again.
for one reason, it was made clear in nancyâs vecna vision that her biggest fear, the thing that haunts her most, is that she killed barb, that barb died because she slept with steve. that shit still fucks with 3 years later. and i think sheâll always associate that guilt with him, no matter what. i donât think sheâll move past that enough to have a healthy relationship with him.
for another, steve clearly doesnât know what he wantsâand i think he needs to figure that out on his own. heâs desperate for love, thatâs obvious, and heâs latched onto nancy because sheâs his ex whoâs showing interest. i think he needs to come into himself a little more before he thinks of trying a relationship.
finally, itâd be pretty cruel of the duffer brothers to have nancy do what she did to steve with jonathan to jonathan with steve. itâd be unoriginal and disappointing, and it wouldnât really make sense. at least have nancy and jonathan break up officially first, you know?
so no, i donât think steve and nancy will get back together. and i also think jonathan and nancy will break up when she realises they donât need each other anymore. they were trauma-bonded, thatâs true, but sheâs doing well on her own, and they want to take separate paths in life. so that leaves nancy a single pringle.
and whoâs right there with her? robin motherfucking buckley.
robin, who annoyed the shit out of her at first, who is frustratingly clever and infuriatingly funny. robin, who saved maxâs life, who tried to help nancy, unselfishly, with her love life when they barely even knew each other. robin, whoâs become the closest thing she has to a friend since barb.
robin, who i think is gonna save her life.
last time we saw nancy, she was under vecnaâs curse. and we all know the only way to break the trance is to play that personâs favourite song. and sure, steve might know it and thatâll be that, but what if he doesnât? what if he canât save her?
robin will step in. we saw her routing through nancyâs draws in her room, and we saw her holding some of nancyâs tapes. i donât think that was a coincidence. i think robin knows nancyâs favourite song and is going to save her life with it.
and boom. just like that, robin stops being the annoying new friend. robin becomes the life-saver, the ally, the rock in the middle of the hurricane. and nancy starts to fall for her.
but what do i know, eh?
anyways, those are my thoughts on season 4 volume 1!!!! iâd love to hear yoursâjust send me an ask, some of your ideas about whatâs gonna happen in vol 2, what your thoughts about the first volume areâlove you guys :)
Ronance should be endgame
