Once a fangirl, always a fangirl

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Between all the time shenanigans that are being speculated about for the new content, it just led me to think the following.

We know S4 starts with El's letter to Mike saying it's Day 185. Then it's March 22, which is, of course, Will's forgotten birthday. And Vecna's first kill happens at the same time.

But Day 185 actually takes us back to September incorrectly, as fans pointed out. Following the ending of S3 on the 4th of July, and then three months later when the Byers move to California, 185 days would place us on April 7, which is canonically Mike's birthday.

April 7 is also important because it's the same day Vecna's fourth sacrifice would take place, with Max surviving in the cemetery in Lucas' book, Lucas on the Line. An obvious timeline change to finish Vecna's ritual.

And yes, I know these books are officially considered soft canon due to all the inconsistencies, but similar inconsistencies have also been found in the related merch and other marketing materials. One is a coincidence; two is a pattern.

So Max is saved by Kate Bush while the famous lines are sung: "And if I only could I'd make a deal with God And I'd get Him to swap our places..."

And the next thing we know, in S5, Will and Mike swap the watches on their hands, and all the marketing materials states Mike was in the Upside Down, not Will.

Maybe the real story happened offscreen, just like the Duffers said (but I'm hoping to see it onscreen too).

[bessthevoyageur]

Anniversairy Post hinting second chance with victory?

On the 10th anniversary memory lane instagram post

“Biking our way down hawkins memory lane”, more like getting through a shopping spree? Because this is basically what it is: a series of ads and product placements “celebrating” the 10th anniversary in a social media post consisting of 9 clips from the show. And not in a subtle way, but by showing actual store scenes or more than obvious product placements where the characters consume and “sell” the product to the audience. Which is an interesting choice for a post that was meant to convey nostalgia, including favorite scenes with fanfavorite characters to bike down memory lane.

Between the heavily commercialized celebratory post, it makes an exception for two actually important, plot changing D&D scenes. The first is the S1 D&D scene kicking off the entire show plot, with Will deciding to fireball the Demogorgon unsuccessfully when he rolls a 7. “The Demogorgon... it got me.” The other scene is the Hellfire Club one with Erica rolling a winning 20 and helping the club members finally defeat Vecna.

The fact that no meaningful scenes got included besides these two very important D&D ones makes me think that they want us to focus on these two specifically important scenes because the others, just like the visuals tell us, are the noise. I mean, they could have picked any meaningful interaction scenes where the same characters interact, but no, they chose these seemingly randomly picked yet alike scenes which are heavily commercialized, practically an ad. Very fitting for an anniversary. Actually, the use of commercials reminds me of the WSQK sync where we found out all the significant scenes can be synced with a matching track while the Mileven scenes are synced to a radio ad like Melvald’s or Scoops Ahoy’s. Again, no need to pay attention, this is just noise.

The use of these specific D&D scene choices could have been a different scene as well. Why not pick the episode 8 campaign which actually ends in victory for the party at the end of S1? By revisiting these specific scenes, the narrative suggests it has been deliberate. What happens exactly? In S1E1, Will rolls the dice, then the campaign abruptly ends when they are called for curfew. We don’t know Will's fate until he tells Mike it was a 7. Will took a risk, but we learn later that he didn’t succeed. Doesn’t it parallel with the S5 ending, taking the risk of coming out, a finale battle in less than 10 minutes, and learning later that the party didn’t actually succeed (if you followed the clues)?Meanwhile, in S4, the campaign is almost lost. Dustin and Erica are the last two standing. After Dustin fails to roll the number needed, they get a (second) chance to roll the dice by Erica and defeat Vecna once and for all. Just like we would expect this ending in the new content, after everyone, including the audience, has lost hope.

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No confirmation yet, but releasing VHS editions of the show, one season at a time, starting with S1 today, would be the smartest move Netflix could make with the series.

They could gradually add new content from season to season, leading up to S5. Then, finally, release S5 in its originally rumored duration, with an extra 1–2 hours per episode, or even better, a Side B.

Maybe the changes wouldn't be obvious in S1, but the GA would slowly realize there's actually new content as the differences become more significant, thanks to Brenner's tape manipulation. That would naturally encourage people to revisit the show from the beginning (= more subscriptions).

They could release all five seasons over the span of five months, in one season per month style (= more subscriptions), ending it with S5 properly on November 6.

I'd take this if Netflix is committed to it.

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What are the general thoughts regarding the Emmy campaign? Now that it's almost July, I've started to embrace the worst (idea), that all this social media promo over the past few months has been an engagement bait for the series, to show that fans still care about the franchise while also making it more attractive for an Emmy nomination. This is based on how closely the Emmy nomination finalization lines up with the 10y anniversary, with only a one-week difference (of course, I'm aware of the potential November 6 date, but it would be such a missed opportunity if we don't get anything for the anniversary, imo).

Then again, the For Your Consideration campaign is also a massive opportunity not just to campaign for awards season, but to promote the show to the GA (and remind them of its existence!). Since it’s almost delusional to think that S5 deserves any of the major awards, promo is still promo, while also potentially getting the audience ready for a surprise drop? The perfect covert strategy. And some of the For Your Consideration posters I’ve seen popping up could really play into the idea that it’s not over.

But of course, it wouldn't be the first to misjudge a major corporation.

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Few thoughts, questions on TFS after seeing it on the West End.

Something about Joyce talking about a play within the play: a secret play that will be revealed only on opening night, with no announcement whatsoever. She knows it is risky, but if they pull it off, it will change everything.

The secret play, Dark of the Moon, revolves around the destructive power of fear, can love defeat fear? Pretty sure we heard that before. Also, did anyone see it? It cannot be a coincidence that it's shown on the West End until the end of summer.

Henry missing his own play, maybe that’s why he is so invested in putting on a play in S5 with the party? Since we know the characters have been “cast” based on the promo materials.

TFS manages to humanize Henry to the fullest extent, showing that he is only a victim of the circumstances and the people around him: his mother, Brenner, and the MF’s growing influence on him. The same question: can love defeat fear? During the promos, we’ve been told many times that TFS parallels the show, how Creelby parallels Byler and how Henry is a foil to Will’s character. Yet at the end, the resolution of ST misses this important aspect by putting on a full five-minute Marvel-like action sequence as resolution. If no new content comes, the mere existence of Henry’s origin story will mean little (since the GA still knows Henry as a psychopath). And narratively speaking, S5 also ends with our main characters acting out of fear (Will’s coming out, El’s sacrifice). In what world is this a happy ending in a coming-of-age story?

In general, why go for a play for a Henry spin-off? I don’t remember whether this question was answered before. In most cases, West End and Broadway productions are considered not profitable, especially short runs, due to high production costs (even if they are sold out). This is most likely true for a high-level production like TFS. No wonder about the recent announcement of closing dates after declining sales. I mean, they could have gone with a movie, TV show, or a book, which would more likely recoup the investment, but with the play they can remain on theme.

Besides the appreciation of the production (seriously, it was one of the best I’ve seen in a while), I noticed some inconsistencies. One prominent example that cannot be simply ignored is the night Henry kills his mother and sister. We know from S4 that Henry fell into a coma right after, but in the play this turns out differently, with him going to the school on the night of the play for Patty? This is such a big turning point that it feels like it would be an easy mistake to avoid, unless this is deliberate due to some alternative timeline happenings/ or this is what gets fixed for the Broadway proshot?

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At this point I’m convinced, based on the theatrical release of Tales from ’85, that two things could have happened with the budget of S5, which was significantly higher than S4, yet the season we received was lesser in every way possible.

With no extra episodes, they really couldn’t spend all that budget (I mean, where could they really?), and now Netflix is throwing that money at everything they can, including the already hated animated spin-off, to boost the popularity of the franchise one last time.

We will receive extra episodes, but before that, the Duffers and Netflix decided to make history by running the most elaborate marketing scheme to deceive the fans who still care about the story. They’re bringing the spin-off into theaters that just feels and looks 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 after watching all 5 seasons, but with the existence of conformitygate, it might make sense (because let’s be honest, the majority of the GA already moved on long ago).