I’ve Slept (Barely) On It & I Still Believe (Why Like This? – It’s Actually Quite Beautiful Reasoning)
Playgate – Will is not Will since the end of 5x05. Everything since then is being told by the POV of Vecna / the Mind Flayer AS IF they won. “Checkmate. We lost.” (said at the end of 5x08 by the party).
Fakefinalegate – WSQK has been hinting at this since 5x08 released, and all season for that matter, and that it will “be using a backup until 11PM” UK time. Why would WSQK (that costs money and resources to keep going) still be airing if that was really the end?
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References to this analysis: The Ultimate Volume Two Analysis of All Analyses Supercut of All Supercuts Elaganza Extravaganza in Support of Byler : r/byler for evidence of meta dialogue regarding “slow and steady wins the race” “patience pays off”, etc. in the Pacing and Slow Burn Dialogue section.
Huge shoutout to u/No_Tubleweek1003 on Reddit for posting all the WSQK updates – the references in WSQK have been insane and so important to the foreshadowing of fakefinalegate. They have to mean something. It all has to mean something. Here’s my own post about all the WSQK hints I could clock before I had to go to sleep: IT ISN'T OVER - FAKEFINALEGATE : r/byler
I had heard the fakefinalegate rumours before going into volume three and honestly I didn’t think I believed it, I thought, yeah, even with Will possessed, it could be resolved in the 2h08 finale. Boy, was I wrong.
In 1x01 and 1x08, if you recall, Mike’s DnD campaign went on for 10 hours and he asked his mom for 20 more minutes to finish the campaign. 10 hours and 20 minutes. Season five as it is right now is exactly 10 hours and 20 minutes of runtime. Karen denied the extra time and they finish the campaign in 1x08. When they finish the campaign, the boys complain that it is full of plot holes, it had a crap ending, it was too easy. “That’s it?! But what about… (such and such). 10 hours and 20 minutes was not enough time to wrap everything up.
WSQK hint heard at 1:09AM MST
Vance: “Another hour might be done but it’s not our last hour. We have plenty of time left to crank it up to eleven. If you don’t know by now, our volume always needs to go up to eleven.”
To me this could mean one of two things: “the volume needs to go up to eleven.” The volumes will add up to eleven episodes. Meaning, we would get three more episodes. Three more episodes to make up for 5x06 – 5x08, the playgate episodes. Or the fake finale becomes null and void and the volumes add up to eleven hours. Meaning, we would get a new real finale that has a run time of 2 hours and 52 minutes.
We hear crickets at the very beginning of 5x08. We also hear crickets when Mike has a weird moment (a moment of realisation that it’s not real) staring into the speakers during the epilogue graduation. Hopper also says something about crickets during the Enzo date scene.
Crickets are synonymous for something THAT DOESN’T LAND. It’s what you hear when a joke doesn’t land or when A PLAY IS BAD, when something is not resonating with the audience.
5x07 Murray says, “Well, I was hoping for a slightly more delicate landing but that’ll do.” (El: “You’re welcome.”)
As soon as the “finale” ended, I KNEW I had to hop back into the WSQK station for answers because there was NO WAY that finale was real. We all got Vecna’d. We all went crazy together, we got PLAYED like a goddamn record. WSQK hints go on forever, truly. I’ve analyzed so much of it since 8:30pm MST last night, and I still think I haven’t even scratched the surface but here is some of my analyses.
Mindy Flare: “A quick PSA, if you’re still hearing static from us, we’d like to issue a formal apology. We’d hope going on a backup might have fixed things. Might be worth checking if your receiver is connected to the flux capacitor in your radios.” Aka Duffers: “I know we haven’t addressed anything, so take this as a formal apology. It’s a backup, and we thought it was the best way to go about it.”
Tons more confirmation that something is going down at 11pm UK Time and the finale is a fake (backup). Such as, “But I’ll save that story for 11pm”, “Nobody panic! We are operating on a backup but the backup is only good until 11pm!”, “We are only spinning records until 11pm”, “For now, we’re limping along on backup power”, “I hope they have enough juice in the backup (generator) to make it to 11pm tonight. Hawkins the energy never, ever, stops here. The hits don’t quit! Stick with us all the way until the bitter end.” I could go and on, but I’ll spare you the repetition.
Vance: “Mindy Flare and I will be bringing WSQK into dock at 11pm tonight. And yeah, the waters are gonna be choppy with the signal and eh, that’s all I’ve got for sea references.” Sounds very much like docking a ship. The show’s flagship ship.
Approx. 10:30AM – 11:00AM – Living On A Prayer. “Woah, we’re half way there!” Literally at the halfway mark between the fake finale and the real episodes releases for my time zone. Followed by:
Approx. 11:10AM – Never Ending Story. Our story is not over!
11:20AM – Alive and Kicking. “Stay until your love is, your love is alive and kicking.”
Faith – George Michael is like the first song to play after the “finale” wraps up.
Abracadabra – Steve Miller Band. Also don’t know if anyone else clocked this but the young cast (Noah, Gaten, Lucas, Fynn, Sadie, Millie) makes a point to talk about / bring up Mayhem by Lady Gaga, especially Abracadabra during their press tour. At first I thought, “hm that’s random”, and I love Gaga. That and Noah in press, talking about the coming out scene like this: “it felt like…almost like a play…where I had to like…perform in front of an audience.” Playgate literally confirmed.
A little nugget that, if you don’t believe in coincidences anymore, might mean nothing but they play King of Pain – The Police, if you take a look at the cover of that record, it’s literally a line of blue, a line of yellow, and a line of red. It’s giving: Mike + Will vs. Vecna.
One more for ya: “Hawkins had its first babies of the year and they’re twins! (The Duffers), The parents (Netflix? Execs?) were never expecting to buy two of everything!” – they were never expecting they’d have to make two versions of 5x06-5x08 or two versions of the finale if the “volume is going up to eleven.”
WSQK and In-Show Hints Around Anti-Conformity
“We’re making waves at the Hawkins community pool. But you gotta follow those pool rules, so WALK, don’t run.” More on this later. The emphasis on pacing and slow burn is so important.
“In true Squawk fashion, we are not going quietly.”
“Hawkins Fried Chicken: we know strange things are happening out there, but your friends are here still taking orders (our protagonists still with us, under Vecna/Mindflayer influence). A lot has changed in Hawkins, but our original recipe (original message, uplift the outcasts, staying true to it) always stays the same! Resistance is necessary. Stay vigilant.”
Lucas/Will/Dustin: “You gotta stop provoking them, man.” “You’re drawing attention! Remember what Hop said, ‘we need to keep our heads down.” “Follow the rules, blend in.” “Are you guys hearing yourselves right now? Blend in? Follow the rules? That’s not what we’ve ever done! We stay true to ourselves! We stay true to our friends. We stand up for what’s right, no matter the cost!”
Stranger Things has famously broken so many 80’s tropes: Jopper, Jancy, Lumax. In fact, the most conventional couples are the most miserable: Karen and Ted, Mike and El in season four. The show has so much content that goes against conformity. Eddie’s speech in 4x01, “Conformity is killing the kids.” “Has it ever occurred to you, we don’t want to be popular?” Lucas’ WHOLE ARC in season four.
Remember David Harbour’s speech, this is still a show ABOUT OUTCASTS FOR OUTCASTS.
Storytelling and Screenwriting 101’s
I’m taking a free screenwriting course (would be my dream to actually make it a profession) so I like to think I can share some insights about literally the most basics lessons, some of the first lessons you learn about storytelling through screenwriting.
One: show don’t tell. Storytelling in plays are very distinct and different from storytelling in film. Play storytelling is much more in your face, with dialogue being the main driver of plot, conveying emotions, and revealing motivations. Play dialogue and storytelling is complete within itself. Film storytelling is subtle, under layers of subtext, and (good) film dialogue is incomplete, speculative. Film dialogue vs. Play dialogue is literally the concept of show, don’t tell. Have you noticed how since 5x06, the storytelling has become much more tell, not show, much more in our faces and overproduced. And don’t even get me started about that epilogue. The lighting is identical to the lighting they use in Henry’s world (Creel House in the 60s). The staging? Take a look at the scene of El “sacrificing herself” and the Upside Down disappears behind the gate. It literally looks like a stage, even with stage floor lights. There’s the “whole play within a play” and The First Shadow lore we haven’t even really explored in the show. The rooftop scene with Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, and Robin (where the hell is Vickie btw) is also completely staged like a theatrical scene. Everything in the epilogue for that matter is staged so similarly to a stage play and everything, I mean everything, is overproduced and in our faces. There is no subtlety. The costuming is off and there are so many period inconsistencies. Playgate confirmed.
WSQK nugget: “Who put that in my script? Vance (Vecna), was that you?”
Two: the key to a good ending in storytelling: it has to be shocking, and it has to feel inevitable when people look back. I mean, c’mon, this is just Byler. They will drop the Byler bomb and to a casual viewer, general audience, second-screen viewer, it would be like, “Woah, wait, what?!” And it literally just takes a montage of all the moments leading up to it to recontextualize it or a re-watch of just truly paying attention and looking out for it to be like, “OHHHH I can’t unsee it, now!”
The Duffers are ten years into their careers of being established writers/creators of the biggest show in the world. They would know two of most basic and 101’s of storytelling and they haven’t done either! Yet! Because there is something insane still on its way. I mean, seriously, when they reveal Playgate, that will actually be so groundbreaking and bends the rules of film storytelling and unreliable narrators like I have never seen before.
So why did they decide to story tell in such a way?
WSQK referring to the Stranger Things fans (real fans) / Byler community as Hawkins
We’re in the endgame, now.
WSQK makes a point to refer to the town of Hawkins in such a way it is like its addressing us, the true fans (Byler or not, even though it is endgame in the real finale), fans that care truly and deeply about these characters, about the message of uplifting the outcasts, but especially about this goddamn story.
If Playgate is real, all of us are literally made to feel like we went crazy together. We were all expecting something more and were greatly disappointed in the “finale.” What is the message: I guess the power of trauma and teamwork??? They don’t make a point of friendship or love defeating Vecna & the Mind Flayer. All they show is a montage of everyone’s past traumas as they each take a blow at Vecna (as we were just meant to sympathize with his backstory), which, I don’t know about you, but that’s not something that particularly unleashes my powers or uplifts me quite like the power of love.
With this disappointing finale, it brought parts of the community together that would otherwise likely not be open to respectful discussion. When the finale released, we had anti-Bylers in the Byler subreddit, apologizing and sympathezing with us on the Duffers’ behalf for their queerbait. There was a unity in the fact that we all wanted something more. That that couldn’t possibly be it, right? Uniting the fandom to ALL want a better ending to this story. I’m talking about true fans btw. I know certain casuals, general audience, second-screen viewers are claiming it was “the perfect ending” but to them I say, “Respectfully, you don’t know your elbow from your goddamn asshole when it comes to good storytelling.” And, sure, it was very cinematic, the battle was very cool! You could even say almost everyone had their own moment and they had their closure (except for like, y’know, our main characters from the beginning: Will, Mike, and El). It had its emotional scenes, sure, but you can’t deny that at the same time, it felt overproduced, forced, disingenuous, fabricated, and most importantly: not our show anymore.
WSQK about Hawkins as the fandom (Byler nation, rise!) communities:
“This town knows how to come together and that’s what you’re all doing right now. Hawkins, be kind, rewind.”
“The community of Hawkins is what makes us proud. Why would you want to live anywhere else?”
Can I just say, this town is the best town in all of America! (this is giving Byler nation ngl lol) This town is special, it has this infectious energy, the community spirit is always there, just these bonds of friendship everywhere you look :’). Stick with us for as long as you can (!!!).”
“We are asking residents to check in on their neighbours after last night’s New Year’s celebrations.”
“Hawkins high marching band is making the rounds around the neighbourhood. Right…because that’ll make all those soreheads so much better…the marching band says their aim is to lift spirits and bring our community closer together. Let’s see if they can actually play in time together, shall we?”
“Power company is saying repairs are under way, though they have given no explanation for the outages (Duffers). Some locals say the outages follow a pattern (queerbait), while others say it’s just dodgy (meaning dishonest and unreliable) and just bad luck (it’s just a case of “in over their heads”. But in true Hawkins style, the community is coming together to support each other.”
“The majority of Hawkins will be carrying on with their usual and every day lives (GA, casuals, second-screen viewers).
Pacing and Slow Burn – Why is this so important?
What we saw in volume two and what it could mean for the show:
Firstly, I just want to start off by saying, that the Jancy scene is symbolic of being dishonest = impending doom gets worse and worse. Being true (to ourselves) is what will save us. You can read more here: The Ultimate Volume Two Analysis of All Analyses Supercut of All Supercuts Elaganza Extravaganza in Support of Byler : r/byler
Throughout all of volume two, the dialogue about pacing and slow burn is so meta it’s crazy.
Lucas and Erica (Lucas = Bylers, Erica = Duffers or Lucas = fake finale) come up with plans simultaneously on how to jack back into the hive mind and find the others in the Upside Down. Lucas says his plan is “faster, bolder, better.” He says, “your plan is too slow”, to which Erica replies, “your plan is stupid.” And as they begin Lucas’ plan, Will tells Joyce to “take it really slow.”
And indeed, Lucas’ plan ends up backfiring and almost gets Will killed and hurts the whole party. They also refer to it as a Frankenstein plan more than once. Perhaps a nod at chopping up footage and editing in such a way to pull off even more of a shocker in the end.
Dustin & Steve scenes (Dustin/Steve = Duffers/Bylers)
Dustin says, “treasure is always buried in the deepest depths of the dungeon.”
Dustin: “I thought it’d be instantaneous, clearly not.” Steve: “Why do you sound disappointed?” Dustin: “I’m not disappointed, I’m confused.” Sounds like Byler nation, innit?
Dustin: “Steve, slow down! The higher we go, the more dangerous it gets.” Steve: “All the more reason to speed up.” Stairwell proceeds to collapse and he almost falls to his death. Dustin: “As I was saying.”
Slow and steady wins the race. Another one (read it as Murray = Byler doubt lol):
Clarke: “Voyager Beta, any signal yet?” Erica: “Negative, Voyager Gamma?” Murray: “A big, fat zero over here. Your balloon experiment is a dud (fake finale). Let’s just put an antenna on the van and drive (accelerate Byler already!).” Clarke: “As I’ve said, given the uneven terrain and forested nature of Hawkins (ST fandom), a vehicle is not the most expedient way to pinpoint a telemetry tag.”
(Hm that sounds a lot like “when blue meets yellow in the west. Sounds nice if you tread lightly.”)
Dialogue cont’d – Murray: “Expedient?! We’ve been building your goddamn balloon experiment for six hours!” Clarke: “Yes, but once we trilaterate the three signals (Three waterfalls, anyone? Three more episodes, anyone?), I’ll be able to pinpoint the precise location.” Murray: “You can’t trilaterate shit if we can’t get a signal, so let’s just cut our losses now before your star student (your central ship) winds up dead.” Clarke: “Cut our losses…?! Fortune favours the bold (Duffers?). We need more height (more build up), loosen your balloons!”
Murray: “I take it all back! You mad, mad genius! (Duffers, again?)
Clarke: “Thank you. Calculation incoming, hold tight!” (!!!)
Akers: “You wanna tell me what else is going to pop out of this hellhole or should we leave it a surprise?”
Lucas: “Erica and Mr. Clarke came through!” – the slower plan worked, the faster plan just ended up hurting Will.
Lucas: “What are the odds?” Erica (Bylers): “Low as shit but I say it’s about damn time we had some luck.” (how a lot of us felt after volume two)
Steve: “How long do we think this takes?” Mike: “We better hope we have some time. Because if this is all correct,” (certain Byler theories?), “we have a lot to cover. (paraphrasing)”.
Erica: “We’ve secured the gate signal, repeat, the gate signal is secured.” (the Byler signal that will open the floodgates, perhaps?). Murray: “Tell Snookums that his timing is *mwah*! Because Santa’s sleigh is almost ready!”
Dustin: “For the record, a Rubik’s cube (a fast paced, easy to follow, predictable fake finale) isn’t even a good measure of intelligence. But your beanstalk plan (completely throwing off our entire audience because they are also under Vecna’s spell for volume two and three), seriously, only a genius could come up with that.” Steve: “I learned from the best.” “If it fails, we both go down.”
I feel like a lot of the dialogue between Dustin and Steve mimics how the Duffers may have butted heads trying to close out s5 and tie up the whole show. For example, Ross wants to throw everything (Byler signals) at us with no pacing because there’s so much evidence and it’s the final season. Matt: “no, no, no, let it pay off at the very bitter end, I promise it will pay off, it might even be genius.” Ross: “woah you’re right, this could be genius.” Lol a girl can dream. Let’s hope they are actually geniuses and pull this shit off!
“It’s a risk that we gotta take. We fly or we die.” “Then I guess we die.” “No, no, we’re not gonna die if we commit to the plan.” (5x07)
Joyce says in 5x05 - our last episode of reliable storytelling, mind you – “So we try both. We throw two dart and pray for a bullseye.” At first, I thought the two darts meant how volume one vs. volume two played out. Volume one was littered with Byler nuggets and Will had so much hope (and we had so much hope) that Mike was on the same page from all of the signalling. Then in volume two, we get basically no Byler content at all after 5x05 and we lose all hope just as Will does. And the finale is just garbage that means nothing to the story.
Now I think it is so much more than that.
On one hand, you can go for a fast-paced (too-fast paced) crowd-pleasing spectacle of action and predictability, keep it simple. Let it be fun, but don’t make any waves. Keep your heads down, follow the rules, blend in. Be a little dodgy if they start asking “but what about?” It’s glossy, it’s glitz, it’s safe (but the “majority” will like it), it’s…not our show anymore.
You can take a risk. Slow burn. Walk, don’t run. Slow and steady. Fly or die, “we’ll go down together.” Stick to the original recipe. Be vigilant. BUT. Stay true to ourselves, our friends, stand up for what’s right, no matter the cost. It’s risky, but when have we ever played it safe? Provoke them, draw attention, “resistance is necessary.” It’s our show.
So you were disappointed in the finale? – it’s not just us Bylers. It’s everyone who cares deeply and truly for these characters and this story. By doing this, it opens up a dialogue. Uniting the fandom (more than just Bylers) to ALL want a better version of an ending for this show and these characters we’ve been with for a decade! What version sounds better to you? It means giving the versions to people that never gave Byler a chance and gave them the ending that they think they wanted, only for them to be wildly disappointed. It means making GA root for a queer love story saving the day because it’s the better story. It begs for respectful (hopefully) discussion of which ending is better and it asks is it really so bad just because it’s a queer ship when it’s all led up to this. It’s show, don’t tell. It’s shocking, yet inevitable. And if it takes making us feel like we’re going crazy together, then so be it!
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