fourgate - The foreshadowing of the number 4 in stranger things
moots who are following me for little while longer will know that I am obsessed with the number 4 in Stranger Things.
And while during all my findings I was struggling to see a pattern I think I finally cracked the code... Well mostly at least.
I will split this in parts. Because it's way easier for me to do it season for season.
Fair warning: I am just a human and as of now I didn't made a full rewatch so there is a big chance that this analysis will miss some mentions of the number 4. I tried to include as much as I remembered so just lean back and enjoy!
General
The number 4 is generally a bad sign in the show. Obviously since S4 we can connect the number 4 with Vecna/One/Henry because 4 chimes, 4 kills, 4 gates. But the number was a bad thing way before we learned about him and his plan.
This analysis will cover mostly obvious mentions of the number. Mentions meaning showing the number in for- or background or a character talking about this number. I will only concentrate on those (mostly). There are a lot of subtile mentions in the blurry background, digit-sums or as part of a number. I won't cover those (for now) because for that I would have to rewatch ST completly at half speed. And as of right now I don't have the time to do it so I will concentrate on this for now.
The number generally foreshadows something bad happening in some more or less immediate response after the mention. More or less immediate means that it can be directly afterwards but also take a while. The scenes will always be in direct connection between showing/telling of the number and the bad thing happening but it's possible that longer scenes and cuts are between the mention and the bad thing happening. (You will know what I mean)
Season 1
So let's get started with season 1. You may wonder, if the number 4 plays a huge role in Season 1. And yeah it definitely does.
The very first time the number is directly mentioned is in this scene
The party had to end their campaign and Will, Dustin and Lucas are leaving. Dustin talks about how Nancy has a stick up her butt and that she used to be cool because she did dress up for campaign. And Mike responded with Four years ago.
And hopefully you remember in what bad thing this mentioned resulted.
Do I need to say more?
This is what I mean when I say less immediate. The scene with the mention is directly connected to the bad thing.
Just wanna add that there are two honorable mentions of the number 4 in this scene.
First when we get told that Will needs to roll a 13 (digit sum 4) to defeat the demogorgon and later when Will wants X-men issue 134 as reward for winning the race against Dustin.
The second Time the number 4 is very obviously shown is in E3. When "Will's" Body is found in the quarry. THIS is the reason I started to dig into this number!
Again. Every fan on here knows what comes next, don't you?
So let's get ready for the third.
Looking at this scene you may ask what bad is coming in more or less immediate context. And I get what you mean but let me explain okay.
Yes, yes I know there are a lot of things happening between Dustin saying he joined the party in 4th grade and Mike jumping from the cliff. BUT it's still in direct connection. Mike and Dustin are on their way to find El in the scene where Dustin mentions the number 4. El destroys the door in the grocery store. Mike and Dustin search for her in the woods and then they get hunted by Troy and James. It's takes it time but it's still in one context.
The one's shown above were very obvious mentions. The following one's are more subtile but I still count them for this analysis,
Yes it's not directly the number itself but 4 paws are not coincidentally. (Have tigers 4 paws I don't know). This "Mention" is resulting in the Demogorogon coming through this Wall.
Next one supporting my mention:
It's 10:04 and results in this:
Just for confimation about the time:
Additional background mention:
Part 2 will come in the next days. If you find a mention of 4 in any season that might fly under the radar please comment/reblog it on this post.
