#dr. brenner from stranger things

[kvtnisseverdeen]

i swear nolan got every actor possible in this movie like this is the real hollywood multiverse right here

[spookystarfishzombie]

[chirpsythismorning]

Idc what anyone says I’m scared of this man…

[sleepwalk-living]

vecna could read minds and see peoples deepest fears right? and el was quickly on her way to becoming on his level of power. what if she gets to that level and takes a peek into will or mikes- (gunshot)

[strawberrybyers]

found this in my notes app:

the way henry/vecna/001 describes his story about how dr. brenner started the program WITH HIM makes me think that some, if not all the children, are henry’s ?? because henry says “he tried to recreate me”, expresses his gratitude for el being born, and implies the similarities between him and el. WELL doesn’t that sound like dr. brenner would’ve used henry’s dna?? i mean when you think about how dr.brenner came into contact with henry it’s because he killed his own family. i don’t think dr. brenner went out and sought other children like henry. he already had him and if he wanted more of them, then why not just take his DNA, impregnate women without them knowing and then take the children?? this would also explain the usage of dr. brenner being called “papa” because yeah, he was the main male figure in these kids lives but also he truly did help create them therefore indirectly being their “papa”. it’s kind of like the relationship between frankenstein and victor.

[catinfroghat]

I went to see the stranger things play and I was right at the front to the side so there was this scene showing bond forming between vecna/henry and papa/dr brenner where dr brenner was holding henry and hugging him after he had a breakdown and I couldn't see them properly so I fully thought they were making out I was like "HUH" and then dr brenner was all like "father ... and son" I went "YELCH???" man what the hell that was the biggest jumpscare of the entire thing

[rotisseries]

stranger things + quotes from my friend's cursed quotes list pt 2

[cringengl]

I got an unofficial stranger things book a while ago and it's so funny because they completely refuse to acknowledge Will's sexuality😭😭

Like they do these episode summaries and no where do they mention the rain fight or van scene. Yes, they're supposed to be short and factual, but not even spending 1 sentence on the van scene, even though it's so important to Will's character??? Anyway, here's an excerpt from Will's character profile💀💀

Like yes whilst it's true that Will not wanting to 'grow up' by getting a gf is probably be due to him trying to take back the childhood he lost when he got kidnapped, but I think it's a mixture of that plus the fact that he's gay.

A massive part of the rain fight is about the fact that Will doesn't like girls and it hints that he likes Mike instead as he thought that they would play games together for the rest of their lives😭😭😭😭😭

[thelostsisters]

something about the fact that vecna targets young people who a) are victims of child abuse and/or b) feel guilt towards the death of another

something about dr. brenner being a known child abuser who consistently gaslights el throughout the season 1 + 4

something about henry through his illusion of lucas telling max “normal people don’t fantasize about killing other people”

something about the creel family murders taking place because henry was afraid of being taken by dr. brenner

something about henry wanting to be “a predator, but for good”

something about kali’s “we will always be monsters to them” and henry’s “to your papa you are nothing but an animal, a monster”

[love-byers]

mike's weird language when he talks about el and their relationship

part of the equation of stranger things relationships is building the relationship through emotional connection, not physical intimacy and outright saying how you feel. it's a trope in st that the couples refuse to admit their feelings for some time before getting together. "we're just friends", "she's not my girlfriend" etc etc. the denial is super endearing. and even when the couples are finally together, this doesn't change. they're literally just the same duo same friends, but they kiss sometimes. they barely even acknowledge that they're together. it's a great trope in my opinion.

so a couple years ago i was rewatching st and made a list of everytime mike said something weird. meaning, every time mike did not adhere to this formula and stood out from the rest of the couples. i made a tiktok about it too so im basically quoting that in this post. something i stressed in that video was that because we have the other couples as source material, clearly the writers are capable of not doing this. they are capable of writing a good serious relationship, but they're choosing not to with mlvn. so keep in mind, the other couples (besides maybe stancy) do not do this and mike is supposedly, according to his own words, is madly and deeply in love with her throughout all of this and knows it.

Season 3

"Romantic time with my girlfriend."

i'll cut this one some slack, it's just that if you were truly madly in love it would be more like "I'm spending time with el". but thats all he views it as, romantic time with his girlfriend. going to his girlfriends house to make out with her. romantic time with his girlfriend. not bonding with the person he loves.

"Did you think we were never gonna get girlfriends?"

mike is hyperfocused on the word girlfriend. she's not el, the person he loves, she's his girlfriend. he doesn't say "did you think we were never gonna fall in love?" and look i get he's only like 14 here but it's the fact that he later claims he was in love with her the entire time and knew it. he literally claims it was love at first sight.

get girlfriends. he got a girlfriend. he didn't fall in love.

"It's not my fault you don't like girls!"

again the hyperfixation on girls, get a girlfriend, liking girls. mike, why are you more focused on the fact that el is a girl and your girlfriend than the fact that she's el?

"You're the most important thing to me in the world."

finn's delivery of this is so.....

and the fact that el just stares at him blankly afterwards, like she did not buy that lmao

Season 4

"That's because she's my girlfriend, Will!"

it's not "that's because i love her and want to talk to her" or something like that, it's "thats because she's my girlfriend and that's what you're supposed to do when you have a girlfriend" not "because she's el and i love her". that plays into mike's whole charade in lenora, he's just doing things he thinks he's supposed to do when you have a girlfriend.

"You're a superhero!"

that has nothing to do with who el is as a person, especially at that moment because at that time, el didn't have her powers. at the time, everyone believed they were gone, she wouldn't be saving the world anymore. but mike is still saying how incredible she is because she's a superhero.

i hate dr brenner so fucking much, but he did say something i really agree with. el kept going back to the concept monsters and heros, and he says those are things of myth and fairytale. not everything is black and white. this is real life, not a made up story with clear good and evil. and ultimately that helps her accept what happened with 001. he was 100% right there.

then here comes mike talking about monsters and superheros again like WRAP IT UP YA'LL ARE TOO GROWN FOR THIS

"You're the most incredible person in the world!"

again, he says that, but doesn't say why. he just expects her to believe him. it's such a broad statement and doesn't connect to anything about el and her personality/interests/ideas.

"Maybe I should've said something, and if I would've said that thing, maybe she'd want me there with her, wherever she is."

he wishes he'd just said it so she'd be satisfied and want him there and he'd know she's okay, he doesn't wish he'd said it so el would know in her heart that he loves her. "i love you" to mike isn't a geniune confession of his feelings, it's a thing. it's a thing that you say. it's something he thinks he has to say because that's what couples do and it's what el wants. if you fell in love with someone at first sight you do not refer to an expression of your love for them as 'that thing'.

"Maybe I was worrying to much about el. . ."

i really don't know what he meant by this. if she is the most important thing to him in the whole world and is deeply in love with her, why in the mother FUCK would he be apologizing TO WILL for worrying too much about her. there wouldn't be too much worrying when you love someone that much.

"You can fly, you can move mountains I believe that."

she literally can't.

"I love you for exactly who you are. You're my superhero."

the first time i saw this i literally thought "oh thats not..."

because it's.....not. one or the other would've been....fine i guess. but the first preceding the other is just not it. i love you for exactly who you are, and that is my superhero. is that all she is to you, mike? el expresses constant worry of being a monster, a bad person. she's afraid that she's a monster with or without her powers. but dr owens said "I'm willing to bet you're one of the good ones." fucking OWENS said something more reassuring than her boyfriend and supposed love of her life, mike wheeler.

THATS NOT ROMANTIC.

[conflictofthemind]

TL;DR: HNL was studying how to give human subjects electromagnetic, most specifically visible light based, powers in order to bend space-time for their needs.

I’m going to try and condense this as much as I can because considering electromagnetism as a major force in ST (pun intended) opens up so many potential areas of analysis that can only be a brief cover of without turning into multiple essays.

Let’s go over the electromagnetic spectrum:

I hope you might already be recognizing some symbols we see often in Stranger Things, especially if you’ve been following the BTS and some location and set leaks from Season 5.

The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses the different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation - waves of energy that travel at the speed of light (and produce visible light to us at certain frequencies). You’ve probably heard of most of these, including cancer-causing gamma rays and x-rays, the visible light spectrum (the rainbow), microwaves, and radio waves.

In S5, we have the radio station as a main location for the characters. They’re also driving around in the radio station’s van, which has an image of a hawk emitting a rainbow (visible light radiation). Steve’s car also has a massive antenna on top of it. My first thoughts were that the team was trying to keep in contact with Max in hopes of her being able to hear them in her coma, considering she has a radio near her bedside. While that still may be a reason, I think the characters may have come to realize how important electromagnetic fields could be in their fight against Vecna (this where leader of the AV Club also focused on electromagnetic objects Scott Clarke may make his triumphant return).

Now to pivot onto why electromagnetism is so important to the lore of ST:

What the scientists in Hawkins Lab are likely studying is a way for human brains to produce or manipulate certain types of electromagnetic waves through telepathy. Most obviously this is seen by them having the kids try to manipulate and turn on a circle of light bulbs. Our brains actually already produce electromagnetic waves, but at a very slow frequency. The scientists are constantly measuring brain waves while conducting these experiments. We even get full shots of El’s brain waves during NINA, for example. We also see similar shots in S2 while Will is in the HNL.

You can also observe that the Hawkins National Laboratory has absolutely massive satellite dishes on it’s rooftop; ones that do not exist on the real life building but are added in post because they pose some sort of significance. Nudge, it’s because they are transmitting and receiving massive amounts of electromagnetic waves.

Why are they studying electromagnetic waves then?

They are studying electromagnetic waves because they are a method in which time travel can theoretically be achieved - the focus of the Montauk Project in which Stranger Things is based on. The military likely is investigating time travel as another war tactic against Russia.

Let us take a look at the first chapter of the Montauk Project: Experiments in Time book (they are seriously plagiarizing the living hell out of this thing):

Also, did you catch the whole 'attaching a massive antenna on the hood of my car to pick up a secret signal' thing? That's suspiciously similar to the state of Steve's car! Anyway...

The story of Stranger Things starts chronologically, as does Montauk, with the disappearance of the USS Eldridge and Project Rainbow (named after the bending of the visible light spectrum). Brenner’s father was revealed to have captained the boat in TFS, which disappeared for 12 hours into Dimension X and when it came back, the crew was killed or driven mad (except for Brenner Sr). This inspires Brenner to continue onto the Nevada project, and eventually, Hawkins National Lab’s studies. The USS Eldridge / Philadelphia Project conspiracy from real life went as follows:

They were studying electromagnetism, specifically the bending of light, to make objects invisible. This was only the first step in the experiments. Once Henry got involved and came back from his trip to Dimension X with powers, Brenner must have realized he could potentially use human subjects to manipulate electromagnetic fields themselves. Human subjects didn’t require machinery or set up and could bend space-time wherever they pleased, as long as they were able to learn the ability.

The more conspiratiorial side of Theoretical Physics proposes using circulating light beams to warp time-space, creating a wormhole in which one can literally walk through time. This is pop-science, likely not true but interesting for fiction purposes. This method of time travel being used is heavily implied due to the fact that the USS Eldridge was already able to disappear into another dimension by the bending of light.

This is how it worked in the Montauk Project book (absolutely ridiculous how much they took from this honestly):

My guess is that in the Stranger Things universe, they have not yet managed to time travel, only to create portals into this alien Dimension X. Previously, said portals were only made twice by highly advanced technological equipment. El demonstrated that she was able to open a portal all by herself - another step to achieving time travel with singular human subjects. Season five is when we will see the beginning of the time travel plot line, though it like in Montauk is likely already in a loop.

That’s where we get the name for the Rainbow Room, named after this Project Rainbow. The rainbow represents the full spectrum of visible light, and the goals of the project to bend said light into portals and eventually time travel wormholes.

Implications?:

-Well, first of all it seems very obvious by this point that we are going for a time travel plot line, and this is how it will be achieved.

-Will is heavily connected to light in general, the sun, and of course… the rainbow. He is also implied be the one involved in the time travel plot line. This will be very relevant going forward and deserves it’s own post. Potential funniness of defeating Vecna with the power of the rainbow afoot.

-Coma patients are known to have odd, barely detectable brain waves. The kids will be able to communicate with Max in her coma using the electromagnetic spectrum somehow, probably through the radio waves.

-On the farthest end of the spectrum, we have ionizing gamma ray radiation, which is known to cause cancer in humans. Expect Hopper’s daughter Sara to connect to this plot line (and perhaps Sam Owens’ dead son). There is a whole theory on this site already called radiationgate. I have not managed to look into it yet but I think they are probably onto something there. The original al pitch mentions the UD leakage into the real world causing cancer as well.

[spookystarfishzombie]

[nothoughts-onlywomen]

Pink Floyd’s The Wall

This BTS photo has really piqued my interest. Not just because it’s clearly a hint at something for season 5, but also because it happens to be one of my favorite albums ever. So, I thought I’d do a deep dive into how it might factor into the next season.

Full disclaimer: All these ideas I’m about to verbal vomit will make more sense if you watch the film here and/or listen to the album here. I truly recommend you seek it out. Far and away, it’s one of my favorite films/albums, and it’s stood the test of time. In fact, there are certain sequences that may be a little triggering in our current US political climate (I’m thinking of the “In The Flesh/Run Like Hell/Waiting for the Worms” sequence).

War. The Wall is about war; namely, the bitter uselessness of it. The film has a lot of anti-war imagery. Young soldiers wounded and vulnerable, doves exploding into crows, a bloody cross, etc. The film ends with a culturally diverse group of children picking up rubble from the war. There’s a beautiful image where a child pours out a Molotov cocktail. The meaning there is that children are taught to hate and kill, and once they are, the joy of youth is smothered by it. Now I can think of a few scenarios where this is relevant to our crew. This could have something to do with the war against Vecna, in that our kiddos are so young to be fighting this war, and that it will inevitably chip away parts of them. For some, it may take limbs, or even lives. There may also be an assertion that Henry Creel was taught to hate, rather than it being an inevitable part of him. El suggested this at the end of season 4, when she asserts to Vecna that Papa made him a monster. The nuance within the anti-war message of The Wall is that the main character, Pink, lost his father in World War II. Henry Creel’s father went to war (the exact same war, in fact) which is an interesting similarity, but I think greater parallels should be drawn between Pink and Henry Creel in terms of how their relationship with their father (or lack thereof) led to their emotional erosion. And when I’m referring to Henry’s father, I’m not necessarily talking about Victor, though their relationship may have been complex. I’m referring to Dr. Brenner as well. Now the major difference between Pink and Henry - at least, so far - is that Pink is shown to have a soft, gentle side to him. This gets smothered as his emotional wall grows taller. I don’t know if Vecna ever had anything of the sort, but we know that Will is nothing if not gentle. And if they’re going to draw parallels between Will and Henry next season, I have to think there’s some meaning in there somewhere.

Conformity. It should be noted that the film takes place during World War II, so the conformity themes were especially prevalent in those days - the days of Hitler and the Nazi regime. Pink attends a school where the children all wear masks and stand on an assembly line, eventually to be thrown into a meat grinder. All very heavy-handed symbolism, I know. But the idea is that society attempts to suppress individuality and corner the youth into becoming part of the mindless whole. Blessedly, toward the end of the school sequence, the kids all rip off their masks and rebel. Now, in reference to our friends in Hawkins, this could be a nod to how the group has never been afraid to be the “freaks,” and that conformity is meaningless to them. Stranger Things has always reveled in the beauty of being yourself in the face of societal labels. The Wall also utilizes hammers in much of its imagery, which is supposed to symbolize the hammer pounding a nail into submission. With the individual being the nail, and the oppressive whole being the hammer. To me, this hearkens back to the “hive mind” idea. The Mind Flayer operates from this hive mind, and so any deviation from this would be quickly and mightily suppressed. I also addressed the idea of the “hive mind” in my theory about the Wrinkle in Time Easter egg, and how the planet Camazotz adopts this same concept (read here if you feel so inclined). Will Vecna be this deviation? If not, who will? One of the kids? Will Dart break away from an army of demogorgons to save Dustin? I can’t see the Mind Flayer being thrilled about it regardless of how it manifests.

Emotional isolation. Pink undergoes a descent into emotional isolation. The wall itself is symbolic of the emotional wall he builds around his heart, insofar each negative event in his life is “another brick in the wall.” Once his emotional isolation is complete, he becomes callous and disconnected with others. He fantasizes about committing atrocities, even becoming a Hitler-like figure in his imaginings. Such emotional isolation is likely present within Vecna as well, as only someone with a real disconnection from their emotions could kill people in the ways that Vecna has. That scary face on the poster, in fact, is emotion, trying to break free of the wall. A scream of agony from within. Perhaps the Duffers will explore this within Vecna. Perhaps Vecna has some small shred of humanity left that the group will try to capitalize upon. At the climax of The Wall, Pink puts himself on trial in his mind with a judge that is a literal asshole (yes, it’s as batshit as it sounds), and the wall is torn down within him. The album ends with a spoken message that loops into the beginning track, suggesting that the conundrum of emotional wall-building will never end. Perhaps the group will attempt to tear down Vecna’s emotional walls. The Duffers are good enough writers to make us feel at least some empathy for Vecna, if we hadn’t already, and this might just be a continuation of this. There is also the possibility that one of our other kiddos starts to emotionally isolate. It could be any of them: Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, El, or Max. I’m less inclined to believe it would be one of the older kids, though they’ve all certainly got their own demons. None of them will become as twisted as Vecna, of course, but I could see them struggling against their own emotional walls. We’ve seen Max do a bit of this already. It would be a real shot to the heart if the Duffers utilized a deeply sad track like “Nobody’s Home” or a wistful, melancholic tune like “Comfortably Numb” to describe Max’s consciousness literally being absent from her at the moment. I think Will is also an ideal candidate for this concept, especially if (as I suggested earlier), we are going to draw similarities between him and Henry Creel. The ending song on the album, “Outside the Wall,” postulates that those who truly love you will walk up and down outside your emotional wall, banging on it, trying to tear it down and thus forge deeper connection. We’ve seen this happen with Max a bit, and I could certainly see it happening with Will, too.

Mental illness. Pink is suggested to have a mental illness. He’s not particularly easy to slap a diagnosis on (though based on the information we do have, I might have put him in the schizoid/schizotypal/schizoaffective territory. Depression with psychotic features at the very least). Mental illness isn’t a topic that heavily explored in Stranger Things, though season 4 definitely had some poignant things to say about depression. But I’m wondering - if they do decide to touch on this somewhat - if this will hint at a deeper dive into Vecna’s psyche. Killing small animals is generally a precursor to actual murder, and this was certainly the case when it came to Henry Creel, but we have yet to really unpack all of this. We’ve gotten hints. Vecna noting that he “never forgets a kill” and “they are always with me” is a very interesting concept I will be curious to learn more about.

I would love to hear any additional thoughts on this.

[urdreamgirls-dreamgirl]

the duffers were heavily inspired by the cia’s secret operations called mkultra which targeted women, people of color, and poor people most heavily and completely destroyed their lives to experiment with torture tactics and “mind control” during the cold war, focusing heavily on experimental drug use and electroshock therapy. el’s mother in the show is a victim of mkultra and el is the product.

what the show fails to acknowledge and what would have been so fucking interesting for them to explore in a show abt GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY is that mkultra was built on the intense and extensive manipulation of the american capitalist propaganda machine that instilled fear in americans of becoming victims of these very same brainwashing tactics the american government was experimenting with but at the hands of the “big bad scary communists.”

now, in the 21st century with the benefit of hindsight, we know that the american people were being manipulated and lied to by their own government abt the “dangers” of communism in an effort to manufacture consent for wars in vietnam, south america, afghanistan, etc. that allowed the us and us-backed military regimes to torture and execute millions of people associated with trade unions and leftist organizations. we killed che guevara, salvador allende, attempted assassinations on fidel castro, and facilitated the murders of millions of regular people to maintain the lie that communism is evil and a direct threat to the american people.

instead of exploring these themes they laid the groundwork for in season 1, the duffers succumbed to the pressure of the hollywood propaganda machine and the promise of continued funding and guaranteed marketing and viewership by creating characters like dr. sam owens in season 2 that allowed their audience to begin sympathizing with the us government and framing brenner as simply a “bad apple” within a system where people were just trying their best. brenner is evil and he’s a villain, but he’s no longer a representative of the us government but rather an extremist leading a covert cell of other extremists within the bureaucracy.

in doing this, the show allowed for the introduction in season three of the big bad communist boogey man in the form of the russian government/military and thus allowed stranger things to enter into a series of media products that, though seemingly unrelated & from different studios, nonetheless all work together to manufacture consent in the present-day for us wars abroad that claim to be protecting us from the perceived threat of “brainwashing,” “indoctrination,” and, in some instances, communism/threats to the capitalist machine (think specifically marvel and star wars). “the evil communists are doing this evil thing so we had no choice but to also do this evil thing” becomes the thesis of the show—the ends will eventually justify the means.

except that now it doesn’t. because to remain a part of the hollywood propaganda industry, the duffers have to sacrifice the themes they first established at the beginning of their show. they have to abandon any characters that offer a deviation from these new themes they’ve introduced. and it’s becoming apparent that the duffers lack the talent and the ability to execute complex storylines that go beyond what was introduced in the first season—perhaps they have the ability to conceive, but they lack the ability to follow through and it’s the very nature of the capitalist structure of the white male artistic genius that has now trapped them in this position—their inability to let go and let others take over the creative execution of their product will be their downfall as their series comes to a close.

[kaspurrcat]

I'm super excited to share my final piece for the @steddiebang. This piece is from chapter four of @stargazersteddie's big bang fic Incendium. Soph's fic was so much fun to read and I enjoyed drawing this piece so much. There's so much good stuff in here (dragons) that I can't recommend it enough. Its not up yet but keep a look out for @captin-shady-mc-butts art for this fic as well.

Ao3

Summary:

In a world where dragons once roamed the earth and are now only found buried beneath our feet, the city of Hawkins is home to the future of medicine. Dr Martin Brenner and his team at Hawkins Laboratories have developed ways of using materials from various animals to treat human wounds and illnesses. But for some, receiving these transplants doesn’t just result in healing. It results in genetic mutations—transformations. And when a fire at the Lab leaves one (un)lucky burn victim by the name of Edward Munson suitable for dragon scale transplantation, his subsequent procedure results in the city’s first dragon shapeshifter. Terrified and confused, he flees the Lab before anyone has the chance to observe the effects of his mutations further.

Three years later, Steve Harrington leaves behind his comfortable routine in one of Hawkins’ dragon scale mines to personally accept a mission from Brenner: find and kill the dragon that once slipped through his fingers. Accompanied by a mysterious stranger from the forest who introduces himself as Wayne, Steve begins his hunt. But things aren't entirely what they seem, and perhaps the dragon is closer to Steve than he suspects.

[ellstinson]

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE THEORY

One of the questions I had after watching volume 2 of the fourth season was how Ellen Stinson managed to rescue the group from Russia and bring them to the United States/Hawkins. Unfortunately, because of the "Two Days Later" note, we didn't get many answers about this. I gathered some details to theorize and fanficate how this rescue might have happened until their arrival in Hawkins, and how Agent Stinson's contacts in Nellis might have helped;

KATINKA

We start with Yuri introducing his helicopter to the characters, which, according to him, would take them to the United States. Obviously, that helicopter wouldn't have enough power and fuel for a direct flight; Dmitri even tells Yuri that the smuggler's helicopter wouldn't make it to America. In fact, Katinka had never taken off, which is why Yuri said he would make some adjustments.

Joyce had the idea of calling Owens for help. After a few hours, Stinson returns the call, and after Hopper manages to convince her that it was really him, they exchange some information. Most of the dialogue is off-screen, but Stinson talks about Eleven and the Byers, and most likely, Hopper gives a brief explanation of his situation in Russia and asks her for help to get them to Hawkins. I have a theory that Ellen must have asked Hopper to provide a safe address for her to send her people/contacts to pick them up. This safe location would be "Yuri’s Fish N Fly" because the route would be a bit shorter than going directly to Hawkins, the fuel would be enough, and it would be a place already known to the characters and secluded.

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE

Nellis Air Force Base is a real-life military installation of the US Air Force in Nevada. In Stranger Things, it is mentioned in episode 8 when Eleven decides to leave Project Nina and go to Hawkins. Dr. Owens says that Stinson has contacts in Nellis and that they could reach Hawkins before nightfall.

The cool thing about mentioning that Stinson has military contacts she trusts when needed is that this could be useful again in season 5.

As we know, everything went wrong; Brenner cut Owens out at the last minute and forced Eleven to stay in Project Nina as long as he deemed necessary until her powers were fully restored and much stronger. After that, Sullivan's faction arrives at the Project Nina.

Stinson would use her contacts at Nellis to get a helicopter and send some of her trusted colleagues from Nellis to the meeting point in Alaska, with total secrecy. I think they would use a more discreet helicopter to avoid drawing too much attention.

LEAVING RUSSIA

After the final battle, we saw Yuri and Dmitri arrive with Katinka fully functioning at the prison to rescue Hopper, Joyce, and Murray and get out of Russia as soon as possible. Then Yuri would head to Alaska, specifically to "Yuri's Fish N Fly," the meeting point with Stinson's contacts. Landing there, Hopper got in touch with Agent Stinson, and sometime later the helicopter arrived to take them to Nevada.

To me, those who went with the helicopter to Nevada were Hopper, Joyce, Murray, and Dmitri.

- Hopper and Joyce for obvious reasons.

- Murray would go with them to Nevada but would later head to his home (that same year, he would move to Hawkins and start working at Bradley’s Big Buy, as the filming photos of season 5 suggest).

- Dmitri would go with them because he is now a traitor in his country, so the only way is to follow his life in the United States, in another city. Owens' friends could easily bring his wife and child to the United States and give them citizenship in exchange for secrecy, perhaps (most certainly, we won't see him in season 5).

- One interesting thing is that in the script for episode 9, there is a conversation that didn't make the final cut where Murray says to Dmitri that he could imagine him living in Indiana.

- As for Yuri, it obviously wouldn't make sense for him to leave since he has his established place in Alaska.

NEVADA

Stinson or other agents would receive them at Nellis and accommodate them at their base before heading to Hawkins by car, so they could take a shower, get clean clothes, and learn a bit about what is happening in Hawkins.

A cool detail on Hopper's cap is the embroidered golden oak leaf decoration, the same that officers wear, like on Sullivan's visor, because it has a military meaning. They are also used by ordinary people as a tribute. I imagine Stinson's contacts in Nevada giving the cap to Hopper so he wouldn't be identified

HAWKINS

After that, Stinson, Hopper, and Joyce head to Hawkins, while the other agents in Nevada took Murray to his home in Illinois. After some time, he returned to Hawkins, and Dimitri was taken to his new temporary address, possibly in Indiana or somewhere far from Hawkins.