#massacre at hawkins lab

[strangertheories]

Over a week ago, the Season 4 Episode 7 script was released by Deadline. It's fully legit, even retweeted by writers. I have not seen enough people talking about it so here are some highlights.

Firstly demobats being referred to as fuckers in the official is so funny to me. I was not expecting Eddie in the official script to be quote "shish-kabobing the fucker" in reference to him killing a demobat.

As well as this Erica is referred to as a "fucking ninja!" which is so iconic. I'm glad the writers know how cool she is too.

Now I am not a St4ncy fan, no offense if you do ship it, but the quote "there are bigger problems than sexual tension." is hilarious. The writers and I seem to have the same attitude towards their relationship; uh oh.

Other beautiful quotes include Nancy landing on the concrete pool being described so eloquently.

The following quotes are less funny but are interesting to me so I thought I'd share.

For example, Nancy holding her hands out in case Robin fell was improvised! Natalia proving herself as the number 1 Ronance shipper yet again. Also improvised: Maya Hawke refering to Robin as the guinea pig.

Also the Eleven/Vecna fight was a reference to the circle test! Did not work out that parallel to be honest.

Finally, the, in my opinion, very funny line saying Dustin's tone was his issue was improvised by Joseph Quinn! Good for him, it really elevated the scene.

Hopefully this was amusing and informative and not just some random Tumblr user yelling into the void (: no Byler in this post obviously as the Cali gang weren't in the episode.

[duranduratulsa]

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[chirpsythismorning]

YES!!

This scene in the desert at Project Nina allegedly hinted at Will recognizing Brenner, according to the 4x08: Papa 8Flix script.

While it's possible (and highly likely) Will is going to interact with Owens again, to address the truth of his connection to the UD and the lab, as well as Sullivan, assuming that he's still on the hunt for El, I think it's also very likely this scene was meant to parallel a scene we already got in s4, from a flashback in the lab.

Assuming Will is 12, that means here at Nina, he could have just been recalling a repressed memory (or previous timeline? assuming we might subscribe to the time-loop theory) of Brenner, related to the shock collar, ie:

I think based on what we saw in s4, it's worth noting the test subject 13 (between 11 and 12 here above) was shown in the frame near Will/El quite a bit in these flashbacks.

I think this was partly because we were seeing El at an older age, alongside these kids who were younger, in the past. So putting aged up 11, next to young 12, in an attempt to give off that twin imagery, wouldn’t have hit as much. Whereas putting 12 next to 13, the number directly after him (paralleling 12 with 11) who also happens to look like El, could be their way of giving that twin imagery.

For example, this would be a similar technique to them focusing on 10 at the start of s4, despite him just being a red herring:

Or how they kept repeatedly showing 7 and 5's tattoos in every flashback.

Or how they focused on the twins 16 & 17 in every flashback.

It isn't because there's some deeper meaning behind these specific test subjects, indicating that we’re going to get a whole backstory for each of them in s5. It's meant to subtly hint at the overarching truth hidden within El's memories connected to the lab and the massacre.

This shot below also follows this same technique with 13. I think this sequence here could represent El subconsciously remembering her and 12 (Will). However, instead of having her directly interact with him, they have 13, her lookalike, sitting beside 12 as El sees him for the first time in the Rainbow room (in front of the red tower, which she also has a drawing of in her room).

For those that don't know, the actress who played 13 revealed that, on set, she was constantly being recognized for her resemblance to Millie in s1 of the series. So this is indeed something that I think was intentional.

To understand that collar parallel better, notice that in the lab sequence, they make a point to have 12 be visible, but with only his eye-line just barely making the frame, and with 13 between him and 11. This could simply be a hint that both Will and El witnessed these events, side by side, in the past (different timeline?) at Hawkins lab AND now in the present at Nina.

We also see a repetition of shots just like this one above, earlier in the season, where Will is being kept in the frame with El in these moments that are building up to her remembering the massacre.

These ones below kind of remind me of 12 during the day of the massacre, where we see him in the frame sort of peaking in from El's right. Also that line from the teacher had me cackling...

And then of course more twin imagery.

This is when it starts to get sort of real though, in terms of them very subtly in early s4 hinting at the massacre, placing El (and Will) in these situations that feel uncannily similar to what happened leading up to and on the day of the massacre.

That first shot from 4x01, with Will reacting to El as he walks outside to see her getting bullied, reminds me of Brenner entering the double doors of the rainbow room. We even get a shot of El looking angry after that shot of Will, almost directly paralleling to her expression upon Brenner's arrival, right before she fainted. What's interesting in this instance, is that unlike what we were shown in the massacre, here we are shown Will comforting El, even going as far as to apologize. Also note the song that plays during this moment? Crib? Yeah, the twin allegations aren't going away any time soon...

The scene at Rink-O-Mania also operates as a parallel to El's (+ Will's?) repressed memories of the massacre, with Will AGAIN witnessing El in a confrontation, freezing in response (also a lot of twin repetition going on here…)

I'm sensing a pattern here.

Next, you'll notice they took Mike out of that last shot below, with El at the center in focus. Though, why keep Will in the frame? Unless of course this was to serve a specific purpose? Perhaps to hint at the fact that Will was also present that day alongside El at the massacre, despite our assumption he has no connection to it at all?...

I'm going to end this here bc otherwise I'll go on forever. However this has inspired me to make a new part for the original twelvegate theory posts bc my latest post is from months ago, and I have quite a few things to correct from part 4 that I need re-explain and expand on!

@chirpsythismorning Thinking about this screenshot you posted.

It's interesting because Brenner didn't use the electroshock collar on El. We only see him use it to punish Two in a flashback. And now it's between Brenner and Will.

Seems like a Chekhov's gun to me. Maybe in S5 someone will use it on Will because Henry is trying to control him? Or they want to block his powers? Maybe Sullivan and/or Owens.

[hawkinslibrary]

Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, and Max Mayfield Stranger Things 4 Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab | 4.07

[lokiiied]

i literally cannot with this scene. i decided to count how many times there’s a steddie glance/eye/contact and i just cannot believe what a fucking gold mine it is. first up: double side glance from eddie

(please excuse my own shitty gifs) then we have mirrored full head turn:

next up: (my personal fave) is we noticed eddie’s hand on steve’s shoulder AFTER the moment was over but I have just realised that eddie’s hand was ALREADY there before they were celebrating the “hi” -> you may need to look closely here but trust, eddie’s hand does not move from steve’s shoulder this entire duration. and then we have steve touching eddie’s shoulder for a moment - which means their arms are definitely overlapping/there’s mutual contact- ITS THE LITTLE THINGS OKAY ??

just gonna drop this much better quality gif (from @jeysuso) here as well for the moment eddie & steve both realise his hand is still there and eddie immediately becomes self conscious and doesn’t touch him again lol.

and then of course we have this moment where they’re being dustin’s dad’s but then eddie is also just gawking and the way the scene cuts between their two lines looks like there was definitely a take where they were looking at each other the whole time lmao and basically i’m really mentally unwell okay you guys. i’m just. they are down bad. this whole scene (including robin and nancy)…? is just a fruit salad.

[chirpsythismorning]

S5 opener REAL

[itswhatyougive]

Steve's breathy little "Easy, easy...." said whilst Eddie is climbing up the blanket rope lives rent-free in my head

[henrysglock]

“H3ntty was true love” truthers and “Henry is a psychopath” truthers are locked in a room together. They are required to fight to the death or until one of them verbally submits. For my entertainment. Enrichment in my enclosure.

[theafictionados]

Every Afictionados Best Line Award (Sam)

Stranger Things Episode 407: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab by the Afictionados Podcast Network

[ectonurites]

a hawkins lab screenshot study

[byler-alarmist]

Screaming and shitting myself because in 4.07 when Eddie tells Steve how the two ladies came in right after him, Steve looks over at them and they literally showed Robin and Nancy walking closer and closer together and filmed it in a way that looks like they are holding hands

[a-shadowedvales]

so… in the additional media of stranger things (specifically the comics i’m mentioning), it was initially brenner’s idea/plan to kill off the other test subjects because they weren’t performing as well as eleven was. it was his best solution because that way, all the resources, time, and money could instead be placed only to her. and i just…. sure henry is a fine character and the massacre makes a lot of sense to me, but i think i am once again gonna change up my canon to actually fit this potential narrative instead.

i genuinely think the comic canon of the lab and brenner is far more intriguing than the show. everything with 9/9.5, ricky, and francine. eleven being the only one who grew up completely in the lab. those other kids were either volunteers, well into their teens, or had some semblance of a home life. eleven was the only one practically moulded from the womb. and they all had such a range of interesting powers. i firmly stand with the idea that jane is the only one who can contact the void.

brenner’s entire point of view on the lab subjects changed the second he found out terry was pregnant. he discovered he could steal this baby and make her his own. there would be no convincing the child because it’s all she would have ever known. because of this, i would not put it past a man like brenner to kill the other subjects for the sake of the “greater good” in this case, eleven.

eleven’s gifts just continue thriving beyond his wildest expectations. brenner would never dare assume that having moulded her from the womb, she would still be able to grow into her own person, her own mind, and one day be able to see him for exactly who he was.

back before season four aired, it was obvious there were other test subjects because jane was 011. so there were at least ten kids before her. but i always liked the idea/assumed that she was the last experiment because she was the most successful. that they didn’t need anyone after her because she was fulfilling everything they set out for her to do. with flying colours.

i just think the whole rainbow room idea, pitting the kids against each other thing… been there, done that. boring and predictable. i think at this point my portrayal of her time in hawkins lab really stems from the complete isolation she endured. where having the rainbow room, although eleven was obviously the most isolated out of the kids, brings that sense of community and sister/brotherhood. albeit extremely warped and toxic. knowing that she wasn’t alone in that experience just. doesn’t sit well with me. i think it’s important to note that she was alone, physically and mentally. which is why kali is also so important to her growth. i thought a lot of the flashbacks of her time in the lab during season four was really boring, repetitive, and just very predictable. although peter becoming vecna was a surprise to me, and was a nice little twist, the idea of her having an ally on the inside was really interesting.

maybe they did get as far as they do in canon, peter ballad was telling the truth about everything, about some of the workers there being prisoners like him, and he really wanted to get her out and to safety. but before they can escape through the pipes, they’re caught. peter is shot on the spot, and eleven is put into the isolation room for a few days as punishment. in this timeline, henry would be vecna, but henry would not be peter ballad.

when eleven turned seven, and was already showing extreme promise, where the other children were average at best, brenner had the eight children killed. kali had already escaped. this was the main cause for peter to gain eleven’s trust and try to get her out. because if brenner could murder his “children” in cold blood, there’s no way eleven was safe even in spite of her power.

when eleven is allowed out of the isolation room, her testing becomes more rigorous in attempt to distance and make her forget about what she attempted to do with peter. brenner begins gaslighting her, saying that there was never a peter, that she must have been dreaming. eleven does ask “papa” about “mama”, given peter told her of the day terry broke in the lab, but brenner is convincing enough to make eleven believe it was all in her head. say she is around eight years old, meaning the same timeline of season fours canon flashbacks.

i still do wanna keep the henry creel canon, and keep him as 001. brenner didn’t have him killed alongside the other test subjects, because who knows, one day he could become an even better asset than 011. brenner definitely wants to be able to control henry, but keeps the chip in him because, for the moment, doesn’t know how. killing him would be too big of a loss.

when eleven is ten years old, henry’s concealed powers break free and he manages to get the chip out himself, and unleashes hell onto hawkins lab. he almost kills brenner by snapping his bones, but eleven manages to stop him. her extreme abilities are unleashed, and she sends henry to the upside down. she does fall into a coma due to the extremity of the situation, but she does not forget what happened. brenner believes she’s the perfect weapon as she stepped in to save him without a second thought, was able to defeat henry, and opened a door to something he never thought possible. eleven is rewarded for her efforts. although she remembers the entire battle / confrontation, her memories regarding the portal are very hazy.

brenner decides not to focus on the portal straight away, instead gets her training harder and harder to see what else she can accomplish. also loved the idea of brenner sending her into the void to “look for him�� so that will definitely be kept.

by the time she escapes and season one begins, her knowledge of the upside down is basically what we see in canon. because she passed out the moment after she sent henry away, she was once again gaslighted into believing she merely threw him through the glass and killed him. for two years she believed this, until making contact with the demogorgan, and those memories return completely.

due to her saving brenner’s life, (it was pure instinct. she happened to be there. saw her “papa” hurt and knew she had to make him better.) brenner constantly thanks her. but in a very condescending way. tells her: “you saved me so i can continue saving you.” aka, harness your abilities and see what else i can achieve from you. despite the fact that she saved his life, these words and phrases make her feel indebted to him. that she owes him something further.

i don't realistically see her thriving with her speech improvement until she's well into her twenties at least. her slowed development, sensory and social deprivation causes a serious delay in language. surrounded by other children she would have overheard conversations, some would have spoken to her. her conveniently forgetting her upbringing pre the battle with henry just isn't good enough for me anymore. it makes more sense for her to have been raised alone.

it also helps indicate why she gravitated towards the boys when they found her in the woods. they would have been the first people her age she ever remembered seeing. as far as she knew, during the lab there was no one like her. everyone was much older, they were adults-- although she stayed with benny, i'm not sure if she would have stuck around very long. where she followed the boys home without thought.

also it's important to note that after time, jane does understand that peter ballad was a real person, and was truly the first person (aside from terry) who wanted the best for her. when she remembers him, knows that brenner was lying, she deals with immense guilt regarding his death. he was shot right in front of her eyes, because he was trying to help her. this is another catalyst as to why after season two, jane never refers to brenner as papa. she does not give him that sort of credit.

[aemiron-main]

analysis snippet from a post im hoping to have finished today: not only are the eyes NOT gouged out in that second shot, but that’s straight up not the same kid. hell, that second one is a GROWN MAN.

[castleclerics]

SOOOOOOOO if you sync up the massacre scene at the beginning of 4x01 and the one in 4x07 the exact same time the doors close (dw i made sure it was exact down to the first sound of the door beginning to close, then the second sound of the full close so trust me lol) when brenner heads out with 10,

...you get these parts playing together:

???? DEMOGORGON NOISE THE EXACT MOMENT THE DOOR HITS BRENNER.......

andd if you let it play further, the door for the demogorgon in russia open the exact same time as brenner opens the rainbow room doors like both the shots change to the doors at the exact same millisecond:

and right before the video starts ^ el's lines "what if i make it go away? you help me, i help you." happen as soon as brenner turns his attention towards the door and idk it just got me thinking:

"what if i make it go away?"

"you help me"

"i help you"

idkkkk like i already theorized that the demogoron was a henry so either like they're alluding to that or the demogorgon commiting the massacre in one timeline ? sopmething somethignifgn el sending henry/the demogoron through the gate so brenner made el retrieve him later on ????

something is here idk especially when you think of this and how we still don't have an answer for it if it was just the demogorgon:

anyways take all of this as you will and now that i think of it i could've sworn i saw someone make a post about how the demogorgon could've done the massacre so link me if u come across that tyy

[hawkinslibrary]

Stranger Things 4 Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab | 4.07

[givehimthemedicine]

BRENNER WTF IS YOUR DEAL

before the circle game Brenner warns the kids "if you allow anger or emotion to invade your thoughts, you will fail. I promise." not you'll be disqualified, but you'll fail. he's addressing all the kids, but he says it extremely pointedly to El, because he's already suspicious Henry has coached her.

Brenner knows emotion would work, and clearly the first place his mind went when he saw Henry and El together was that Henry might have taught her to use that tactic.

Brenner must want the kids trained to use their powers in an entirely sterile and robotic and controllable way. he must have learned from Henry years ago that emotion-driven powers makes them too uncontrollable so he doesn't want the other kids to know that's even a thing. that's why he says it won't work instead of don't do it.

but El does exactly that, and it works, and Brenner absolutely saw what happened. his "it looks like we have a new winner" is definitely displeased and begrudging, and he hauls Henry off to be zapped immediately after this because he knows what he did. meanwhile El's win is not only honored but she gets her reward (time in the rainbow room).

why wouldn't Brenner also discipline El?

ps notice that camera pointed through the one way mirror - is Brenner filming Henry being tased or is it just sitting there from a prior experiment? also the sign on this door says "test room 1" lol

I know Brenner didn't technically say "don't do this," but at the heart of it, El still disobeyed him. isn't not only defying his instructions in front of the kids, but giving them all the idea that emotions do work, a REALLY bad offense, one he would want to harshly stamp out? strict discipline and fear of authority is Brenner's only real tool for keeping in line a room full of kids who could all kill him with their minds if they felt like it. why did he just let this go - in fact, reward El - instead of making an example of her?

and why does Brenner seem caught off guard by this considering it's very likely happened before, resulting in an escape??

Kali's angry-memory-training method is too similar to Henry's for her not to have been coached. Kali might not be as empathetic as El but I could see at least a couple reasons Henry might bond with her in particular (having similar powers, and both having been kidnapped as kids, depending how much their memories have been tampered with)

but anyway, it makes no sense for Henry to be an orderly if Brenner's motives are what they seem.

if the risk of Henry influencing the kids is so great, why on earth allow him access? why not keep him isolated? what does Brenner gain from Henry's proximity to the kids, or theirs to him, if he's not supposed to teach them anything?

why does Henry go along with the orderly lie for like 15+ years? either the few next-oldest kids never knew him as One, or they did but had their memories tampered with. they would've been of useful ages a decade before the massacre, couldn't he have manipulated one of them into removing soteria?

is he forbidden to have solo interactions with the kids like he did with El at the plinko board? Brenner looks immediately concerned when he sees them sitting side by side. is that the first time Brenner's ever seen that happen? (seems not, given his accurate suspicions)

if Henry's not supposed to interact with the kids, why is he not actually prevented from doing so? he gets zapped for it and then goes right back and does it again! he plays one-on-one chess with El and has a whole ass secret conversation and passes her something under the table! He gives El a specific warning at the start of it to act normal, but she acts very suspicious, and not only does El LOOK RIGHT AT THE CAMERA but so does Henry! does he think it's being monitored or not?

this is either a series of bafflingly careless and inconsistent moves on Brenner's part, or this is being permitted. but he really does look pissed about the circle game, and I can't figure out what he stands to gain from letting Henry influence the kids (but while pretending that isn't what he wants). surely an escape and/or death of his test subjects is not a desirable outcome, nor is Henry turning the kids against him (that's the #1 thing I'd be paranoid of, in Brenner's position).

I'm basically certain that some of NINA is a fabrication and/or a misleadingly incomplete cherrypicking of memories. I just can't decide exactly how far it goes or who's fooling who in which parts