#st s4 vol 1

[bluescluesboos]

Go For It, Mayfield!

[foreverautumn89]

[kneeanderthal]

the awful balancing of story lines in season 4 always makes me tweak out a bit

[lizbetlovesbyler]

I’d say it took them around 8 months after wrapping season four to release the first volume.

If they want to reduce the wait for season 5 like they did season 4, and chose to break up the season in two, we could see volume one in august at the latest, then possibly volume two further into autumn.

Of course, if they split the season in two equal halves, we could see the first four episodes just as summer starts (pls don’t do that to me i have 12 exams to sit in june 🥲)

I can also see them choosing not to split up the season the same way they did before purely because season 5 is the last season, whilst s4 was somewhat of an intermediate season that was released over a longer period to maintain the hype for the show and keep people engaged.

Since ST is quite literally the most popular US show on netflix, i seriously doubt they are worried about keeping the hype alive as s5 is the last season, I can see them spending more time editing the whole thing and dropping it all at once.

It all depends on the amount of CGI compared to s4, the budget, the size of the post-production crew, and how much content they have to work with.

So here i’m thinking:

S5 is split into two equal halves: Vol 1 (e1-4) are released early summer, Vol 2 (e5-8) are released sometime in september or later.

S5 is split similarly to S4: Vol 1 (e1-5/6?) released in august and Vol 2 (6/7?-8) are released in september/october

S5 is not split and the entire season drops sometime in autumn 2025 (i can see them aiming for a late october/early november release to allign with the time of year the season itself is set in/link back to wills disappearance on nov 6th)

(very rare) S5 is released Weekly? Starting in october, ending in november - IMO this would have been great if the other seasons were released weekly, but since ST has always been formatted for a binger audience, so it might feel foreign to the audience and ruin the flow of the ending - i cannot see them doing this unless each episode borders on 2 1/2 hours long (i don’t even want to know how long this season is going to be but considering they’ve been shooting for a year straight it’s going to be so much longer than s4 despite having fewer episodes)

I know it doesn’t seem soon, but this will fly by! Plus this is purely based off s4, no one is more eager for this season to come out than the Duffer brothers themselves. I don’t know a lot about post-production, but i imagine they can hire twice as many people to hopefully get it out as soon as possible without taking away from the quality of the season.

Im grateful we still have time to be excited about new content and theorise about it because this is the last time we get to do it! Who knows when a show as good as ST will come along again, IF one will come along again?

The wait, however long, will be worth it!

Think about it like we’re closer to watching the final season than we are to when they started filming.

[doriandrifting]

Byler Parallels/Mike’s Lie

(Mild Spoilers for Rebel Robin and Lucas on the Line)

I’ve read all but one of the ST Books, and the writers of those always talk at the end about working with the Netflix team. I’m pretty sure they’re given certain scenes to put in the books and/or aware of Byler, because there’s no way some of these things are coincidences. For one, Robin ends up at prom watching her crush dance with a boy while Cyndi Lauper plays and then goes to dance with someone else. Meanwhile, in S2, Mike ends up at the Snow Ball watching Will dance with a girl while Cyndi Lauper plays and then goes to dance with El.

Then in Lucas on the Line, whenever Lucas mentions Mike being upset, he never once mentions just El. It’s always, “Will and El.” Plus we get this interaction:

Mike emphasizing “Love” when his big conflict with El is that he won’t even write it, let alone say it to her? Lowkey funny that I did find a Milkvan’s post about this, and they were all using it as proof that he did say he loved El in his letters, even though El literally tells us and shows us that he didn’t! Mike also starts off this interaction by saying break was fine and not crazy (“Only love makes you that crazy.”) Then Dustin starts talking about his relationship, and Mike piggybacks off that, and Lucas only seems to notice Mike’s better mood then despite that they’ve been talking for awhile. Almost like Mike’s lying and puts on a happy face. And then he immediately changes the focus to Lucas before anyone can comment on what he’s said.

And it’s just too specific to be a coincidence. I mean the line literally stands out as a massive lie, and it was definitely meant to! The book came out two months after the S4 Vol. 1 fight and the last third of the it is scenes from the show, so the writer was definitely aware of the storylines of S4. They knew anyone reading it would be like, “…huh? He never wrote her a love letter. That’s bullshit.”

[lordystrange]

”I don’t think they’re gonna break up Mileven. Mike and El have such a strong connection. Also Will’s arc doesn’t need romance in it, he just needs to get rid of his trauma.”

I just saw this comment on tiktok under a byler edit, and I NEED TO make an analysis. It’s gonna be good. So read it!

”I don’t think they’re gonna break up Mileven.-”Let’s start with the first sentence because it’s the easiest. I’m just gonna say, that it’s a good thing that this person doesn’t need to do the thinking for the Duffers.

”-Mike and El have such a strong connection.-” Now this is interesting. Where have we seen their strong connection? In season 1 I did see a connection between them, but that was pretty much it. They don’t have a lot of conversations, especially deep ones. When Mike in s3 tried to explain to El about love making people crazy, he couldn’t even say the word and El clearly had no idea what he was trying to say. ≠ strong connection. In s4 we had the ily scene, where Mike tried to connect with her using his experience being bullied, but El bluntly dismisses his experience. El the shares her feelings about their relationship and Mike calls her ridiculous. ≠ strong connection. And I vaguely remember in vol 2 how El was determined she needed to get to Hawkins right that second, and Mike didn’t understand her worry at all. ≠ strong connection. (Bonus: during the series we get many deep convos, heart2hearts, and shared looks of understanding or judging with Will and Mike. = strong connection.)

”-Will’s arc doesn’t need romance in it, he just needs to get rid of his trauma.”

A couple of things to pay attention here. Firstly the latter part, because you can’t just get rid of your trauma. You have to learn how to live with it. And yes, El has trauma too.

Now let’s see about the other thing. Throughout the series, we see Will going through traumatic experiences, but at all times, having the support of his family and friends. Apart from Lonnie, he has the best family in ST. Joyce is an amazing brother and Jonathan the best brother. What Will doesn’t have tho is a romantic relationship. And he’s the only one. It would be even homophobic to just leave him without one.

El on the other hand was raised in the lab, got kissed by a boy 5 days since she broke free, was hiding in a cabin for a year, and almost immediately after she had to jump into a romantic relationship with Mike. We see in the show, that El grows personally most when she’s not with Mike. (S3 with Max, S4 getting her powers and memories back) What she has lacked tho is a real family, because she even lost Hopper in s3.

Now which story do you think is better?

1. A story about a boy with a family wanting a boyfriend but not getting one and a girl with a boyfriend wanting a family but not getting one

2. A story about a boy with a family wanting a boyfriend and getting one and a girl with a boyfriend wanting a family and getting one

Let me clarify: If Will doesn’t get the love of his life, he’s arc hasn’t led anywhere. If El doesn’t get to become independent and finally start a life with a family that loves her, her arc also hasn’t led anywhere.

So, independent El and Byler Endgame it is!

[sarahivess]

Remember how mad everyone was exactly one year ago and I had more hope than ever AFTER s4 was finished. 🙈

Maybe that was because I was new to the Byler fandom and I thought Will would be rejected in vol 2 before July 1’st but because of the van scene, the ending scene and the veiled confession (+ the really bad monologue from Mike to El) I just couldn’t see a rejection happening anymore. Byler is so endgame and I have never lost any confidence since that day.

[chirpsythismorning]

I’m not going to get my hopes up, but if Netflix has to have an answer by October, when do you think filming will start then?

Hypothetically if the strike is over in Netflix's case by Oct or in general for all the studios, filming for ST would start up shortly after that. They've been ready to start filming since June, so they're pretty much just in limbo waiting rn.

There might be some cast members in the middle of something when the strike ends, so that doesn't mean every single cast member will take a flight to Georgia and be there the day after the strike to start filming. It will happen in waves, where some who are available at that time will get all their arrangements in order and make the plan to start filming while others might need a few weeks to get everything in order.

Sometimes filming happens out of order, especially with scenes that are really time consuming for VFX in post production, but still I do think that the priority will be either those scenes or scenes from the first few episodes. Those episodes are the most fleshed out script wise and they're also the episodes we're going to see sooner than the later ones. In the case they decide to split it into two volumes again, having those earlier episodes finished sooner than later allows them to then be able to edit them sooner and have them complete for releasing. So if the premiere period rolls around, and they're still behind on some parts of Vol 2, they'd be prepared to release Vol 1, with extra time to focus on the rest. Pretty much the same thing happened for S4, where Vol 1 premiered in late May and then they were still editing Vol 2 in time for it's early July release.

If the strike is officially over and all filming in the industry amongst these studios has been green-lit to return, let's say October 1st, then it's likely by mid October they would be starting filming again. Or if it was mid October that the strike ended, then maybe filming would be starting by the end of the month. If it's late October, then probably early November for filming to start. The transition won't take months, at most a couple of weeks.

Again, they were ready to start filming in June and they don't necessarily need every single actor to have their schedule free in order to start. They just need actors who have scenes alone or with other actors who are also available who they also happen to have scenes with in order to start filming. It is unlikely that whatever schedule they had planned originally for the cast back in June will be identical post-strike, as that will all presumably shift to accommodate everyones new schedules at that time of the year and going forward.

This is all a hypothatical scenario. Regardless of if the strike ends in October or September or god forbid January, which is when the Emmy's are being postponed until, Filming for ST5 would take a matter of a couple of weeks to set up and begin, and would then continue for the next 12 months following, give or take.

[wheelercurse]

hi sandy! i saw your post yesterday and wanted to ask - do you think that if season 4 had come out all at once, more people would have seen where the byler storyline is heading?

i feel like what you said is correct, that most people who shipped byler between vol 1 and 2 lost hope specifically bc they were expecting something different from vol 2 instead of what we got (with mike piggybacking off of will's feelings), but people who didn't ship byler until volume 2 could see where the story was heading more easily since they weren't burdened by any sort of disappointment from volume 2 not giving byler the resolution they expected. i'm one of those people that didn't watch s4 until after volume 2 aired, so when i watched it i was surprised that so many people lost hope bc of volume 2 since for me (as a complete GA member at the time), it was the thing that finally pushed byler into the territory of something that could actually be canon.

imo that if the season had dropped all 9 eps on the same day, fewer people would have seen the monologue as a sign that mlvn is fixed and more people would treat the will/mike/el triangle on the same level of seriousness as the jonathan/nancy/steve triangle instead of automatically assuming that mlvn is endgame and will is going to be rejected.

i also think that they would have realized more easily that the painting plot was unfinished, since the month-long wait between volume 1 and 2 made it seem like will giving up the painting/his feelings was the conclusion of that storyline rather than just another step (iirc even the duffers described vol 2 as baby steps). if we'd gotten all 9 eps at the same time, it would have been so much more obvious that this story wasn't over. what do you think?

(btw, i love your analysis so much!! hope you have a great day ❤️)

Hello, Rae!!!

I agree with you; I think more people would have seen it coming or at least taken the love triangle with an unambiguous ending like the j*ncy/st*ncy's one.

Actually, I understand why casual viewers don't see byler coming because they probably forget some things about the story and the characters, especially when they take years to release a new season. But if you're a fan and rewatch the show or think more about it, you are more familiar with the characters and their arcs, so it's easier to see where the story is leading. And it was just a month between volumes, but some people probably forgot details, especially about the Cali plot, because some complained that nothing happened. When the point is that the most essential part of the plot was to develop Mike and Will's inner conflicts.

And definitely, I wouldn't have lost hope that easily if I had watched it entirely, too, because, like you said, I thought the painting's plotline ended with the van scene and the monologue. The waiting made me believe that I would get a resolution. But when I pondered more about it, I realized that it was pretty intentional all the loose ends, and they were gonna close everything up in the last season (including the painting's subplot)

p.s: I'm glad you enjoyed my analysis!!! Have a great day too <3

[evyisaks]

Wow it's been a year since S4 Vol.1

When V1 aired, S4 had the potential to be so amazing. I really loved it. Even if I thought that Mike was Will, and Will was Mike. In my defence, I hadn't rewatched ST and S3 was years ago

[chirpsythismorning]

Netflix has already confirmed they won’t do episode by episode for Stranger Things. I remember a while back they were talking about considering doing it more with the rollouts for their content going forward, and it just so happened ST was brought up and they said with only one season left, and with how well the show has done with being released in whole for the most part, they never intend to change it beyond doing split volumes. So we can pretty much rule out weekly releases for s5.

I guess it really depends on how long the final episode is. I honestly didn’t like the way s4 was split into 2 with 7 episodes for Vol. 1 and then 2 episodes for Vol. 2. It just felt a little uneven.

If they were to split s5 more evenly, with like Vol. 1 being episodes 1-3, Vol. 2 with 4-7, and then Vol. 3 or the final part or whatever being episode 8 with it being over 3 hours potentially, then I don’t think that’s too bad honestly.

I like the idea of volumes because it means the hype can last a while between releases. One episode a week almost sucks more just bc you get like over an hour and then have to wait a week. It’s just not enough to sit back and enjoy imo. I do generally like streamings format for that reason.

But I also don’t like the idea of s5 altogether with the hype dying down after 2 weeks or a month at most. With 2 volumes we could get 3 months of hype, with a 1-2 month waiting period in between. And with 3 volumes we could get like 4 months of hype in. And maybe the wait would be shorter in between in that case with less than a month before the next volume drops.

I could honestly see this happening though if 5x08 is over 3 hrs long and the rest of the episodes are averaging 1.5.

Hi bylers 🫶🏻 what are your thoughts on this?

[auchaczer]

happy ending </3

[escape-in-time-x]

22 is his year

Joseph Quinn for 1883 Magazine

Photography by Pip (instagram: @bypip

[babygirlharrington]

📼Stranger Things Inbox Game 📼

Put this on your blog so you can overshare to your curious mutuals and followers like a REAL blogger!!

Eleven 🧇: What does your name mean, and why did you (or your parents) choose it?

Mike 🚲: Have you ever thought you were in love?

Dustin 🧢: If you were a piece of media, what iconic trope(s) would you be?

Suzie📡: What is your earliest memory of the internet?

Max🛹: What are your top five songs right now?

Lucas 🏀: What unconventional things are you good at?

Will 💡: Do you believe in the paranormal? Why or why not?

Erica 🦄: Do you have an interest you would call a “guilty pleasure”?

Nancy 🎀: What’s the most exhilarating thing you’ve ever done?

Barb 👓: What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen a stranger do that you still think about today?

Carol & Tommy 🍻: What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever been peer-pressured into doing?

Steve 👑: If someone were to associate you with one item, what would it be?

Jonathan 📷 : Describe your top three favorite pictures on your camera roll right now.

Argyle 🍃: What is the best job you’ve ever had? The worst?

Eddie 🦇: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

Robin 🎺: What piece of media secured your sexuality early on?

Chrissy 📣: Describe your favorite or most iconic outfit.

Billy 🥊: Do you have any bad habits?

Hopper 🚬: Have you ever found yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time? What happened?

Joyce ☎️: Do you have any special rituals or routines you stick to?

Murray 🧣: Do you have any interesting ancestry that you’re proud (or not proud) of?

Mr. Clark 📀: What were you like in high school? How have you changed?

Karen 💋: What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never had the chance?

[cobwebssss]

gave him a tongue piercing >:333