#the Cali gang arriving in Hawkins

[chirpsythismorning]

[hawkinsincorrect]

[shortly after the Cali gang arrived in Hawkins]

Argyle: You know, there was a time when I was alone and had no friends. I’m starting to miss that.

[kennahjune]

Been having this idea so bare with me while I attempt to explain:

(Note: this isn’t exactly my “usual” content)

No Upside Down AU where like 37% of the human population are some kind of “mythologic” as they call them.

Hawkins is kind of infested with them, despite being— well— Hawkins.

The majority of the Party are mythologics.

Now, Billy and Max move to Hawkins from Cali as per usual in 1984. And they’ve heard of Hawkins. Of how it’s mostly mythologics despite the small human population not being very accepting of them.

So they move to Hawkins and all is well until they start hearing rumors.

Rumors about a werewolf pack that isn’t a werewolf pack. Apparently there’s a werewolf in Hawkins collecting misfits and others and simply— accepting them into his pack.

Billy doesn’t buy it for shit. Werewolves tend to be hella territorial and unwelcoming.

Or that’s what he’s been told by his dad. He’s never actually met a werewolf, being a vampire. Vamps and Wolves don’t really get along.

And so Billy and Max start school and it’s fine. Billy likes fucking with this one guy, Steve. It’s really easy to rile him up and funny to watch him try and rein himself in.

Max is in the middle school, always talking about this one vampire kid and how he’s an asshole but his friends are sweet enough. Billy doesn’t listen too much.

Until he collides into Steve in the high school parking lot. Steve’s in a rush, barely getting an apology out before running (inhumanly fast— Billy notes) down the road where the middle school is.

Billy, thinking “well what the fuck”, follows after him. They arrive at the middle school and there’s a fight going on in the parking lot.

He says “fight” but it’s really a bunch of kids ganging up on one scrawny pale kid and holding back his friends. Steve is rushing in immediately, yelling at the assholes to leave them alone and to scram.

That’s when Billy realizes one of the kids being held back was Max, with a minor busted lip.

He’s immediately at her side, trying to seem angry but not being able to hide the actual concern in his tone.

Billy turns to leave but watches Max run up to the other kids to check on them. That’s when Steve turns to Billy and seems to recognize his presence.

Steve’s pulling the 4 boys behind him immediately, his eyes flashing a bright yellow and he growls and—

Oh.

Steve’s that odd werewolf collecting strays.

.

And idk Billy and Steve go through this whole thing where Billy refuses to be accepted into the pack even tho he basically already is cause no one else in the pack really has a problem with him.

But Max is in the pack (the Party, they call themselves), so Billy sees them all constantly against his will.

And there’s the bit where vampire Eddie also joins the pack eventually, after the kids kind of adopt him in Hellfire and Steve is weak for those kids.

And obviously Billy ends up joining the pack at some point but I haven’t thought that far ahead lmao.

Idk if I want it to be platonic harringrove or romantic harringrove but I’m lowkey leaning towards harringroveson to be honest.

But if you have opinions I’d love to know them!!

I kinda wanna write more for Billy, idk lol I’ve just been in a middle lately

[bisexualchrissycunningham]

One thing that's coming out of my S4 rewatch is the realization that Jonathan Byers is an actual unsung hero. The Cali Gang, out of everyone, is operating on the least amount of information, is being hunted by the actual military, had their house literally shot up and had their unknown agent man DIE in the van with them, have no familiar homebase throughout the season to hole up in like everybody back in Hawkins. Jonathan is more or the less the ONLY "adult" figure they have in the group (Argyle is great but he didn't exactly take on the responsible/parental role in the gang), they spend all their time knowing for sure all their loved ones in Hawkins AND El are in massive danger while the Hawkins gang mostly thinks in turn that they're safe, far away in California. Jonathan stopped smoking in episode 2 when Joyce left, stepping into his parent role just like he used to and spearheaded their escape by calling Argyle in the first place. When they arrive at Suzie's place, he goes out of his way to order everyone to be "on their best behaviour" when meeting the Binghams. He drives straight into a military helicopter fucking SHOOTING at his sister, and also several explosions. Presumably spent the rest of that day driving far away before spending god knows how long begging someone on a pay phone to just get them a seat on plane, any plane, to Illinois.

The entire Cali Gang would be toast without Jonathan. Give him a medal, goddammit!

[coldninjaruins-blog]

Sorry but it's so funny to me that originally in the script when the cali gang arrives in Hawkins and everyone leaves to greet their loved ones it was supposed to be only El the one hugging Dustin, not with Will.

Like Mike hugs his mom, Jonathan hugs Nancy and El and Dustin hug but then what with Will?

He was supposed to be alone in the background like 🧍 watching everyone hugging each other? 😭

Him and Argyle in the background looking at everyone????

[spicysix]

you know what is something that i always fail to remember and that honestly i've seen very little posts here and even fics talk about when it comes to the mess our beloved characters have to face in s5?

the government

i mean, we all talk about how they'll defeat vecna, and how they'll wake max from the coma, and in the fix-it fics we're always talking about how to save eddie and clean his name but. what about the government?

like, what about owens? last time we saw him he was handcuffed and found by sullivan and the 'mean' government side that's trying to kill eleven. stinson tells hopper that owen's unavailable or something, but does she know about what happened at Nina or is she just thinking that he's busy working with brenner and eleven? did sullivan and his agents take owens after they find him or did they set him free? if it's the latter, does owens finds stinson?

and if my memory doesn't fail me, eleven blows up the helicopter, brenner dies (supposedly) and then the cali gang leaves nina. and when sullivan gets out from inside nina he just finds dead agents, dead doctor and fire from the explosion. don't they try to follow the van? i assume they assume eleven will head straight to hawkins, so do they go to hawkins? do they just let it go?

when the cali gang gets to hawkins after the two days timeskip, the town is already under some type of containment, cops or government are keeping the town organized around the gates' destructions. many families are leaving, but no one thinks to check who's arriving? shouldn't sullivan put some people on watch to see if and when eleven arrives? shoudn't he put some people on watch over max, the one survivor of whatever killed the other three teenagers - he thinks eleven did it, doesn't he think she'll come back to finish the job?

during the last season, as they prepare to go to battle against vecna for hopefully the final time, shouldn't they worry about the government side that is technically still trying to kill their main force against the evil dark lord of the upside down? at the very least, shouldn't that government side still try to find her, to capture her? will they? will that be shown?

i mean it's kinda the duffers fault because they don't acknowledge owens or sullivan and his agents after the cali gang leaves nina, but like. am i the only one who keeps forgetting about them? how will our Party fight vecna if our superhero is being hunted by more than one side? how will they deal with that???

[bylerschmyler]

Robin's fake university vita is so ridiculous.

She included Scoops Ahoy?

Professor Harrington?

Proficient in Russian?

Go Irish?

Like what the fuck? How did they get an appointment after all?

But the most important thing:

The Date is totally wrong....

It says March 29th which would be Billy's birthday for one but also it's the day the Cali Gang arrives at Hawkins. Why is it on this recommendation letter?

[castlebyler84]

I find the Surfer Boy Pizza scene very interesting - mainly because of how they use El’s costuming to convey a deeper meaning. So we know that at the start of this scene El is dressed in her usual clothes, with a blue plaid shirt, plain blue & white t-shirt and white floral long sleeve top, with white pants.

Then once we get inside and the group start preparing the tub ect. Mike and El sit down to talk. It’s been discussed before that we think El was going to break up with Mike in this moment, which I still very much believe. But what I also find interesting is that in the moment between entering the pizza shop and sitting down with Mike, she has taken off her plaid blue shirt. Therefore she has already begun to shed her layers of blue - and has begun the process of letting go of Mike, which would help to solidify the theory that she was breaking up with him.

When El starts getting ready for the tub she sheds her final layers of blue - her blue & white t-shirt and blue socks. Considering they did a close up shot of El taking off her socks indicates that they want us to focus on this process of her shedding her blue layers - of her eventually letting go of Mike.

The only time we see any of El’s blue clothing again in this scene is when Mike is giving his monologue and her blue & white t-shirt is bunched in the top left hand corner of the table. This symbolises the fact that Mike is trying to get through to her and trying to keep them together and keep him in her life, but El has already let him go and cannot be as close to him as she previously was - shifting from romantic to platonic affection.

Finally when the cali gang arrive back in Hawkins, we see El only dressed in her white floral top - no blue layers whatsoever. She continues to keep Mike at arms lengths even after his monologue.

After that, we only briefly get her wearing a blue hoodie to use as a cover when in a public place (such as the hospital) to avoid government recognition. This could represent that she’s also using Mike as a cover of sorts to blend in and be normal and avoid recognition (that her relationship with Mike isn’t too great at the moment). But in the final scene we see that she’s yet again shed her layers of blue & ditched the blue hoodie. She’d Finally stepping into her own, away from Mike, and facing the challenges that are yet to come - both supernaturally & personally.

[post-modern-prometheus]

the cali gang, arriving in hawkins: damn, yall arent gonna believe what happened to us.

the hawkins gang, all flayed and/or vecna: mhm that’s cool

[fanatics4l]

the way billy would've fit in with any of the groups in s4. yes i am going to speak about this. (this got long)

cali group: billy in his natural habitat would've been absolutely amazing. the trio smoking weed together?? billy being extra dramatic and sassy when he's high. if they're high enough, those boys will commit minor felonies together! argyle always supports his boys when they're screaming about their broken love lives (jonathan crying about nancy and billy being a sad little gay). billy would be screaming so dramatically while hauling that dead dude into the van and then complaining about how his clothes got all bloody the next second. he'd be cheering argyle on as he drives while the others all scream in terror in the back, trying to stop the bleeding. billy would adore the shit out of will, another gay. they'd bond over how shitty boys are and how they have no options but at least in cali, there are more willing boys. billy would always tell will to forget about mike and jonathan would agree very loudly. billy definitely would've absolutely non stop GLARED at mike after will confessed and mike didn't catch the hint. him and el would've been amazing together because they can bond over their abusive dads and pretty moms. el and will go to billy (the cooler big brother, sorry jon) to rant about mike. billy would terrorize the shit out of angela and her stupid friends for even thinking of messing with el.

hawkins gang: no offence but the hawkins older teens gang are all the same people in different fonts. sure nancy and robin were badasses that one episode but they're good girls at heart. steve is also a good guy at heart. so is eddie but in a drug dealing dork way. billy would've been a great addition with his loud personality and being a takes-no-bullshit kind of guy. he would insult each of them (him and robin roast each other) but be a lot of help. physically, he's probably the strongest and he'd be great at thinking up quick escape plans.

robin and billy would've been an unstoppable queer duo who are also potty mouths and anxious kids with obvious tells (shaking and stuttering). nancy and billy would've constantly been at each other's throats and it would've been great comedy. billy definitely got in the way of steve and nancy flirting because gross. eddie and billy would've easily bonded about their similar taste in music. if he saw eddie perform metallica on the roof, that boy's clothes would've flew off so fast and he'd start twirling his hair all giggly. we could've finally seen more of steve and billy's homosexual flirting and fighting. they would be reluctant friends and billy would have so much trouble trying not to flirt with steve. robin would cough really loud when billy stares at steve all lovey dovey. harringrove would've been amazing in s4

hawkins gang (younger teens): billy and lucas would've become besties on the court. we could've seen him apologize to lucas and then offer to teach him basketball so he isn't always on the bench every game. billy always hypes lucas up when he is in a game. he takes him and max out for shakes after practice, and max starts to hate the fact that her boyfriend and her brother are friends. lucas definitely grows taller than billy and he has the absolute best time of his life making fun of billy, who threatens to stop giving lucas rides everywhere.

let's say vecna still targets max: billy would 100% stay with max and lucas at creel's house because no way in hell is he leaving his sister behind with a literal demon that could kill her. when jason arrives, he fights him instead of lucas so max survives. plus we know that max and billy's relationship was getting a lot better between end of s2 and start of s3 so if billy survived, those two would literally be evil chaotic siblings who torment everyone around them with a smile. lucas is very scared. erica would love billy because they're both sassy and take no bullshit from the people around them. billy would tease lucas whenever erica yells at him. dustin would probably reluctantly accept billy as part of the gang because everyone else accepts him.

russia gang: hopper, joyce, and murray (billy's a weird kid and murray likes weird) would immediately adopt billy. in this au, billy is probably with hopper in russia and then joyce and murray find them. hopper is the absolute sweetest with billy and he's very gentle with him because he sees how terrified billy is. he also misses his kid so he takes another one in. he explains to billy what the upside down is and what happened to him. they share a cell so when billy has nightmares about the mind flayer, hopper is always there for him. when he has nightmares about his dad, hopper hugs billy close and lets the poor boy cry. he sees red when billy tells him how his dad treats him all the time and swears to never let him go back to that man ever again. billy starts seeing hopper as his dad.

billy helps out in all of hopper's escape plans. when the russians make them line up in front of the demogorgan, billy starts hyperventilating but hopper and enzo reassure him that they'll be okay. they're like his overprotective dads because wtf why is a literal child here in this high tech russian prison. when joyce and murray show up, joyce is all motherly with him and she immediately starts bundling him up in layers. she doesn't let him do any fighting. she makes him stick with her and when he argues that he can help, the other adults also agree that he needs to rest. if billy was in this gang in s4, he could've also healed as a person and become better because now he knows what love is. like hopper and joyce tell him all the time, love doesn't hurt his body or his feelings. billy ends up getting adopted by hopper and joyce and murray is like his crazy uncle.

the duffers were too much of cowards to do this!!!! billy would've been unstoppable

[chirpsythismorning]

Something we never talk about, is how when Cali gang arrived to Hawkins, they were shocked and speechless. They did not expect to come home to Hawkins decimated. It wasn’t until Dustin informed El and Will at the Wheelers that Lucas was at the hospital, that they found out the truth.

And so, to insist that the sole reason Mike and El only talked once in those two days after his monologue, was because she was upset over Max’s condition, isn’t accurate. She didn’t even know about it yet.

Why not let us see the aftermath of that grand love confession anyways? Why make it anticlimactic as hell with that two day time jump? Unless something incriminating happened, that would give away the surprise in store for s5, which is said to start off right where s4 ended?

That monologue was supposed to be this romantic love confession, and so why have Will interfere with all of those shots, making them inherently less intimate (as he has done all season)? Why have the lighting create a feeling of uncertainty, when this is supposed to be a certain moment? That’s not how you film an intimate moment, that’s how you film a conflicted one.

Why have the one conversation Mike and El had in those two days, be off-screen and completely unrelated to their romantic feelings? Why make a point to end the season with El looking in Mike and Will’s direction almost knowingly annoyed, with Mike returning his own expression of accepted defeat?

Why not show him going to comfort her and give her reassurance like a partner does bc they’re supposed to be a team? This is the so called main endgame couple fans are vouching for almost violently as being couple goals? But all I’m seeing is Mike instead prioritizing heart to heart #? with Will in these last moments?

Rewatch value wise, foreshadowing wise, what is being prioritized here?

Did we all see the same last shot for that season finale??

S4 cost $35 million per episode. They’re not doing this for shits and giggles. They’re nerds and they believe in the most common technique in storytelling: show don’t tell.

The reality is they had to do it like this for a reason. And they literally told us why: S2EP5 RT 40:37-44:05

Whether or not fans are ready to look ‘behind the curtain’ is up to them.

[wibble-wobbegong]

Thinking. when el and the cali gang arrive in hawkins they’re probably gonna end up at the wheeler house because they always do and just. hear me out. el goes in mike’s room and finds a bunch of unsent letters to will all signed with Love, Mike and she’s just like Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhh. and then mike walks in and she just stares at him like

[ellewritesandrants]

Billy has older friends and they visit him AU

I'm working to be more comfy with sharing random thoughts so here's my attempt at it lol.

So I was just wondering how Billy would be able to afford all of his band shirts, cool clothes and even his car and the first thought that popped into my head would be that he was adopted into a friend group of older queers that helped him get into metal and punk and those were their hand-me-downs. I can see it as a found family type of thing where either the leader of the group or the resident lesbian couple found this beaten up boy sneaking into his first concert by himself and instantly being adopted as the baby of the group. He knows to go to them if he needs a safe space and they happily allow him to be as expressive as he wants and they spoil him by giving him records and band tees and all of that kind of stuff so it sucked when Neil took him away from it all after finding him with a boy. He manages to see them one last time before he leaves for Hawkins and they promise to come visit him once he's 18 to take him back home to California.

Fast forward through the events of Season 1 and 2 with Billy joining the party in dealing with the demodogs, getting together with Steve, getting away from Neil and living with El and Hopper. Billy's been so busy he'd completely forgotten about the promise and assumed they'd forgotten about him until his birthday comes around. Billy's woken up on his birthday by Hopper coming home late because of some hooligan punks from California arriving and blaring Def Leppard along the main street at midnight. Billy jolts awake and practically hurries to the station after asking Hopper if they were driving a tricked out minivan. Hopper comes with him of course, being the overprotective dad he is and when he gets reunited with his friends, there are a lot of tears and laughter. Hopper begrudgingly lets them off with a warning and they all catch up over breakfast at the nearby diner.

Hopper radios Steve because as much as he dislikes Steve, he dislikes Billy's older friends from Cali more so that he can help him figure out if these guys were legit or not. Billy's been telling them all about how he got away from Neil and found a new family here when his boyfriend arrives, disheveled and obviously just woken up. Introductions are made and Steve is the one to tell them that he's Billy's boyfriend, practically daring them to react badly with his eyes. The older teens/young adults just laugh and share that there are two couples in the group and they aren't what they seem to be.

Embarrassing stories are shared before they tell Billy about their plan to go on a road trip for the next two weeks or so before heading back to California. They invite him to come along but he declines since he already has plans with the kids. They ask him if he's ever coming back home to California and he says that he's planning to go there for college and Steve wants to come with him. Steve gets a lot of shovel talks before the gang leaves for their next destination, making sure to get Billy's number and address so they can keep in contact this time around.

After they leave, Steve asks Billy if he wanted to be with them instead but all he says is he's found home here in Hawkins too so California can wait.

[z1ggy2003]

the piggyback (hawkins, el in max's mind, ending)

stranger things 4 vol 2 predictions, st5

Max is The Bait

So Lumax + Erica enters the Creel House. The plan is for Max to be the bait. They just have to wait for a sign from Stobincy (Steve, Robin, Nancy). Maybe flickering the light, a sign for Max to get ready. Because while Max lures Vecna and he's focus on her, Stobincy will burn the Creel House, in hopes that it'll kill Vecna. Eddie and Dustin distracts the demobats away from it.

(Burning the Creel House causes a strong earthquake, so strong that it affected Hawkins too in the real world)

They're waiting. And as they wait, Lumax will have a heart to heart talk.

Max will open up to Lucas. She will tell him the truth, what she's keeping in her heart for months. Similar to the Jopper heart to heart scene.

Then they'll see the lights flickering, the go signal from Stobincy. Max will go to the attic but before this Lucas will give her a hug or maybe they'll kiss. It'll be sad and the last time Lucas talks to Max.

Max at The Attic, Ready to Lure Vecna

Lucas & Jason Fight

Max pauses her tape. She's getting ready to lure Vecna. The plan is for Lucas to help her wake up from the trance. But it's not going according to plan.

After Max goes upstairs, Jason knocks on the door. He will confront Lucas. Lucas will try to make him leave but Jason suddenly punches him. Erica leaves the Creel House (BTS of Priah running outside the Creel House with fog).

Max successfully lures Vecna, she's in a trance again. Time is CRUCIAL here. They're really relying on Kate Bush. Max trusts that Running Up That Hill will save her again. So everyone has to do their parts, they need to win this fight. They need to end Vecna before he successfully kills Max.

Vecna chasing Max. Similar to him chasing Chrissy in her home.

Meanwhile in Nevada, the Cali gang goes to a chain of Surfer Boy Pizza. This id after El blew up the Silo and escaping from the military and Brenner.

The boys makes an improvised salt bath for El. They're checking on what's happening in Hawkins. El chose to look for Max, completely unaware of the events. It will be similar to when El looks for Billy, but she ends up in his memories.

El ends up in Max's Memory in a Skatepark in California

The memory is mixed of California and the Snowball. The DJ booth is there so it's kinda creepy. El walks to the storm. The source this time is the Creel House because that's where Max is. El arrives in time to stop Vecna from killing her.

El Enters The Storm, Finds Max Just In Time

The girls escapes him. But I think when they go out using the door, they'll be transported to Max's Snowball memory. This is where El and Vecna have their final fight in ST4.

El Fighting Vecna in Max's Mind

There's a theory that Max's mind will reach its limits (two superhumans literally fighting INSIDE her mind). Max will give up during this fight and she slips into a coma. El and Vecna were forced to leave her mind. But Vecna's not leaving empty-handed, he takes Max's soul/consciousness with him because he can still use her to lure El.

El opens her eyes, and she says she wants to protect Max and everyone. She doesn't know what happened and why their fight was interrupted. The Cali gang immediately goes back to Hawkins. But they're already too late.

Cali gang arrives first, and then the Russia group. Maybe the reunion scene is in Hopper's cabin? Either way, the 3 groups will reunite.

Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica are at the school, helping the earthquake victims. El, Hopper, Joyce, Mike, Will, Jonathan, Nancy, and Argyle are cleaning the cabin. While Lucas is at the hospital with Max in a coma. He reads Max her wonder woman comics, the one Max reads to El during their sleepover in S3.

Vecna Lives

I believe this is close to the cliffhanger, if it's exactly not the cliffhanger. The boys are at the cabin. There's a leak that the ending shot of ST4 is at Hop's cabin.

Not until he's taken everyone. Vecna already took Max, leaks of Eddie dying a hero while eaten by demobats, and of course; Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick.

Headcanon:

A final fight between our heroes and Vecna in ST5. A time jump of maybe 3 years, and set in 1989. There's no way it'll be set in the 90's. I think we'll be surprised that the upside down is already taking over Hawkins. That's why the time jump is needed because everyone's an adult now and can use weapons. It's going to be like the apocalypse/walking dead.

[sennqu]

Ok so this was initially made to map out Mike's visit but then turned into a semi-comprehensive timeline for most events in S4V1.

(putting under a readmore so edits transfer to reblogs just in case)

March 21 (Fri). DnD game, Basketball championship. Chrissy dies.

March 22(Sat). Mike arrives in Cali. Roller rink drama. Fred dies back in Hawkins. Dustin and co. find Eddie.

March 23(Sun). Joyce and Murray leave for Alaska. El gets arrested and subsequently intercepted by Owens. Back in Hawkins, Dustin and co. join Nancy. The agents visit the Byers house in the evening of the same day. Lucas joins the Hawkins group

March 24(Mon). Shootout at the Byers home. El arrives at the bunker and starts the Nina project. Nancy and Robin visit Pennhurst. Max gets tranced. Joyce and Murray meet Yuri and get into plane crash. Hopper attempts escape and gets recaptured. Dmitry is put in jail with him. I think the last supper with the inmates probably happened on the same day but unsure.

March 25(Tues). Pizza gang bury unnamed hero agent man. Hawkins group visit Creel House. Patrick dies. Hop and co. fight the demogorgon. (tbh the timeline for the Russia storyline is kinda confusing? i'm blaming it on the timezones. it's possible the fight happened on March 26 nighttime Kamchatka time, so early morning on the same date Hawkins time)

March 27(Thurs) - Supply run for Hawkins (daylight). Arrival at Nina Base for Cali (daylight). Then attack on Henry / Piggyback (nighttime). Russia group doing whatever.

March 26(Wed). Pizza gang arrive at Suzie's. Dustin and co. go back to Lovers Lake. Older teens get into the UD. Parents of the party are at the Wheeler house. Dustin and co. go to the trailer park. Nancy is tranced(?). El learns the truth about the Hawkins Lab massacre in 1979.

edit: following two dates from Vol.2 (done July 27, 2022)

March 29 (Sat) - timeskip. Arrival of Cali gang to Hawkins.

And assuming the events for every group all run in semi-parallel and I didn't miss anything super significant, we ended volume 1 on March 26. Mike was supposed to stay for a week in Cali, so he isn't expected back home for another 3-4 days. The Pizza gang were still at Utah last we saw them so they have around 8hrs to reach Nevada. and after that, they have around 30 hours of nonstop driving to get to Indiana. If they don't stop for overnight rests, the soonest they can get back to Hawkins would be around March 28. Apart from Mike being 1-2 days home before schedule, haha, that means the action in Hawkins needs time to slow down for a day or two so Cali can get up to speed.

And as for what that means for the Russia group, since their storyline is most likely running around 16 hours ahead (kamchatka vs indianapolis timezones) of the Hawkins group, the Hopper and Joyce reunion most likely happened around the same time Dustin and co. reunited with Eddie or even earlier. Which means that by the time Nancy is tranced, the Russia storyline would have progressed even further.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Anyone else think it's interesting that Owens put two bodyguards on the Cali gang, but just sent one woman to Hawkins to "contain the situation", who hasn't done anything to guard El's friends there so far? I wonder if El isn't the only asset he thought would be important in the war against the Upside Down. Maybe the bodyguards weren't just there to keep the gang from contacting Hawkins - but to protect Will, specifically. Will has been a target of the UD down twice now. Owens must wonder why

To be fair, they were sent to contain the situation, not protect El's friends. I'm more interested in why we didn't see much of them besides checking out Eddie's trailer. What have they found since then, and what are they doing about it? What happens to them when Sullivan eventually arrives?

I do wonder about the bodyguard thing. Two agents, as well trained as they are, would only last so long against a military attack. Having it be a house arrest situation does make the most sense to me. If Owens thought Sullivan would attack the house looking for El, the best thing would have been to relocate everyone.

I don't think Owens would have had Will tagged as a valuable asset. While he has experience with the Upside Down, we have no reason to think Sullivan is aware of him.

Now, Brenner, on the other hand. He might have had some interest in Will, but he might not have been in the know with who El was living with. I sort of wonder if we'll find out Will was a potential subject recruit until the incident in 1979. However, Brenner would probably have been too afraid to introduce any new kids to the experiment after the massacre.