The fact that Will has no dialogue in the first episode outside of "It's ok El!😥" when it's an episode that reintroduces everyone, says a lot about his character this season. We learned almost nothing about Will's high school experience or even how he likes/dislikes Cali. He has no personality outside of being nice and suffering in silence. And he deserves better.

I have some tips for the Duffer Brothers #1 STOP MAKING MORE CHARACTERS!!!! #2 STOP MAKING MORE CHARACTERS!!!! #3 STOP MAKING MORE CHARACTERS!!!!

I feel like Mike lacks a lot of agency outside of El. Like if they were not dating, what would make him interesting? He really could’ve been shown as a guy who highly values his friendship but I’m not even sure of that. That kinda sucks.

the whole stancy thing with eddie and robin supporting it was so disrespectful. them trying to push stancy together because jonathan and nancy were struggling just left a bad taste in my mouth

Robin just didn't hit for me this season. She's still my favorite character but I miss her sarcastic and punky personality. It just feels like they kind of abandoned that side of her

Oddly enough, I wish they didn't show hopper until Joyce finds him. It would've added to her arch that she's fighting an uphill battle, again, but she trusts her instincts by now

The thing about Robin's change of character for me is about her being out this Season. She made fun of how Steve sucked at talking to girls until she realized she's even worse, and then even tried learning from him. Being close to Nancy let's her ease into it and it's what allows her to finger the girl with peanut butter at the finale. Honestly Will grappling with his feelings for Mike were relatable to me, as a fellow gay, it's hard to differentiate romantic feelings for friendship feelings with close friends especially at that age, and I think that storyline will climax when he talks to Joyce about it, but it had a really clear development for me. Mike being unaware of it is quite realistic too ngl

Mike was such a good character in season 1, he was an amazing friend, cared so much for Will and kind to strangers like El, he was a natural leader and one of the most loved from the show! And i have no idea what they did to him... I get that he is a teenager now and he is going to be complicated but his sweetness and his leadership of the group feels like its just gone

I probably would've made Robin be a bit more sceptical of Steve getting back with Nancy - not many best friends would recommend getting back with an ex that broke your heart by getting with another person. Great video, thank u for posting it!!

I found the Joyce and hopper storyline really boring,I love Joyce but it dragged out far too long imo. I'm loving ur videos sm!!

For a season with such long, bloated episodes, it’s amazing how they managed to do very little with them. The previous seasons were so much more concise and all the characters existed for a reason. For season 4, I found all the plot lines outside of Hawkins to be way too long and boring. The episode that was almost all El made me wish I was doing something else, and that’s a terrible sign (she was SO amazing in season 1 especially). I guess Hawkins is my favorite character.

I hate that the Russian storyline lasted the entire season, I would’ve preferred a much shorter arc even though I love Winona I would’ve rather she did something else too

Robin’s change bugged me so much. She felt like a caricature of herself and I rest missed old Robin. Felt like they just really missed with her

I have a bit of a controversial opinion but I personally feel like Stranger Things should have stayed at one season. I love how self contained it was and there were really well done horror elements. I also loved in S1 there were the right amount of characters and everyone had the appropriate amount of screen time and it felt that everyone was working towards one goal: Getting Will out of the Upside Down, making the story more digestible. Another thing too is that I loved the mystery of what was going on in S1, as the season progresses you slowly learn what's going on. I feel like all these elements are kind of missing in the rest of the seasons (especially because with S2 and S3 you kind of know what force the gang is dealing w/). S4 does kinda go back to it's roots with horror, and it is better and more memorable than the rest of the seasons (for me personally), but I can't say it's easily rewatchable as the first season. P.S. Will say, the Russian plotline is probably the weakest for me. Every other plotline kind of meshes well with each other, but the minute it goes to the Russian subplot I feel like I get whiplash. Anyways, sorry for the essay lol. I really love the video and I love the intros to each section!

Another character they kind of failed on was Erica. I just wanted her to have more screen time!! Priah was in all the press so I was expecting more.

The easy answer is that the Duffer Brothers don't know how to handle the story. They lost focus a long time ago. The fact that Mike and Eleven, the protagonists of season 01, are useless and almost filler in season 04 says a lot.

i have many problems with season 4, far too many but my main personal beef is Eleven herself, this season felt like they were too scared to do anything different with her, it started out strong with EL having to worry about who she is outside of her powers and being a hypocrite by having to lie to Mike, that is an interesting concept and dares to god forbid humanize El, however the duffer brothers seem to be allergic to not have El bleed from her nose and scream so they decided that in this season they are literally gonna force her to get her powers back by making her unlock the most traumatic memory, a memory so traumatic that her brain basically blocked it out and for whatever reason it works. It's just very ironic to me that the character who was dehumanized and trained as a military weapon since she was a baby isn't allowed to grow outside her psychic abilities she isn't even allowed to have a moment to figure her own identity without being thrusted back into the lab in fear of the series loosing their beloved ""nose bleeding, arm reaching, screaming psychic" mascot, it is just sad honestly also the Russian plot sucked absolute ass, i dreaded it everytime we were cut back to it because it added NOTHING and wasted my time, you can cut this entire subplot off and just have Joyce explain that she found Hopper in appalachian mountains and it would make more sense. fucking hated it

Yea while I liked the Russia storyline it felt like joyce didn't do anything.

An issue i have was with Will because he was my favorite character. I thought he had so much potential to be deep and super relatable/interesting, with him not really "growing up" the same as everyone else (due to the upside down/trauma) and his connection with it, and basically being an outsider. I love him being gay, but i wish that it wasnt the MAIN/basically only aspect of his character they explored. Feels like wasted potential :(

Disagree about Argyle. Jonathan would not be able to drive all that way by self. The group never took steps to rest because Argyle and Jonathan kept switching as drivers. Also Argyle shows Jonathan’s growth in that he finally opened himself up to have a friend. Prior to this, Jon was always known as the moody loner. Even Will called him out on this back in season 2. Will was able to get a friend group at a young age while Jonathan never could/did. If Steve’s allowed to have Robin. And Later Nancy opens herself up to Robin (first girlfriend she’s had since Barb). Then it’s character growth to see Jonathan open himself up to Argyle.

So I actually have some thoughts about this video. I get that a lot of people hated Jason. And if they feel that way, that's totally valid. But I personally felt like Jason was kinda just S1 Steve but a tad more extreme. In S1, Steve is presented as a kinda antagonist. But if you look at his actions from an outside perspective, he's just weirded out that Jonathan has been kinda creepy towards his girlfriend and then suddenly they're hanging out together behind his back. He has no idea about the supernatural elements. And he has no reason to believe anything supernatural is occurring. So he acts accordingly. Jason believes something supernatural is occurring because of the 80's idea that D&D is tied to very bad things. And Eddie just so happens to be at the scene of the crime for multiple supernatural instances. So he thinks Eddie is the cause and acts accordingly. I think it would've been a much better storyline and an opportunity to create a far more nuanced character if Jason survived. Maybe have him just barely avoid the cracks and it makes him think Eddie really is evil. Only for him to see the actual supernatural elements in S5 and slowly realize that he was wrong about Eddie. And he spends S5 trying to right his wrongs and even trying to convince the town that Eddie had nothing to do with any of this. Maybe even having a moment where he saves Lucas to parallel his moment in S4 where he thinks he's also apart of all of the madness going on to when he realizes that none of them had anything to do with this. Rather than just ending him. I decided to split my other comment in two because I wanted to talk about Jason separately

When it comes to Robin's change in personality, I really related to it as a neurodivergent person. A lot of neurodivergent people, especially women, do something called masking which is where you hide or mask or neurodivergent traits in order to fit in to a neurotypical society. I might just be projecting but to me Robin in season three seems like her "mask" and Robin in season four is more her being more comfortable and learning to unmask. The first time I ever started feeling comfortable enough to unmask in front of people it was such a relief to not have the constant stress of that that it became difficult to stop. As someone with add I really related to the scene where she talked about not being able to stop talking as well as the scene with Nancy at the library and as an autistic person I really related to her attempting to explain that she struggles with social cusles and Nancy seemingly not caring or believing her. There are loads of great youtube videos about masking and unmasking made by nerudivergent people if you want to better understand my perspective. I feel like there was more focus on plot this season then with previous seasons and they just really wanted to keep the tone lighter as to not give the viewers tonal whiplash and instead had much more subtle character parts that you might not realise unless you've had or know of similar experiences. To me it seemed a bit like that with Will as well especially considering the show takes place in the eighties and Will's not just struggling with his sexuality because we live in a hetero normative society but struggling because he li es in a actively homophobic society. It's not something that was really talked about back then other than in insults so he doesn't say it out loud, because he wouldn't. Anyway, sorry for the long comment, I hope you have a great day and maybe try to learn a bit more about the experiences of others in order to gain a greater understanding of both characters and real people :)))

the fact that you said there was no foreshadowing for wills feelings for mike physically pained me a little

Robin seems like she’s only there for snarky comments and sarcasm

I just have to say that there's a reason why Mike and Will were held back as a characters and their real character development will come in s5.

Will has always been a background character. He was essentially a plot device--a plot point--in the first two seasons, but not much of a character in and of himself. The third season he was more of a background character with a small struggle.

Season 4 is good but will never be the same is Season 1. I cannot quite put my finger on what made that season have such an impact on me... It's just so phenomenal, and with season 3 and season 4 something just feels off. It doesn't have that crazy atmosphere that almost feels like you've dreamt it before. Season 3 and 4 feel like textbook Netflix style. At 16:15 you can see how much the tone and style has shifted from Season 1. That shot of Joyce talking to Hopper has a much more thoughtful tone, art direction, and acting when contrasted with the season 4 clip of Joyce and Murray..

this is my first long-form video in like 8 months heheh :) i originally was going to go through ALL the characters but there is just too darn many of them. hope you enjoy & i’d love to hear your thoughts as well !! 💗

i feel like what the duffer brothers struggle with is not so much that they have too many characters, but that they have a hard time figuring out which ones need to be at the forefront and need to be more vital to the story. Having many characters we learn little about is okay as long as they add to the story, but i feel like with season four, they were trying to give way too many characters "their time to shine" so to speak. I think El was the only character that was at the forefront the entire time but even still, it was lackluster. I can't wait to see season five though and i solely hope that Will is a truly main character next season :)

i’m super early lol 😂 also I def agree about Will he was criminally underutilized in S4 he’s one of my fav characters 💗💗

For the California plot line with Will being gay and in love with Mike, it would have been nice to introduce another boy from school as minor character (not being involved with 11, upside down, etc) and Will having subtle hints at him being attracted to this boy. Meanwhile, Mike may have noticed and eventually respect Will’s sexuality as the episodes grow. That would have been healthier I feel compared to Will and Mike’s friendship potentially being ruined by overbearing feelings 🤷🏽‍♀️

Moving on to Mike and Will, I want to say that this is just my opinion. If you disagree, it's fine. First, I'd like to talk about how they've both been getting less of a spotlight as the seasons went on(I'm aware the Duffers have stated that Will will pretty much be the main focus of S5). But S1 was mostly about Will. Mike was a great leader, but he also had moments of being impulsive and a bit hypocritical. Which is understandable. He's a kid and one of his best friends is missing. He finds El and she helps him find Will. But when he finally gets Will back, he loses El. S2 and Will is once again the main focus. The possession, the mind flayer, his moments with Mike. Mike is a bit less of a leader in this season but he also spends most of the season being a supportive best friend for Will so it's understandable. He wants to help and protect his friend. In the S2 finale script it mentions that Will is staring at Mike the whole time while dancing with the girl. I just want to point out that Mike has a strange look on his face after Will goes off to dance with that girl. Even though he knows El is coming. S3 is perhaps the most disappointing season for me. Will and Mike have a storyline for the first three episodes of the season where Mike still wants to protect Will but he's having trouble balancing his time between El and Will. And he seems super regretful that he ends up hurting Will's feelings. Then it's dropped for the rest of the season. Will is reduced to spidey-senses duty and Mike is kinda just there. No leadership moments. It feels like this is the season where he went from being a leader to just being the "boyfriend" character. Will and Mike have a tiny moment at the end of the season but that's it. S4 is interesting. Will and Mike have little to nothing to do with the supernatural plot this season. So instead the show focuses on their relationship with each other. Their reunion is awkward. Mike seems a million miles away, Will doesn't tell him about the painting he made for him. Mike is spending time with El, but we also learn that he's secretly been watching Will enough to know that he's rolling his eyes and not having a good time(keep in mind that Mike also noticed Will was quiet in S2 whereas Lucas thought it was just Will being Will). They have a fight that kinda mirrors their S3 one. Will is upset because he thinks Mike doesn't want to spend time with him. Mike is upset that Will didn't reach out more during their time apart. It's important to note in Volume 2 that Dustin says Mike was annoyed that Joyce was always on the phone because it meant the line was busy constantly. We know that Mike and El had to only communicate via letters because the Hawkins Government has the phone lines monitored. So Mike WAS trying to talk to Will, but he couldn't. They make up in episode 4 where Mike apologizes for being mean to Will and admits that he's still having trouble with splitting his focus between El and Will. But that Hawkins isn't the same without Will there. And that really stuck out to me. We know that Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Will all consider themselves to be best friends. Yet the show keeps going out of its way to portray Mike and Will's relationship as special. They spend the rest of the season attached to each other. El told Mike at the beginning of the season that she thinks Will is painting something for his crush. Mike seems super happy when Will gives the painting to him. But if you watch the scene, he actually seems confused when Will tries to claim that "El" commissioned it. Then we get the veiled love confession. We get a shot between Will, Mike and El that parallels the scene in the same episode between Robin, Vickie and her boyfriend. Then in the finale, Mike confesses to El because Will encourages him to using HIS veiled confession about himself as a base. His love confession is based on a love confession that isn't even about a girl. In S3, we saw that Steve had an unrequited love situation with Robin. It got resolved in that same season and they became better friends. The show could've easily done that with Will and Mike. But instead they keep giving more hints about their relationship. It just doesn't make sense to me to write 5 seasons worth of buildup towards Will liking Mike if that was just going to end in rejection. Which is why I think Will and Mike are going to end up together. Once again, this is my opinion. If you disagree, that's totally fine

I'm so glad you're doing longer videos! I really enjoy your color analysis videos, and your character analysis of Euphoria. I hope you continue them.

They could have done so much with Dustin. No father, no siblings, bullied at school, rejected by girls. A lot of trauma. Vecna could have tortured the hell out of him. And Steve could have been the person that helps him through those attacks. Instead of killing Eddie they could have injured him or trap him in the upside down. Because I think they’re going to bring him back to life in some weird way. I think they should’ve kept billy alive too. Switch his personality with the help of max. They could have a traumatic past for argyle. Made his trauma the reason of his smoking habits. And now that he’s in town be a victim of vecna too. Kali should not exist.

I was distracted by the fact that there's NO WAY El's clothes would have stayed that white and clean for all that time...

The show really just makes me jealous of the kids because I was a social outcast growing up and I never could have had close friends like them.

My sister and I were watching season 3 the other day and saw the scene where Will desperately wants to play DND and tries to initiate it w mike and Lucas only for them to be sarcastic and rude. She mentioned how she understands that will lost basically two years of his childhood and is still in that mindset while his friends are even more matured due to saving him. She said how he can’t expect them to be on the same level because they had to mature in order to save him while he was essentially in a coma and I agreed. I didn’t however remember that will was LITERALLY AWAKE IN THE UPSIDE DOWN. He is probably so fucking traumatized and I feel as though the show never truly delved into his trauma. Yes he destroyed castle Byers and broke down, but I feel as though now that can just be seen as a mike and will narrative and just him feeling nostalgic. They must do will more justice.

I could tell Will was in love with Mike even in season 2. I love how steadily they’ve built it.

Honestly it also felt like all of the characters were dumber than before? I mean in first seasons they were complex humans and felt more alive and real. But with each season they became more and more like an archetype than just leaving breathing humans. They became less interesting in my opinion because they stuck with their main characteristics and thats all. Robin is lesbian and has adhd. Steve is dummy thicc and a hopeless romantic who loves his kids. Nancy is a badass and not like others, she wants to challenge the system and do her own thing. And so on and so on. But that's it. We dont get to see the growth of our favourite characters because there is none. They just became the purest archetypes. And that's sad.

They need/ must let important characters die. It's normal.

I think that making Will pine after Mike kinda crapped on his growth in season 3. After he has the fight with Mike, he’s speaking for himself and sitting above everyone else and speaking for himself. It was subtle growth. In season 1, Will hung back to tell Mike that he’d rolled the 7. In season 2, he was standing behind Mike as Mike explained to the others about Dart for him. Season 3, after the fight with Mike, he speaks for himself to the group. He also tells Mike and Lucas when he thinks they’re acting like idiots. Mike and Will’s friendship was pretty one sided in season 4 and most of season 3, but at least Mike had two moments where he showed concern for Will in season 3. It was jarring after their Frodo- Sam Gordy- Chris dynamic in season 2. The talk in California in season 4 where Mike is apologizing to Will felt kinda hollow. It may have had more impact if we’d seen them talking about what happened to Castle Byers or if maybe we’d seen Mike thinking about Will at all prior to arriving in California, his speech might have felt less hollow. They could have had him miss Will while looking for someone to join the campaign. As it was he came across as a douche for getting mad at Lucas for going to the game when he’d given the “we’re not kids anymore” speech to Will. We see Will constantly supporting Mike in season 4, but we don’t see Mike even noticing that Will is doing anything until the final scene. His relationship with El hasbecome unhealthy for both of them, in my opinion. El has put all her self worth in what Mike thinks, and Mike tries to push his own insecurities onto her. They’ve made each other worse instead of better. El, despite having powers, was a passive character in season 4. She got new and improved super powers, yet couldn’t fight Vecna until Mike said he loved her. She was watching Max about to die a horrific death , but gave up until she got validated from the guy pushing his own insecurities on her. I think El would have been more interesting if Angela had been cut from the show. The screen time that the bullying took up could have been dedicated to El having a relationship with her new family. She had lost Hopper and her powers, so she had more than enough to be sad about. Maybe they could have had her notice that she hadn’t heard from Max and be concerned. She and Willing had that big hug. Maybe we could have seen them bonding over shared trauma. Both were breaking away from utter dependency on Mike in season 3. Maybe their bond as siblings and having each other for emotional support could have made Mike’s insecurities more compelling. Instead they had both Will and El pining over Mike. I think that they made Robin more goofy because they were trying to make Nancy look super competent by comparison because they’re trying to frame Nancy as the smartest person on the show. Considering that Robin cracked the Russian code and noticed things that Nancy overlooked, I think that Robin is actually smarter. Joyce too. The Russian story had its moments and the final reveal by Henry was fantastic, but overall both the Russian and Nina project lines felt bloated.

"Would it be too much to ask for this in a show that is already so long" absolutely not. We've had so many scenes this season drag on and on just for the spectacle of it. Gosh the entire Russia plotline could've been resolved in 2 episodes as a B plot. That Mike speech to El was atrocious. And it even affected the painting dialogue, which also dragged on. We had a montage with Argyle making pizza, for goodness sake. There was absolutely time.

As much as I loved season 4, it really did just kind of feel like a precursor to season 5. Although I feel like a lot of characters are going to have an opportunity to do more in season 5 (like Will for example who looks like he'll be off the sidelines and very central to story), I really wish season 4 did a better job existing as a stand-alone season as far as its characters.

I wish there was more discussion around Argyle being the only real brown POC representation, heavily implied to be indigenous, and for that character to be portrayed as very very reliant on substances and having very low intelligence. Like yes he brings comedy and he’s incidentally helpful but if you look at his character as a whole it’s actually a really disgusting portrayal

I love your videos, keep up the good work. Especially the spring break video that you did and euphoria, this one is also a really good one. Made some very valid points within the Stranger Things of certain plot lines that were weak. ❤️❤️

Hello! I saw your first long-form video, which was a while ago, but I'm happy to see you doing another one. I love it! Stranger Things is such a complex show, and can be broken down in so many ways. Since there is a lot of interpretations possible. Your opinions are so well thought out and enjoyable to listen to. Thank you for making this! It made my day a lot better.

The cat was out of the bag much earlier about Will. He confessed being gay to Mike in season 3 i think it was when mike said "it's not my fault that you don't like girls" and i totally agree if Will was in love with Mike he would have started showing signs much much earlier. But yea I really want Will to have his "im not afraid of you anymore" moment in season 5

I always love your analyses/deep dives! I just wish you could post more because your content is really interesting! You’re really great at this!🌸

I totally agree with a lot of what you said. I didn't care for argyle, I felt it was unnecessary. Mike made me mad because it seems as though he just forgot about everything will has been though and is being a shitty friend to will. I feel like they butchered Robin's character this time, she seems so different. If they try to put Nancy and Steve back together I will lose my shit. I want Steve to find a perfect girl, he deserves it and it should NOT be Nancy. And I hate that they try to make Nancy seem like a bad ass. She is NOT a badass. I also did not appreciate that hopper was just immediately alive. Like what. They could have played with the idea a little. I thought "the American" was Brenner or something. Also, Joyce just happens to have 40k in the bank and she just leaves the kids to go to Russia? Idk, things seem weird with that. Also, I absolutely HATE what they did with the lab and the other kids (2-10) or whatever having similar powers to El. In season 2 when we met #8, it seemd like all the other numbers had different powers. But 8 was just... not like the rest of them? Idk, that was a weird choice and I really didn't like it. Plus EL being bullied. Plus they all seemed to he talking a lot... then why did El hardly know how to talk in the 1st season? It was all weird idk

I completely disagree that there were never any early indications of Will's feelings for Mike. One example, when Will wakes up in the hospital surrounded by his mother and Hopper and Dr. Owens et al, he's asked who he's able to recognise out of all the people there. He doesn't remember Hopper or Dr. Owens but when asked if he knows who Mike is, he stares directly at him and says "That's my friend...Mike". He was immediately able to remember Mike because despite being under the influence and control of the Mind Flayer, the part of Will that loved Mike was still so strong that he instantly recognised him as his best friend. Another example is when Eleven "dumps Mike's ass", much to the secret delight of Will, but when Mike makes any effort to get back into El's good books, you can see Will start to panic. He even reminds Mike at one point that Eleven broke up with him and tries to convince him that getting back with Eleven is futile. And the more Mike argues against that idea, the more desperate Will becomes. The fact that Will had romantic feelings for Mike was pretty clear in my humble opinion.

I love Johnathan. im so sad about what the Duffer brothers did to his character. They made him into nothing. They ruined his relationship by pushing stancy for some reason. Steve and Nancy's breakup made them grow as characters. It should stay in the past. And im upset about Will's character as well. They gave him no story plot besides being their for el from a distance. They also changed mikes character. He used to be a kind and caring friend. He wouldn't notice if someone wasn't okay and he was always there for his friends. He was very loving, but now he doesn't seem to nofice other's feelings anymore. For instance, he didn't notice Lucas's feelings for the game or will's feelings.I also noticed how they changed Robbins' character. She used to be a cool character, but now she's steering into that annoying "uhh guys? Character. Im not sure how to explain it, but her character has changed. And to be honest, the whole Russian storyline was extremely boring. It seemed dragged out, and i didn't care too much for it. It kinda felt out of place because stranger things focuses on the unusual, mystery and monsters. I also think the overall storyline is not consistent. They used to have everything planned, but now they're constantly changing things because of the new fans. For example, they've become too scared to kill off characters. Dont get me wrong, i absolutely love Max, but the entire situation with el suddenly having powers to bring someone to life was weird. It's like i cried for nothing. And im a bit confused with season 2 and season 4 because apparently 001 killed everyone, but 008 is still alive.

Will was always an underutilized character because he was the MacGuffin in S1 and pretty much the same in S2. When he complains about being ignored/left behind in S3 it almost feels like a meta joke.

Here as a counter point for the Russian plot line; I honestly thought this was one of the bast story lines the show has placed out through out the entire show, although the story of the show itself has a lot of parts that needs to be placed together, the show itself is pretty fast, which not a bad thing at all, yet the Russian story line was so clearly different from the rest, it was slow, it had a lot of character development mainly through dialogs, and the scene where hop is in the "barn" thinking that he had escaped, covering himself with warm layers and sitting on the floor eating peanut butter like a little boy while crying, the exhaustion, happiness, relief and so much more emotions that are showed and felt in this scene is what making it the best scene in the entire show, for how perfect it is made.

100% agreed with your thoughts on argyle and jonathan. It's so obvious I have no idea what the writers thought necessitated Argyle's existence

I love stranger things I’ve loved it for years but the Russian story line was dragged on for way too long. Hopper escapes in episode 4 then gets caught and sent back then he escapes again in episode 8 then he goes back in episode 9 then escapes again 😭 usually I’m a fan of hoppers storyline but when I’m rewatching season 4 I often skip any Russian prison parts now :(

its crazy how the main character Mike, who is supposed to hold all characters together, has no plot this season other than giving a heartfelt speech at the end.... how does the main character become the backburner to his sister and her love interest?

Your commentary on the entire California story and characters were spot on. Argyle should not have existed.

Am I the only one who thought that the characters of Angela and her gangs were a little bit useless. I knew they served an excuse as why Eleven went on the lab, but I thought that they could make a story without them and I thought they made Angela and her gang sociopath bullies without a reason. I thought that Eleven's bullying was really exaggerated.

omg i’m so glad you’re back!

lovee ur analisis videos and how shows could improve, ig i agree w ur insight and how u go about it

Man, I really do feel like they did Jonathan dirty

I really enjoyed this video, great remarks ☺I liked S4, but I was skipping most of the Russia plot, I think it's also fault of S3 where Hooper was horrible to Joyce and Eleven, but showrunners didn't seem to realized that (?). I found the cliffhanger rather funny, because I didn't care at all what happens to him, and it carried to this season, despite my love for Joyce, she should have run from him not try to rescue him...

It's clear the Duffer Brothers have no idea what to do with their new season characters and just kill them off with Max as the only exception. Eddie could have easily done more and his sacrifice didn't even make sense. Mike has honestly become a bad friend to everyone and Johnathan hasn't been important since season 2. Steve is still the best character and has been since season 1.

So glad you are back!!! I hope you could record your euphoria color theory Tiktoks and post them!!

For a Golden Boy Mike REALLY has nothing to offer to the group.

Can we remember that this season was done when there were still a lot of covid restrictions. Which is probably why the Russian plot line lasted as long as it did. I love the new characters. With covid restrictions and having to split up the actors for the plot lines, without the new characters it would be boring. As for other points, there were probably some things they had to change from their initial plot line to keep it interesting and worth watching due to covid.

Season 4 was great compared to season 2-3, season 1 was legitimately perfect & it should’ve ended there. They always seem to spoil a good thing.

Max, Lucas and Eddie honestly carried this entire season and its so disappointing that Eddie is gone and Max is probably going to have a much smaller role next season.

Elevens backstory was very very weak including Vecna but I’m mostly upset that Brener didn’t serve a bigger purpose and had a stronger connection to not being redeemed There was so much potential though

Would you consider doing a video on the other characters that you think are just as strong or stronger in S4? Also I generally like your stranger things takes!

your videos are amazing! i'd love to see you dive into jennifer's body or black swan. my 2 favorite movies!

I want to add perspective Note: I haven't seen even to S3. I'm behind, yes Okay, as children, we can take open friendships as love. You feel safer and able to express can provide that curiosity. Nothing wrong. I do agree just because, friend, does not mean romance. But that's the thing with love. Love isn't necessarily about your gender or sex or occupation... but familiarity and safety to be curious For example, I don't see a reason for 11 and Mike to be an item. It didn't have to be romantic at all caring and being there. To be considered and to be there for someone shouldn't equate romance. We need it to be normal that you can have open platonic relationships with any genders and sex

Hopper, to be honest, didn't need to be alive it would've worked better for Eleven and Joyce's character arcs. Eleven has lost another father figure, and now needs to get on in the world once again without one and has an even stronger urge to kill Dr. Brenner. Joyce would've learned to tell someone she loved them without hesitation because of what happened to Hopper. There really was no reason for him to be alive

yaaaay! more amazing takes!! loved the Euphoria vid! cant wait to watch!!!

I don't think Jonathan's personality in S4 was a stoner. That was Argyle and you could clearly see the difference the moment Joyce told Jonathan that she has to leave for Alaska and Jonathan is left in charge. Until then he is shown high multiple times, but the moment he is in charge he doesn't get high once, while Argyle does. Jonathan uses weed to run away from his problems and previous trauma. That's why he doesn't take a single picture in S4. Even the only classroom scene with Jonathan isn't a photography class which they easily could have done - it's a woodworking class. Clearly there is something wrong with him besides being high and he tells it himself to Will in the last episode - he was running away from his own problems. Is saying better than showing it? No, but there are so many characters that at some point you can't show everything. And yes I agree - Jonathan didn't do much and besides deciding to leave Lenora and go to Hawkins (a plan that almost instantly goes sideways) he didn't really affect anything, but also giving Jonathan the realizations Argyle had would be dumb and out of character for him. The reason why Argyle works is because he doesn't think like the rest of the party, he brings something new - who else would have thought to have a mind fight in a pizza dough freezer, who else would have gone looking for a small woman named Nina only to find army vehicle tire tracks? Not Jonathan. Jonathan was too busy thinking they were lost. And of course it could have been written in the show differently, but also Argyle has my favorite line of S4 so I can't hate on the guy (Open our minds?! There's an open grave in front of me, man!! ). Jonathan's relationship with Nancy for me also made sense and the conflict that arose from their long distance relationship was believable and relatable. Jonathan genuinely cares about Nancy and her accomplishing her dreams and Nancy genuinely loves and appreciates Jonathan - even the very same thing that is driving Jonathan to lie to her - his relationship and care for his family. Now those are two people who understand and love each other. Nancy not once makes those same comments about Steve, she never even respond to Steve whether it be his invitation to a double date or his Stancy headconan/traveling around the country with way too many kids. Those aren't things that Nancy wants and ultimately I think Steve is just confused so he is turning to the only relationship that has ever worked, and he should just accept his self worth without a woman by his side. something As for Will - I didn't think his attraction to Mike came out of nowhere. I watched S1-S4 back to back for the first time so it was pretty consistent with what I thought Will was going through with all the little comments about him in S1, seeing his friendship with Mike in S2 and with their fight in S3. The curious thing with Will is that in S3, the moment he realizes that yes MF is back for real, oh shit, he stops caring about his own issues because that's the kind of person he is. Obviously what Mike said had hurt and changed something in their relationship and he had destroyed castle Byers because he was hurt by that, but he also knows that there are some things more important that whatever he is feeling because if he ignores those problems, people will die. He even refuses to talk about it with Lucas in S3 and his main and only focus is dealing with the MF. So him being in any other situation beside being stuck in a car, not able to do or change anything, would just mean he puts his own internal issues on a pause. Again. So it made sense that Will finally does something (not enough) about his own feeling now that he literally can't do anything else. There is a lot I think that happened with Will and Mike in S4 that we aren't explicitly shown or told yet, but fingers crossed it will come back in S5 (most of it being byler related, and I don't think it's much of a love triangle when Mike and El both obviously don't love each other like that and probably would have broken up in the pizzeria if Argyle hadn't interrupted them so it just a matter of time and appropriate situation now for it to happen), but I'm not going to get into it. My point is I don't mind if a character isn't the main focus or maybe that interesting in one season if it is addressed and affects the next one which it seems it will for Will and Mike and Jonathan since they are now back in Hawkins and back together with everyone else. And I hope that what ultimately happens is that by the end of s5 viewers will look at S4 differently in regards to some character relationships or moments - that the next season will give it a new context. And I don't just mean byler (if it even happens), I mean in general - Mike's monologue to El or Nancy's internal struggle about Jonathan or Nancy's friendship with Robin or Argyles whole deal, whatever.

I cannot stand for this Enzo slander! Or whatever his name is... Dmitri. Seriously though, I feel like he would have been much less effective or memorable as a character if he'd been used as just a mouthpiece for the Russian agenda in the show. Actually, I think stating the Russians motivations outright or even giving too much information on _why_ they're doing what they're doing is not needed. We already know that the series is set during the arms race between the US and USSR in the early 80s. We know the Russians intended to weaponize the Upside Down in some way. What more do we really need to know? They aren't really the focus and they aren't _meant_ to be, beyond showing how far-reaching and consequential the events of the series are. And maybe to provide greater context for Eleven's origin. She wouldn't be the way she is if the experiments she was part of weren't part of the arms race, after all. Now, if your criticism is "What is the _point_ of all the Russian stuff on the show going forward?" I think that's much more valid. That's just a lot to dump on poor Enzo. 😋 He's there to spout wisdom and help Hopper develop as a character, and I think that's fine. Its more than Argyle does, at least.

It's so refreshing watching an analysis video from a creator that's not a big fan of byler or can see the flaws. Such a good video

YOU'RE BACK! :) I was so worried!

I think Robin’s personality change was some sort of trauma thing or something

THANK YOU. I really disliked Argyle because he felt like a caricature of an 80s stereotype (just like Eddie, although his character was better developed). While he did counteract some of season four's darkness, most of his jokes were poorly written and fell flat. In any other show, he would work well: something just made him the wrong decision for Stranger Things. I also disliked the attention placed on the Hawkins' jocks...why couldn't more screen time be given to the original characters? And you're spot-on about Murray! The Duffer brothers really ruined him by exaggerating character traits that worked best in small doses.

5:15 this is not in fact a love triangle at all this is more like a love corner or just unrequited love because to our knowledge Mike doesn't love will and he supposedly loves 11 and she supposedly loves him

A Johnathan supporter is refreshing to see.

I hadn't thought about it but I love the idea of deleting Argyle (much as I enjoyed his character) and letting Jonathan replace him. As you said, Jonathan could have been the driver and could have worked at the pizza place. Argyle's other function was as a confidant for Jonathan, but instead we could have had Jonathan discuss his conflicted feelings about Nancy with Will (which would have brought them closer together and potentially provided an opening to explore more of Will's sexuality), or Joyce (to see more of their mother-son relationship - most of what we've seen between them was their fighting in S1) or even Murray (after all, he was there when their relationship started). The downside would be that tonally, all the Cali kids other than Argyle are quite moody, and it would've been harder to bring some mucch-needed levity to that storyline.

When I first learned that Hopper is alive and being kept in Russia I hoped that it is for giving an audience a chance to learn about Russians. They apeared out of nowhere in season 3, I don't understand how they learned about Upside Down, it's honestly quite cofusing. But we didn't get that. This plot exists only for Joyce having something to do this season.

this show (and even the comments!) forgetting about Jonathan is the one thing that frustrates me the absolute most. He's easily my favorite character so seeing him getting sidelined over and over is really heartbreaking. I don't mind Argylle himself, but adding him only took away form what little screentime Jonathan already gets. I understand they wanted to give him someone his age to talk to, and that's fine, but he did not need to stick around for the plot, clearly since they wordlessly eliminated his character for Season 5 lmao

Season 4 gets worse I every time I think about it while Season 3 gets better and better.

WHEW! De-Esser needed! Those S's are 🔪🔪🔪! 😂 The stoner guy totally took me out of the show. That and Will still having that same dumb haircut while looking about 25 in the face.

I didn’t like how they wrote Jason as a villain he’s actually a good guy and his rage at Eddie is honestly understandable but them making him convinced the whole town that a teenager is a killer was very irritating to me, as well as them making the cops completely useless. Something else that irritated me was Nancy and Steve flirtatious relationship when most definitely her and Jonathan are going to be endgame, it made sense that Steve was still in love with her but for Nancy it didn’t and it just made her character unlikable. Lastly and I don’t know if this was on purpose or not but I didn’t like Mike’s speech and how he constantly refer to Eleven as a hero when that makes her sad like she clearly doesn’t want to be a hero but has to be and also to me it seems like she thinks that’s the only thing that Mike likes about her sense she became insecure abt their relationship after she lost her powers

I loved Robin in S3, but I felt that the writers sacrificed some of her character in S4 bc they needed Nancy to shine brighter. Nancy and Robin were side by side this entire season, and if we had the strong, assured, loyal and brave Robin of S3, Nancy would look like the actual selfish priss she is. So Robin became neurotic and zany so that Nancy would seem grounded and capable. Which pisses me off bc Nancy does not deserve the spotlight/our respect. Also, Robin being neurodivergent was an added element that I really liked, but is it helpful if no one talks about it? Nancy, for all that she thinks she's a brain, didn't comment on it. It would have endeared her to me if she had a lightbulb moment and casually mentioned it to someone and canonized it in the show.

More of these long videos, I like these way more than the shorts.

I feel like some of these characters are added bcos famous people wanted to be in this show, since it became popular

something i want to see more in season 5 is El’s sibling relationship with Will. what little we got to see of it in season 4 was really touching! they’re also the two main characters most connected to the upside down, so they’ll be playing a major role for sure. i just hope they both make it out alive because they’ve been through so much….

Honestly I disagree I think they shouldve just went further in with hinting at Mike's true feelings toward will. I dont think it is a love triangle bc i dont think el or mike truly love each other. Idk theres a lot of writing that needs to be done in order to save this show. I think it just needs to be way more obvious that that is what they are doing with mike

I like Eddie and Robin a lot but I honestly couldn't stand them when they kept pushing for Steve and Nancy to get back together. It annoyed me so much that they were trying to convince Nancy to get back with her ex just because she and Jonathan were struggling and it was not only disrespectful to Jonathan and Steve, but also to Nancy. Relationships arent perfect, just because she and Jonathan are going through a rough patch doesn't mean she should instantly run back to Steve. And damn Nancy was annoying too, constantly drooling over her naked ex. It made me wish she was just single.

I heard how Argyle might now return in season 5. I hope he does return. I also think that Kali and her gang will come back to help El. With that, Argyle and Axel can get high on Purple Palm Tree Delight. Of course, Argyle will need to put the drugs away so he can focus with fighting off monsters. I think thought that Jonathan is going to die in season 5. With that, Argyle will be emotional at the funeral. A missed opportunity with Arygle is how he didn't get to meet Eddie. They would've been best friends. They would've been the Bill and Ted of the show. Eddie would teach Argyle how to play music so they could form their own band. Even teach Argyle how to play Dungeons & Dragons. He could've even became Arygle roommate when going to college. Argyle would share his Purple Palm Tree Delight with him. He could've even get Eddie a job at Surfer Boys Pizza where they can add their own toppings. Even though Jonathan's supposed to be Argyle's best friend, I think Eddie would've been the real case for Argyle if they met.

will is so underutilized it hurts me so much, ever since season 2 when he was one of the main things i still felt he was underused and then he was completely ignored the next seasons it made me so upset because he became my fan favorite

Actually I thought Will had feelings for mike since the previous seasons... I cant remember when it started to feel that way but I remember wondering if it was me reading too much into it or if there was something there, so it didn come out of the blue for me!

I tend to wonder if they intentionally left Mike and Will,and also Jonathan to a point, out so much because they plan to refocus on them in season 5... They literally set Mike up as the main character season 1 with Will being his focus so I can't see them just writing them off without reason.

He didn't do much with the bad guys but I think they did a good job with Johnnathan going through a real struggle of getting stoned and being dazed. Some characters take a step back like in real life.

I disagree with your point on Joyce in season4. It was super interesting to see what was once just a normal mom, to go to Russia as a secret agent and save hopper. That’s a whole arc.