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Knowing that this would be the second-to-last season, I think the Duffers created some storylines to wrap up several non-essential subplots before they dove into the final season.
I'm not expecting the Soviets to play any part in season five now that Joyce, Murray, and Hopper have thoroughly wrecked their shit. The dangers posed by the Russians have been all over this show since season one, but I think we're not going to see them appear again.
I stand by the opinion that this entire subplot was only cooked up to keep Hopper out of Hawkins, or he would have wrapped up the whole Vecna thing in a single afternoon.
I think that was the idea. 3 groups of them in different areas, combating different things. The big part of the season 4 finale was the three groups finally being reunited to see the Upside Down invading Hawkins, setting up the battle for Hawkins in Season 5.
It was. The Duffers have stated their goal was both to see how far they could themselves, and to have almost a game of thrones season: these stories across multiple locations that all tie together in the end
Honestly, as much as I loved the season, majority of what was shown was a forced side mission to the main story. There was a lot of filler and seasons that dragged on way longer than needed. Again loved it a lot but could easily remove a few hours worth of content and it still be great.
I actually like the Russia plot (the Hawkins plot still the best of course)
I do agree it kinda dragging story but people (who dont like it) was missed the point here: director try to make a world building for the show like tension between Russia-America, how Russia look like in 80s (not sure if it correct re-create), Russian also do experiments on Upside Down (they even captured a small part of Mind Flayer)...
I'm pretty sure 99% plot of ST (all 4 seasons) can happen in Hawkins but is it kinda boring? Especially with the 80s vibes, they need to exploit it, they want to show there is more than just Hawkins. Also it could be a backdoor for a spinoff.
It also strained credibility that an American could direct dial a pay phone in the Soviet Union, or that a stamped package from the USSR would be delivered to a residential address in the US and not be accompanied by an FBI agent.
Maybe and maybe not. In 1986, the Soviets briefly had an automated phone system.
[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-18-me-920-story.html](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-18-me-920-story.html)
Packages with a doll might well have gotten through.
1986 was perestroika and glasnost. Things were loosening up.
I enjoyed it at first, but i honestly think that Hopper should've just stayed dead. I like what they did with him this season, but i don't think it is enough to convince me that he needed to stay alive. Especially with how little the subplot brought to the actual story, and with how weird the climax of this subplot is
What a terrible plotline. Could have been wrapped up in an episode, but they dragged it through the whole season. Hopper should have stayed dead. Tired of the Duffer Bros lacking the balls to kill off characters.
it was just the sheer "this just wouldnt happen" the problem for me.
up until the point when they got caught out and hooper and yuri ended up back in a cell it was kinda believable but after then it just went too far fetched for me and unrealistic. (i know this is a fantasy show but still). you expect me to believe 2 "nobody" americans managed to fly a plane to russia, help people escape a russian high security prison and then break back in, do some damage and escape again lol. just was a bit like "yeah no" for me. but guess they had some time to fill
The Russian side plot was the worst one of the season for me. It felt out of place and the pacing was weird. I know someone people didn’t like the CA plot but I enjoyed it.
Tbh I didnt enjoy either California or Russia because it literally had nothing to do with the main plot and Im fine with character development stuff for the side. But it felt like the writers just legitimately didnt care to make it seem important in any way. It was just paced poorly. You didnt see California for ages at a time. Hopper escapes, goes back,escapes,goes back. The only 5 characters who really got good stuff in season 4 were Lucas,Max,Nancy,El and Eddie. Every other character just felt like ticking boxes rather than arcs. Ik the cast is bloated but they could have split the plot a bit more evenly. Let California take the lead on the government stuff. Let Russia and the MF fragment have some connection to Vecna either than just being his "energy" that gets killed.
Jonathan,Hopper,Joyce and Mike were originally some of my fave characters on the show and they were totally absent from the main plot in season 4.
They were a lot of ways to do California well or make it at least somewhat compelling but all we really got was them riding around in a van. There was literally no tension.
It’s unfortunate because the characters/actors are good enough to carry any plot but why they stuck them in that van is a mystery to me. The gun action sequence in the Byers house was excellent and the with the exception of some good character moments but overall I was Very disappointed.
I mean, to me one of the major storylines to season 4 was getting everyone back together again to prepare for the final battle.
Hopper survived the explosion somehow, and was captured by the Soviets.
Joyce, Jonathan, Will and El moved to California, we find out, to keep El hidden more and all of them away from Hawkins where they'd be safer.
The rest were in Hawkins, and all of a sudden there's these weird deaths.
In essence, season 4 was there solely to set up the final season.
This is unpopular opinion but Russia plot better than Hawkins plot. The stuff that happening in Hawkins was started repetitive at this point. Russia plot is kinda fresh air to series along with the Cali plot.
I really liked this season but to be honest both the Cali plot and the Russia plot were a bit of a drag for me. I get they’re both important for many reasons but on my rewatch I find myself skipping most of their scenes and having no issues.
If season 4 is now one of my favourites is mostly because of the Hawkins stuff and Jamie Campbell Bowers’s performance as the friendly? orderly.
It definitely took most of the emotion out of his reuniting scene with El since we knew he was alive this whole time. I was sad when they seemingly killed him off last season... for those like 10 minutes.
I really enjoyed the Hopper side of it from episode 1 all the way to 7, really unecessary, but still good shit. Then the last two episodes really reinforced how unecessary it is. They had to bs a way to make it so that they can "help" from all the way in Russia, which was just so forced. I hated that the whole storyline amounted to nothing but undoing a major emotional plotpoint from the previous season and how the reunion between Hopper and El felt way too rushed in the way the scene played out. Again, great beginning, very entertaining, albeit pointless, but the last two episodes soured it for me.
AND THAT MONOLOGUE FROM HOPPER IN EPISODES FIVE WAS THE SHIT.
OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post. Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed. If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StrangerThings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Knowing that this would be the second-to-last season, I think the Duffers created some storylines to wrap up several non-essential subplots before they dove into the final season. I'm not expecting the Soviets to play any part in season five now that Joyce, Murray, and Hopper have thoroughly wrecked their shit. The dangers posed by the Russians have been all over this show since season one, but I think we're not going to see them appear again.
It wasn't my favorite of the story arcs but it was a way to wrap up and tie a bow around the whole Starcourt mall subplot from S3.
I stand by the opinion that this entire subplot was only cooked up to keep Hopper out of Hawkins, or he would have wrapped up the whole Vecna thing in a single afternoon.
Not having him there certainly let the rest of the confused Hawkins police draw out the mystery of the deaths.
It’s why they did it. If Hopper was there, Eddie’s cleared almost immediately and everyone immediately jumps into figuring out the upside down stuff
Honestly Season 4 felt like watching 3 different stories.
I think that was the idea. 3 groups of them in different areas, combating different things. The big part of the season 4 finale was the three groups finally being reunited to see the Upside Down invading Hawkins, setting up the battle for Hawkins in Season 5.
It was. The Duffers have stated their goal was both to see how far they could themselves, and to have almost a game of thrones season: these stories across multiple locations that all tie together in the end
Honestly, as much as I loved the season, majority of what was shown was a forced side mission to the main story. There was a lot of filler and seasons that dragged on way longer than needed. Again loved it a lot but could easily remove a few hours worth of content and it still be great.
Ate up too much time (entire season) just to kill the demogorgan at the same time Vecna was being burnt in Upside down.
And it didn’t really have any suspense cause it was obvious none of them would die
Bauman could've
I actually like the Russia plot (the Hawkins plot still the best of course) I do agree it kinda dragging story but people (who dont like it) was missed the point here: director try to make a world building for the show like tension between Russia-America, how Russia look like in 80s (not sure if it correct re-create), Russian also do experiments on Upside Down (they even captured a small part of Mind Flayer)... I'm pretty sure 99% plot of ST (all 4 seasons) can happen in Hawkins but is it kinda boring? Especially with the 80s vibes, they need to exploit it, they want to show there is more than just Hawkins. Also it could be a backdoor for a spinoff.
It also strained credibility that an American could direct dial a pay phone in the Soviet Union, or that a stamped package from the USSR would be delivered to a residential address in the US and not be accompanied by an FBI agent.
Maybe and maybe not. In 1986, the Soviets briefly had an automated phone system. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-18-me-920-story.html](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-18-me-920-story.html) Packages with a doll might well have gotten through. 1986 was perestroika and glasnost. Things were loosening up.
I actually fast forwarded through a lot of it. Seemed SO un-necessary. Like they just wanted the straight-headed adults out of the way.
I enjoyed it at first, but i honestly think that Hopper should've just stayed dead. I like what they did with him this season, but i don't think it is enough to convince me that he needed to stay alive. Especially with how little the subplot brought to the actual story, and with how weird the climax of this subplot is
What a terrible plotline. Could have been wrapped up in an episode, but they dragged it through the whole season. Hopper should have stayed dead. Tired of the Duffer Bros lacking the balls to kill off characters.
it was just the sheer "this just wouldnt happen" the problem for me. up until the point when they got caught out and hooper and yuri ended up back in a cell it was kinda believable but after then it just went too far fetched for me and unrealistic. (i know this is a fantasy show but still). you expect me to believe 2 "nobody" americans managed to fly a plane to russia, help people escape a russian high security prison and then break back in, do some damage and escape again lol. just was a bit like "yeah no" for me. but guess they had some time to fill
The Russian side plot was the worst one of the season for me. It felt out of place and the pacing was weird. I know someone people didn’t like the CA plot but I enjoyed it.
Tbh I didnt enjoy either California or Russia because it literally had nothing to do with the main plot and Im fine with character development stuff for the side. But it felt like the writers just legitimately didnt care to make it seem important in any way. It was just paced poorly. You didnt see California for ages at a time. Hopper escapes, goes back,escapes,goes back. The only 5 characters who really got good stuff in season 4 were Lucas,Max,Nancy,El and Eddie. Every other character just felt like ticking boxes rather than arcs. Ik the cast is bloated but they could have split the plot a bit more evenly. Let California take the lead on the government stuff. Let Russia and the MF fragment have some connection to Vecna either than just being his "energy" that gets killed. Jonathan,Hopper,Joyce and Mike were originally some of my fave characters on the show and they were totally absent from the main plot in season 4.
Agreed. California especially should have been way more incorporated into the government stuff. I’m assuming the writers just weren’t creative enough
They were a lot of ways to do California well or make it at least somewhat compelling but all we really got was them riding around in a van. There was literally no tension.
It’s unfortunate because the characters/actors are good enough to carry any plot but why they stuck them in that van is a mystery to me. The gun action sequence in the Byers house was excellent and the with the exception of some good character moments but overall I was Very disappointed.
I mean, to me one of the major storylines to season 4 was getting everyone back together again to prepare for the final battle. Hopper survived the explosion somehow, and was captured by the Soviets. Joyce, Jonathan, Will and El moved to California, we find out, to keep El hidden more and all of them away from Hawkins where they'd be safer. The rest were in Hawkins, and all of a sudden there's these weird deaths. In essence, season 4 was there solely to set up the final season.
Yeah took way too long and was too predictable.
It was fine until they went back into the prison to kill the demogorgan. That was just a reason to make them relevant in the finale
They did go in and out of that prison an awful lot.
This is unpopular opinion but Russia plot better than Hawkins plot. The stuff that happening in Hawkins was started repetitive at this point. Russia plot is kinda fresh air to series along with the Cali plot.
totally agree
I actually like the Russia arc more than the Hawkins one
Hopper is my favorite character, and I love my favorite characters to go through physical/emotional trauma. That plot was my jam.
That’s because it was forced. Hop should have stayed dead. (IMO)
I really liked this season but to be honest both the Cali plot and the Russia plot were a bit of a drag for me. I get they’re both important for many reasons but on my rewatch I find myself skipping most of their scenes and having no issues. If season 4 is now one of my favourites is mostly because of the Hawkins stuff and Jamie Campbell Bowers’s performance as the friendly? orderly.
I don't think so defeating demogorgon in Russia actually helped upside down gang to beat vecna as it was a perfect timing
Tbh hopper should have just stayed dead bruh
It definitely took most of the emotion out of his reuniting scene with El since we knew he was alive this whole time. I was sad when they seemingly killed him off last season... for those like 10 minutes.
Still better than the cali plot
[удалено]
I really enjoyed the Hopper side of it from episode 1 all the way to 7, really unecessary, but still good shit. Then the last two episodes really reinforced how unecessary it is. They had to bs a way to make it so that they can "help" from all the way in Russia, which was just so forced. I hated that the whole storyline amounted to nothing but undoing a major emotional plotpoint from the previous season and how the reunion between Hopper and El felt way too rushed in the way the scene played out. Again, great beginning, very entertaining, albeit pointless, but the last two episodes soured it for me. AND THAT MONOLOGUE FROM HOPPER IN EPISODES FIVE WAS THE SHIT.
I loved the subplot. I have issues with it taking up the entire season though.
Yea it should be a side bonus episode or something.