Pop Culture Parallels: Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1
Pop Culture Parallels
Spotlight: Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1
Since Stranger Things hit streaming in 2016, it has become synonymous with nostalgia. The Duffer Brothers and their team are experts in integrating pop culture references in every aspect of the show; from dialogue to music to set decoration. The first season took the world by storm and became a modern phenomenon, not an easy feat for an original story. Unlike Marvel or DC with their own backed IP, the Duffers used an entire quarter-century as their color palette to create a world to play in that feels lived in.
Season 4 utilizes the magic created in their breakout season with needle-like precision. Here are some of the Easter eggs from season 1 that might predict what happens when Volume 2 drops on July 1st.
So, like Steve, let’s “DIVE” in!
Is Eleven turning into Dark Phoenix?
It’s no secret that Eleven and Jean Grey have similar powers. Eleven has even been placed in tribute X-Men covers. X-Men has a great influence on the series from the start, when Will asks for Dustin’s X-Men 134 comic book in the pilot. Eleven also finds a trophy in Mike’s room that is a woman with wings, very similar to Jean.
The plot of 134 has resurfaced thematically in Season 4. This comic has the X-Men facing off against The Hellfire Club (sound familiar?) and is the start of the Dark Phoenix Saga where Jean Grey gives in to the gravity of her powers.
Her main antagonist is Mastermind, a being with psionic power. He creates complex telepathic illusions to toy with his victims, similar to Vecna, and his illusion to seduce Jean Grey unlocks The Dark Phoenix. Enraged, Dark Phoenix destroys Mastermind by blasting him with the knowledge of the universe, overloading him to the extent that he turns catatonic. The image of this is directly referenced in Eleven’s showdown with 001, when she unlocks her powers and sends him to the Upside Down.
PREDICTION: While Eleven won’t go full dark, her full powers will be unleashed, leading to major sacrifice and consequences.
“We can reshape the world, remake it however we see fit”- 001
When Little Eleven throws 001 into another world, we see him falling through a red void. It is not the Upside Down at all. There is no Hawkins or eerie particles floating in the air, there isn’t even gravity; it is pure energy. It is this energy that turns him into the monster as we see him.
The Upside Down existed as a void of pure psionic energy, and it is this energy that gives 001 his original powers. Therefore, he is connected to the world before he arrives, and is able to shape it as he wants to.
The artistic decision to mirror the red void with Eleven’s memories of being born, both with a distinctly red tint and shards of light, describe visually that each of the characters are being “born” into who they were meant to be. Like it or not, 001 becoming Vecna and accessing his power was a rebirth for him.
PREDICTION: We will find out where the Upside Down came from and that it’s this dimension and the Mind Flayer that sought out Henry Creel.
Vecna Makes Upside Down Hawkins
When 001 falls into the Upside Down, it’s curious that there is nothing but vast empty space and pure energy. It is still unclear whether Eleven created the Upside Down or merely accessed it, but what is clear is that 001 probably used his powers to shape it into Hawkins, the only place he was remotely happy.
Vecna is like Mastermind in many ways; he has psychokinesis and telepathy, and uses his telepathy to create illusions in his victims. And even though he desires to be a part of Hellfire Club, he acts on his own and remains solitary. When Jean essentially makes him a god of all knowledge, it doesn’t kill him but sends him into a different world in his mind where no one can reach him. Vecna is like a god in the Upside Down, and is separated from the real world.
If that’s true, then it stands to reason that those with psionic abilities can not only influence the Upside Down but change it. The Upside Down is going to be the place for the final battle this season, but it will be super exciting to see the location possibly used as a weapon itself.
PREDICTION: We will get a 001/ Eleven battle and find out why the Upside Down looks like Hawkins, and why it’s stuck in the past.
What music brings Nancy back?
Max’s favorite song was easy to spot, and is easily one of the greatest moments of the series. But Nancy being captured by Vecna is a little trickier to fix, and it doesn’t seem like he’s letting go anytime soon. So, what is going to wake her?
Nancy’s music box: It plays a rendition of “Lullaby and Goodnight” by Brahams. Robin draws attention to it, remarking that it makes music. Eleven also opened the box in Season 1 Episode 3, when she’s exploring the Wheeler house. Seeing the room both stuck in 1983 and in the present of 1986, the music box is one of the few things that stay the same. Even the wallpaper is different, and no one likes changing wallpaper. Hopefully someone in the group remembers the tune.
Another idea is that it’s a song she and Steve shared while they were dating, which would further cement their rekindling romance. Conveniently, he’s in the Upside Down with her… *strokes non-existent beard*
The songs I’ve found that are the most likely are:
“Every Little Bit” by Jackie James and Jackie Curnow: this is playing in the car when Nancy and Barb are driving to Steve’s, and might represent the last good memory with Barb.
“I Melt With You” by Modern English: Music playing at Steve’s pool party, which means he would know it enough to sing it to her.
“Hazy Shade Of Winter” by The Bangles – Nancy makes out with Steve while Barbara is taken by the Monster. This is less likely because the song starts after Barb is taken and rolls through the credits.
“Waiting for a Girl Like You” by Foreigner – First song as Nancy loses her virginity with Steve. I think this is less likely because of the cheese-factor alone, and there’s no real proof that the characters could hear this song playing.
PREDICTION:
“Old Time Rock and Roll”- Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band– Before Nancy tries to beat the Demagorgon with a baseball bat, Steve confronts her in her garage, and sings this song to her, telling her he has a “Tom Cruise” vibe. Since Robyn also pointed out the Tom Cruise poster still on the wall, it could it be a fun memory to pull her back into reality.
Will we get some Joe Keery-oke in Part Two?
Who is The Hellfire Club??
The DnD groups name unfortunately puts them in the spotlight of the Satanic Panic that swept the 80’s, but it isn’t just a cool name.
The Hellfire Club was the name of a social club in Britain and Ireland. It had many iterations but basically operated the same way: members would convene at a local tavern or someone’s house and drink and talk philosophy, politics, and religion. The group was known for “engaging in obscene acts” which was mostly making fun of church rituals. They would even dress up (as Bible characters, but hey, cosplay is cosplay).
The name Hellfire Club was plucked from history by Marvel Comics and used in the X-Men series. It was a social club for wealthy elites, like it’s namesake, but the Inner Circle contained supervillains trying to influence world events that our heroes had to face. Included in this group was Emma Frost, Mastermind, Sebastian Shaw, Magneto, and Phoenix. The Hellfire Club was the villanous group our heroes faced in “UnCanny X-men 129-134” when Jean Grey becomes Dark Phoenix. I’m sensing a pattern.
The boys knew this reference, Dustin uses Xmen to help Eddie understand the world he is now thrust in. And while the name is definitely ‘metal’… it’s about to cause them more problems than they realize.
PREDICTION: The Hellfire Club will disband after the events of the season regardless, given the entire towns hatred of them. The Basketball Team will become an obstacle to the Hawkins Crew, and will be victims in Vecna’s larger scheme.
Flipping Freddie Krueger
Season 4 leans more heavily into the horror genre than in previous seasons. With their resident superhero powerless and miles away, the Hawkins gang are more out of their depth than ever before. And having bodies turn up with broken bones and a creepy haunted house, it’s hitting all the buttons.
Casting Robert Englund as Mr. Vincent Creel was a bold choice. He is most famous for his role as Freddie Kreuger, a staple horror villain of the time who would attack teens with the same claw-like hands as Vecna. He is also no stranger to heavy prosthetic makeup, and could not see once the eye makeup was applied.
You cannot cast Englund without thinking of Freddie, and I think the Duffer Brothers did that on purpose. Many horror villains like Freddie start the same: he once was human, something horrible happened to him, and now he is imbued with supernatural or inhuman abilities he uses to wreak havoc and murder gloriously. Freddie is terrifying because he invades peoples dreams before he kills them, makes them question reality before slicing them with his knife fingers, all while hearing that eerie song.
The Duffers used this as an unconscious reference point, giving us a horror movie base for them to flip on it’s head. Like Freddie, Vecna also uses people’s dreams, conjures illusions, and makes it impossible for his victims to tell real from unreal. We begin season 4 identifying him as a warlock, a monster, a 5-star general of the Mindflayer. It is the Nina Project that reveals at the last moment that Vecna is not only human, but a victim of Brenner himself. He is given context and backstory and understanding. If the internet is any indication, fans of the show even seem to like him.
The Duffers used the Freddie story as a backdrop and completely reversed it, reimagining it and making it feel alive and interesting, arguably moreso than the many remakes we’ve seen recently. The time of the 80’s horror movie is back, and almost perfected.
PREDICTION: Robert Englund is only credited for one episode on IMDB, so Victor will not make another appearance. However Vecna could suffer the same weakness as his iconic Freddie conterpart. He is safe in the dream world, but once he enters the real world he is vulnerable and can be killed. I think Vecna will die this season.
Powers at Play: Vecna in DnD
When Eddie named his campaign villain as Vecna, diehard fans can’t help but relive the moment when Mike slams the demagorgon miniature on the table with flourish and pizazz. The season’s major villains are codified in the same way. So what does that tell us about Vecna, and what other powers could arise in Volume 2?
Vecna is considered one of the greatest villains in Dungeons and Dragons canon, being a powerful wizard who transforms into a lich, or a creature who defies death with magic. He is only considered a legend in the 1st edition with only artifacts of him available to players. The 2nd edition expands his character more. He started as a human, and was trained by his mother in the arcane arts before her execution. He vowed revenge against the land and everyone in it.
Now, as a nerd, I have never seen stats like Vecna. He utilizes magic to control his undead army and conquer the world, which means he deals necrotic damage. He is immune to being frightened, poisoned, blugeoned, paralyzed, charmed, pierced, stunned, or being exhausted. He does not require air, food, water, or sleep to live. His passive perception is 25, which is stupidly high. So far, even though the Stranger Things character is not based off of DnD, the stats check out. In DnD, Vecna has two weaknesses: light from holy clerics, and a magical sentient sword. In the lore, one of his followers (Kas) was gifted the sword, and it spoke to him to usurp his master and take his power.
Vecna has never appeared in daylight, and although we are absent a magical sword, a betrayal is definitely possible. But will that result in the desire to take his place in the Upside Down?
PREDICTION: Sunlight will come into play, and he will definitely make his way into real life Hawkins. Hopefully the hang will find a magic sword.
Time is running out
Time is a consistent theme this season. Eleven talks about how time feels in her letter to Mike, calling everyone “time travelers.” It is the grandfather clock that inspired Henry Creel to use his powers. The grandfather clock appears and chimes to Vecna’s victims. The Upside Down is stuck in November 6th, 1983. And even the use of the simultaneous timeline of Vecna and the Orderly plays with the audience’s awareness of time in the show.
It’s possible the use of the grandfather clock could be signaling the grandfather paradox, a logical theory that if you went back in time and killed your grandfather before he had children, your birth would be impossible. Not only is there an inevitability in the passage of time, or the looming end to someone’s time in death, but there is a certainty that the events that take place were meant to happen exactly as they did. Logical destiny. 001 and Eleven are intertwined permanently.
PREDICTION: Volume 2 will finish the time theme in preparation for final season, and destiny will play out as the Upside Down and Hawkins collide like a Venn diagram.
Time to get help…?
There is also the use of clocks as a literal signal that Vecna might be present. One other character is tied to time: the school counselor. She wears a key necklace with a clock embedded in the center, and both times Max visits her, the wall clock is prominently featured and ticking underscores the music. The counselor only appears in scenes with Max, and she is the only commonality between all of Vecna’s victims.
PREDICTION: The counselor is either a pawn for Vecna or an illusion he creates to choose his victims and gain their trust. I honestly hope it’s the latter.
How will this end? Only time will tell…
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 premieres midnight Friday July 1st on Netflix.
