location: stranger things pop up (omotesando, tokyo jp)

among the madness of book writing, my brain is also ocuupied elsewhere during my breaks.

for those of you who are netflix savvy and are hyperfixated on the hype surrounding the most recent release of stranger things 5, please continue reading my critically thought analysis.

otherwise,

THE FOLLOWING POST HAS MAJOR SPOILERS REGARDING THE NETFLIX TV SERIES, STRANGER THINGS.

I REPEAT, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP OR UP TO DATE.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

LOOK AWAY, AND READ THIS WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH SEASON 5, EPISODE 4. (thanks kindly in advance)

alright, let me get into the thick of this post because this is going to be extra extra long.

stranger things might be the greatest netflix original show to have ever been released. the 80's are full of nostalgia and the era of some of the greatest inventions known to mankind. the writing is phenomenal. the plot is engaging and there's always something new happening with the upside down. the character development goes in the right directions.

and for us critical thinkers, a logically thought out masterpiece.

now mind you, i am going deep into this so pay attention with these crucially important notes.

the forefront of stranger things is the loud and clear depiction of alice in wonderland references.

multiple instances have occurred throughout the series where many of the characters have been led or sucked into an otherworldly place having no idea where they or how to navigate it.

when holly is dragged into the upside down by the demogorgon in the episode 2, her conscious mind is placed into henry's own (sick and pedophilic) perfect world. she is a representation of something that is sweet, innocent, and very easy to manipulate with things that seem nice, but are actually cynical and evil. henry even disguises himself as someone who is kind, considerate, and hospitable when he first meets her, and this feeds into that fallacy that the world is always a nice and beautiful place.

another reference is henry has a pocket watch and a hat, a nod to the white rabbit being late for something, or rather, henry keeping track of time for a certain purpose. lucas states in season 5, episode 2 how holly disappeared on november 3rd; three days before will disappeared exactly five years before. coincidence for the watch? i don't think so. as for the hat part, he's just plain psychotic like the mad hatter which was another symbolic nod.

a cherry on top moment for season 5 is when holly is alone in episode 3 when her dress is the same exact color as alice's. the breakfast moment was also a mad tea party reference.

back to the future it's the 80's, so this is a great time to reference a great movie.

in season 4, episode 8, nancy realizes the upside down is stuck in the past as she forks through an old diary of hers, where the entries stop on november 6th, 1983. the notorious day that will disappeared. every single time someone has disappeared into the upside down has well, sought a way back to the future (present day hawkins).

when steve, nancy, johnathan, and dustin are chasing down the tagged demogorgon into the upside down in the bmw in 5x04, this is another clear callback to the famous movie. they are going back in time, where they eventually wish to return to the future once their mission is complete.

be careful of the woods and don't talk to strangers because you are going to get eaten by a wolf. not exactly.

5x03 - holly is told to never go in the woods by henry by any circumstances, but she can't help but think to go if she's left a map to find him in the mailbox. the brown hood here sells it, but a wolf doesn't want to eat her. instead, a friend and a safe place is found. thanks max!

harry potter and finally, the big moment of season 5.

will the sorcerer.

need i say more? i will say more actually in the deeper analysis but for short, here is this.

will changed forever once vecna, henry, 001, whatever it is you want to call him at this point got a hold of him all the way back in season 1, and essentially got possessed (SA'd) in Season 2 with the . it wasn't in the fact that will couldn't fit into vecna's ideal and perfect world, it was because will was too f-ing strong to be in that world. he understood himself fully, which allowed his powers to manifest so greatly. like how voldemort gave a part of himself to harry, the same parallel happens with will and vecna.

which brings me to my next point:

well, i am a firm believer that this is the whole point of the stranger things series. the whole purpose is to understand will and henry's side of processing trauma.

the biggest and most profound difference is : will has a support group of people and with hawkins as this memorable and beautiful place (for the most part at least). his friends are here, his family are here, and despite being regarded as an outcast, a weirdo, and a complete blasphemy to the standard societal norms, it's still a place he has to fall back to.

as we all saw at the end of volume 1, will is reminded of who he really is (thanks robin). he is grounded and rooted in purpose, and was able to turn what evil was done to him into something that could save others.

whereas, henry does not, and must forcibly create his own world.

here some literary analysis points on season 5

remember when nancy was going through her journal in 4x07 in the upside down and realizes that it's all in the past, specifically november 6th?

i believe this version of hawkins is in constant existence because of will because it was what he thought of immediately as soon as he was dragged in there. is it possible that will's mind is as strong as vecna's in manifesting and creating whole new worlds? a stretch of a theory, but maybe.

or, is it possible that will is also an unintentional infiltrator of minds? again, when we take a look at henry's perspective, he does everything he can to suppress and destroy his memory of hawkins. but will's presence completely defies this, and so does everyone else who holds hawkins in a positive regard.

will is tethered to the upside down in this way because symbollically, hawkins plays a large part in who he's become. even though vecna has defiled it with monsters and darkness, it still exists. he can't seem to shake it or get rid of it despite his efforts.

through episode 4, there are a few things to take note of here when talking about Henry's trauma toward Hawkins.

when max is trying to find a way out of henry's mind, she stumbles into a memory of hawkins high school with a younger version of joyce and steve's dad in the year 1959. as she looks at the flyer, the date reads november 6th with henry creel on it. the same date will disappeared.

the event doesn't explicitly state what's happening, but we can easily assume something traumatic happened on that specific day. my big and unhinged guess would be whatever happened at school on that day, also fueled him with so much rage to kill off his own family.

dustin also discovers in episode 4 that the Upside Down Hawkins is surrounded by a circle. going off of max's note on henry's mind being a prison, we can also infer that this wall is henry attempting to block out anything to do with the town of hawkins. this is proven as max runs away from him, and refuses to step into or get near the wall. max even states the wall is a safe place; another strong indicator that hawkins (let's just guess she's on the border of it and is on the brink of reaching it) is a place of salvation for her as well.

when henry steps back into hawkins, he does so as a terrifying creature. he only ever shows himself when he has to, and the purpose of him going back there is to remind him that will is the weak one. he even says will is unfit to stay in his ideal world.

why does henry take children? why does he disguise himself as a friendly man tempting them with a wonderful and safe place to thrive and live?

it's because this gives him agency; control he never had as a child. using it in all the wrong ways of course. just like how the snake tempted adam and eve with the forbidden fruits, henry does the same thing here. he forces the children to forget the bad things he has done (like making the demogorgons kidnap them and kill and traumatize their families forever), and takes the one thing giving them free will; their minds. he replaces their agency with happy things, where they think they can run freely and live happily, and are in control. but it's the complete opposite.

it's a cyclical "curse" where henry needs to feels the need to be in control, at the cost of everyone else.

other speculative theories i might have are:

but, we can save those for when vol. 2 comes out on the christmas.

let me know what you all think of this in the comments, and if there's anyone else out there who has a crazy overthinking and critically engaged mind like i do.

take care,