The final volume of Stranger Things 4 is loaded with easter eggs, from secret Eggos to fantasy
swords, Stephen King, Back To The Future, and Pulp Fiction.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm revealing the biggest, best,
and most epic details hidden in the Season 4 finale!
Spoilers ahead, of course, so take care.
The sword that Hopper picks up for his face-off against the Demogorgon in Russia is no ordinary
weapon, it's the legendary Atlantean sword wielded by Conan The Barbarian.
If you were wondering how on earth the sword ended up there, there's a little clue in the
seventh episode when the prisoners were given access to a weapons cabinet just before their
fight against the monster.
Look carefully as Dmitri grabs a spear, but one of the others takes the sword behind him.
And there was a tease in the opening episode of Season 4 to us getting some Conan The Barbarian
action later via the poster for the Schwarzenegger movie in Mike's bedroom.
When Hopper and Joyce come across a room in the prison full of demogorgons and demodogs
submerged in giant vats of liquid, the moment has strong echoes of Alien Resurrection, which
co-stars Winona Ryder and features [her and] a cloned Ripley discovering a lab full of
tanks containing various xenomorph experiments.
There's also an easter egg to the second Alien movie when Sullivan orders his men to split
up to look for Eleven…
Quarter and search by twos.
Hicks, take the upper level.
This is a nod to Dwayne Hicks from Aliens who was also ordered to do the same thing…
Quarter and search by twos.
Plus, when Paul Reiser's Owen calls El "kiddo"…
Hey, kiddo.
…it's a nod to the way his character Burke addresses Ripley in Aliens.
That's a second chance, kiddo.
On top of that, David Harbour has said the third Alien movie was a big influence for
Season 4 and the way the demodog chases Hop through the corridors is reminiscent of the
xenomorph chase in Alien 3, as well as Bob's fate in Season 2.
And Hopper's plan to bait one of the demodogs, then lure the others into a trap for Murray
to flame them in the prison pit, is a reference to Alien 3 where the prisoners lure the xenomorph
into a trap.
Eddie and his B.C.
Rich Warlock guitar play a crucial role in the season finale.
Notice how the red crackle finish on the guitar mirrors the Upside Down's colours, with its
red and black and its cracks of lightning.
She was destined for an alternate dimension.
In fact, the classic heavy metal guitar was customised by the show's crew from a regular
black design.
Although the Metallica song Eddie plays is actually about drug addiction, its title "Master
of Puppets" fits how Vecna toys with his victims, manipulating them like they're puppets on
a string.
And many of its lyrics that we hear during the show tie in well with the Creel House
sequence that it accompanies.
For example, 'I'm your source of self-destruction' and 'Where's the dreams that I've been after',
fit how Vecna uses the memories of his victims against them, as he tries to do with Max again
here, bringing back memories of Billy trapped in the sauna.
Interestingly, even some of the song's lyrics that don't make it into the show, like 'Twisting
your mind and smashing your dreams / Blinded by me, you can't see a thing', are also spot
on for Max's story.
There was also a heart-breaking clue to Eddie's eventual demise at the hands of the Upside
Down's demobats during the D&D game in the first episode, because if you look really
closely, you can spot a tattoo of bats on his arm.
Also, this tattoo of a clawed hand controlling a puppet was another clue to the song "Master
of Puppets" that Eddie ended up playing in the finale.
And just before he dies, Eddie tells Dustin…
You're gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?
…a reference to how he saw The Hellfire Club as a place for those like Mike and Dustin
who didn't fit in.
I knew it the moment I saw you.
You sat on that table right over there, looking like two little lost sheep.
There's a fantastic visual homage to the opening scene of Star Wars when Sullivan and his men
storm into the Nina facility.
The way they blow open the door, followed by a gunfire battle through a steam-filled
corridor is incredibly reminiscent of the Stormtroopers busting open a doorway and having
a shoot-out with the Rebel guards.
Then the way Sullivan strides down the hallway looking for El parallels Darth Vader arriving
in the aftermath of the battle demanding to know where the Death Star plans are.
And the Duffer Brothers have specifically said they "wanted to capture the tone" of
The Empire Strikes Back for Season 4.
So, there's Eleven not wanting to complete her training with Brenner and instead go and
help her friends in Hawkins, a reference to how Luke Skywalker leaves his training with
Yoda early to help Leia and Han Solo.
Plus, there's the way the season ends with the villain's triumph as the Upside Down breaks
into the real world.
And one of our amazing Movie Lovers points out that Max ending up in a coma brings to
mind Han Solo being captured and frozen in carbonite.
And there's another hat-tip to the galaxy far, far way when Murray utters one of the
franchise's famous lines: I don't know, Jim.
I got a bad feeling about this.
…as they roll up to the Russian prison to break back in only to find no guards on watch.
After Vecna's pain finally releases the vines that are strangling and about to kill Robin,
Nancy, and Steve, Robin responds…
I don't believe in a higher power or divine intervention.
But that was a miracle. …which is a shout-out to how Samuel L. Jackson
and John Travolta miraculously survived a hail of bullets in Pulp Fiction, which also
starred Uma Thurman, the mother of Robin actress, Maya Hawke.
This was divine intervention.
As Nancy is getting the cleaning supplies together for the gang to clear up the old
cabin in the woods where Hop and El used to live, there's a very brief shot of a packet
of Eggos.
Eleven's favourite food since Mike first gave them to her back in Season 1.
Whatever you want, kiddo.
It's on me.
Waffles, please.
After Vecna succeeds in opening the four gates to the Upside Down in Hawkins, the ground-splitting
cracks converge in the middle of the town, right next to the Clock Tower.
Given all the clock symbolism in Season 4, this location doesn't feel like a coincidence.
It might also be a reference to the importance of the Clock Tower in Back To The Future,
where it was a crucial way of harnessing the energy from a lightning strike that would
allow Marty to time travel.
Together with numerous other Back to the Future easter eggs in the series, I suspect this
moment is yet another pointer to how time travel will factor into Season 5, something
I discuss in a lot more detail in my "How To Beat Vecna" theory video.
When Erica strikes back at Jason's bully friend, she says…
Crit hit! …which is a call-back to the winning dice
roll she made in the D&D game at the beginning of Season 4.
Crit hit!
By the way, that D20 roll which defeated Vecna in the game will surely also be significant
in how Eleven and the gang eventually defeat the villain.
As well as the deliberately Rambo-esque image in the War Zone's advert, the store's logo
also has a Top Gun vibe about it.
It's an interesting choice given the Tom Cruise mention this season
You have a Tom Cruise poster.
That's old.
The poster is likely from his Risky Business era which released in 1983, the year the first
season is set.
Your lover boy from Risky Business.
You know, Carol thinks I actually kinda look like him.
Curiously, the Cruise comparisons continue this season as Mason Dye who plays Jason has
major Tom Cruise vibes and, in fact, he said he prepared for the role by watching Cruise's
movies.
And inside the War Zone, Jason and his fellow jocks have plastered the place with 'Wanted'
posters for Eddie and other members of the Hellfire Club.
The War Zone scene also reminds me of Nancy and Jonathan stocking up on weapons to do
battle with the Demogorgon in Season 1.
The exploding blood balloons that Vecna sets off when he breaks into Max's memory of the
Snow Ball have vibes of the 2002 adaptation of Stephen King's novel Carrie where she's
soaked in blood in front of a balloon arch, as well as the IT miniseries where Pennywise
sets off blood-filled balloons in front of an adult Richie at the library.
By the way, the scene in Volume 1 where Eleven is soaked with a milkshake by Angela's bully
pals in front of everyone at the rink is another reference to Carrie getting soaked in pig's
blood and laughed at by her peers, an event that triggers her powers.
Along with Nightmare On Elm Street and IT, another huge horror influence on both parts
of Season 4 is Clive Barker's Hellraiser.
Vecna's attic in the Creel House where he goes for his creepy meditation sessions has
big Hellraiser vibes as Julia takes Frank's victims there to feed upon.
And the rose window in the door of the Creel house is also a reference to the stained glass
window in the door of the Hellraiser house.
The Duffer Brothers have also said Vecna is inspired by Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies,
and despite their quite different appearances both antagonists have a similar origin in
that they were both once human before transforming into villains that primarily inhabit an extra-dimensional
realm.
The Michael Myers mask that Eddie puts on when the crew steal the RV is the same one
that Max wore for Halloween night in Season 2.
Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?
There's also a big Halloween and Michael Myers easter egg in the way Vecna's body disappears
after he falls through the Creel House attic window.
And I explain that together with even more easter eggs from the finale such as the Stephen
King book Lucas reads to Max in my Volume 2 ending explained and Season 5 theories video.
You can tap here to watch that or follow the link in the video description.
So, Movie Lovers, what other cool details or references did you spot in the second part
of Season 4?
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you enjoyed this video, do hit that like button, I really appreciate it.
You can also tap left to discover why I think Eleven will be time-travelling in Season 5
in order to defeat Vecna.
Thanks for enjoying Stranger Things with me and hope you have a marvellous movie-loving
week!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!