Happy Wednesday, my fellow strangers! It’s Mrs. Strange once again! On today’s episode
for Stranger Universe, I will talk in depth about the fourth teaser for Stranger Things
4 and go over theories and Easter eggs spotted by fans.
Before we start, please like, share, and subscribe to see more episodes from Stranger Universe.
Please turn on your notifications to attend video premieres and get a chance to interact
with Mrs. Strange and other stranger fans. Help get this episode to 1,000 views and likes
if you really want to see us release more Stranger Universe episodes like this one.
Please don’t forget to share this video across all social media platforms to help
fans and viewers join our strange family and find this great Stranger Universe content.
And now, let us begin...
Last Saturday for Stranger Things Day, Netflix released the fourth and final teaser for season
4, which revealed lots of new things and poised lots of new questions. The teaser starts off
with Eleven’s voiceover, saying that it’s been 185 days since the Byers left Hawkins.
Considering how much older all of the teens look since the last season premiered over
two years ago, a little over 6 months is an oddly short time between seasons in the show’s
universe. Yesterday, I stated that they should’ve used the COVID delay to write in a larger
time jump. The voiceover narration of Eleven writing a letter to Mike and documenting how
many days it has been is a clear callback to the beginning of Stranger Things 2, when
she disappeared and he left her a message on the walkie-talkie every day, documenting
how many days it had been since he last saw her. The teaser also features our first look
at the Byers’ new house. It was extremely upsetting when Joyce decided to move out of
the iconic house in Hawkins with her kids, but their new house suggests they’re living
quite nicely. The house is bigger than their Hawkins home and is in a larger suburban neighborhood,
with a room for each teenager. Then there’s the shot of Eleven making a shoebox diorama
for a project at school, with the details revealing it to be a recreation of her old
cabin in Hawkins with Hopper out front. This hints that Eleven still misses Hopper immensely
and thinks of him as her hero, and informs the audience that she still thinks he’s
dead at this point in time. Eleven’s connection to Hopper is still strong, which means she
may be the one to figure out he’s actually alive and imprisoned in Russia.
Then we see our first look at Will Byers. Noah Schnapp is a lot taller and more mature
looking now, which isn’t surprising considering how long the gap between filming seasons 3
and 4 was. His extremely ‘80s long bowl cut from Stranger Things 3 is gone, with a
hipper, shorter bowl cut taking its place. Viewers had been asking for Will to finally
get a new haircut after his tacky styles of the past few seasons, so at least season 4’s
hairdo is a step up. It also appears that he is still is an artist, spending time drawing
on an easel. It’s unclear what he’s currently drawing on the easel, but the pictures hanging
up on his wall suggest he could still have his connection to the Upside-Down. Though
the details are hard to make out, one drawing on his wall seems to show a prisoner with
a pick-ax or tool of some sort, which could possibly be Hopper doing labor in Russia.
If so, this means Will can still see through the Upside-Down and bring it to the surface
with his drawings, just as he did in Stranger Things 2. If the drawing is really of a prisoner
and Hopper, Will likely hasn’t made the connection yet, but still leaves room for
him to find a way to communicate with Jim from afar. Next, we have our first look at
the older Byers brother. First shown in the teaser looking out of his window with a smoke-filled
room and much longer hair, Jonathan’s new life in California seems quite different from
his lifestyle back in Hawkins. Now, Jonathan is enjoying the 1980s from a different point
of view, being a stoner this time around. Speaking of stoners, we got our first official
looks at Argyle and the Surfer Boy Pizza van. It was revealed early on that Jonathan’s
new best friend in season 4 would be a stoner and pizza delivery boy, meaning this is his
work van. It’s possible that Jonathan also works there, which could be how they met and
became friends. If so, Surfer Boy Pizza may be the season's new Scoop’s Ahoy. Eduardo
Franco is Argyle, a pizza delivery boy for Surfer Boy Pizza, who was characterized as
a stoner, which holds up when we first see Jonathan’s room filled with smoke. The last
half of the teaser features a clip of the Surfer Boy Pizza van driving around the gang
in the desert chaos, suggesting Argyle gets wrapped up in the government conspiracies
and Upside-Down dangers that the Byers are used to. Likely getting into such trouble
unintentionally, Argyle seems to be the new Robin-type character addition for Stranger
Things season 4.
In her letter to Mike, Eleven reveals that she enjoys going to school, which is a brand
new experience for her. Luckily, she’s in the same grade as her new adoptive brother
Will Byers, which will help her adjust to the oddities of American public high schools.
Since Jonathan is still a senior, all three teens in the Byers household will be going
to school together. This does raise some questions about whether Eleven could realistically be
attending school in the 9th grade alongside Will or not. She never received a formal education
and only just mastered speaking full sentences ahead of Stranger Things season 3, so how
is Eleven able to keep up with the high school curriculum? She likely had transcripts faked
for her move to school, but that wouldn’t change the fact that she would be very behind
academically. The teaser also shows that Spring Break is the setting for the season, which
had a lot of fans, including us, thinking that season 4 would arrive in March or April
2022. Right after Eleven said she was starting to like her new school, the teaser shows that
may not actually be the case. She discusses making a lot of friends, but when Eleven says
hello to a girl in the hallway, she’s ignored. A few moments later, Eleven sits down in class
with her shoebox diorama, only to get shot with a spitball in her face by Angela and
Jake, laughing at her. The Byers’ new California high school doesn’t seem to be a welcoming
place for Eleven in Stranger Things season 4, which supports why she misses Mike so much.
The teaser also features a series of sneak peeks in the latter half, starting of with
a first look at Rink-O-Mania. It appears that at least for the Byers family, the roller
rink could serve as the new Starcourt Mall. Roller rinks, much like malls, are another
staple of teenage life in the ‘80s, fit with the same neon lights. With so many teens
attending the rink, it’s possible there’s a school event that leads Eleven to roller
skate, only for her to be shown increasingly anxious and overstimulated at the center of
the rink. El showing this much anxiety around people isn’t typical, so it likely signals
something sinister is happening there. The teaser cuts to Joyce Byers in her new home
opening a package with several stamps on the outside. She curiously finds an antique doll
inside, which seems to be Russian in nature - not a Russian doll in the specific toy sense,
but a doll that appears to be wearing Russian clothes. This immediately begs the question
of whether it was sent by Hopper, who viewers already know is actually alive and in a Russian
prison. Since sending a letter could be dangerous, Hopper may have found a way to get Joyce a
message by sending her the doll. The doll could also connect to the Creel House teaser,
which briefly showed a 1950s girl with similarly styled dolls on the house’s front porch
steps. Stranger Things has revealed the Creel father who seemingly murdered the children
is alive and in a psychiatric hospital, which makes it possible that he sent the doll of
his deceased daughter to bring Joyce back to investigate in Hawkins.
Whatever comes of the doll in season 4, it means Joyce will be heading on her own adventure.
The teaser also briefly shows the U.S. military breaking into the Byers’ house. Guns are
seen going off as the Byers crew runs through the house, while in another room a soldier
is using the butt of his gun to smash the windows and get in. The second glimpse of
the military sieging the Byers' home offers an interesting twist: an unknown police officer
or possible FBI agent, defending the teens. The black straps are clearly shoulder holsters,
common for plain clothes law enforcement, and the figure is positioned between Mike
and Will and the aggressor entering the home. While it's possible this is not someone affiliated
with law enforcement, it at the very least indicates a new male adult figure in the Byers'
lives. In a small clip, Murray Bauman is seen with a worrisome look as he removes his pair
of headphones, seemingly listening to radio communications. Murray is known for uncovering
government secrets and keeping his own eye on what the U.S. tries to cover up, so this
suggests he was listening in to a report or conversation that revealed dire information.
The conspiracy theorist being featured in the teaser with the Byers suggests Murray's
story will have him more prominently connected to Joyce again, possibly coming out to California
to help or communicating his investigative talents from back in the Midwest. A car chase
is also shown briefly. In the shot, there are two black cars flanking a prison transfer
truck. While it's possible this is an escort situation, the tone of the shot suggests the prison
vehicle is under attack, perhaps to free its occupant. There is also a shot of a creepy
door out in the desert, hinting that this might be an underground bunker where shadowy
figures conduct experiments. Given that the teaser also features several action shots
with military personnel in a similar setting, as well as what appears to be an underground
facility, this door likely leads to a laboratory with ties to the Upside-Down. We see a group
of soldiers hesitantly investigating an underground military base. It’s suggested that this
base comes from the random building and door in the desert, meaning something particularly
sinister is happening underground.
The past portals to the Upside-Down in Starcourt Mall and Hawkins Lab were destroyed, which
means the government may have made a separate gate in a more secure location. The military’s
reluctance to investigate the underground area and the fact that the army is blowing
up the area suggests it could be another gate to the Upside-Down, with new creatures possibly
getting loose in California. There are a few other shots in the teaser of a helicopter
and jeeps out in the desert, with one bird's eye view of the vehicles going to the mysterious
door in the desert. The trailer hints that whatever this organization is, whether it
be the American military or some independent militia or mercenary company, is an antagonist
in season 4. There is also a worrisome shot of what appears to be Mike and Will taking
care of Eleven. I wonder if this is right before she gets kidnapped outside or if this
is sometime after. It looks like El may be hurt if Mike’s expression is anything to
go by. Two men in black suits are shown looking at County Line Cafe, which appears to be a
retro diner. Who these men are or what their role might be in season 4 is unknown; though
lots of people are thinking that they are the same guys that we grabbing Eleven. Last,
but not least, we see this shot of what appears to be Eleven with a shaved head, fighting
back against her captors. The shirt appears to be the one she was wearing earlier in the
trailer. Eleven likely won’t have her powers while she’s in school, but it’s possible
this new location in the California desert leads to her powers returning. We shall see
how this storyline ends up progressing in Stranger Things season 4. Overall, very exciting
times.
And that is all that we have for today. Are you excited to see the Californian storyline
in Stranger Things 4?
Today’s special shout-out is for Tess Shae!
Comment down below to become our next special Stranger Universe shout out, and don’t forget
to follow us at @ struniverse on Twitter and Instagram to stay updated with us every day.
Click on our discord link down in the video description or the comments section below
to join the official Stranger Universe discord server. Also, don’t forget to like, share,
and subscribe to Stranger Universe! Please turn on notifications to never miss another
Stranger Universe episode again. Help get this video to 1,000 views and likes if you
really want to see us release more Stranger Universe episodes like this one. Don’t forget
to share this video across all social media platforms to help fans and viewers join our
Strange Family and find this great Stranger Universe content.
This episode was brought to you by Mrs. Strange, and this is Stranger Universe.