A Festive New Bundle Of Theories For Stranger Things Day

Today, November 6, is the day Netflix declared to be “Stranger Things Day” years ago. It’s the day where they make their biggest announcements relating to their most popular series, except this time, because they put out the Stranger Things 5 trailer one week ago. So what about today? I’m gonna fill that gap with another of my extended fan-theory rantings, this time armed with new information gleaned from a recent EW.com interview.

ACTION VS. MISERY

One thing about the trailer that kind of puts me off is how…miserable everyone is in it. No one wants a sob-fest from something like this. Matt and Ross Duffer admit the season is “brutal” and “violent” but “hopefully it’s surprising and earned…we weren’t going for shock value.” I remember having the same concern after seeing the Season 4 trailer — that it was going to be too dark. That turned out to not be the case, and the Duffs have repeatedly stated that the Terminator movies were the main inspiration this go-round (to the extent that Linda Hamilton herself is part of it). Terminator 2 is a dire situation to be sure, but it’s more about pumping action in your face, and that’s what I want from ST.

So the fact that everyone looks miserable in the trailer might just be an editing thing. At least I really hope there’s more Terminator and less of, say, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is what the preview made me think of. In the final Potter book, the heroes are in a similar situation: the bad guy is winning, they’re all in hiding, they have a plan but they’re not sure if they can pull it off, etc. But mostly, Harry, Ron and Hermoine sit around in tents and mope, when they aren’t arguing with each other. It was quite a depressing slog, and it went on for hundreds of pages because JK Rowling at that point was too powerful for any editor to tell her to trim anything.

The other thing about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was that, like now, a lot of fans were worried that their favorite character would die, and half the audience assumed it was going to be Harry. He would succeed in taking down Voldemort, but lose his own life in the process. Harry himself assumed this would happen in the book. The thing is that if a character assumes they’re going to die in the final conflict, then they probably won’t, but if they don’t think so, then there’s a chance they will. So the fact that there’s a scene in the trailer where El seems to be prepping Mike for an unhappy ending….that is actually a GOOD sign for her.

But it’s NOT a good sign when…..

NANCY KILLS SOMEONE??

This was pointed out in the EW.com interview. I somehow missed this (and I’m kinda glad I did) but there is one shot in the trailer where Nancy is crying while washing blood off her hands. YIKES. Do I want to know what that’s about? My mind went to a scenario where she actually had to kill one of her paramours because he got possessed and attacked her, but….that concept is a bit too grim for this show. I hope.

Maybe a monster got him instead, and Nancy got her hands stained crimson from holding onto him in his final moments, which isn’t a pleasant thought but is TV-14 enough. It’s also a possibility Nancy just….took her first human life in self-defense and is really upset over it. She would need to wash off her shame in that moment. But would she really BE that sad given how battle-hardened she was by the end of S4?

I can tell you one thing….that shot is going to drive Steve fans to the brink of insanity until the episode that contains it is released. I would think they wouldn’t dare kill Steve after doing so much work making Jonathan the more undesired one. I have never given a hoot about the Nancy love triangle, and even I would be a bit ticked if Jon won and that was how. Jon being mauled to death would make a lot more sense at this point. That’s what you get when you smoke pot, kids!

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MAXIE

Another thing about the EW.com interview is that it’s the first time I’ve ever read something that actually hinted toward my theory that Max is the one who “vanishes” in Episode 2. It was confirmed Voldemo—I mean, Vecna’s plan could involve Max, and for that to happen, she’d have to not be in that bed anymore.

The EW reporter asked Matt point blank if the fates of Vecna and Max are intertwined in any way. “Could be,” he said. The half-revealed title of Episode 2 is “The Vanishing Of….” playing on the title of the very first episode, “The Vanishing Of Will Byers.” For the cadence to make sense, it would have to be another three-syllable name…which eliminates everyone except Max Mayfield, Jim Hopper, Mike Wheeler and Joyce Byers. And the thing about most of those people is…there is a character on this show who has the special ability to find anyone, anywhere. If El’s boyfriend or adopted father disappeared she would not hesitate to use that ability, so they can’t “vanish.” There’s only ONE person El’s Void failed to find….and that’s Max.

I’ve never been more confident at this point that the title of that episode is “The Vanishing Of Max Mayfield,” but we’ll see if I’ve been chasing red herrings.

IF THEY REALLY WANT TO RESOLVE EVERYTHING…

The Duffers claim in most interviews that Season 5 will answer every question, fully flesh out the lore and resolve everything. Wonder if they mean that. Because in terms of EVERYTHING…you know there’s still another experiment running around, right? They’ve tried to completely ignore the existence of Eight / Kali since the episode focused on her flopped. They just seem embarrassed by it but….it’s part of the lore. In order to resolve EVERYTHING, Linnea Berthelsen would have to be part of the cast this season. Wonder if it’ll happen.

When you look back, you can tell they assumed Kali would be huge; Season 2 opens not with anyone familiar, but with her. The first Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds, is about Dr. Brenner’s experiments with Terry Ives and Vecna is nowhere in it, but Kali sure is! Kali was supposed to be Eleven 2, the sequel even more popular than the original! Didn’t work out that way.

There have been a lot of essays on why “The Lost Sister” bombed, but if you ask me, it came down to characters. What makes Stranger Things truly memorable is its great cast of characters; it has some of the best characters of any show I’ve ever seen. They’re all three-dimensional with rich personalities and appeal and you want to spend time with them. The punks at the center of “Lost Sister” are just…punks. They were stereotypes with not much thought put into them; they were flat and barely different from each other. THIS, more than anything, is why the episode didn’t work.

Ever since, the events of the episode have been ignored by the show. But if they really, truly don’t want to leave anything hanging…they’ll have to deal with the Kali in the room eventually. Or someone could just offhandedly mention they shot her.

Three weeks remain! Whether I come up with more theories beforehand is unknown, but I’ll probably be back afterward to postulate about the back half. In the meantime I’ve written a lot more, including the previous speculation piece and an ongoing Stranger Things webcomic you can check out here.

STRANGER THINGS 5 THEORIES KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Stranger Things 5 trailer presents a darker tone while the Duffer Brothers emphasize action driven storytelling.
• Nancy’s bloodstained trailer moment invites major speculation.
• The EW interview strengthens the theory that Max vanishes in Episode Two.
• Final season promises to resolve all remaining lore threads.
• Kali’s absence remains one of the unresolved storylines to address.
• Tone may ultimately resemble Terminator 2 more than extended grim fantasy.
• Fan theories remain active ahead of the series premiere.