Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is packed with absolutely incredible moments throughout it. In my opinion the season really upped it’s quality and each entry feels like it’s own standalone film.
Divided up into several storylines we watch as Joyce tries to save Hopper, Eleven attempts to regain her powers and the rest of the group try and stop the new big bad Vecna.
Vecna is easily my favourite villain that we’ve had in Stranger Things so far and this nightmareish creature stalks a lot of the characters throughout the season. Clearly based on Freddie Kreuger we even get a nod to this with a cameo by Robert Englund who is revealed to be the characters father. Vecna is set up early on as an unstoppable force and come the end of episode 1 he’s left a side splitting impression. Trapping his prey in fantasies he torments them before suspending his victims in the air.
Their deaths are absolutely horrible and it really sets him up as an unbeatable evil that always gets what he wants. There’s seemingly noway to stop he because he doesn’t exist in the real world perse and that’s what makes Max’s story even more enthralling. Early on in the season he sets his sights on her and it’s easy to get swept up in the show and believe that she’s going to be the next character to die. However, Max makes it out of it and the emotion that comes with it elevates the scene to be my favourite in the entire show so far.
We’re led to believe there’s no way out and thus when she escapes it hypes you up even more.
Throughout this video we’re gonna be breaking it down, the subtle things that they do in it and also we’re gonna just discuss why it’s our favourite moment in the show.
Max’s Grief
Now one thing that is a big hangover from Season 3 is the death of Billy. Though he was less likeable than Joffrey he did still have a moment of redemption when he sacrificed himself to the Mindflayers minion body. His death hit Max hard and in this season we discover that she shut herself off massively from her friends. She isn’t exactly having the best time at home either and she’s basically B-Rabbit.
Still though, Vecna coming after her is something she’d rather not go through but realising that time is running short she seemingly accepts her fate. Episode 4 titled: Dear Billy centres around her attempting to stop Vecna from killing her through facing her guilt head on. As Nancy and Robin head out to investigate what happened at the Kreel house Max ends up going out to Billy’s grave. She gives a letter to Lucas as a final farewell and goes up to Billy’s the headstone to say her peace.
Here she reads a letter to chum…sorry guy, that details the breakdown of his dad and her mother’s marriage, how she lost the high score at the arcade and also her feelings of guilt.
She talks about running to him which, kinda foreshadows what’s to come.
I think the biggest issue that Max has is that she is very much stuck thinking what could’ve been and it’s also this regret over his death that weighs on her.
What does Vecna Want?
Now though we don’t know Vecna’s true motives yet, it does seem like he picks on people who feel either abandoned, lonely or traumatised. In his speech to Eleven at the end of Episode 7 he says he views himself as freeing people from their lives.
Vecna describes how humans are just living monotmous lives, going through cycles and counting down the seconds until the day they die.
Max is at one of her lowest points here and though it does seem like she finally gets it off her chest, it’s at this point he strikes.
The graveyard seemingly changes around her and in rolls what is seemingly Billy. Now I must admit they got me with this and there were even leaks in the leadup to the show that seemingly hinted at Dacre Montgomerry playing Vecna. Theories were abound that the mindflayer poisoned him in season 3 and that this is why he posted photos of himself back in the makeup chair.
However, the truth of the matter is is that Vecna is weaponising Max’s regrets against her. This dream world is where he torments his victims and it’s how he psychologically breaks them.
However, Max stays strong and makes a break for it. In the outside world though we see that she’s stuck in a dreamlike state, unable to move. Again we get those Nightmare On Elm Street vibes and across the show we rejoin Nancy and Robin. Investigating Victor Kreel, there are also flashes of Silence of the lambs. Clarice of course went to visit Hannibal lector in the films most iconic scene and the surroundings at this hospital are perfectly put in place to remind us of that movie.
Whereas the other Vecna victims didn’t stand a chance, here they’ve seemingly found a way to break those trapped in his spell out of it.
Now whereas in the past the Upside Down has been pretty much a mix of grey, blue and black, here they change things up when we’re dealing with Vecna. As Max strolls through the graveyard the headstones slowly morph around into leech like spyres and the colour scheme shifts from night to red.
Typically when we think of Hell we imagine bursting fires, red environments and a bloodlike, almost scabbing to the entire thing. That’s what Vecna is. He’s a clot that ends up growing within you and slowly overtime he grows and grows until it finally kills you.
Max ends up walking through the Kreel house which has defied the laws of gravity and here she steps on some spider eggs.
They burst open, like something from a nightmare, and as we learn in Episode 7, Vecna had a fascination with black widows.
He’s strung his victims up around the area and these look similar to the ones in Alien that Ripley comes across in the directors cut. I think it was the directors cut, I’ve watched both versions so much I don’t even know anymore. Look you don’t care, what you do care about is Vecna who rolls in at this moment, looking absolutely terrifying. Basked in red he ties Max up to a spire, choking her as his hand ominously goes towards his face.
This guy is a complete monster and as we learn, he was someone who didn’t really ever experience love. This explains the way to beat him and on the outside, her friends play her Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. This song actually holds a lot of meaning because it’s about someone who wants to swap places with the person they love. When talking about it Kate Bush said that a man and woman can’t fully understand each other because they’re a man and woman. However if they swapped places they’d find common ground and would make a breakthrough with one another.
This very much represents Max and Lucas, the pair of which can’t really find common ground at the moment. So though the song is a banger – it’s a banger isn’t it – it also holds sentimentality to the character. This is why when she listens to it she also gets flashes of Lucas and the prior scene about the letter.
Bush elaborated that she initially thought the song could be a deal with the devil, but they changed the lyrics to a deal with God because there’s more love and kindness related to him.
They place the headphones over her ears and this is when Max slowly starts to fight back. Vecna dangles her in the air and at this point we get some of the best scenes from the show so far. This is very much a trip down memory lane that is cemented by the love of Lucas and Max which is what she uses to break free. Max starts running and I don’t care what anyone says, hearing the music blast at this point is amazing.
Still get goosebumps now and any run in slow motion to a song like this is epic.
What Does This Scene Mean?
For me it’s the classic battle between good and evil where one side faces almost insurmountable odds. However with a little help from her friends, Max manages to overpower this almost unstoppable evil and she makes it out. This basically ticks off all the things that I want from Stranger Things and I think in the end it’s the perfect scene for the series. You’ve got a tonne of references to 80s classics, a terrifying horror vibe, a scary as f**k villain, an amazing soundtrack and also a heart to the whole thing.
I think this scene completely knocks it out the park and that’s why it’s my favourite one in the show.
Obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on it so make sure you comment below and let me know.
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