July 16, 2025 • 42 mins
On May 31, 2025 a Date Announcement Teaser Trailer for Stranger Things 5 was shown at TUDUM: Netflix’s Global Fan Event. In this episode, Ashley and Jasmin continue their frame by frame break down and share more thoughts, observations, and theories!
Stranger Things 5 Date Announcement Teaser Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlYrNC_1Xmk
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's a ham radio, the Cadillac of ham radio.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to yet another
(00:22):
episode of Ham Radio, a StrangerThings podcast.
We've got a great episode for you today, as usual.
But first, we have a little housekeeping to take care of,
and I'm going to turn it over toJasmine to let you know where
you can find us on social media and where you can listen to the
podcast. Thanks Ashley.
You can find us on Instagram at Ham Radio Media, all one word on
(00:44):
Twitter, at Ham Through on YouTube at Ham Radio Media, or
using our handle Ham Radio 1983.We also have a discord you can
join which is linked to the description of this episode.
If you have a fan theory or question you want to share, you
can e-mail us at hamradiomedia@gmail.com.
Ashley also has a fanfic on AO3 entire Stranger Things College,
(01:06):
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(01:26):
Welcome back to another episode of Ham Radio, a Stranger Things
podcast. On today's episode, we will be
continuing with our breakdown ofthe Stranger Things five day
announcement teaser trailer fromTo Doom.
So we pick back up with Steve and Dustin.
We've got a shot of them holdingflashlights and looking up at
(01:47):
the ceiling. There's a black and white tiled
floor beneath them that's covered in vines and what could
be the lab. Dustin's got his red WSQK radio
T-shirt on and his face looks bruised, so this could follow
the scene where he gets beat up at the cemetery.
Or this could be another incident.
Steve's holding what looks like a bayonet, so personally I'm
(02:07):
still hoping that the nail bat makes an appearance because I
miss that thing. Yeah, me too.
I mean, you can't have it come full circle season 1 without
having one of its more iconic items there, you know, being the
nail bat. I mean, that would be like, I
mean, I want it to be like a scene of both Steve and Jonathan
like using it because, you know,you know, Jonathan nailed the
(02:33):
nails into the bat and Steve used it in Season 1.
So it's like, you know, a good way, you know, for the team up
again. I think it would be a cool cool
call back there. You know what, I just noticed?
I'm looking at the still again and people online when we first
got it were saying bayonet, but I'm now looking at it, I think
he's holding a walkie. Actually, I think that's the
(02:53):
antenna because I haven't pausedand it's like in HD and the way
he's holding it, that would makemore sense.
If they're in this portion and they're radioing somebody else,
or this is part of the same scene where they have Jonathan
and Nancy are there, then this could be they're doing their
part and they're radioing them. That would make more sense
because I feel like the picture I saw with people, people were
(03:15):
saying bayonet. It was blurrier.
Like when it first came out, people were just taking
screenshots. I think of what we saw at to do.
But now that I'm looking at it in HD, I think it's a walkie.
I think that's what it is. I seriously thought this was a
bayonet and now I'm for the first time I'm like, no, I think
that's a walkie. I think, yeah, I mean, that
definitely would make make a lotmore sense because I mean, well,
(03:39):
you know, radios have always been a big thing in the show and
it seems like that's going to beeven more of a thing in Season
5. And like, absolutely, like, they
absolutely what if it seems likethey're going to be spending a
lot of time in the Upside down this season, so they definitely
need to be able to communicate with each other.
(03:59):
And so, yeah, I mean, that definitely makes sense.
I mean, not saying like, not notsaying that having a weapon with
them doesn't make any sense either.
Of course, you know, it's alwaysgood to come prepared.
But I mean, I feel like at this point, these characters
certainly like should know, like, OK, well, having something
(04:20):
like a bayonet, it's only going to protect you, you know, so
much against these entities. But yeah, I, it'll be very
interesting to see Steve with a with a walkie, because I don't
think we've ever really seen himwith one.
And of course it could have beencould have been Dustin's that
he's just holding. But, and also it, I just thought
(04:44):
of this, but you know, maybe it's this could be a callback to
in season 4 and episode 5 when, you know, Dustin's, they're not
episode 5, but season 4 when, when Steve brings up the low
battery thing with the walkies and, and there's, you know,
those funny scenes with between him and Dustin with the walkie
(05:06):
talkies. And in episode 5 when Dustin
drops his bag and has the walkiein it when, you know, Eddie's
trying to contact them and stuff.
So I feel like good little callback moment here for between
Steve and Dustin. Yeah.
And it renews my hope for the for the nail bat.
(05:26):
You know, maybe we're going to see the nail bat again.
I will say, I do think this is abit odd that following season 2,
I didn't really understand why the rest of the gang don't have
walkies. Because if my impression has
always been that it's just the party that has them.
Plus, you know, like Ellen Max. So in season 3, like they talk
about the low battery thing. I'm like, why does everyone on
this team not have a walkie? Like why does Erica not have her
(05:48):
include the adults? They should all have them
because this is like their primary way of communicating.
It also can't be infiltrated as easily.
We know that the government has been tapping their phones and
bugging their homes and messing with their cars and stuff for
years. So having a dedicated line, I
mean, it's not foolproof. Someone can get on that line.
But since there's other people using radio frequencies in this
(06:09):
area, it's a lot, you know, easier to communicate and it's
less susceptible to spying. And I never really understood
why they were just relying on the party and their walkies,
especially since they used that so much in season 1 to get a
hold of Mike and the gang when they were trying to, you know,
(06:30):
figure out what they were and they were trying to hide Elle.
So I I never quite understood why they didn't all just go to
RadioShack right after that, especially since Bob worked
there. So I never quite understood
that, especially since at the end of four, presumably walkie
is the only way they're going tocommunicate with the buyers
family because they wouldn't have a phone set up.
Like you'd have to reinstall thephone even when they did.
(06:51):
I mean, the the government is looking for L and you know, not
like L or Hopper could use the phone right now.
So walking would be their primary means of communication.
So I don't maybe they finally addressed that and got everybody
walking this season. I always thought that was a bit
odd. Yeah, and I mean, I know the
party has been like the ones exclusively using the walkies,
(07:15):
but even they like I surprised like how little they seem to use
them themselves in the course ofthe show.
Like, I think, yeah, I mean, season 3 was they used it
pretty, pretty frequently. But whenever like it was funny
(07:36):
because in season 3, whenever like it was, it was very urgent
and, and Lucas was trying to getin touch with Mac Max on her
walkie and she was ignoring him.And then Mike just called her on
the phone. And so I just, I think, I think
it's just a part of like the, the grander theme of Stranger
(08:01):
Things, which is communication and, and how important it is
that we communicate properly with, with each other.
And, and that always causes kindof seems to be you're not like a
reason for all this happening tothem, but it seems to be
(08:23):
something that really hinders, you know, their progress because
none of them can get in touch with the other people.
And again, just communication breakdowns and I personally
don't expect Season 5 to be any different.
But yeah, I'm, I'm definitely, if this is a walkie that he's
(08:46):
holding, definitely excited to see that we were still, we're
still going heavy on the walkiesthis season.
Yeah, me too. And my best friend has
commented, like, starting with Season 2, she's like, man, they
need like a common, like, mailbox or like a Free Library
and a tree or something to like,leave notes.
Everyone knows what's going on. And I mean, it's there to sort
(09:08):
of facilitate the the plot. And so you have that scene at
the end where they all come together, which I've always
loved. I was very sad we didn't get
that before. I thought we were going to.
Yeah, I mean, it's not it's not a plot hole, but I mean, they do
seem to have trouble like crossing wires or lack of
communication or miscommunication or getting a
hold of one another. And I I get it's supposed to be
(09:28):
allusion to a time before cell phones, but because they
established pretty on the walkies work all the way from
penters to all the way out to the cemetery after four.
I'm kind of like, OK, but everybody should have just
gotten a walkie after two or during that time period because
communication has clearly a big a hindrance of barrier at times
(09:49):
that they do have a means of communicating.
It's not absolute. They're not like a cell phone,
but it is it is there. That plus a landline telephone
should be enough. So hopefully they make some
progress on that in in five because as time goes on, I'm
like, well, you all know this isan issue.
Just all go by walkies. I mean, well, I could have
(10:09):
gotten them a deal. We could have gotten them like a
like a wholesale like about a whole bunch of them and Bulk and
Bob could have probably gotten them a pretty sweet deal.
Yeah, for sure. But I have a question for you in
this in this clip. So what do you think that Steve
and Dustin are looking at here? Because I know you, you touched
(10:33):
on a little bit earlier, but andI've seen this floated around on
Twitter and Reddit and other spaces like that, but I believe
that they are at the lab in thisin this clip when we know the
labs going to be coming back. But, and we also know, like
(10:56):
after confirmation that you know, from Sean Levy that a post
that he made and behind the scenes at the lab that, you
know, at least Dustin will be atthe lab And also OnStar Court
study halls Discord. One of them had posted on there
that the flooring of of where Dustin and Steve are standing
(11:19):
looks a lot like the pattern on like the courtyard area of the
lab. Like, you know, how an aerial
view of the lab and it like in the middle of like, you know,
the shape, like of the cross, That's like, you know, where the
courtyard area is. And so there's like, you know,
(11:42):
an opening like you can see likeup out into the, into the, the,
the sky. And so I think it's pretty
obvious, like they're in the upside down version of wherever,
you know, in this case, the lab.So I say all that to say, you
know what, what do you think that they're they're looking up
at here? There's a good catch about the
courtyard. I think it's cool that they're
(12:04):
going to an area that we haven'tbeen to before because they've
explored a lot of the lab, but it's cool that for the finale
they're exploring other areas ofthe building that we haven't
seen before. And I suppose that makes sense
as they're looking for stuff in here.
So what they're looking at, my first thought would be like a
really big gate because the other behind the scenes footage
(12:26):
and like new footage we've gotten, we see a lot of big
gates. We see that mucus wall, we see
they're gate like things. So and this is part of that
earlier scene where you can see the red glow that they're
walking towards. I think it's like either a
really big gate of some kind or something like that.
Something that's part of the environment that that's my
(12:49):
that's my guess. Yeah, those were my thoughts
too. Like I, I feel like they're, you
know, I feel like they're, this is part of their mission, Like
they've been sent to, you know, look for something here.
And so I feel like this is part of, you know, in the behind the
scenes teaser, if we see Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Dustin, you
know, look into the, you know, portal most likely.
(13:16):
And I feel like they like break off into groups like Jonathan
and Nancy are, you know, going doing something.
And then, you know, Steve and Dustin are coming here.
So yeah, I feel like, you know, they have gotten some
intelligence about something in this part of the lab, assuming
(13:39):
that's where they are, that theyneed to go and find or inspect.
And so that's why, you know, Steve and and Dustin are there.
But it's very interesting that like the lab, if that is what
they're doing and that is where they are, that the lab is is the
(13:59):
place for the info here and could maybe hold the key to the
ending, which I mean, it does make sense because that's where
11 did open the original gate. I mean, who knows?
Vetna could be hiding out there when that'd be ironic.
But yeah, I'm very excited though, to see that we're coming
(14:23):
back to the mystery side of the show, which is something I felt
like has been, has been missing for for a while.
And I know like, you know, they had mystery last season, but I
don't know, it's like they're going back to kind of the that
mysterious feel that they had inseason 1.
(14:45):
Yeah. I like that too.
The Hawkins fault was my favorite last season, so it's
nice to get back to that mysteryelement.
And we know that the Upside Downis frozen on the day Will
disappeared. And taking that logic farther,
if this is the upside down in the lab, does that mean that
that stuff has continued to grow?
Maybe what they're looking at here is part of that.
(15:06):
The gate was opened and it's continued to grow and develop,
and it's now seeping into the real world.
And maybe this is one of like the mother gates or something
like that, because I could see that like we know that the
physical items in the Upside down that are from the real
world are frozen. But it appears based on what we
see in four, that other elementshave continued to grow and
(15:30):
change like the Upside Down elements have.
And now it's bleeding into the real world.
Kind of wondering if maybe is this the original gate that L
opened and it hasn't grown? Is that what they're looking at
here? Yeah, I don't, you know,
obviously I don't know the answer to that.
But I mean, I know like in season 3 they they did establish
like, you know, yes, she closed up that gate, the mother gate,
(15:53):
you know, for good. And you know, like Hopper, you
know, I was there, I saw him, you know, cover it up, you know,
and fill it in with cement. But that's what it looks like in
in reality, in the real world, in the right side up.
But we don't know what, what that looks like in the upside
(16:17):
down. I mean, it could very well still
be alive and breathing in the upside down.
We just don't know that. And and hopefully, if it is that
is the case, that that would be pretty cool to to see.
Yeah. And something I think that's
interesting that Season 4 established is up until three,
(16:37):
we've been under the impression that once you take care of
something in the real world, it takes care of it on the other
side. But then four opened up this
idea that, well, that may not betrue.
OK, well, so you took care of iton this end, but that doesn't
mean it's taken care of on the other side.
And the upside down that we see in four is, you know, vastly,
you know, evolve and change fromwhat we see in one.
(16:59):
You know, it's it's clear that that's been evolving and growing
and changing. And it's not clear if the
monsters that live down there were creatures that were already
there. We see the the demic organs and
the demo dogs, but we don't see the others.
So are those things that that created, are those things
already there that have mutated or they already hanging out down
there? Do they all work for him?
(17:20):
Has he Co opted them? Do they already exist?
Did he create them the same way he created the mind Flayer?
Enough of the particles is growing and evolving all direct
link to him? Is it the natural evolution of
the place? Why is it all decayed?
They've never answered that question either, so I'm really
curious and I feel like they've left enough bread crumbs in four
(17:41):
to open this stuff up. And I'm really excited for the
visuals because the few we did get in in this teaser look
really look really cool. All right, so Next up we've got
a scene of 11 Hopper. They are bathed in red light
with what looks like sirens going off in the background.
Ella's screaming and covering her ears like she's in pain.
She's wearing one of Sarah's hair ties on her wrist and the
(18:03):
ring might got her on her right hand.
She's also wearing the blue bandana around her neck and
these sweatpants and top we saw in earlier behind the scenes
pics and footage. We see Hopper hugging her and
trying to comfort her. Hopper's got a beanie on and
what looks like tactical gear. This appears to be from the same
scene, the behind the scenes still of Hopper and Elle that we
got after Jim, and the scene of Lieutenant Ackers in the behind
(18:27):
the scenes teaser. And this also does appear to
correlate with other footage we've gotten of a lab space or
some kind of storage space, it looks like.
And what I find very interestingabout this clip is in that it
made me think about like mainly 2, two big occasions in the past
(18:51):
seasons of the show, but one of them being in season 2 in
Chapter 7, the lost sister, whenCallie is causing 11 to have
this illusion of Brenner, you know, speaking to her and he's
(19:11):
like, you know, you have a wound, 11, a terrible wound, and
it's festering and it will kill you.
And, you know, it obviously scares 11 to the point where she
knows she's just start screaming.
Get out of my head, get out my head.
And so she also like cups her her ears when she does this.
(19:31):
But also in season 3, after the bite, when they're in the mall,
they've all, everyone's gotten back together in the mall.
And you know, like before she collapses, you know, she, she
cups her ears again just like this because she's, she's an
(19:54):
obvious discomfort, obvious pain.
And so, and she also does that in season 4, in chapter 2,
Vetna's curse at the rinkomania when every when she's being
bullied at the at the rink, she does it again.
And so it's just, it's very interesting that, you know,
(20:17):
she's doing this again and. And I believe what is happening
here is that it took me quite a few times of watching this over
and over again and in slow motion for me to come to the
conclusion that what I think is most likely happening here is
that 11 is just used for powers.Because when we see the her
(20:42):
nose, she has a Nosebleed. But, you know, I mean, I mean,
her hair looks kind of disheveled and she's got her her
hands cupping her ears. She's in obvious discomfort,
obvious pain. And Hopper's, you know, there
with his arm around her comforting her.
And so he's not in any sort of, you know, pain or discomfort.
(21:03):
You know, he's just comforting her.
So what I believe is happening here, I believe that Vecna is
messing with her. I don't or less you know, she's
she's sensing something happening in her void that's
just kind of gotten her upset. But I think the most likely
(21:24):
scenario here is that Vecna is messing with her.
So I'm, it'll be very interesting to see, you know, we
know what's going on here. But I mean, I, I wouldn't put it
past him to do that because whenwe know he, how he, how he feels
about her. But I mean, I, and I also
(21:47):
noticed too, more so in the the production seal of this of her
and Hopper here in this same place, that in the light
fixtures in the back sort of look a lot like the light
fixtures of that place where Colonel Sullivan was when he was
(22:11):
torturing the the agent. So I kind of wonder maybe if
this is military base, military barracks, I think it could also
be tied in with the same sequence of Lieutenant Akers
coming in. So, yeah, I and I again, like I
(22:35):
I know there's only so many likeclips they could choose.
But when I first when I first watched this scene, when it, you
know, was happening live at Titom, you know, I thought I
thought she was, you know, having like an epic, you know,
power moment. But again, after multiple
rewatches, I think it's just it's simple, something as simple
(22:58):
as Vecna messing with her. But and I wonder what he's
doing, if that is the case, whathe is using against her to mess
with her. I mean, is it something is like,
you know, with Max or is something that I feel like it's
got to be something that he knows is going to upset her?
(23:20):
Yeah, and that's a good catch about the the comparison with
what happens with Callie and theLost Sister.
That could definitely be it because you're right, it does
appear to be affecting her, but not Hopper.
And just look at the production still again from what appears to
be this scene, it looks like herand Hopper are being getting
ready to face something that's supposed to be coming towards
(23:40):
them. And if this is from the same
seen, there's like a basin and chemicals behind them.
So I wonder if this is a military lab that they're
they're in, maybe they've gone in there to get something or to
try to prevent vector from doingsomething.
Or we saw in previous seasons the Russians trying to replicate
(24:02):
what Hawkins Lab had been doing.So maybe this is their new
attempt to try to replicate whatwas done in the past and they
need something in there. But I hadn't occurred to me that
he could be just messing with her, that, you know, I thought
it was going to affect both of them.
But yeah, you could be right. I was kind of wondering, maybe
she'd use her powers to do something and then like,
blowback from that had caused her pain.
(24:23):
And it's possible to both. It could be something physical
and something mental. But yeah, that's a that's a
really good catch there. All right, the Next up, we have
what we're calling the mucus wall.
We've got two people, which could be 11.
Hopper, though it's not super clear, holding flashlights and
standing in front of a giant mucus wall in the Upside Down in
(24:44):
the center is what looks like another gate.
And this is the the first shot we got was like, wow, Like the
special effects on the season are going to be, you know,
absolutely incredible. Just look at this thing.
Clearly things have evolved at Aat a hyper fast level.
Just from from 4:00 to 5:00 is about a year and a half and
(25:05):
things are getting real. Yeah.
And you know, I think the craziest part is, is like, what
if this this wall, whatever it is, has been, has been growing
and festering since season 1? I mean, it's just crazy, crazy
to think about. And like whenever you, you play
the, the clip of it, you know, and in slow motion, I mean, you
(25:31):
can see like this wall stretchesfor miles.
And I mean, it's obviously in the upside down.
And so it's like, you know, one thing I'm really wanting to know
right now is what, and, you know, where's the location of,
of this wall? Like I've I've seen some
speculation out there that, you know, this is at the border of,
(25:55):
you know, Hawkins, but also likeit's like the border between the
area where Henry first lands after 11 first pushes him in.
But I mean, and then I've also seen theories about how this is
(26:15):
like the side of the new monster, you know, huge creature
more like this is, you know, an incubation area.
I mean, there's I like all the theories.
That's the problem, Jasmine. I I like all of them because I
think they're that they are all very, you know, very possible to
(26:38):
be the case. And I'm hoping that it turns out
to be none of them and that the show really does surprise us.
But I again, I just, I'm also very finding it very interesting
that assuming that this is EllenHopper, like, you know, what has
caused them to get here, you know, define this.
(26:59):
I mean, obviously it's somethingthat's important.
And so, yeah, but like you said,I mean, I know you and I like we
talked like immediately after the this teaser dropped and we
just immediately were just like fawning all over how great the
the cinematography and the special effects already look.
(27:23):
And it's just so incredible. Like they're still actively in
post production. And you know, this this one
little clip Aria looks so, so great.
And I think too, it was just so,so neat to see a part of the
Upside Down that we've we've never seen before, because up to
(27:44):
this point, all we've really seen is, you know, what looks
like Hawkins and obviously the, the entities from the Upside
Down and then the tendrils for the vines.
But we've never seen anything like that's really true to the
environment other than, you know, the spores, of course.
(28:05):
But in terms of like, I guess what I'm trying to say is, you
know, it's topography, if you will, of the Upside Down.
Like we've outside of like that egg that Hopper found in Season
1, we've again, like we've never, never seen all of this
(28:29):
from the Upside Down. So I think it's very cool that
that we are going to get to see that this season.
And then there was stuff from the tunnels in Season 2.
But yeah, other than that, like we've, we've never seen it to
this scale before. So I'm I'm very excited about.
Yeah, me too. And I think that's intentional
(28:51):
that they waited. From doing our script series, we
know that there was supposed to be wider shots in Season 4
showing more of the Upside Down.And it's unclear why that was
cut. It could have been budgetary.
It could have been they said they wanted to leave a little
bit of mystery to really like hit home with with Season 5,
which regardless of the reason, I'm excited that they waited
(29:13):
because this looks really cool. And I think because they've just
kept it, Hawkins, now they can expand and but it's going to be,
I think more exciting. I think if they showed us more
the topography before, then it might not have been as impactful
because we've never seen it before.
It is. And I like all the theories as
(29:34):
well. I lean towards it being the
barrier of some kind. So either the barrier between
Hawkins, like the, you know, county line so to speak, or like
you said, L sent Henry into the Upside Down back in the 70s.
That could be a 2. I think this is some kind of
barrier. Like you said, it goes for
several kilometers it looks like.
I think this is a barrier of some kind.
(29:57):
And we know that as soon as likeWill crosses over into Hawkins,
he can feel Vecna and L and him share that look.
So we know there's something about the line, so to speak, of
when Hawkins ends and begins. We know there's something there
and if if that's what this is where there's like a physical
wall on the other side, that would explain it.
(30:17):
But then again, there used to besome kind of gait in this.
So we know that there's something special physically
about Hawkins. So I lean towards it being some
kind of wall or barrier along one of those, you know, fault
lines rather than a creature because I feel like the
creatures in the show tend to bea lot more mobile and I just
don't see how you'd fight a giant wall and make it look
cool. So I feel like they got to
(30:40):
either breakthrough this or break it down or go through it
somehow. And you can tell they spend a
lot of time and money on the special effects budget and the
post production. And clearly it's been worth it.
Clearly it's paying off because these are some of the biggest,
most epic shots we've gotten. And they're the most appear to
(31:01):
be the most like labor intensiveas well.
So I'm really excited to see what this stuff looks like when
we get to see it, you know, on screen in the final version.
The other thing I did want to mention about this is in the
production sales that they released afterwards is and all
the other ones, the actors are tagged.
But in this one, no one is tagged, which I think is
interesting. They could have easily tagged
(31:22):
those actors. So I think it's interesting that
they didn't. So it could be them.
It could just be, well, we tagged them earliest.
We didn't tag them again. Or it could be they're wanting
to leave some mystery here. This could be other characters,
but I thought that was interesting.
I didn't even I didn't even notice that.
But yeah, that that is interesting.
Maybe they they do want to keep it kind of shrouded in mystery
(31:44):
because I mean really like, I mean, I kind of believe it.
It's Ellen Hopper, just like just by what they seem to be
wearing. I can also see Levin and Mike,
but I think like right now I'm I'm going on it's it's 11 and
(32:08):
Hopper because kind of heard that they're going to be having
a lot of screen time together this season.
Hop and L So I mean, you know, from earlier on in, you know,
the clip earlier on, I mean, it does seem like her and Hop are
(32:28):
going on some kind of solo mission of their own, not solo,
but you know, of them, just the two of them.
But yeah, maybe it is something they they, you know, want to
keep shrouded in mystery. But I also think, you know, the
big thing with this clip is theywanted us to focus more so on
(32:48):
the wall instead of like, who's looking at the wall?
You know, for right now, it's it's not important who's looking
at it. It's important that we, the
audience are seeing the wall. So yeah.
Yeah, for sure. And I just zoomed in really
(33:09):
close on the production still. So one of them is definitely Al
based on this outfit because to be the same like sweatpants,
crop top, short sweatpants thinggoing on and but the person next
to her isn't clear because at first I was like, I don't know
if that's Hopper because it doesn't look big enough, But
again, we're really far away. So it does appear to have like a
beanie or a hat on. So it could be him.
(33:30):
It it easily could be another character as well, though,
because like she's in front. So they're covering half their
body and then looking in the background, there are trees and
vines. So I think this is the edge of a
forest. And we do know there's a forest.
And when when you leave Hawkins,they drive past forests.
So this could be the borderline of Hawkins, but I I agree, I
(33:53):
think they wanted us to focus onthe mucus wall and not who was
in the foreground. But I do think it didn't.
They didn't tag anybody here because I could have easily
tagged Millie Bobby Brown in this the way they did in the
other photo and whoever the second person is.
But yeah, I I've heard that too.It, it sounds like Ellen Hopper
on their on their own mission for the majority of the seasons.
(34:14):
This could very well be them in this shot.
Yeah. And the the only other thing I
will say about this is that we also know from the behind the
scenes pictures that were were released by Millie and Ross
Duffer back I think in like February and March of 2024, is
(34:38):
that I mean, we we also know that Mike L and I believe will
are also going to be teaming up to do something in the upside
down as well. And I believe in one of those
that Finn was also wearing a beanie.
Now that could be like, you know, it was filming at night
and it was cold and you know, they just had him put it on or,
(35:02):
you know, he was just wearing itbecause it was cold.
But I mean, it also could be Mike in character wearing a
beanie as well. So I mean, it definitely could
be a part of that too, though I don't I can't imagine Mike and
11 leaving Will by himself and there I I can't see that
(35:23):
happening. But yeah, I which again, I'm
very excited to see that. Not because of Byler stuff.
OK, I want that, you know, very clear right now.
It's not because of that. It's because I feel like, you
know, we've never really seen these three, especially Mike and
(35:46):
11, you know, ever team up to doanything like this before.
It's usually always 11 and then everybody else, you know, So
that's, that is something I, I'mvery excited for in Season 5
because it's very much just kindof a breath of fresh air, you
know? Yeah, I'm excited for it too.
(36:07):
And like I said, I've never really had a team up.
We've seen Ellen Hopper team up and then we've seen Elle help
everybody else. But it it'll be cool to see that
kind of a team up and we see Will in those other shots.
So I don't think they would haveleft him alone either.
I, I tend to think that this is either Ellen Hopper on their
(36:27):
like separate mission or Ellen somebody else on their, their
mission. I don't think it's part of the
same thing where Will is there because, again, they would not
leave him alone down there. And from the other footage we
have, it looks like Elle and Will are on these parallel
journeys throughout the season. But we do know they intersect.
We do have that footage of the junkyard where you can see Joyce
and Hopper and Elle and some others in the background.
(36:50):
So they're not completely separate.
We know they are meeting up at various points, but you know,
the other thing they always try to do is do different team ups
and pair UPS every season, whichI always enjoy.
You know, already looks like we're gonna get some cool ones.
We're gonna get Joyce and Robin,we're gonna get Robin and
Murray. So I think maybe that's part of
this. If this isn't Ellen Hopper, it's
(37:11):
Elle teaming up with somebody else.
And I always appreciate they trysomething a little bit different
each season where they have different characters, you know,
team up and do things. This is their last chance to
pair up characters. I haven't paired up before.
And one of the best of the show happened, you know, in Season 2
with Steve and Dustin when they'd basically written
themselves in the recorder went,oh, crap, who's available right
(37:31):
now for Dustin to talk to? Oh, Steve's available.
OK. And then that led to a whole
different Ave. that they were not previously planning on.
So always love it when they do different team UPS because it
often leads in the writing process to other avenues for the
story, other, you know, types ofinteractions or, you know,
prompts different things from the characters that you wouldn't
(37:54):
get in their normal team up or what we've seen in the past.
So I always love it when they dothat and I always appreciate
them trying something different within the group every season.
OK, so then we have a scene at amilitary base where we've got
Mike, Derek, Joyce, Will and twonew female characters.
Mike has his hands thrown out and is trying to protect those
behind him. Will has his arm around Joyce
(38:15):
and appears to have collapsed and it looks like Joyce is
holding him up and he's trying to drag him to safety.
Mike's face looks bruised, so it's possibly got into a fight
prior to this or was somehow injured.
We've noticed that the kid just do seem more bruised in this
footage that they have in previous seasons.
It's normally just Steve that gets beat up, but we see
(38:35):
multiple characters with bruiseson their face that it's going to
be a more violent season, it looks like.
And it's unclear if those are, you know, other people.
These are monsters, some combination.
The two girls behind them look closer to Holly's age, so my
guess is that they could be friends of hers.
(38:55):
Perhaps Erica and Holly's friends are searching for them
in season 5 the way the party did for Will in season 1.
The Duff brothers and everyone has talked about bringing the
series full circle, and since itlooks like Holly and Erica might
go missing this season, that could be way that they're
bringing it all together. The kids behind Mike look
horrified so I'm guessing there's a monster or Vecna
(39:17):
coming at them. I didn't notice this until I
slowed it down, but there's actually a soldier lying on the
ground to their left who appearsto be either dead or
unconscious. Looks like this person tried to
rush or deal with whatever this is and was taken out.
Derek is in the same rainbow striped shirt from earlier, so
it appears that this scene takesplace after the one at the barn,
(39:40):
as Will is now unconscious and you can see flashing lights
behind them. So whatever's coming at them
here, be it monster, Vecna has to have some connection to the
Upside Down. Yeah, And you know, one of the,
you know, the biggest things I really, really enjoy, enjoyed
and appreciated about this clip is that I really love seeing our
(40:03):
boy Mike step up this season because I feel like.
You know, we haven't really seenthis from him really since
season 1. I mean, he did some good things
in season 2, but we haven't really seen him, you know,
really be this true, you know, heroic figure and and leader
since season 1. And I really am excited to see
(40:24):
that coming back this season andand also just how much he's
grown. Yeah, I agree.
And it's great to see him take on more of a leadership role.
And it does look like he's got some good hero moments coming up
in Season 5, so I'm excited for that, too.
So Next up, we've got another military scene where there's a
bunch of soldiers who are standing what looks like a
(40:47):
military base with a guard towerin the background.
They've got their guns pointed at the metal plates on the
ground, which have started to move, buckle and come apart.
A red glow emanates from one of the metal plates, which starts
to buckle and move as if something is coming up from
below. This appears to be perhaps one
of the monsters. We know the military is going to
have a large presence this season, so I'm excited to see
(41:12):
how all that plays out. And then our last scene here is
one of Will screaming. We have a scene where Will
screams run in a very strangled voice.
Seems like he might be possessedor something is preventing him
from moving. Noah gives such a great
performance here. I'm so excited for Storyline
Season 5. Before we hit record, you and I
(41:33):
were talking about, you know, this scene in particular, and
you know, I love what you said about how Noah feels like it's
giving the performance of his life here.
And, you know, he's just acting his heart out.
And I'm really excited to see the storyline of the season.
Looks like we're getting some great acting from Noah Schnapp.
And the Duff brother said that the storyline was going to be a
(41:56):
big focus for Season 5. And I'm super excited to see
what's in store for him. And that's our show.
If you like what you heard today, be sure to subscribe and
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Neon Knights. Thank you for listening to this
episode of Ham Radio, a StrangerThings podcast.
Please join us next time. Same dial, same time.
Over and out.
It's a ham radio, the Cadillac of ham radio.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to yet another
(00:22):
episode of Ham Radio, a StrangerThings podcast.
We've got a great episode for you today, as usual.
But first, we have a little housekeeping to take care of,
and I'm going to turn it over toJasmine to let you know where
you can find us on social media and where you can listen to the
podcast. Thanks Ashley.
You can find us on Instagram at Ham Radio Media, all one word on
(00:44):
Twitter, at Ham Through on YouTube at Ham Radio Media, or
using our handle Ham Radio 1983.We also have a discord you can
join which is linked to the description of this episode.
If you have a fan theory or question you want to share, you
can e-mail us at hamradiomedia@gmail.com.
Ashley also has a fanfic on AO3 entire Stranger Things College,
(01:06):
which is also LinkedIn the description.
The podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms
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podcast and all of our new content.
(01:26):
Welcome back to another episode of Ham Radio, a Stranger Things
podcast. On today's episode, we will be
continuing with our breakdown ofthe Stranger Things five day
announcement teaser trailer fromTo Doom.
So we pick back up with Steve and Dustin.
We've got a shot of them holdingflashlights and looking up at
(01:47):
the ceiling. There's a black and white tiled
floor beneath them that's covered in vines and what could
be the lab. Dustin's got his red WSQK radio
T-shirt on and his face looks bruised, so this could follow
the scene where he gets beat up at the cemetery.
Or this could be another incident.
Steve's holding what looks like a bayonet, so personally I'm
(02:07):
still hoping that the nail bat makes an appearance because I
miss that thing. Yeah, me too.
I mean, you can't have it come full circle season 1 without
having one of its more iconic items there, you know, being the
nail bat. I mean, that would be like, I
mean, I want it to be like a scene of both Steve and Jonathan
like using it because, you know,you know, Jonathan nailed the
(02:33):
nails into the bat and Steve used it in Season 1.
So it's like, you know, a good way, you know, for the team up
again. I think it would be a cool cool
call back there. You know what, I just noticed?
I'm looking at the still again and people online when we first
got it were saying bayonet, but I'm now looking at it, I think
he's holding a walkie. Actually, I think that's the
(02:53):
antenna because I haven't pausedand it's like in HD and the way
he's holding it, that would makemore sense.
If they're in this portion and they're radioing somebody else,
or this is part of the same scene where they have Jonathan
and Nancy are there, then this could be they're doing their
part and they're radioing them. That would make more sense
because I feel like the picture I saw with people, people were
(03:15):
saying bayonet. It was blurrier.
Like when it first came out, people were just taking
screenshots. I think of what we saw at to do.
But now that I'm looking at it in HD, I think it's a walkie.
I think that's what it is. I seriously thought this was a
bayonet and now I'm for the first time I'm like, no, I think
that's a walkie. I think, yeah, I mean, that
definitely would make make a lotmore sense because I mean, well,
(03:39):
you know, radios have always been a big thing in the show and
it seems like that's going to beeven more of a thing in Season
5. And like, absolutely, like, they
absolutely what if it seems likethey're going to be spending a
lot of time in the Upside down this season, so they definitely
need to be able to communicate with each other.
(03:59):
And so, yeah, I mean, that definitely makes sense.
I mean, not saying like, not notsaying that having a weapon with
them doesn't make any sense either.
Of course, you know, it's alwaysgood to come prepared.
But I mean, I feel like at this point, these characters
certainly like should know, like, OK, well, having something
(04:20):
like a bayonet, it's only going to protect you, you know, so
much against these entities. But yeah, I, it'll be very
interesting to see Steve with a with a walkie, because I don't
think we've ever really seen himwith one.
And of course it could have beencould have been Dustin's that
he's just holding. But, and also it, I just thought
(04:44):
of this, but you know, maybe it's this could be a callback to
in season 4 and episode 5 when, you know, Dustin's, they're not
episode 5, but season 4 when, when Steve brings up the low
battery thing with the walkies and, and there's, you know,
those funny scenes with between him and Dustin with the walkie
(05:06):
talkies. And in episode 5 when Dustin
drops his bag and has the walkiein it when, you know, Eddie's
trying to contact them and stuff.
So I feel like good little callback moment here for between
Steve and Dustin. Yeah.
And it renews my hope for the for the nail bat.
(05:26):
You know, maybe we're going to see the nail bat again.
I will say, I do think this is abit odd that following season 2,
I didn't really understand why the rest of the gang don't have
walkies. Because if my impression has
always been that it's just the party that has them.
Plus, you know, like Ellen Max. So in season 3, like they talk
about the low battery thing. I'm like, why does everyone on
this team not have a walkie? Like why does Erica not have her
(05:48):
include the adults? They should all have them
because this is like their primary way of communicating.
It also can't be infiltrated as easily.
We know that the government has been tapping their phones and
bugging their homes and messing with their cars and stuff for
years. So having a dedicated line, I
mean, it's not foolproof. Someone can get on that line.
But since there's other people using radio frequencies in this
(06:09):
area, it's a lot, you know, easier to communicate and it's
less susceptible to spying. And I never really understood
why they were just relying on the party and their walkies,
especially since they used that so much in season 1 to get a
hold of Mike and the gang when they were trying to, you know,
(06:30):
figure out what they were and they were trying to hide Elle.
So I I never quite understood why they didn't all just go to
RadioShack right after that, especially since Bob worked
there. So I never quite understood
that, especially since at the end of four, presumably walkie
is the only way they're going tocommunicate with the buyers
family because they wouldn't have a phone set up.
Like you'd have to reinstall thephone even when they did.
(06:51):
I mean, the the government is looking for L and you know, not
like L or Hopper could use the phone right now.
So walking would be their primary means of communication.
So I don't maybe they finally addressed that and got everybody
walking this season. I always thought that was a bit
odd. Yeah, and I mean, I know the
party has been like the ones exclusively using the walkies,
(07:15):
but even they like I surprised like how little they seem to use
them themselves in the course ofthe show.
Like, I think, yeah, I mean, season 3 was they used it
pretty, pretty frequently. But whenever like it was funny
(07:36):
because in season 3, whenever like it was, it was very urgent
and, and Lucas was trying to getin touch with Mac Max on her
walkie and she was ignoring him.And then Mike just called her on
the phone. And so I just, I think, I think
it's just a part of like the, the grander theme of Stranger
(08:01):
Things, which is communication and, and how important it is
that we communicate properly with, with each other.
And, and that always causes kindof seems to be you're not like a
reason for all this happening tothem, but it seems to be
(08:23):
something that really hinders, you know, their progress because
none of them can get in touch with the other people.
And again, just communication breakdowns and I personally
don't expect Season 5 to be any different.
But yeah, I'm, I'm definitely, if this is a walkie that he's
(08:46):
holding, definitely excited to see that we were still, we're
still going heavy on the walkiesthis season.
Yeah, me too. And my best friend has
commented, like, starting with Season 2, she's like, man, they
need like a common, like, mailbox or like a Free Library
and a tree or something to like,leave notes.
Everyone knows what's going on. And I mean, it's there to sort
(09:08):
of facilitate the the plot. And so you have that scene at
the end where they all come together, which I've always
loved. I was very sad we didn't get
that before. I thought we were going to.
Yeah, I mean, it's not it's not a plot hole, but I mean, they do
seem to have trouble like crossing wires or lack of
communication or miscommunication or getting a
hold of one another. And I I get it's supposed to be
(09:28):
allusion to a time before cell phones, but because they
established pretty on the walkies work all the way from
penters to all the way out to the cemetery after four.
I'm kind of like, OK, but everybody should have just
gotten a walkie after two or during that time period because
communication has clearly a big a hindrance of barrier at times
(09:49):
that they do have a means of communicating.
It's not absolute. They're not like a cell phone,
but it is it is there. That plus a landline telephone
should be enough. So hopefully they make some
progress on that in in five because as time goes on, I'm
like, well, you all know this isan issue.
Just all go by walkies. I mean, well, I could have
(10:09):
gotten them a deal. We could have gotten them like a
like a wholesale like about a whole bunch of them and Bulk and
Bob could have probably gotten them a pretty sweet deal.
Yeah, for sure. But I have a question for you in
this in this clip. So what do you think that Steve
and Dustin are looking at here? Because I know you, you touched
(10:33):
on a little bit earlier, but andI've seen this floated around on
Twitter and Reddit and other spaces like that, but I believe
that they are at the lab in thisin this clip when we know the
labs going to be coming back. But, and we also know, like
(10:56):
after confirmation that you know, from Sean Levy that a post
that he made and behind the scenes at the lab that, you
know, at least Dustin will be atthe lab And also OnStar Court
study halls Discord. One of them had posted on there
that the flooring of of where Dustin and Steve are standing
(11:19):
looks a lot like the pattern on like the courtyard area of the
lab. Like, you know, how an aerial
view of the lab and it like in the middle of like, you know,
the shape, like of the cross, That's like, you know, where the
courtyard area is. And so there's like, you know,
(11:42):
an opening like you can see likeup out into the, into the, the,
the sky. And so I think it's pretty
obvious, like they're in the upside down version of wherever,
you know, in this case, the lab.So I say all that to say, you
know what, what do you think that they're they're looking up
at here? There's a good catch about the
courtyard. I think it's cool that they're
(12:04):
going to an area that we haven'tbeen to before because they've
explored a lot of the lab, but it's cool that for the finale
they're exploring other areas ofthe building that we haven't
seen before. And I suppose that makes sense
as they're looking for stuff in here.
So what they're looking at, my first thought would be like a
really big gate because the other behind the scenes footage
(12:26):
and like new footage we've gotten, we see a lot of big
gates. We see that mucus wall, we see
they're gate like things. So and this is part of that
earlier scene where you can see the red glow that they're
walking towards. I think it's like either a
really big gate of some kind or something like that.
Something that's part of the environment that that's my
(12:49):
that's my guess. Yeah, those were my thoughts
too. Like I, I feel like they're, you
know, I feel like they're, this is part of their mission, Like
they've been sent to, you know, look for something here.
And so I feel like this is part of, you know, in the behind the
scenes teaser, if we see Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Dustin, you
know, look into the, you know, portal most likely.
(13:16):
And I feel like they like break off into groups like Jonathan
and Nancy are, you know, going doing something.
And then, you know, Steve and Dustin are coming here.
So yeah, I feel like, you know, they have gotten some
intelligence about something in this part of the lab, assuming
(13:39):
that's where they are, that theyneed to go and find or inspect.
And so that's why, you know, Steve and and Dustin are there.
But it's very interesting that like the lab, if that is what
they're doing and that is where they are, that the lab is is the
(13:59):
place for the info here and could maybe hold the key to the
ending, which I mean, it does make sense because that's where
11 did open the original gate. I mean, who knows?
Vetna could be hiding out there when that'd be ironic.
But yeah, I'm very excited though, to see that we're coming
(14:23):
back to the mystery side of the show, which is something I felt
like has been, has been missing for for a while.
And I know like, you know, they had mystery last season, but I
don't know, it's like they're going back to kind of the that
mysterious feel that they had inseason 1.
(14:45):
Yeah. I like that too.
The Hawkins fault was my favorite last season, so it's
nice to get back to that mysteryelement.
And we know that the Upside Downis frozen on the day Will
disappeared. And taking that logic farther,
if this is the upside down in the lab, does that mean that
that stuff has continued to grow?
Maybe what they're looking at here is part of that.
(15:06):
The gate was opened and it's continued to grow and develop,
and it's now seeping into the real world.
And maybe this is one of like the mother gates or something
like that, because I could see that like we know that the
physical items in the Upside down that are from the real
world are frozen. But it appears based on what we
see in four, that other elementshave continued to grow and
(15:30):
change like the Upside Down elements have.
And now it's bleeding into the real world.
Kind of wondering if maybe is this the original gate that L
opened and it hasn't grown? Is that what they're looking at
here? Yeah, I don't, you know,
obviously I don't know the answer to that.
But I mean, I know like in season 3 they they did establish
like, you know, yes, she closed up that gate, the mother gate,
(15:53):
you know, for good. And you know, like Hopper, you
know, I was there, I saw him, you know, cover it up, you know,
and fill it in with cement. But that's what it looks like in
in reality, in the real world, in the right side up.
But we don't know what, what that looks like in the upside
(16:17):
down. I mean, it could very well still
be alive and breathing in the upside down.
We just don't know that. And and hopefully, if it is that
is the case, that that would be pretty cool to to see.
Yeah. And something I think that's
interesting that Season 4 established is up until three,
(16:37):
we've been under the impression that once you take care of
something in the real world, it takes care of it on the other
side. But then four opened up this
idea that, well, that may not betrue.
OK, well, so you took care of iton this end, but that doesn't
mean it's taken care of on the other side.
And the upside down that we see in four is, you know, vastly,
you know, evolve and change fromwhat we see in one.
(16:59):
You know, it's it's clear that that's been evolving and growing
and changing. And it's not clear if the
monsters that live down there were creatures that were already
there. We see the the demic organs and
the demo dogs, but we don't see the others.
So are those things that that created, are those things
already there that have mutated or they already hanging out down
there? Do they all work for him?
(17:20):
Has he Co opted them? Do they already exist?
Did he create them the same way he created the mind Flayer?
Enough of the particles is growing and evolving all direct
link to him? Is it the natural evolution of
the place? Why is it all decayed?
They've never answered that question either, so I'm really
curious and I feel like they've left enough bread crumbs in four
(17:41):
to open this stuff up. And I'm really excited for the
visuals because the few we did get in in this teaser look
really look really cool. All right, so Next up we've got
a scene of 11 Hopper. They are bathed in red light
with what looks like sirens going off in the background.
Ella's screaming and covering her ears like she's in pain.
She's wearing one of Sarah's hair ties on her wrist and the
(18:03):
ring might got her on her right hand.
She's also wearing the blue bandana around her neck and
these sweatpants and top we saw in earlier behind the scenes
pics and footage. We see Hopper hugging her and
trying to comfort her. Hopper's got a beanie on and
what looks like tactical gear. This appears to be from the same
scene, the behind the scenes still of Hopper and Elle that we
got after Jim, and the scene of Lieutenant Ackers in the behind
(18:27):
the scenes teaser. And this also does appear to
correlate with other footage we've gotten of a lab space or
some kind of storage space, it looks like.
And what I find very interestingabout this clip is in that it
made me think about like mainly 2, two big occasions in the past
(18:51):
seasons of the show, but one of them being in season 2 in
Chapter 7, the lost sister, whenCallie is causing 11 to have
this illusion of Brenner, you know, speaking to her and he's
(19:11):
like, you know, you have a wound, 11, a terrible wound, and
it's festering and it will kill you.
And, you know, it obviously scares 11 to the point where she
knows she's just start screaming.
Get out of my head, get out my head.
And so she also like cups her her ears when she does this.
(19:31):
But also in season 3, after the bite, when they're in the mall,
they've all, everyone's gotten back together in the mall.
And you know, like before she collapses, you know, she, she
cups her ears again just like this because she's, she's an
(19:54):
obvious discomfort, obvious pain.
And so, and she also does that in season 4, in chapter 2,
Vetna's curse at the rinkomania when every when she's being
bullied at the at the rink, she does it again.
And so it's just, it's very interesting that, you know,
(20:17):
she's doing this again and. And I believe what is happening
here is that it took me quite a few times of watching this over
and over again and in slow motion for me to come to the
conclusion that what I think is most likely happening here is
that 11 is just used for powers.Because when we see the her
(20:42):
nose, she has a Nosebleed. But, you know, I mean, I mean,
her hair looks kind of disheveled and she's got her her
hands cupping her ears. She's in obvious discomfort,
obvious pain. And Hopper's, you know, there
with his arm around her comforting her.
And so he's not in any sort of, you know, pain or discomfort.
(21:03):
You know, he's just comforting her.
So what I believe is happening here, I believe that Vecna is
messing with her. I don't or less you know, she's
she's sensing something happening in her void that's
just kind of gotten her upset. But I think the most likely
(21:24):
scenario here is that Vecna is messing with her.
So I'm, it'll be very interesting to see, you know, we
know what's going on here. But I mean, I, I wouldn't put it
past him to do that because whenwe know he, how he, how he feels
about her. But I mean, I, and I also
(21:47):
noticed too, more so in the the production seal of this of her
and Hopper here in this same place, that in the light
fixtures in the back sort of look a lot like the light
fixtures of that place where Colonel Sullivan was when he was
(22:11):
torturing the the agent. So I kind of wonder maybe if
this is military base, military barracks, I think it could also
be tied in with the same sequence of Lieutenant Akers
coming in. So, yeah, I and I again, like I
(22:35):
I know there's only so many likeclips they could choose.
But when I first when I first watched this scene, when it, you
know, was happening live at Titom, you know, I thought I
thought she was, you know, having like an epic, you know,
power moment. But again, after multiple
rewatches, I think it's just it's simple, something as simple
(22:58):
as Vecna messing with her. But and I wonder what he's
doing, if that is the case, whathe is using against her to mess
with her. I mean, is it something is like,
you know, with Max or is something that I feel like it's
got to be something that he knows is going to upset her?
(23:20):
Yeah, and that's a good catch about the the comparison with
what happens with Callie and theLost Sister.
That could definitely be it because you're right, it does
appear to be affecting her, but not Hopper.
And just look at the production still again from what appears to
be this scene, it looks like herand Hopper are being getting
ready to face something that's supposed to be coming towards
(23:40):
them. And if this is from the same
seen, there's like a basin and chemicals behind them.
So I wonder if this is a military lab that they're
they're in, maybe they've gone in there to get something or to
try to prevent vector from doingsomething.
Or we saw in previous seasons the Russians trying to replicate
(24:02):
what Hawkins Lab had been doing.So maybe this is their new
attempt to try to replicate whatwas done in the past and they
need something in there. But I hadn't occurred to me that
he could be just messing with her, that, you know, I thought
it was going to affect both of them.
But yeah, you could be right. I was kind of wondering, maybe
she'd use her powers to do something and then like,
blowback from that had caused her pain.
(24:23):
And it's possible to both. It could be something physical
and something mental. But yeah, that's a that's a
really good catch there. All right, the Next up, we have
what we're calling the mucus wall.
We've got two people, which could be 11.
Hopper, though it's not super clear, holding flashlights and
standing in front of a giant mucus wall in the Upside Down in
(24:44):
the center is what looks like another gate.
And this is the the first shot we got was like, wow, Like the
special effects on the season are going to be, you know,
absolutely incredible. Just look at this thing.
Clearly things have evolved at Aat a hyper fast level.
Just from from 4:00 to 5:00 is about a year and a half and
(25:05):
things are getting real. Yeah.
And you know, I think the craziest part is, is like, what
if this this wall, whatever it is, has been, has been growing
and festering since season 1? I mean, it's just crazy, crazy
to think about. And like whenever you, you play
the, the clip of it, you know, and in slow motion, I mean, you
(25:31):
can see like this wall stretchesfor miles.
And I mean, it's obviously in the upside down.
And so it's like, you know, one thing I'm really wanting to know
right now is what, and, you know, where's the location of,
of this wall? Like I've I've seen some
speculation out there that, you know, this is at the border of,
(25:55):
you know, Hawkins, but also likeit's like the border between the
area where Henry first lands after 11 first pushes him in.
But I mean, and then I've also seen theories about how this is
(26:15):
like the side of the new monster, you know, huge creature
more like this is, you know, an incubation area.
I mean, there's I like all the theories.
That's the problem, Jasmine. I I like all of them because I
think they're that they are all very, you know, very possible to
(26:38):
be the case. And I'm hoping that it turns out
to be none of them and that the show really does surprise us.
But I again, I just, I'm also very finding it very interesting
that assuming that this is EllenHopper, like, you know, what has
caused them to get here, you know, define this.
(26:59):
I mean, obviously it's somethingthat's important.
And so, yeah, but like you said,I mean, I know you and I like we
talked like immediately after the this teaser dropped and we
just immediately were just like fawning all over how great the
the cinematography and the special effects already look.
(27:23):
And it's just so incredible. Like they're still actively in
post production. And you know, this this one
little clip Aria looks so, so great.
And I think too, it was just so,so neat to see a part of the
Upside Down that we've we've never seen before, because up to
(27:44):
this point, all we've really seen is, you know, what looks
like Hawkins and obviously the, the entities from the Upside
Down and then the tendrils for the vines.
But we've never seen anything like that's really true to the
environment other than, you know, the spores, of course.
(28:05):
But in terms of like, I guess what I'm trying to say is, you
know, it's topography, if you will, of the Upside Down.
Like we've outside of like that egg that Hopper found in Season
1, we've again, like we've never, never seen all of this
(28:29):
from the Upside Down. So I think it's very cool that
that we are going to get to see that this season.
And then there was stuff from the tunnels in Season 2.
But yeah, other than that, like we've, we've never seen it to
this scale before. So I'm I'm very excited about.
Yeah, me too. And I think that's intentional
(28:51):
that they waited. From doing our script series, we
know that there was supposed to be wider shots in Season 4
showing more of the Upside Down.And it's unclear why that was
cut. It could have been budgetary.
It could have been they said they wanted to leave a little
bit of mystery to really like hit home with with Season 5,
which regardless of the reason, I'm excited that they waited
(29:13):
because this looks really cool. And I think because they've just
kept it, Hawkins, now they can expand and but it's going to be,
I think more exciting. I think if they showed us more
the topography before, then it might not have been as impactful
because we've never seen it before.
It is. And I like all the theories as
(29:34):
well. I lean towards it being the
barrier of some kind. So either the barrier between
Hawkins, like the, you know, county line so to speak, or like
you said, L sent Henry into the Upside Down back in the 70s.
That could be a 2. I think this is some kind of
barrier. Like you said, it goes for
several kilometers it looks like.
I think this is a barrier of some kind.
(29:57):
And we know that as soon as likeWill crosses over into Hawkins,
he can feel Vecna and L and him share that look.
So we know there's something about the line, so to speak, of
when Hawkins ends and begins. We know there's something there
and if if that's what this is where there's like a physical
wall on the other side, that would explain it.
(30:17):
But then again, there used to besome kind of gait in this.
So we know that there's something special physically
about Hawkins. So I lean towards it being some
kind of wall or barrier along one of those, you know, fault
lines rather than a creature because I feel like the
creatures in the show tend to bea lot more mobile and I just
don't see how you'd fight a giant wall and make it look
cool. So I feel like they got to
(30:40):
either breakthrough this or break it down or go through it
somehow. And you can tell they spend a
lot of time and money on the special effects budget and the
post production. And clearly it's been worth it.
Clearly it's paying off because these are some of the biggest,
most epic shots we've gotten. And they're the most appear to
(31:01):
be the most like labor intensiveas well.
So I'm really excited to see what this stuff looks like when
we get to see it, you know, on screen in the final version.
The other thing I did want to mention about this is in the
production sales that they released afterwards is and all
the other ones, the actors are tagged.
But in this one, no one is tagged, which I think is
interesting. They could have easily tagged
(31:22):
those actors. So I think it's interesting that
they didn't. So it could be them.
It could just be, well, we tagged them earliest.
We didn't tag them again. Or it could be they're wanting
to leave some mystery here. This could be other characters,
but I thought that was interesting.
I didn't even I didn't even notice that.
But yeah, that that is interesting.
Maybe they they do want to keep it kind of shrouded in mystery
(31:44):
because I mean really like, I mean, I kind of believe it.
It's Ellen Hopper, just like just by what they seem to be
wearing. I can also see Levin and Mike,
but I think like right now I'm I'm going on it's it's 11 and
(32:08):
Hopper because kind of heard that they're going to be having
a lot of screen time together this season.
Hop and L So I mean, you know, from earlier on in, you know,
the clip earlier on, I mean, it does seem like her and Hop are
(32:28):
going on some kind of solo mission of their own, not solo,
but you know, of them, just the two of them.
But yeah, maybe it is something they they, you know, want to
keep shrouded in mystery. But I also think, you know, the
big thing with this clip is theywanted us to focus more so on
(32:48):
the wall instead of like, who's looking at the wall?
You know, for right now, it's it's not important who's looking
at it. It's important that we, the
audience are seeing the wall. So yeah.
Yeah, for sure. And I just zoomed in really
(33:09):
close on the production still. So one of them is definitely Al
based on this outfit because to be the same like sweatpants,
crop top, short sweatpants thinggoing on and but the person next
to her isn't clear because at first I was like, I don't know
if that's Hopper because it doesn't look big enough, But
again, we're really far away. So it does appear to have like a
beanie or a hat on. So it could be him.
(33:30):
It it easily could be another character as well, though,
because like she's in front. So they're covering half their
body and then looking in the background, there are trees and
vines. So I think this is the edge of a
forest. And we do know there's a forest.
And when when you leave Hawkins,they drive past forests.
So this could be the borderline of Hawkins, but I I agree, I
(33:53):
think they wanted us to focus onthe mucus wall and not who was
in the foreground. But I do think it didn't.
They didn't tag anybody here because I could have easily
tagged Millie Bobby Brown in this the way they did in the
other photo and whoever the second person is.
But yeah, I I've heard that too.It, it sounds like Ellen Hopper
on their on their own mission for the majority of the seasons.
(34:14):
This could very well be them in this shot.
Yeah. And the the only other thing I
will say about this is that we also know from the behind the
scenes pictures that were were released by Millie and Ross
Duffer back I think in like February and March of 2024, is
(34:38):
that I mean, we we also know that Mike L and I believe will
are also going to be teaming up to do something in the upside
down as well. And I believe in one of those
that Finn was also wearing a beanie.
Now that could be like, you know, it was filming at night
and it was cold and you know, they just had him put it on or,
(35:02):
you know, he was just wearing itbecause it was cold.
But I mean, it also could be Mike in character wearing a
beanie as well. So I mean, it definitely could
be a part of that too, though I don't I can't imagine Mike and
11 leaving Will by himself and there I I can't see that
(35:23):
happening. But yeah, I which again, I'm
very excited to see that. Not because of Byler stuff.
OK, I want that, you know, very clear right now.
It's not because of that. It's because I feel like, you
know, we've never really seen these three, especially Mike and
(35:46):
11, you know, ever team up to doanything like this before.
It's usually always 11 and then everybody else, you know, So
that's, that is something I, I'mvery excited for in Season 5
because it's very much just kindof a breath of fresh air, you
know? Yeah, I'm excited for it too.
(36:07):
And like I said, I've never really had a team up.
We've seen Ellen Hopper team up and then we've seen Elle help
everybody else. But it it'll be cool to see that
kind of a team up and we see Will in those other shots.
So I don't think they would haveleft him alone either.
I, I tend to think that this is either Ellen Hopper on their
(36:27):
like separate mission or Ellen somebody else on their, their
mission. I don't think it's part of the
same thing where Will is there because, again, they would not
leave him alone down there. And from the other footage we
have, it looks like Elle and Will are on these parallel
journeys throughout the season. But we do know they intersect.
We do have that footage of the junkyard where you can see Joyce
and Hopper and Elle and some others in the background.
(36:50):
So they're not completely separate.
We know they are meeting up at various points, but you know,
the other thing they always try to do is do different team ups
and pair UPS every season, whichI always enjoy.
You know, already looks like we're gonna get some cool ones.
We're gonna get Joyce and Robin,we're gonna get Robin and
Murray. So I think maybe that's part of
this. If this isn't Ellen Hopper, it's
(37:11):
Elle teaming up with somebody else.
And I always appreciate they trysomething a little bit different
each season where they have different characters, you know,
team up and do things. This is their last chance to
pair up characters. I haven't paired up before.
And one of the best of the show happened, you know, in Season 2
with Steve and Dustin when they'd basically written
themselves in the recorder went,oh, crap, who's available right
(37:31):
now for Dustin to talk to? Oh, Steve's available.
OK. And then that led to a whole
different Ave. that they were not previously planning on.
So always love it when they do different team UPS because it
often leads in the writing process to other avenues for the
story, other, you know, types ofinteractions or, you know,
prompts different things from the characters that you wouldn't
(37:54):
get in their normal team up or what we've seen in the past.
So I always love it when they dothat and I always appreciate
them trying something different within the group every season.
OK, so then we have a scene at amilitary base where we've got
Mike, Derek, Joyce, Will and twonew female characters.
Mike has his hands thrown out and is trying to protect those
behind him. Will has his arm around Joyce
(38:15):
and appears to have collapsed and it looks like Joyce is
holding him up and he's trying to drag him to safety.
Mike's face looks bruised, so it's possibly got into a fight
prior to this or was somehow injured.
We've noticed that the kid just do seem more bruised in this
footage that they have in previous seasons.
It's normally just Steve that gets beat up, but we see
(38:35):
multiple characters with bruiseson their face that it's going to
be a more violent season, it looks like.
And it's unclear if those are, you know, other people.
These are monsters, some combination.
The two girls behind them look closer to Holly's age, so my
guess is that they could be friends of hers.
(38:55):
Perhaps Erica and Holly's friends are searching for them
in season 5 the way the party did for Will in season 1.
The Duff brothers and everyone has talked about bringing the
series full circle, and since itlooks like Holly and Erica might
go missing this season, that could be way that they're
bringing it all together. The kids behind Mike look
horrified so I'm guessing there's a monster or Vecna
(39:17):
coming at them. I didn't notice this until I
slowed it down, but there's actually a soldier lying on the
ground to their left who appearsto be either dead or
unconscious. Looks like this person tried to
rush or deal with whatever this is and was taken out.
Derek is in the same rainbow striped shirt from earlier, so
it appears that this scene takesplace after the one at the barn,
(39:40):
as Will is now unconscious and you can see flashing lights
behind them. So whatever's coming at them
here, be it monster, Vecna has to have some connection to the
Upside Down. Yeah, And you know, one of the,
you know, the biggest things I really, really enjoy, enjoyed
and appreciated about this clip is that I really love seeing our
(40:03):
boy Mike step up this season because I feel like.
You know, we haven't really seenthis from him really since
season 1. I mean, he did some good things
in season 2, but we haven't really seen him, you know,
really be this true, you know, heroic figure and and leader
since season 1. And I really am excited to see
(40:24):
that coming back this season andand also just how much he's
grown. Yeah, I agree.
And it's great to see him take on more of a leadership role.
And it does look like he's got some good hero moments coming up
in Season 5, so I'm excited for that, too.
So Next up, we've got another military scene where there's a
bunch of soldiers who are standing what looks like a
(40:47):
military base with a guard towerin the background.
They've got their guns pointed at the metal plates on the
ground, which have started to move, buckle and come apart.
A red glow emanates from one of the metal plates, which starts
to buckle and move as if something is coming up from
below. This appears to be perhaps one
of the monsters. We know the military is going to
have a large presence this season, so I'm excited to see
(41:12):
how all that plays out. And then our last scene here is
one of Will screaming. We have a scene where Will
screams run in a very strangled voice.
Seems like he might be possessedor something is preventing him
from moving. Noah gives such a great
performance here. I'm so excited for Storyline
Season 5. Before we hit record, you and I
(41:33):
were talking about, you know, this scene in particular, and
you know, I love what you said about how Noah feels like it's
giving the performance of his life here.
And, you know, he's just acting his heart out.
And I'm really excited to see the storyline of the season.
Looks like we're getting some great acting from Noah Schnapp.
And the Duff brother said that the storyline was going to be a
(41:56):
big focus for Season 5. And I'm super excited to see
what's in store for him. And that's our show.
If you like what you heard today, be sure to subscribe and
tell your friends. Our theme music is provided by
Neon Knights. Thank you for listening to this
episode of Ham Radio, a StrangerThings podcast.
Please join us next time. Same dial, same time.
Over and out.
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