Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 4 of Stranger Things.
The final episode ofStranger Things’ fourth season was undeniably one of the grandest episodes of the series so far. The stakes were higher than ever before, and with a runtime of over two hours, there was a lot of ground to cover. With that acknowledgement, however, comes one decision that still feels out of place for the series as a whole: the two-day time skip that happens right after the most climactic scene of the episode. This skip not only takes away a vital feeling of impact with the scenes that follow it, but it also removes important reactions that viewers potentially needed to see in order to properly fill in gaps within the story.
For reference, time skips aren’t always a bad tool when utilized properly. When used with care and purpose they can serve as a great way to demonstrate a significant shift in tone or to show how a tone can linger over periods of time. One notable time skip that works well is fromAvengers: Endgamein which five years pass between the killing of Thanos and where the majority of the movie takes place. The scene before the skip provides a feeling of immense dread, and then the scenes after the skip show how people have attempted to cope with the fact that, up until that point, there was no way to fix what had happened. Initially, one might presume that this is the same situation occurring withinStranger Things, but there is one major flaw that makes the attempt fall flat: the tone between scenes.
The scene right before the five-year time skip inAvengers: Endgameis very somber and quiet. The scene directly after it is also somber and quiet but in its own unique way. The scene right before the two-day time skip inStranger Thingsis very dramatic and impactful with the reveal that Vecna’s plan was successful and that a giant crack has formed within Hawkins, followed by an attempt by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to revive Max (Sadie Sink), which we don’t see the results of until after the skip. While a quieter tone is completely allowed following this skip, it is the way that the quiet tone is presented that offers its share of issues.
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The first scene after the skip is of the group of Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Argyle (Eduardo Franco), Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven driving into Hawkins while a seemingly endless line of cars exit the cursed town. The tone is how one might expect it to be: somber and uncertain with an immense sense of defeat. So far, the skip feels natural. However, this tone is quickly swept under the rug for a happy reunion of the main characters and the reveal that Max is alive, though in a coma. The rest of the episode is more relaxed and slow-paced as we get a very emotional scene with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) telling Eddie’s (Joseph Quinn) uncle that he knows Eddie wasn’t an evil guy but in fact a hero, as well as the return of Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) to the main group. The final scene shows the slow spread of the Upside Down into Hawkins as a reminder that there is still a very real threat on the horizon. The main issue with these scenes is that there is an almost eerie sense of calm within them, and it feels very separated from what was being set up before the time skip.
Now, scenes like the one between Dustin and Eddie’s uncle perfectly fit into what we might expect from such a time skip. It acknowledges a tragic, impactful event that happened very recently and gave time for both the audience and the characters involved to fully digest the tragedy that occurred. However, the time skip also seemingly removed our ability to see how any other character other than these two reacted to the news of Eddie’s death. We never see Dustin tell Mike or Lucas or Steve what happened. We never get to see how anyone reacts to Eddie’s death except for Dustin and Eddie’s uncle, and that is because this is information that would have been revealed during the time skip when the Hawkins group reunited after their plan. While it is undeniable that these two were by far the ones that needed to acknowledge Eddie’s death the most, it still leaves a strong feeling of forgetfulness on the part of the writers that more characters in the main group knew who Eddie was, and their inability to acknowledge his death even in passing feels strongly tied to the use of the time skip.
The biggest reason for the time skip existing seems to be tied to the simple fact that Eleven’s group needed time to drive across the country to return to Hawkins along with Jim Hopper’s return to America with Joyce. This is a logical conclusion to come to, but an issue arises when the two days skipped inStranger Thingsfeels like it leaves out more than the five-year skip inAvengers: Endgame, or at the very least it doesn’t make any attempts to fill in the gaps like the film does. The skip takes away our ability to see how the Hawkins group reacts when they come back together. It overlooks the group’s acknowledgement of Eddie’s sacrifice, as well as preventing us from seeing more of the initial impact that the “earthquake” had on Hawkins.
Something else that is never mentioned is where Murray (Brett Gelman) and Antonov (AKA “Enzo”) (Tom Wlashiha) end up after their section of the story concluded. While the latter could be seen as simply another side character whose role is fulfilled, he is in just as many episodes of the season as Eddie is, and the audience spends quite some time getting to know him. As for Murray, he has become a much more important part of the group since his initial showing in Season 2, and at this point it feels borderline negligent to not even acknowledge what happened to him between the end of the arc in Russia and what is going on now.
The time skip in the finale episode ofStranger Things’fourth season was not a terrible move on the part of the writers in theory. It is fair to say that some time needed to pass for the scenes that we did get to see to happen naturally. Presenting how Hawkins is dealing with this major disaster in full force is also an important narrative piece to factor in. However, one can’t help but to think that with an episode time of over two hours, a little more care could have been placed into answering questions that felt less like setups for Season 5 and more like things they forgot to mention in the first place.
It almost seems like there was too much emphasis put on the scenes that we were given, and as a result some important information was left to the side. This negligence not only leaves audiences with questions, but it also dampens the impact of some of the episode’s most important scenes. Eddie’s death is portrayed as being a huge event, and yet he is barely acknowledged by the characters as a whole. Antonov and Murray (and even Yuri to an extent, though it is more expected that we wouldn’t hear of him after the arc in Russia) were crucial towards Jim and Joyce’s return to America, and yet there is no mention of them once they have served their purpose. It made sense to utilize a time skip for the sake of moving the plot forward, but the execution was certainly far from perfect, and the negligence of the writers to better acknowledge what happened during the time skip left a sour feeling when the credits rolled.
