Stranger Things Season 4 cast seemingly missed the memo requesting them to pull back on the punches. The season was many things — fearless, bloody, brutal, painful, spattered with death, and premonitions — but most of all, it was personal. It was a coming-of-age story about the characters who built the story from the ground up, a culmination of their lives as they mature both in the real world as well as within the Stranger Things universe.
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Stranger Things Season 4: The Beauty of Improvisations
As a connoisseur of the past, Stranger Things picked up on all the perfect imperfections — the unabashedly teased hairdo and the station wagons. It picked up on the paranoic height of the Soviet and American Cold War. But the one thing the writers and the directors couldn’t contribute to was the authenticity of the cast.
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Amid the hurricane of dripping feelings and forget-me-not goodbyes, the close-knit members of the Stranger Things family delivered so many tear-jerkers that blurry vision was the only option throughout the length of Vol 2 finale. And now, more than 24 hours later, the writers’ room has come up with the concept of sharing with the audience the moments that were not originally scripted but still made it to the final cut.
The problem now arises in the fact that although we have now grown to love and appreciate the cast and the characters more for their brilliant improvisations, the dialogues that were revealed as being unscripted have made the intensity of the heart-wrenching scenes even more jagged and painful to bear.
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The Unscripted Moments That Broke Our Hearts
Imprimis, Vol 2 was a tear-jerker. The social media frenzy, Twitter mania, subreddits, and word of mouth have delivered and established the finality of the fact that Stranger Things S4 is a 4-hour stream of tears and snot. But, what if the series writers told the world that Eddie was not meant to say “I love you, man” as his final words to Dustin? The already intense pain and the meaninglessness of his death and sacrifice amplifies and manifolds and doesn’t stop until it tears you completely apart.
“I love you, man” was improvised by Joe pic.twitter.com/z5gYyl18KF
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 2, 2022
As Max lies in Lucas’s arms, blinded, broken, and on the brink of death, the latter already traumatized, beaten up, and held at gunpoint demands Erica get an ambulance one second and the very next, in a haze of pain and confounded understanding of the slipping reality, Caleb McLaughlin (in a brilliantly timed and unscripted moment) helplessly screams at a 12-year-old, “Erica, help!”
Also read: Director Shawn Levy Reacts To Fan Complaints After Major Deaths In Stranger Things 4 Vol 2 Finale
“Erica, help” was improvised by Caleb. pic.twitter.com/9g5etO5VAz
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 2, 2022
Above all, the touch-and-go story of Joyce and Hopper, which kept building up from the first season but never found a resolution finally happens as the two reunite after not being seen in a single frame together for 80% of the season. The dam breaks and the two collide as they confess that this time will be different. And as Joyce manifests the visions of Bob the Superhero being torn apart by Demogorgons, the finality of what Hopper plans to do sets in and the kiss that follows is not one that was told by writers or directors to make happen on-screen.
Stranger Things Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Twitter/@strangerwriters
