It's a ham radio, the Cadillac of ham radio. Hello everyone, Welcome back to yet another episode of ham radio as Stranger Things 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 to Jasmine 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 Hamradiomedia, all one word on Twitter at Hamthrow, on YouTube at Hamradiomedia, 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, which is also LinkedIn the
description. The podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, and much more. If you like the show, please consider leaving us a rating or review. We have a lot of totally tubular stuff coming up, so be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the podcast and all of our new content. Welcome back to another episode of Ham Radio, a Stranger Things
podcast. On today's episode, we will be recapping Netflix's To Dom event, which was live streamed on the streaming platform this past Saturday, and we will be sharing our thoughts on some of the Stranger Things Five content that was shared after the event. The event including the official Season 5 synopsis, cast list, our first look at some official production deals, and their release date announcement. We will be doing a separate episode to talk about the teaser
trailer itself. So for those of you that were not able to watch live, the event was held at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA, USA and was hosted by Sophia Carson of Purple Hearts and the Lifeless Fame. The event lasted about two hours. To be honest, as someone who watched the whole thing live, the first hour was rather cringey, but the last hour was pretty good. The first hour included a sneak peek of the new Knives Out movie Wake Up Dead Man with the cast
and director on stage. They did this weird bit with T-shirt cannons where they'd bring out each cast member and be like, well, you know, so and so couldn't be here. And and then someone would go and that's when you're wrong. Dun Dun Dun would play and then like somebody else would show up with another T-shirt cannon. Personally, I like the first Knives Out, the one that came out in theaters.
Couldn't get into the second one, couldn't get past like a few scenes in came across as very cringy to me. But if you love it, congratulations. I I will say the trailer for that one did look pretty good compared to the last one. And then they did this thing where all of the largest quick game characters came out and did like a performance to open the show.
And then the cast came out and they showed the trailer for a Squid Game season 3 and the cast of Outer Bangs, Ginny and Georgie, My Life with the Walter Boys and Forever were there. They did this cringey gag with the audience where they did like entering like fake fan questions. Like the idea was there were supposed to be questions from fans, but then it became obvious that these were things that like either the cast members had written or that somebody else
had written for them. So it just kind of cringey, in my opinion. Then the WWE wrestlers were on stage and they kept saying One Piece all the time. And then the cast of One Piece came out. They showed a sneak peek of one of the new characters, so that was cool. And then the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders were briefly seen backstage.
It was weird 'cause they were advertised that they were gonna be there like on stage, but then they were just briefly seen backstage, like covering for somebody else. While they did like this gag about spoilers, which was kind of odd, and they did this really dumb gag with Lily columns from Ellie and Paris where she like pitched Netflix executives on basically changing the names of their iconic shows.
And then her last thing was basically the Prime Minister to do. And it was kind of weird because it was like, well, they've done this before. This isn't a new idea. So I guess that's the whole stick of the show. But that honestly came across kind of cringe to me. AJ McLean from Backstreet Boys was there, and he shared a first look at the new show Building the Band, which was Liam Payne's final project.
It's a show, a contestant's building a band, but they can hear the person but not see them. That looked interesting. And then there was also the teaser for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and some of the cast and the director was on stage. There's a trailer for Happy Gilmore 2 and then following that, Caleb, Finn and Noah came out and shared some behind the scenes footage from seasons one through 4 of Stranger Things.
And the setup was they all come out and they sit in front of this on a couch in front of this little TV and they put in these tapes to show the behind the scenes footage and everyone like favorite behind the scenes moment. And then Millie and Gayton sent in video messages as Millie is currently filming Noah Holmes 3 in London. So she wasn't able to be there. It's not clear why Gayton wasn't there. Maybe he can't talk about his
project yet for whatever reason. And then the last thing was we all got up to to leave saying he was getting emotional. And then there was like, I've got one more tape and they shared the series of things. 5A date announcement, teaser trailer. It is a bit weird that the other cast members weren't on stage because Cara Bono, who plays Karen Wheeler, posted like footage like from the audience. And apparently Nell Fisher was in LA doing quote work stuff.
So it's it's kind of odd. It seems like the bunch of the rest of the cast had was given like tickets like to attend, but not to be on stage, which was kind of weird because based on the other shows, they had the main cast plus the director, whereas this was the only one I caught anyway that only had three members of the cast. And since two others weren't able to make it, I I thought that was a little bit weird.
I I get it was a bit they were doing, but I did think there's a little strange and they emphasized the party a lot when they were talking on stage. So I think that's going to be in season 5. Like they phrase it as well. There's two members of our party that couldn't be here that kind of a thing. So I don't know, maybe there was something else planned that wasn't possible because Millian Gaten couldn't be there. But yeah, I thought it was a
little bit odd. And then after the teaser trailer, the cast of Wednesday took the stage and shared a video showing the 1st 5 minutes of the new season, which honestly looks really good. The Lady Gaga took the stage and performed a medley of her songs Zombie Boy, Bloody Mary and Abracadabra. She, you know, they opened these gates and she came out of a coffin, ended this whole Wednesday themed set. It was announced that she will be guest starring in Part 2 of Season 2 of Wednesday.
And following the event, it was announced that she will be playing the mysterious and ignomic Rosalynn Rotwood, a legendary Nevermore teacher who crossed this path with Wednesday. That's the recap. Thank you Jasmine for that lovely recap. I had quite a few Internet connectivity issues for like almost the first hour of To Doom To Doom. So I didn't really get to see a lot of that stuff.
I don't, I don't know if it was because there's so many people getting on the app or if it was just a combination of that. And you know, my Internet is terrible. I mean, Netflix is really is one thing I especially on my TV that I've always had like Internet issues with, like connected connectivity issues with. But I found like I eventually just switched to my iPad and it worked for like the rest of the event, which was good because I got to see the Stranger Things
stuff as it happened live. But yeah, I would be like tuning into what was like on the Twitterverse, things like that. And so, yeah, I heard it was very cringe the first hour and that I didn't really miss much. But still like, you know, I'm, I wanted to be able to watch all of it. And also that first hour, I was kind of getting worried because I didn't know when the Stranger Things stuff would be airing or the the Wednesday stuff, which is really what I wanted to see.
And I was fearing that like, by the time I got the Internet situation figured out, it would have been bygone and I wouldn't have been able to see it live. But anyway, I I did manage to at least get to see the Lady Gaga concert, which was really great. But yeah, like what you're talking about with the the behind the scenes stuff that they showed with the Stranger Things stuff, I really liked that.
I thought it was really cool to see like the old footage from back in the day when they were all so young. And hopefully this means they've printed together that documentary Jasmine and what their their favorite scenes were. And I definitely will say that I like Millie's scene. That's one of my favorite 11 scenes that she's ever done. It was very bittersweet,
actually. My heart was pounding out of my chest when they when the three boys were up there and, you know, playing all the tapes and stuff. And I was like, OK, you ever hurry up? I really like going to get it or or not, you know? And then I was kind of worried that that was all it was going to be like just them doing that and then leaving. And then they started to do that. And I was like, Oh my gosh, it's really going to happen. And then Finn said, oh, we got one more tape to play.
And I said, oh, thank goodness. And so when they started to play it, you know, we get our first look at Joyce and Will from Season 5. And I said, oh, this is it, you know, And then when they started, you know, I mean, I know we're going to get more into this when we give our breakdown of the teaser itself. But for a few seconds there during the teaser, I was very concerned. But yeah, I I really enjoyed what all I did get to see from to them. I saw the law of the red carpet
stuff. And and I'm going to say like, like seeing Finn, Caleb and Noah there. I was like, wow, they're like young men now. And that's so weird. Even though I did not start watching the show until season 3, I mean they were still teenagers back then and they still look a lot different now than they did then. So it was pretty bittersweet, you know, seeing them there. But I thought they look good.
I thought they look fantastic. And even though Gayton and Millie's were pre recorded, I thought they, you know, young woman, young man and again, just so weird, you know, seeing that. And yeah, I also, I kind of thought that Karen and Nell would be on the stage with them. But I mean, I get it. Like they're like the three, you know, originals. And I mean, Karen's been there from season 1. And so is the character of Holly.
But in terms of if we're talking about like screen time and and all that, I mean, it makes sense why the three of them would have been up there. But yeah, I thought again, I thought it was a good event overall.
Yeah, I got to admit that when they started rolling the the teaser trailer and you got Joyce and Will and the voice over and then they went into the cliffs, I had this moment where I was like, if this is going to be a clip show, I'm going to be so mad because I just sat through an hour of cringe. If all we're doing is a clip show here, I'm going to be really mad. But they went into the new footage. I was like, oh, OK, OK, we're good. We're good.
But yeah, it is weird that they had like the full cast. Yeah, they had the full cast for most of the other shows. And I get that certain things has gotten to be such a large cast that they can't do everybody. But we just have Sadie up there. Like I I get that million gate and other commitments. But since they knew they weren't gonna be able to attend, it is a bit weird they didn't grab other people that were in attendance. That's what it was. Strange we didn't get anything for Bridgeton.
Like I know we got that clip like the sneak peek on May 14th and that's great, but they didn't do last year, but the year before they did, you know, Nicola Cochran was there. They did all this stuff for it. It was a big deal. And it was kind of the inverse because you didn't really get anything for Stranger Things. You just got, you know, Linda Hamilton's announcement, but that was it. So I was expecting them to do something for that.
And then and I was telling my mom about this and she was like, oh, do they do anything for Bridgerton? I was like, no, they normally do. So I did think that was a bit odd, especially since we don't have a release date for Bridgerton. And I mean, they clearly, they've clearly finished filming, always enough filming to give us a sneak peek of the ball. So I I did think that was a
little odd. And I again, I don't know if it's because they they just had just released that clip from Season 4 Bridgerton. They felt like, you know, it'd be too much to do it two weeks later, give more out. But yeah, I mean, I did. I did think that was very odd. But also, I thought, I thought, thought I read somewhere that Tadam was going to last till from 8:00 to 11:00 and it was only two hours. So I mean, they had a lot that
they did. So I don't know if they felt like they couldn't cram all of it in. I don't know. But yeah, like you, you, you definitely not the only one that I've heard say that they they were like, if this is just a clip show, I'm going to be so mad. Like I've I've heard that I've been watching a lot of reviews of the teaser on YouTube today and a lot of them have said that. So we're all, you know, thinking like a hive mind. So that's good. That's good.
We're all, we're all got our heads in the right place. Yeah, I was surprised at how soon Stranger Things actually came on because I was expecting more like 930, but it came, the stuff came on around 9 and it was shorter than I, I thought it would be because and I, this is something else. If you watch it live, you know that like every other person who got out there was mentioning Stranger Things even though it had nothing to do what they were talking about to keep people
watching. So they would tune in for that, which got kind of annoying. And then it got to be one piece that kept saying it. It's like, can can you just show us something and stop saying it every two seconds? I get that that's the big poll, but that did get a bit annoying. It was a little bit odd. So they were asking actors and people for other shows that like had nothing to do with it. So that was a little weird. But I am glad that like 2 hours
was reasonable, I think. And they did, they knew that Stranger Things on Wednesday would be the big draws. So they spent like the first hour promoting other things to keep people watching. And then they they delivered on that. So yeah, I mean, you could definitely tell they were working out the kinks. There's some stuff that was announced after the fact. I think we're supposed to be announced during. And some of the articles have conflicting information.
So you can definitely tell that. I mean, this is the first time they've live streamed it on Netflix and they've added new capabilities in the last year to live stream events. And you can really tell they're still working out the kinks and the bugs. But all things started, I think
it, I think it went well. I think obviously the next time they do it, it'll be much better because now they've, you know, they've had a trial run and sometimes you just don't know things until you, you try them out.
But yeah, overall I, I, you know, I enjoyed the, the second-half of it. And it's like, Can you imagine being a cast member of one of those other shows and like you're at this event and you've been told like you have to like include like the biggest show on this platform, like in every joke that you say because we, we got to promote that while you're up there trying to promote your show. I mean, could you imagine like having to do that? And like that doesn't say you're irrelevant at all.
Yeah, there's, there's definitely a hierarchy there and that was on in in full display during the event for sure. But you know what, you know, to me, like again, like I enjoyed when I got to see you from Tadam and all the stranger things
stuff was great. But like whenever you just stop and and think about, you know, this is the last time we'll ever see like our first look at new content from a new season of Stranger Things. And it will be the the last Tadam event where like the Stranger things show, as it were, we'll have, you know, be releasing anything or doing anything on it. I mean, it's just, it's so harrowing when you you step back and you reflect on that and it's again, it's just, it's so, yeah, it's kind of sad.
Yeah, well, as they say, I mean, all good things must come to an end, so yeah. But it is kind of a bittersweet in a way. Managed to like see the, the Happy Gilmore stuff and when it like they were first like introducing all that to the stage. Like I thought it was going to be a real documentary about a real golfer. And I was like trying to figure out like, who are they talking about? Like, because they were showing like pictures of real golfers
and stuff. And I mean, it's been a long time since I've seen the Happy Gilmore movie. And then it came out of the Happy Gilmore 2, which I totally forgot that was even happening. But I thought that that skit was was really good. It was really funny. Yeah, that one was pretty good. Great. So one of the things that we did get after it was after the Doom
event was over was. Netflix released the official synopsis for season 5 and according to their website, the synopsis is his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for 11, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread.
The final battle is looming, and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they've faced before. To end this nightmare, they'll need everyone the full party standing together one time. So when I first saw this being circulated, I legit thought it was like fan made or you know, something created by AI but Nope, it's the official
synopsis. And I guess maybe I thought that because I wasn't expecting them to also, you know, release that right after to Doom. But like my assumption is right now is that this is the synopsis for Volume 1 and maybe volume to I guess it depends on like how they're going to split up the volumes. But I'm confident that they will release another synopsis for the series finale before it drops. I mean, they did that for season 4.
They released synopsis what we would later learn was for Volume 1, and then right before volume 2 came out, they released one for that one. So I assume they're going to do the same thing here as well. But yeah, I felt like it was a decent synopsis. I mean, it gives just enough to confirm what's at stake in the final season without giving
anything away. But a lot of this is what we've kind of already heard about or suspected given how season 4 ended or like just from things we kind of been seen with behind the scenes. But the main thing that stands out to me in the synopsis is the line as the anniversary of
Will's disappearance approaches. So I wonder if like the main action of the season, I mean, we know it's going to take place in the fall of 87, but I wonder if the specific dates of the setting will be like taking place during the week of or leading up to November 6th. Because if that's the case, like nothing would excite me more than for. The final battle to take place on November 6th, literally bringing everything full circle. Jasmine, what are your thoughts
on? That yeah, I mean, it's not surprising to me that that's a really important part. I know we'd speculated that for for the release stage for season 5, it would be in October, November and that, you know, maybe the second part was released on November 6th. I am a bit surprised as that they're doing November, December, because as people have commented, you know, it seems more like a Halloween thing, not a Christmas thing.
Although I don't know if they're trying to do something about the Christmas lights in Season 1. I don't know. But yeah, I could see it culminating there. Although it's surprising that if that's the case, they wouldn't pick that as the release date like they did with previous seasons. Like Season 3 came out on July 4th and Season 1-2 followed a set schedule. So that was my thought that, you know, and Season 4 was supposed to come out on on March 22nd, what was supposed to be spring
break. So when it got delayed. So that's what I thought they were doing. I don't know if the the dates we did get in November, December are somehow significant. I would think so because that was the plan for 3:00 and 4:00. So I'm not sure what significance they hold. But like you said, I mean this, this gives us an overview, but it's in line with what we were thinking. And you know what we saw in the teaser. So it's in line with all those
things. And I, I think you're right that they are probably going to release a second one either for Volume 2 or for the the finale or or both. And I do think it's interesting that they say they'll need everyone the full party standing together one last time. Like I said, when the stuff premiered at To Do, they really emphasized the party and that being like, it sounds like the original party plus L So clearly all of them working together is going to be a really core part of Season 5.
Which I am so excited about. And again, that is it's very interesting because like Season 1, like Will was in the Upside down like the entire time. And so it almost felt like he wasn't even a part of the party, even though like he was, but I guess because we didn't see him like physically interacting with them and then the season 1, season 2 as well, like he because he was possessed and for a bulk of the season.
So yeah, it's definitely going to be very feel like very fun to watch him actually be with them in the season. I mean, I'm not sure what's really going to happen with Will this season, but yeah, I mean, I definitely think it's going to be very fun watching him actually work with them as like a nice, you know, parallel to like with season 1.
I must admit. Like, you know, I wasn't really too sure about how I would feel going into it with will be taking more of a like a central role in season 5.
But just like the two things, like especially that thing at the end of the the teaser of seeing Noah's acting there is definitely like sparked a passion and for me going into season 5 and, and just just gives me kind of a renewed hope that it's going to be worth it. And it's going to be something that's just good storytelling and entertaining. Because I mean, I've it's I don't feel like it's ever been a secret that will is not one of my favorite characters.
I don't hate him, but he's not he's not definitely not in my top five, but I've always found what happened to him very interesting. And it's that him that and the upside down are two of the biggest mysteries in the show that they have yet to really explain. And I'm glad that we've gotten confirmation that those two things will be addressed and explained in season 5.
So yeah, I'm I'm very excited to see Will his journey this season, but also just have the the original party back together as something I'm I'm very much looking forward. To Yeah, me too. I'm really excited for Will's storyline this season. When Season 4 came out and the Def brothers were interviewed, one of the things they said was that Will was going to be a huge part of Season 5. They were really going to focus on his story.
And I felt so validated because there were so many people out there online saying, well, they said it, but they're not going to do it. And I never really, I never really understood that because there were a lot of people for a lot of plots, specifically about things that Duff Brothers said in interviews that they said or that came up in season 4.
You know, like the revival of Stancey and all that, where there was all these people on the Internet being like, well, they said, but they're not going to do it. And I'm like, that's just bad marketing and it's bad writing to bring this stuff up and then not do do anything with it. And I just felt so validated because there were so many people being like, well, they're not actually going to do anything with it. And I was like, bullshit, yes, they are. I wouldn't say that to people,
but that's how I felt. And just to see this, yes, he's going to be a huge part of this. L obviously is a huge part of it. And I said previously, I thought there might be a team up there. What we're getting here is more what I actually originally envisioned based on the different Brothers had said, which is that you've got Will storyline and L storyline running in parallel. You got George and Hopper supporting them, and they're
running in parallel. And like together, there's whatever they got to do here has to be something to do with the two of them, which made sense to me because it started with them, right? The series starts with Will Disappearance escaping the lab, her helping them find Will and then like, you know, communicating through the void and then Will comes back, she disappears.
Like that's how this started. So to me, it's it's got to come back to those two characters and there's got to be something that they're doing. Obviously the stories run in parallel and there's got to be something they come together and do in order to defeat Vecna. I I mean to be that just has to be part of it. They keep saying they're bringing it full circle. That has to be it.
So I'm really excited for his storyline and he's, you know, when, when he's, you know, screaming and then the teaser there. I just, I mean, Ashley, you know, I talked about this after, you know, we called each other after we watched it live and, and just say, you know, he's giving. I love what you said. We're like, you know, he's like giving the performance of his
life here. Like you can tell they're giving it their all the actors are really throwing themselves into it. I think this is the first time where everyone's able to bring their their full selves or full authentic selves to set. And I think that does really impact the acting and make for a better performance.
And like you said, and the first season will have been abducted, the second season he got possessed and the third season he was really sidelined and then he was part of the action in season 4. But again, the pot he was in like wasn't the strongest for him and and Mike. So I'm really excited to see, you know, him have a strong prominent storyline where it looks like, you know, the acting is really good and we see Mike is taking is stepping back into
a bigger role again. And you know, I'm just really excited to see all that play out and and the acting looks so far with the clips we've gotten looks fantastic. And I'm just I'm really excited because, you know, Will is one of my favorite characters. I really enjoy him as a character in his journey and yeah, I'm just, I'm really
excited about that. Yeah. And I don't want to talk too much about this right now because I want to save a lot of my thoughts on this for when we talk about the teaser trailer when we break that down. But I'll say, Jasmine, to kind of piggy it back off, your point about Will and Elle is I believe that those two and the night of November 6th or definitely a connecting thread. And that's all I'm going to say about that right now.
Yeah, we'll definitely get into it more when we break down the teaser trailer in full. Yeah, I agree. I think that that night and what happened, especially since in season 4 we see the Upside Down is frozen on that day is very important. And I kind of see them as being 2 pieces of a hole or once the lock and once the key. Kind of there's a reason that Vecna has kept them alive. You know, we see in Season 4, you know, he tells he wants to watch and he's going to kill our friends.
And we know that he allowed Joyce and Hopper to go all the way down there and bring him back, whereas that hasn't happened for any other character. I mean, the guy for the lab never got past the they got a few steps in and that was like, whoosh, they were gone. So to me, now that we know that Vecna was behind it the whole time, that's his domain. He's in control of everything that goes on down there. To me, they have been kept alive
for a specific reason. I don't know what that is, but whatever reason Vecna has kept them alive or not, you know, not killed them outright. I I think has to be important and whatever causes upside down, Upside down to get stuck on that date. I mean, that has to be important to the, you know, the final conclusion of the story and how they how they defeat him. So following the event, the cast
list for Season 5 was published. So we had our regular cast members that we knew were going to be there that were in Season 4. And then as previously announced, Nell Fisher has been cast to play an older Holly Wheeler. Jake Connolly will be playing Derek Turnbow. That's new information. So that's Turnbow is in the Turnbow trap. That is one of the episode titles.
And there is a scene in the teacher trailer, which we'll be breaking down later on, that does seem to indicate that that team is from part of the turnbow trap and, and what that's about. And then Alex Bro will be playing Lieutenant Akers and Linda Hamilton will be playing Doctor K. You know, I really wish we would have gotten character descriptions along with the cast list for these new people, but I guess for now we'll just have to take what we can get.
But at least we know like who Linda Hamilton and Alex Bro and Jay Connelly will be playing. So that's a start. I find Doctor K's name very interesting. Like is that her first name or is that her last name? But either way, it reminds me a lot of Keys and ET, the scientists there. And you know, evidently is she is a doctor. Now, whether that's of science or medicine, we'll have to see, though I, I lean towards scientist, maybe working with military, maybe an independent,
I don't know. But also, you know, like Jasmine, I know you said this, I believe like after it was announced, sometime after it was announced that Linda Hamilton would be in this show. And like, I know we talked about this like some last year, but like you had theorized that, you know, what if she was like a geologist or something? And I mean, honestly, that seems very likely now, I guess.
And I would love that if if that were the case, because again, like she would be able to study the the upside down. Yeah, I definitely think there's more to this character. And you know, I remember we speculating, is she a military character? Is she something to do with that arm they've been filming on so much? She somehow connected to Murray in some way. She connected to Brenner of the lab.
And then it seemed like she was going to be military and she still could be. But it's like, well, she's a doctor and she isn't medical. Is it psychological? Is she is a PhD? Is it a combination of those things? I think more than one thing is, is possible. And I'm, I'm very interested to see what her character is like because at first she's just playing on a military character. I mean, she's good at it, but that's not really very interesting.
And something I, I really enjoyed about when they've cast other 80s icons is it's, it's, it's a bit of a different role if you look at the the other actors that they've cast. So making her a Doctor I think is a little bit different. Know what we see her in Terminator. So hopefully it's more of a combination role where it's not just strict military because I mean, she's great at it, but it's like I've been there, done that.
So hopefully it's more of a combination role and it's it sounds like it's going to be more interesting than that. So I'm personally excited for that part of the story to be revealed. Yeah, so am I. And it could also, this also could totally just be a placeholder name like they did with Peter Ballard. Remember him from the 2019, you know, new characters reveal and then later after like season 1 or sorry, season 4 come out, the stranger writers account on Twitter came out and said like,
yeah, that was a fake name. So it could totally be that and her name could be something else entirely. I mean, I would hope that wouldn't be the case, but I mean it's it certainly is possible. Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Like, I remember that happening, but oh, I hadn't thought. You're right. They could be, could be
something totally different. Or I mean, I guess not totally different because what they did for Jamie, what it was related, He wasn't orderly, but there was obviously so much more to it than that. And that wasn't his real name. So I feel like her being a doctor has to be a part of it somehow because it was like a kernel of truth. I mean, I think the way they phrased it was he's an orderly. Will he find the strength to stand up to the horrors he sees
every day? And it made it kind of sound like it was orderly, like a mental hospital type situation. And then, you know, he does stand up, but it's, umm, there's a lot more to it than that. He's not the innocent guy he's made out to be, which is, of course, all part of the plot. So I don't know if maybe we're going to get a description, but I mean, that could also be fake. I mean, I guess there's going to got to be a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
So I think maybe her being a doctor is real, but there there could be a lot more to it. Or you know, that that's a very good point. They'd want to keep it under wraps. So even if we do get a description of her character, there'll be a kernel of truth in there. But it could turn out a bunch of it could be not real or not the full story, definitely. Yeah, no, he was the horror. He didn't just stand up to it.
He was the horror. I mean, I feel like it's a very good way to describe Henry slash fact now. He was the horror. He is the horror, not a it isn't bystander here. He he is the horror.
So on On the Sunday following the To Doom event, the Stranger Things Instagram account posted eight production steals of the new season, and all but one of them is from the new footage that was shown in the Season 5 teaser that was released at Doom. So from the carousel still #111 and Hopper and what appears to be some sort of lab, I've also heard like military base. But anyway, this this image is
actually not from the teaser. So like you and I were, we were kind of talking off mic that maybe they released this because, you know, the only like actual footage that we got of 11 and Hopper in season 5. You can't really tell like if Hopper's even in that. And so maybe they or they just felt like this was a better just a better image.
But in the still, an El's nose appears to be bleeding, indicating that she has either just used her powers or is in the process of using them and is staring straight ahead as though she's looking at looking at something or someone. And Hopper is behind her with a gun aiming in the same direction. So clearly they're in defense
mode here. I would suspect that this this image of this scene is connected directly to what happens in the scene that was shown, a clip of the scene that was shown in the teaser, because it looks like they're in the same, in the same place. So that would be my guess.
And if I had to really guess, and this is just based on what we saw in the behind the scenes teaser that was released last year, that this is when like we saw like that Alex Bros character, Lieutenant Akers seem to be like coming to what looks like a similar place. And so I would suspect that that's who like he's trying to enter into where they are. That would just be my guess, but what say you? Yeah, I definitely think that's likely.
And I'd love it if this was something like, you know, he's trying to get in and they kind of meet in the middle. We can see him maybe a gun and we've got a scope on it and he's trying to infiltrate whatever this is. If they've clearly tried or attacked whatever this thing is and meet in the middle, realized they're facing a common enemy
here. I'm hoping that we know the military is putting the town under lockdown and they're searching for Al. I'm hoping that for these two characters, for Doctor K and the Lieutenant anchors, I hope eventually there is conflict on meat in the middle moment. Because something you and I both really disliked about the military plot in Season 4 was that we were supposed to buy that these guys were like taught military brass.
And yet they were dumb as rocks. And we got a whole season of our heroes having to run away from these guys and avoid them because they were just so convinced that she was the villain and we're just being real stupid. So I'm hoping there's, you know, a kind of a meet in the middle moment here, because we've been done that. And as you pointed out to me, they, the Duff brothers, make a point of not doing the same plot twice unless it's a continuation of something they've already been doing.
So I I would think they wouldn't do that again. Also, it wasn't particularly Welsh received as a storyline. So I'm, I'm hopeful that, you know, the military plot this season is it's running in parallel to what our heroes are doing, because I'd, I'd be fine with that, but something they'll get more of the military interfering all the time and
just being stupid. So I'm hoping that whatever they're facing here, they can meet in the middle and realize that they're, you know, El is not the villain. They are on the same side, so if it is part of that same scene, I'm hoping it's something like that. Some other things I like about this this photo. It's cool to see hoppers new look here.
Honestly, it's growing on me. I wasn't crazy about what we saw in the behind the scenes, but I feel like it does look cooler like in context makes more sense. And now that we see more about the military aspect of the season, I think their outfits and their their appearance is making more sense and I like else look a lot more here that I did the behind the scenes. I wasn't crazy about this look, but I like it better here. And it seems to be more of a
warmth thing. And what I'm wondering is, OK, this is the fall. But also we know the Upside Down is really cold, right? We know it's cold and kind of slimy. I guess. We don't know what the temperature is, but we know it's like slimy down there and it's not pleasant. And since we know it's been taking over Hawkins, like we see that the end of Season 4, I'm kind of wondering if maybe that explains some of the outfit choices that we've seen them in.
Because maybe they're just cold, like it's fall plus the Upside Down. Maybe they're just like really chilly. Like maybe what they're trying to show us here is that it's affected the climate. And so that's why we see what appears to be Elle wearing sweatpants and then like shorts and AT shirt over top of that and then a bandana. And Hopper's got multiple layers here. He's got beanie. He's got like a sweater. We've got fingerless gloves. We've got a jacket. We've got like then like a
satchel. So they're everyone's very layered here. So part of it's obviously tactical, but I, I think maybe it's more of a what they're trying to convey about the climate, which if that's what they're going from, is someone who lives in the colder climate, we all wear weird stuff to keep warm. So if that's what they're doing here. I can get on board with that. That makes more sense to me now than I did in the behind the scenes. Out of context. It's just like, Jesus, where do
they put them in? But it's making more sense to me now. And I really love seeing Ellen Hopper team up like we saw them at the end of Season 2 and then you're talking the the mall and stuff in Season 3. So I, I really love seeing them team up and you know, 1 of Hopper's issues we see in seasons 2 and threes, he doesn't want Elle using her powers because he doesn't want to acknowledge how much danger she's in. And you know, he, he wants to protect her after what happened
to Sarah, he blames himself. So it's cool to see him get to a point where he's accepted that this is who she is and rather than trying to fight it, they're working together using those powers to their advantage. So I'm also really excited for that because I feel like it's a lot of growth for Hopper based on where we saw him in seasons 2:00 and 3:00. And we saw the beginning of that, the end of season 4 when they reunite and you know, she's talking about the, the door and
I leftover 3 inches. He's like, it's OK, it's OK. So I I really love seeing the the continuation of that, that growth with his character. Yeah, I wasn't too sure at the beginning if I would have liked his look for Season 5 either, but I kind of had in the back of my mind went even behind the scenes pictures. But on screen it will look different. And I I'm really I'm glad to say that this teaser has confirmed that for me. They, I think it, the look looks really good for him.
And so for just as a side note, before I continue reading all the other stills, I just want to let you guys know that stills numbers 2 through 8. These were all stills that were taken from the teaser. So the again, the only one that wasn't was the first one, but the remaining seven were taken from the Season 5 teaser. But still #2 is Lucas at Max's bedside in the hospital? Which indicates she's still in a
coma a year later. So I'm guessing we're going to see her in like Mindscape or void scenes because, you know, they must be, you know, saying anything is just an incredible actress. They must be doing something
with her. But the fact that the plan for season 5 clearly changed after so much time had passed because of the strikes and everything, where I I think the original plan was for everything to wrap up in 1986, whereas they've pushed it ahead a year now because the actors have age and that's just is what it is. I don't think the original plan was for her to be in a coma for a year and a half, but here we are. Something I did notice is that her Max's arms and legs aren't cast anymore.
So it looks like her limbs have healed and they've cleaned up her face. So it does seem that her physical body has healed by this point that it's, it's more of a mind thing really. Vecna has her stuck somewhere or she's hiding from Vecna. So it appears that her plot is going to take place on another plane this season. And I would assume that at the end of the season, we're going to see the the conclusion for that because as the synopsis says, their goal is to find and, and destroy Vecna.
So once they've done that, the end of the season, I presume she's going to to wake up and then that's going to be a part of that. But I mean, I have to say at least her body is healed by this point. That's nice to see. So in still #3, Dustin and Steve are in the Upside Down. We don't yet know the location, but it looks like either Hawkins National Lab or maybe the radio station. But what is clear is they are looking up at something with somewhat perplexed looks on
their faces. And Dustin also appears to have a bloody lip and a bruised up, bruised up face. Yeah, a lot of the cast looks banged up. And this like people comment that Mike also looks like he's been injured. And we know that Dustin gets beat up at some point by the guys on the basketball team. So a lot of people getting beat up. And we don't know when the quarantine starts. I mean, we all went through COVID being cooped up for so
long. People can only take so much if they're just taking their frustrations out on each other or if this is monsters or, you know, bad guys or I'm just like falling or injured in the process of doing something. So be curious to see what that looks like this season because normally it's just Steve that's getting beat up.
The rest of the cast is spared. And what's interesting is I don't know if we've gotten any, any footage of or stills of Steve being getting beat up or like his face being all bashed up. Have we actually? I don't think so. Yeah, I mean, you know what's going to happen because that's a running. That's a running joke every season. But yeah, that's interesting. Everyone else's face is bashed
up, but it is right now. Some things I noticed in this scene is that Steve appears to be holding what looks like a bayonet in his hand. It's it looks like there's a knife on the end of it. Could be a scope which is new for who. He normally just has the nail bad and that's that's it. I'm still hoping the nail bat makes a comeback in season 5. I missed that thing. I would have liked to have seen it in season 3. So I'm hoping it makes a comeback one last time.
And I'm wondering if this is part of the same scene where Steve, Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathan drive it upside down or the 1:00 where they're standing next to the glowing red light. A Dustin's outfit looks similar to the one where we see next to the growing red light. So it could be one of those scenes. It's kind of hard to tell what was Steve's outfit because of how dark it is and we see we he's been beat up. So we don't know if that's somehow related to the basketball guys or something
else entirely. It would not come with the timeline is here. So I'm really curious to see where where in the timeline this this scene fits in. In the fourth still, Mike is standing in front of some new kid characters, shielding them from something. The Joyce is behind them looking like she's holding Will or hugging him, like almost looks like she's kind of holding him up. But whatever it is that they're looking at, it's Mike looks terrified and the kids look
amazed. Yeah, You know what I just noticed? I'm looking at this again and there's another person in this shot. There's like what appears to be a military guy who's like passed out on the floor behind them. So it looks like he's either dead or unconscious. So I don't know if he's been attacked by something or they've taken him out, but I just noticed that there's a guy in like camo military gear who's
like on the floor behind them. I hadn't noticed that either until you literally just brought that. Up. Yeah, I, I hadn't noticed it till right now, but like, they're clearly at some kind of military base based on the background. And this guy tried to stand up to whatever it was and he got taken out. But yeah, Will looks like he's collapsed and Joyce is like holding slash kind of hugging, dragging him. And we do see that scene of Will
screaming in the teasers. I don't know if he's telling them to to run and then collapses because it seems very strangled to me. And I saw people online point out that Mike's face looks bruised on his his one cheek. So he's been injured somehow. And then you can see the new character of Derek is behind Mike on his right, and he's looks like completely terrified. And I feel like they're in between like, befuddled and like, confused and terrified.
This has to be like a monster or something for the Upside Down because they've clearly never seen something like this before. And then there's a girl on Mike's left who guessing based on their ages, I would assume that Derek and this other girl are Erica's friends because they look like they'd be around the same age as her. And then there's a younger girl kind of half in the frame beside Derek on the right, and she
looks younger. So I'm guessing this is a friend of Holly's or perhaps a sibling of one of these kids. So I'm, I'm wondering if maybe the plot here, as we've speculated that Holly and Erica go missing at some point and
that these are their friends. They've come looking for them the way that everyone came looking for Will in season 1 and that while they don't want these kids in danger, they know they're not going to stop looking the way they wouldn't stop looking for Will. When everyone else gave up, the party kept looking and his family kept looking. So I'm wondering if that's what this is. I I will say one of my immediate reactions. I said this to you on the phone. Ashley is OK.
So we've got Todd Beaches, all these new characters. Where's Will's love interest? Man, I've been holding out hope for that one. And it's like, OK, he can fight monsters and find love too. Everyone else in the cast gets to do that, like, like all the other characters get to do that. Like where's his love pages? Like where's his love story?
Like justice for Will man. Well, we must also keep in mind that there were two characters that I will not name here that we're not in this teaser, but we will talk about that when we break the teaser down. So I guess that is the answer in which you seek I. Mean, I'm still hopeful.
I mean, I think it'd be kind of a a sad or kind of a lame ending to have stretched his coming out for Four Seasons and then have it just be, well, he was in love with his best friend and his best friend was in love with his sister and will wound up alone or some lame crap where it's like right at the end or he shows him the epilogue with a boyfriend or a partner or something. I don't know.
I'm hoping for more than that. And especially since Will is going to be a prominent part of the season, I'd like to see he's coming out and I'd like to see him meet somebody. Maybe he's a kid of someone who's there as part of the military efforts or the relief efforts. Because it's got to be somebody new to the environment.
Just based on your reputation as a zombie boy, a nerd, part of party and everyone thinks his friends are in a cult, I feel like he'd have a hard time finding love with somebody who knew who he was already. Like, I feel like it's got to be an outsider. So we'll talk about that more when we break it down. But yeah, that was that was one of my key reactions. I think what telling about this trailer is what's there, but but also who who's not there, what
we don't see. I think it's just as just as telling. Sometimes it's it's not always what is being shown. Sometimes you got to be able to read between the lines, you know what I'm saying? And then after that and still #5 we have an iconic shot of Joyce holding an axe, standing in front of what I believe is a door in the distance. She is flanked by Robin, Will, and what looks to be Erica. And they all look like they're inside of the barn. That we've seen a lot in the
behind the scenes. Then the new character Derek is kind of standing above Will and maybe Erica in like the loft. I don't know. I don't know why he's standing there, but still a cool shot. Yeah, I really love this shot. I love that they're coming back to, you know, Joyce and her trusty acts. And the corduroy jacket from from Season 1 has has returned. We saw it earlier in footage.
But love this for Joyce. Something I loved about her character was like her plot in Season 1 and her, you know, that iconic shot of her with the axe in the living room or her fighting for her son. And she's like, I don't care. This whole town thinks I'm crazy. I'm getting my son back. And she clearly has brought this kind of determination to whatever they're doing here.
And I love that. And I think this is a really interesting shot, especially since you can see Derek standing above them to me. But this what this must be is the turnbow trap. And since we know that's Derek's last name, I think he's up there. We saw that behind the scenes shot of my hog jumping into like what looked like like a Bale of hay on the on the floor.
I'm guessing that they're expecting something to come through this door and that he is like the turnbow trap is this is they're setting Derek up to be part of the trap. And then once whatever this is comes through the door, they're going to attack it and he's up there kind of his baby. They've got him up there and I'm guessing maybe there's a trapdoor or something that will release him so he falls and it
can't get him. When we first heard that, I thought maybe it referred to something that was part of the DND campaign or Turnbow was like a name for something. I didn't think it was going to be a person. So I'm interested to see if this is Vecner, whoever, whatever is after this character that we're only meeting for the first time this season. That seems kind of important for somebody we've never heard of and never seen before.
So I'm really curious as to, you know, how that occurs and how a character we've just met could be that important that they're setting up some kind of a trap, if that's what this is. And then still number six, we have a close up image of Will standing in an unknown an unknown location. He appears to be in great distress and his right cheek appears to be kind of puffy like he's been beat up. Or maybe that's just the way like Noah's face is like what
he's like moving his face there. But if you I noticed when I was putting together these notes, but I noticed that if you zoom in closely to his eyes, you can make out what looks to be like black veins in the corneas of his eyes. Yeah, I noticed that too. When you can see that when you when you zoom in. So it's possible he was injured or this is him. Like he's straining a lot like
this clip from the teaser. Presumably this is from the part where he's screaming at them to run and it's very like a strangled. Yeah. Like obviously something is happening to him. It's not like a this is not him a normal yell for him. This is something has has happened to something that's like preventing him and he's freaking out trying to get everyone outside of danger. And this could also be part of the this scene from earlier where he's collapsed and Joyce
is holding him. So I'm like love the acting so far, this love the visuals. We're getting really excited to see what this season is is bringing, bringing for Will. Absolutely. Then still #7 again, one of my favorite. This is one of my favorite parts from not only this carousel but the teaser. We have Karen and Holly and Karen also looks very distressed and is holding or hugging an even more distressed Holly and what appears to be a location inside the Wheeler home.
Yeah, I, I also find this one super intriguing. I went back and look at the behind the scenes teaser we got and Holly appears to be wearing the same outfit we saw her in. And that's the one where she's in her bedroom. She gets up on the floor and sees the lights are flickering and, you know, goes downstairs to the kitchen and we see her
looking scared in the kitchen. Now in the kitchen shot she looks drenched, like she's just had a shower, whereas in this one their hair does not appear to be wet, but she is wearing the same. So this does all appear to be part of the same sequence. And to me, this felt like a real parallel to the scene in Season 4 where Karen is holding Holly as the earthquake happens and, you know, trying to shield her from, you know, the the falling debris and then the shaking and
everything what's happening. And I think that this scene is very previously very similar where, you know, she's trying to protect her from whatever is is coming at them. And it's like, it's not like this is exactly really new. I mean, throughout the seasons of the show, like most of what we see Karen and Holly is Karen holding Holly like a lot like this. So it's just so interesting to see this. Obviously now this is not appear to be a happy moment like the other times.
But yeah, I'm I'm definitely interested in in seeing these two this season. And then the last still that we that we got is also one of my favorites. We got a very interesting visual of what I assume to be a new part of the Upside Down we've never seen before. In this image we see what appears to be two people, speculation is 11 and Hopper or 11 and Mike, standing in front of a massive upside down vine covered wall.
They are holding flashlights, shining them on the wall as though they're looking for something plastered on the wall or some very nasty looking mucus plugs. It's like the best way I know how to describe it, but they look very nasty. But where the people are shining their flashlights does appear to be the center and it looks almost like a gate in and out of itself or at least like it an eye shape mucus thing. Anyway, it's it's nasty. It's. Nasty man.
Yeah, whenever they're shining their light out, there should be the opening, whoever that this wall thing is. And you're right, it could be a gate. I don't know. It kind of reminds me of when Elle went through like the mucusy stuff to get back into the school at the beginning of season 2. It looks like a an upgraded version of that. But man, the upside down has really grown like in just from 1-2 to 4. But this is his next level and we know they do a lot of stuff practically.
So I would imagine they probably did part of this practically and then replicated it or they did maybe the close-ups practically and a greens game. But however they did this, I mean, it looks nasty, but also very interesting that I mean, this is what the upside down has grown to. I mean, this is a lot for our heroes to to handle that. I mean that that that's pretty. That's pretty big. I mean, they talk about the mother gain season 4, but that looks like the mother of that's a gate.
That's a mother of mother gates. Yeah. And I will say I think the quality of the season just so far looks amazing. The practical and special effects. We do see a little bit in this teaser and then the stills look amazing and you can tell they've put a lot of time and money into making it look really cool and interesting. And I mean, that part of it has always been really cool visually. That's always been something this show is really strong in.
But this just looks like next level and and honestly, compared to season 4, I'd prefer that something where they put the time and the energy in the budget into everyone's in Hawkins. They make it look as cool as possible, whereas in I feel like in for the budget kind of got stretched where they were trying to make every single set. They were in every single place, the cool, authentic and different. I commend them for trying something new. I think did feel like they kind
of did stretch things. So this is cool to see. OK, We're just really concentrating in this one area to make it look as as cool as possible. Yeah, for sure. I I just love how crisp this footage was. And it's really weird because I've been started re watching the show recently and now it's like it's going to be hard for me to be able to look at the even like even season 4. But you know, certainly the first three seasons the same again, just based on like these,
these clips from this teaser. Yeah, the quality looks really high and this everything looks very high res and this is just the preliminary stuff. So I'm sure the visuals for the final version are going to be stunning and also kind of gross. That's the final gate, like stunning, but gross probably at times based on what we're seeing here. So as part of the teaser, we got the release date announcement. So volume one will be dropping on November 26, 2025.
Volume to we'll be driving on December 25th, that's Christmas of 2025. And the finale will premiere on December 31st at 2025 on the episodes, we'll be premiering at 5:00 PM PST time. And the latest information from Todom is that 4 episodes will be released on the November date, 3 episodes on Christmas, and the finale episode will be on New Year's Eve Release dates finally. Call your families and tell them that you will not be seeing them over this holiday season, but that you love them.
Just do it now. Just do it now and don't wait. And I know you and I were talking because Canaan, American Thanksgiving is different, but we were talking earlier about how all three of these dates fall on like American Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. It's kind of weird. I know people watch with their families, but think of my own family, not circadian. Like the November date doesn't affect us, but so now I got to take time out of Christmas with my family to to watch this.
For anyone whose families don't watch, it is kind of weird. And people have said we're expecting October, November, not November, December. It's not really a Christmas thing. It's more of a Halloween thing. And but they are Wednesday being August, September, are they? I'm kind of starting to wonder, are they dropping something else in October that they want to reserve the date for? Because this this stuff is very kind of Halloween themed and
it's weird. They're not dropping anything in October and it's not really a Christmas or New Year's or I mean, it doesn't bring to my mind Thanksgiving either. So I mean, unless they're trying to do something with the Christmas lights. But I mean, if they're maybe bringing it back to that or I don't know, they're just trying to increase numbers. So I think people will watch with their their families that I don't know actually. What are your? Thoughts on that?
I mean, honestly, I think it's because they want, and by they, I mean the Duffers want enough time to properly edit and do the special effects for it and maybe not run into the same issues that they had with Season 4. That's the best, my best guess. To me, that's what kind of makes the most sense at this point. And also because Part 2 of Wednesday comes out in September and maybe Netflix wants to have a good buffer in between the
two. But yeah, I, I honestly believe it's, it's it's really to do with giving them enough time in post production. I think, you know, was the case with Volume 2 and, and the finale. I think the same thing because I mean, the Duffers have they said like earlier this year that they they filmed like 8 blockbuster movies and I believe it. So I mean, you know, I feel like we're we, we have a lot. And so yeah, I feel like that. And also they maybe Netflix just literally wanted to end the year
with a bang. And why not have the final season of your most popular show drop at the literal, literally the end of the year? And plus, I feel like maybe Netflix knows like people will make time to watch Stranger Things. And I think they they know that. And so I don't think they have any fears of the repercussions because they know that people are going to watch it. I think too, like, I like the times that they included. And so like for me, because I don't like on Christmas Day, I
don't usually go anywhere. And so, you know, I've spent time with my mom and my grandma earlier that day and then have the rest of the the day to chill and then I can watch it at 8:00 PM my time. I mean, I know now everyone's, you know, that's not the case for everyone. But I think if it were like if the times were off, like if say if they were going to release it like they normally do, like 3:00
AM, I would be more concerned. But I feel like with the times that they're going to release them, I do think they they did take extra steps to accommodate for the holidays for people. Yeah, that, that's fair. Although my experience in the past of like something supposed to be dropping a certain time, you know, reloading and reloading and reloading, trying to get it to come up has always been annoying. So because you got to wait to like then five O 1 kind of a
thing. But yeah, I mean, does come out for us, it would be, you know, 8:00 PM. So it's coming out in the evenings. I guess the idea is you spend Christmas morning and afternoon with your family and then in the evening you can you can TuneIn expect to get a lot of, you know, back and forth phone calls with my friends about like, did you did you see this? Oh my gosh, did you see it yet? Because we did that for the second-half of four, because we watched part volume 1 together
that my friend was on vacation. And so for for Volume 2. And so we want to talking on the phone and doing it that way. At least we'll all be together for the November date and then for New Year's. So go out with a bang, I guess been emotional New Year's. RIP to the ratings for all the New Year's programs that go on that night.
I was about to say like Ryan Seacrest, I love you man, but I'm sorry but I think I'm going to have to forgo the ball drop this year and cause the upside down is where it's at. I can already hear the jokes now from the, you know, from the Dick Clark New Year's Eve special of all the other ones being like those of you who aren't tuning in to watch Stranger Things tonight. Yeah, exactly.
I know. I also feel like attendance might be down to because normally everyone congregates where they're doing ball the ball drop in different places around the world, but I feel like a lot of people are going to stay home and watch rather than go out. Yeah, or it might be something that can keep you up until like midnight and then once it's off, then you can go watch the ball
drop. And it's like you watch have a very emotional moment watching the finale and then you can go watch the ball drop and watch fireworks. Yay. So it's a good, I feel like a good spectrum there. Emotional moments, a lot of highs and lows, 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 neonites. Thank you for listening to this episode of Ham Radio, a Stranger Things podcast.
Please join us next time. Same dial, same time. Over and out.