‘Stranger Things’: 5 Questions We Have After the ‘Eleven, Are You Listening’ Teaser
It’s been nearly two years since fans last visited Hawkins, Indiana, but Netflix is giving Stranger Things viewers a taste of what’s to come in Season 4 with a recently-released teaser.
Aptly titled, “Eleven, are you listening?” the minute-long segment brings viewers back to the Hawkins National Laboratory where Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was raised by the calculating Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine). And while the teaser was limited in its reveals, it certainly raises a lot of questions.
For those who have yet to tune into Netflix’s mega-hit, the ’80s-set Stranger Things tells the story of a community that’s turned upside down when a boy goes missing and his friends embark on a mission to find him. Through their adventures, the kids uncover a larger conspiracy at play that involves a local lab, the government, and otherworldly creatures.
What adventures could await? We’re breaking down some of the questions we’d like to see answered in Season 4, based on the newly-released teaser.
Stranger Things, Season 4, TBA, Netflix
Is Brenner really back?
There hasn’t been much follow-up with Dr. Brenner’s fate since Season 1, but he did make several appearances in Season 2 albeit through flashbacks or visions. Despite it appearing as if he was killed by the Demagorgon in Season 1, it is possible that he was merely attacked. Viewers still have yet to learn if he’s still kicking about, but in Season 2, when Eleven teamed up with “sister” Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) to gather information from former HNL employees, a man named Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) claimed Brenner was still alive. So, whether this teaser is part of a memory from Eleven’s childhood or not, there’s a strong possibility for his return as an integral antagonist.
Do the numbers mean something?
Numbers pop up in various ways throughout the teaser — between the clock signifying it’s 3, to the children playing in the lab with their number-centric games like chess, blocks, and a Plinko-like board, it feels like there’s some hidden meanings to be uncovered. One set of numbers that are either a coincidence or not include the 5 and 6 on the board, which resemble the release date of this teaser 5/6. On the video posting via YouTube, the description underneath reads 002/004, and a similar code was posted underneath Hopper’s (David Harbour) teaser last year, reading 001/004. Does that mean there’s more clips to be uncovered before fans get a trailer? Possibly.
Is this a flashback?
Are we going to delve deeper into Eleven’s past, or is Brenner continuing his experiments and reaching out to her through the Void? We’ve seen her conjure visions in her void, but never this pristine. All will likely be revealed in due time, but the fact that Brenner’s face isn’t seen on camera could suggest this is post-Season 1. If he is alive, Brenner might have been scarred or maimed by the Demogorgon, a reality that fans might not know for sure until an official trailer arrives or the show premieres.
How many kids were experimented on?
Eleven and Kali both have tattoos on their wrists from their years spent in the HNL. Eleven’s is “011” and Kali’s is “008.” Could the use of three digits suggest that HNL’s test subjects were in the hundreds? Other children are featured in this teaser, suggesting there are more individuals with super-abilities that viewers have yet to meet. The symmetric imagery of two test subjects playing with toy cars on a rainbow gives off a twin vibe as well. So, just how many kids have been under Dr. Brenner’s “care”? We’re dying to know. Maybe the visible numbers could even represent the subjects that viewers have yet to meet in the series.
Is this another nod to Russia?
Considering the tests Brenner used to make Eleven do in the lab, including listening in on Soviets with her extra abilities, is this teaser a sign of her revisiting the past in order to try and find Hopper? He was seemingly transported to Russia after an attempt to close the gate that unleashed monsters like the Demogorgon. Could Eleven confront her past demons in an attempt to save her adoptive father? Our guess is as good as any.
From TV Guide Magazine
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