Chapter 4: Dear Billy

oh yeah so el is with the fbi and theres a plot of these three and also argyle trying to get her back. to no ones surprise fbi lady and her two buddies who are slightly off screen are just here to get kille
d oh theyre not government but honestly who cares. eleven is with the people who originally raised her. these are. idfk. some other people
theyre probably all bad cos theyre wearing suits
the not!fbi lady just handed mike this lol
it was still sealed and everything im surprised they didnt open it like yeah its just a stupid teenage love letter but still coulda been somethin else ooh i do like the detail that she wrote "from" instead of "love" tho AH YES THE ACTUALLY GOOD PLOT
max and the clock
the episode is also called dear billy (yknow her older brother) so they know what was the best part of the episode
uh also again major spoilers for season 4 BUT ALSO season 3 max yanked chrissy and freddys files from the counsilor so shes found out they all have traumatic pasts. i guess thats all vecna needs to attack someone
so uh yeah this episode tackles the topic of "knowing ur likely gonna die soon cos a monster is after your guts, what do you do now" guys omg!! im just here to tell u my friends want to kill eddie. my other friends, not you. the sporty ones. pls lemme join u Steve: I was about to hit you with this pre-ikea lamp i ripped from the wall!!
also clearly everyone else was about to blind lucas since they all got flashlights.
then theres steve with his giant pipe lookin not!ikea lamp. LOL I PREDICTED THE SCRIPT Moe: Maybe they have blind hax flashlights…infinite stun
ive seen this epi before but its not like i remember that
the whole episode is just lucas getting stunned over and over again dustin there is never a problem bigger than jason.
hes very big. look at him. youre done for. we gotta think of a plan rn
(sidenote i had to scroll to get a picture that wasnt nsfw lol)
uh but yeah unfortunately standing on his head made eddie's bandmate tell jason (the main jock) that dustin probably knows where eddie is. so lucas is here to warn dustin
intro taimu
Moe: -clicks skip intro-
NO
i like the intro ;o;
Rikki: Clicks skip intro again
im also watching it illegally i cant skip the intro OTL
Rikki:
I CANT SKIP IT
Moe: Hehehe yeah it’s not bad when watching episodes one by one i was just gonna say i like that they always have the number of the season on it
Rikki: Wow the fourth game
Moe: Ooo that pirate priestess…what’s your pirate name again? Skull crusher?
like its a tv show so they tend to have more seasons but it reminds me of old horror flicks with their dozens of sequels
skull cracker haha
cos it rhymes with my last name
Moe: Oh yeah hehehe
..i doublechecked my pirate name and found out someone has a star wars oc with my first name
as ive said before my first name is extremely uncommon even in my own language. i feel weird lol im lucas' little sister and im sassy!!! hi shawn levy thank u for this episode that is all do we need more lore on the upside down? Iiiii dont know. but season four sure gives us some. dustin get with the program ur the one who ruins all the anoes references the next episode you know the answer to ur own question if they give robin weed in the next season im gonna be so mad.
also i had one of those boxes
if u cranked it up too much she span so fast steves like i cant believe u make me watch the kids again when robin is a fuckin idiot why does she get to pretend to be smart and go to the asylum to talk to crazy mcdude and nancy's like look steve if you want to wear this blouse be my guest but i think theyre more likely to buy it if robin's the one wearing it
(she doesnt say that she eliminates steve from the getgo but im gonna pretend.) its russia! time to skip. ah yes the cue of the gay man. emotional synth music. mike opens up to will about the fight he had with el and dude youre fifteen or whatever i dont care.
i know he does cos he doesnt know any better but bleh meanwhile will's here destroying his own emotional wellbeing ah yes the musical cue for the gay man's brother! determined synth music. jonathan why are u sitting like a substitute teacher
hes like im not gonna be like steve im not a babysitter i got a degree!!! hi i dont have a car heres our reason to keep argyle around
argyle picked up the phone at his job and whoevers on the other side hung up and im sure the idea is they did cos hes all like "pineapple on pizza slaps" but im gonna say it is cos he says like, six different things before he lets the other person talk.
of which three are "pineapple on pizza is good".
he also calls the pineapple juicy at one point. To me that sounds like "hey bitch u want a soggy fruit pizza cos I'll make sure you get one dude" so I dont blame them for hanging up
jesus why do shitty stoner characters bother me so much aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
argyle leaving a scene: hi i wrote u all letters cos im gonna die oh and also these for the people i dont care about
ok thats harsh. i loved max and el's friendship in season 3 it was really cute this music cue means hello guys id like to visit the grave of my dead asshole brother
which. im sure the music that played when he was on screen last season was described that way sometimes.
she has a little monologue after this that really made me like max. season four def cemented her as one of my favourite characters she hears the clock chime again and ugggggh i love audio cues theyre so goooood jesus robin walking in heels reminds me of my first time(s) wearig heels
i feel the pain just looking at her these are the best outfits nancy has ever put together and i still think she did robin dirty
nancy: tries to show their credentials to show theyre legit robin: tries not to die of strangulation by ruffles ok i know it doesnt look like it but robin saves the whole thing cos shes a fantastic liar i guess and she pulls the "if we were guys youd let us visit victor" and it works and after that. nancy respects her, i guess.
people ship nancy and robin and i dont see why cos they clearly dont have the same level of respect for each other
but people also ship eddie and steve so idk. i guess its just "theyre the same age and pretty" idk damn robin thats something nancy would wear on a daily basis Russia! How about no ah yes the only couple i care about this season
Majo: (ooh this is right abt where I started to watch I think)
wyd if ur gf expects to die in the next 24 hours and gave u a goodbye letter u cant open unless she dies
i hope i dont spoil anything for u! but as I said Im livebloggins so im just showing the whole series as i go through it ;v;
Moe: I had nugget watch the last 2 eps with me despite having seen nothing else, I hope she’s reading your recap lol
Majo: no worries!! majo does not watch stranger things
Majo: I just peek in when other family members or friends do hehe
Majo: so I enjoy when I recognize bits and pieces I've seen max is like mum shouldnt you be at work and her mum says this and she should be suspicious cos Bosses Dont Work Like That, probably not even back in the eighties. Also a thing I always found interesting about the Mayfields is that they're all gingers, even though Max stepdad and Billy are not related to her and her mum
i mean not that you cant get with someone who is also a ginger when you are but its such a recessive gene that. idk. im just surprised i guess
i think red hair is gorgeous so im not complaining but I just thought it was an interesting choice!
s-sorry i'll get back to the show
Moe: Scarlet gets flustered over red hair…
Majo: HEHEHE
I
I MEAN
i have a weakness for gingers.
me digging the scrungly scrimblo pit i put myself in even deeper Max's mum has such pretty facial features (tho her hair is a choice. but yknow. 80s i guess) oh nooooo its vecman!!!! oh nooo she turned into hiiiiim shes awake! damn micronaps.
Majo: this was surprisingly spooky when I watched it
it was good! i liked it hi girls this is the music room. im showing it to u cos its a plot device. lets go to the dungeons next idk if the way victor is locked up makes that much sense for the mid eighties
they think he killed his family and yes they were in a terrible state when they were found, and he talked about impossible things, but still
eh then again i suppose he's here cos of the rambling and not the murders. hes. hes never done anything since. but ok
they wanna have their hannibal lecter moment
Moe: U kidding me I’ve witnessed this man kill so many teenagers…
no way i bet that was just a dream
so the reveal of what victor looks like is a big deal and i would screencap it but his eyes are messed up so. i think I wont. I'll just screenshot the credit at the end rip ah yes lets transition from one of the best new characters to one of the worst. oh mike. u dont know what u said. as if will hears anything after "It's not the same without you"
will's acting is great during this scene btw there's a moment where mike says "idk how i'd do this without you" and he blinks like tears are welling up in his eyes. so a+ for that
but also fuck u show for doin this to will he cant catch a break even when he's not in the upside down
Moe: Yeah this show has been brutal to will ;v; and unlike everything that’s happened to el I feel like he doesn’t get recognition for it.
Moe: He and Joyce, but I think she gets a lil more sympathy than he does too
oh also the house is bein attacked and the guys are trying to protect the teens and its shot like its red state so the cameraman is just runnin around with them.

its not a reference to red state i know this is a common tactic to create tension and action but im just teasing that I'll be watching that at some point here as well hoho
yeah true! even though joyce gets more screentime they never get her past the "that weird byers woman" storyline from season one which feels unfair. And then will has two seasons of horror, one season of nobody paying attention to him and now one where hes figuring himself out and realising he can't express himself cos he's afraid of how it'll be received
also i think jonathan was done kinda dirty in this one cos. sorry i wont shut up about my dislike of argyle but if they just fused him into jonathan hed have way more to do this season
now all he does is have one heart to heart with will and eat risotto like its his death row meal n thats it
Moe:O yeah Jonathan has fuck all to do this season. I do feel like they’ll kill him next season because he’s just :| there. [this scene in a nutshell btw]
god frankly i hope they just write him out. like give him a proper sendoff, he deserves that, but if they kill him off i feel like that'd just be for shock value. have him be the representative of the difference between states or whatever so when thats no longer needed let him go
i mean imo eddies death already felt like it was just done to make people sad, i was honestly surprised he died and i felt it was really unnecessary so i hope they just dont fall into that habit
OH WAIT i misread it OTL
i thought you said argyle
hm damn I think you might be onto something there, it does feel like they're finished with his story and dont know what to do next
Moe: Yeah. Just have him go off to college elsewhere. I wasn’t surprised about Eddie, it was the only way to resolve the arc they set up for him I think. Plus idk how they’d write around the whole town thinking he’s a murderer if he doesn’t die and sticks around. Feels fitting for that tragedy of unsung heroes who get no recognition because they’re different
Moe: Lmao if it was argyle that’d be so random
argyle somehow thinks jonathan is having a party without him, even tho its established they are each others only friend.
which is the one aspect i kinda like about argyle. I love outcast friends, it makes sense, its realistic and usually both characters will be interesting. Tho they never get into why argyle is an outcast and all he has goin for him is "is high all the time". AND HIS STUPID HAT
it makes sense but in that regard it also feels so cookie cutter. Like yeah hawkins doesnt accept him so he died a heroes death. I still think his storyline where he feels guilty cos he ran makes no sense because of everything he represents. I already said it an earlier episode but if he hadn't he would've been lynched by the jocks. He's proudly himself so the only way in which he "fled" is that he literally ran from death, which I think the show is tackling in a really weird way. I guess we'll see how the next season handles it
in high school in geography i sat next to a girl who was practically high anytime we had said class so everything made her laugh. I remember one time she misspelled morocco and she couldn't stop giggling. It was silly but honestly kinda funny too.
but there was definitely more to her than just "is high in geography all the time" lol
Moe: Oh yeah for sure. He did nothing wrong it’s more an internal struggle I think. He thinks he did something wrong, tragically, and rectified it tragically
I guess with how dramatic he is that does make sense
but I still dont like it >:c
Moe: Lmao only high in geography. Stone cold sober otherwise
Moe: I feel u, I love him ;v;
ahaha yeah idk about that but i think we had geography in the afternoon and i dont think she was stoned in the morning
then again. that was the only class i sat next to her so i dont know what she was like for the rest of the day
we had quite a few classes together but i dont remember her in the other ones, just geography cos she made me laugh and i had like a moment where i realised oh. she is high, like, all the time the byerses and mike are like hey argyle we're gonna force the main plot on you now whether you like it or not bitch just go
i mean. i dont blame him. that was not a stab at argyle. for once oooh more russia!
anyway. omg its the past! yeah i dont think ur son agrees also collectif 100% sells all of this womans outfit oh this doesnt look so gnarly! here's victor in the present day when robin and nancy are talking to him. hes the young man in the flashback oh he didnt like the house. sry for weird screenshot oops ITS GHOSTS! 👻 His daughter's already dressin like a nightmare victim
(also victor's listing animals they found dead around their house jsyk)
oh theres also spiders. wont screenshot em for obvious reasons victor is tortured with visions from his past
where have we seen that before i wonder
i need to find the ost on spotify, its so good the radio suddenly turned on! I think victor got up to turn it off but id like to note this is his favourite song. ok well thats not good. THATS DEFINITELY NOT GOOD hes tryna save his kids but somehow when he busted the front door open he's back in his past. his trauma, to be precise
so his trauma is that he ordered the shelling of a house in france in ww2 cos he thought it housed german soldiers but it turned out it didnt. so theres the guilt victor hears a song which snaps him out of the dream though he woke up to something really bad
ok im just narrating u the whole story now so thats the story of victor creele victor tried to end his own life by stabbing out his eyes? which is kind of a weird way to do it but i wont judge a man in his state, I suppose nancy asks him what was the name of the voice you followed and victors response is to hum a song we've heard just a lil moment ago and the doctor found out nancy and robin lied about who they are oh no. in the meantime max is reading her letter to her brother to, well, her brother
max talks about how everythings worse now hes dead and that she cant tell people he saved lives cos it was a supernatural thing, and also, billy was kind of a shitty person and they didnt like each other. but i kinda like they show that max still loved him, i feel like thats pretty realistic esp for a kid oh no. meanwhile steve is like ok my babysitter alarm just went off ima go get max oh yes.
i mean oh no. often overlooked, and down to earth
(i referenced it twice so heres the source, just so u know lol)
billy's like you wanted me to be dead at least a little bit and max is like NO but to be fair to her you were mean as fuck and you took your issues out on everyone around you so ehhhhhhh billy was. his writing was. an interesting choice, I'll put it that way.
hes pretty in death tho. a calculated tear fell from his eye in this moment and im not sure why. I know its vecna doing that so.. emotional manipulation, i guess?
Lou: never trust a bitch named billy!
I feel like that mightve worked better if we saw a victim who straight up embraced vecna as opposed to the three who were all scared as hell since he aims for guilty people but maybe im asking for too much there
ok so i also have strong dislike of the name billy but now i wanna know if theres a personal story behind this haha
Lou: hfhdhsgs no i just thought it'd be funny but now if i ever have beef with a billy i will let you know billy turned into vecna and thats the end of that cameo. oh well
HAHA ive also never had beef with anyone named billy i just hate the nickname ngl
Lou: THATS FAIR
not to be too. idk domestic or whatever but my bf was brought up by his granda and his name was william, and my dad's name is willem so we thought of naming our son william if we have one. And my one fear is that people will call him bill or billy. if they do that i swear to GOD im gonna hunt some people down
Lou: not my fav either tbh
Lou: out of curiosity would you accept will?
yes!
I do like Will, i think thats a nice name
Lou: not willy though i hate that one
OH GOD NO NOT WILLY
Lou: i mean maybe you like it bu-OKAY LMAO
will, yes. bill/billy/willy absolutely not lol
Lou: i think willy is infinitely worse than billy
it is worse.. oh my god i didnt even consider that one lol its so baaaaad
Lou: it's fucking terrible lmao dustins calling nancy and robin cos they cant get max to wake up and, really, with steve and lucas already shaking her what else can he do
Lou: the sequel to chrissy wake up: max awaken
haha steve has a scene thats quite reminiscent to wake up chrissy! I dont like this chrissy wake uuuuup!!!! but i didnt screenshot it OMG TUSK?????
Lou: TWILIGHT???
(yes i will say this any time i hear clair de lune in anything now.)
(even twilight.)
(i will make people share the experience that is tusk whether they want to or not) robin figures out music has something to do with vecna/victor nancy respecting her for the first time
Moe: I just mispronounce debussys name to make nugget mad lol
wait.. how do you say debussy
cos now im pretty certain i dont say it right lol
Moe: Like the bussy lol
Moe: De bussy
oh. huh then i was right lol
what do you say to piss nugget off?
Moe: I mean that’s what pisses nugget off lol
AAAAH
haha now i can do it too
Moe: It’s de byu sy correctly theyre running! no time for the police
Moe: But saying bussy is funny
it definitely is
heheh. de bussy. heh
if he didnt want it said that way then he shouldnt be spelled like that
Moe: agreed!!!! Moe: Silly French max is still asleep oh no
jfc nancy i didnt think she'd call me out twice when critisising robin but here we are
1. bad at social cues
2. runs weird
also dont tell people if they run weird. its useless. i still dont know what i do that makes my run weird but boy if i dont think about it any time i run.
Lou: bussy IS funny i agree
also idk the significance of either of these ppl but i like their outfits DUSTIN WHY ARE YOU STANDING ON STEVES CAR YOURE GONNA DENT THE HELL OUT OF IT
THIS IS JUST MEAN, DUDE, YOURE FRIENDS WHAT ARE YOU DOING
the pastels are very pleasing to the eye i agree.
Lou: also the hair. i love the 80s hair. ok so that stone either says byers or myers but it looks more like myers and they did a ref to michael myers before so. thats cool, i guess
Lou: ah yes. Mr Michael... looks at smudged writing on hand Yers. i see dustin isnt finished with aggressively putting a ton of force on steve's car
i remember michael yers! from the movie series holowene, and holowene y2m cant screenshot it but max is in a place where chrissy and freddy's bodys are tied to spires. not a fun time meanwhile dustin does the Desperation Slide(tm) while lucas and steve still try to wake max up dustin figured out from what robin told him that they should make max listen to her favourite song
which i figure they show lucas for that shot cos he knows.
Lou: is this where kate bush running up that hill comes in
it sure is.
Lou: fantastic
i know tiktok kinda ruined that song but fuck it man its still a bop
i learned of the within temptation cover of that song when i was like, ten, so it'll always hold a dear place in my heart
vecna puts max on a spire and it kind of explains why the bodies of the people we've seen before snap they way they do.
tho i will say its not a thing yet for max. not really. just in her mind. i can kinda show it here cos its far away and not. idk. gross here we go the boys put the headphones on her
Moe: you havent capped any of the "tentacles undulate moistly" or whatever lmao
oh i didnt see a sub like that!
guess my pirated version doesnt have that
rip
i just got "wet squelch"
Moe: oooh it might be later on lol there were a bunch when they go to attack him the song allows a window to open for max in the. er. red vecna space that shows her where she really is and hear her friends
haha ill make sure to screencap it if it shows up
cos damn that is quite the caption ah yes this shows version of "youre not real!"
aaand weve arrived at the most famous shot of the show.
Moe: this was such a rad midseason finale its even on the poster they commissioned for the episode
IT WAS SO GOOD!!! episode 4 of season 4 is probably my favourite stranger things episode in general while vecna tries to take control of max, max rememebers all the happy moments she had with her friends its cute as fuck and i feel like it works especially well cos you can tell theyre a little younger in these scenes it broke her out of the trance long enough to break vecnas hold over her goooooo
famous scene so again giphy supplies me with a gif it doesnt capture this bit though which i do want to cap. running to her loved ones shes awake!!!! then an instrumental cover of running up that hill plays.
such a fantastic episode
even having to pause it and screencapping i still have a hint of tears in my eyes also just in case anyone didnt recognise victor creele.
i thought that was so cool the first time i saw that heres the version of the song that plays for the end credits. its a really nice cover imo
i know it says instrumental but it isnt just the song without vocals
Lou: maybe i will watch 80s d&d supernatural horror show
if u like 80s, dnd, and supernatural, i do recommend it.
its got some body horror in it but thats about it
huh. the guy who played billy isnt actually a ginger.
not. that im surprised. but he looks less interesting to me now lol
Moe: lol anime rules family has to have the same hair
its weird!
meanwhile they photoshopped/make-upped off joseph quinn's (eddies) freckles which is. like. why would you do that
Moe: literal freckle erasure smh
its a crime i tell u
(i mean i figure they do it cos hes 29 playing a kid at least ten years younger than that but still.)
but hes a lil ginger. so thats still cute
Lou: honestly from ur screenshots i couldn't tell so it must be some rlly good photoshop/makeup
god i love freckles why would you ever cover them up. theres makeup to make freckles nowadays
Moe: yeah i thought freckles were in now, I see fake freckles everywhere online theyre kinda hard to see on most photos of the guy so idk if the camera just didnt capture em or whatever but hes definitely got em
as i said i kinda get it, i think theyre pretty, i think people tend to associate them with summer which generally has positive feelings to people
jack also has them haha but thats just a nice coincidence for me
um little as in hes mostly got a different hair colour but theres tones of red. not he's a tiny man.
idk how tall he is.
Moe: As a freckle-haver I appreciate them being in style lol
theyre so pretty! ur so pretty i hope people appreciate u for havin them