The Best Scene From Stranger Things 4 Is Now Officially Online
The first part of the fourth season of "Stranger Things" has been available on Netflix for a week now, and one scene has weighed heavily on everyone's minds. A scene starring Sadie Sink as Max and featuring Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" has become this season's defining moment, so much so that fans have propelled Bush's song to the top of the iTunes charts. Season 4 is a meditation on grief, trauma, and depression, and this scene is both beautiful and haunting. Sink's performance is brilliant, the song fits perfectly, and it delivers on the kind of emotionally-resonant existential horror that "Stranger Things" fans have grown to know and love. Now, Netflix has shared the scene via their Twitter account, in case fans want to watch it again and again without having to load up their Netflix accounts and fast-forward to it.
SPOILERS for "Stranger Things" season 4, episode 4 ahead!
Trauma can be a monster
In the scene, Vecna, this season's big bad, has finally gotten his grip on Max, who has been fighting suicidal ideation after the death of her brother, Billy. She's horrifically depressed, pulling away from everyone she loves, and that's Vecna's favorite kind of prey. Vecna is a pretty fantastic allegory for grief, trauma, and depression, all things Max is fighting on a daily basis. She makes it into Vecna's mind because she's so strong-willed, and once there he tries to trap and kill her with his usual M.O., which sounds like the kinds of things we tell ourselves when we're struggling: "Your friends can't help you," "I'll ease your pain," and more.
Her friends, however, discover that music can be the one thing to break through and help drag a person from Vecna's curse. Music does something different to our brains than just words, and a favorite song can be truly powerful. Max's is "Running Up That Hill," and as the song kicks in diegetically, the editing starts working with its beats. This whole sequence is an audiovisual feast with something profound to say about despair and what can bring us back from the brink, which is pretty impressive for a show that started with a frazzled mom talking to her ghost-world son via Christmas lights. The scene isn't just one of the best of the season, but one of the best of the series.
Season 4, part 1 of "Stranger Things" is currently streaming on Netflix.